Page:Alcohol, a Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine.djvu/345

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ALCOHOL AS A MEDICINE.
337

Dr. Marshall Hall, F. R. S. :—

"Thousands are annually slaughtered in the quiet sick-room."

Dr. Adam Smith :—

"The chief cause of quackery outside the profession is the real quackery in the profession."

Prof. Oilman :—

"The things that are administered for the cure of scarlet fever and measles kill far more than those diseases kill."

Prof. Barker, of New York Medical College :—

"The drugs that are administered for the cure of scarlet fever kill far more patients than the disease does."

Prof. Parker :—

"As we place more confidence in nature, and less in preparations of the apothecary, mortality diminishes."

The examining physician of a large insurance company in New York said to a Mercury reporter:—

"The primary cause of so many cases of la grippe in this and other cities is the almost universal habit of drug taking from the milder tonics to patent medicines. Whenever the average man or woman feels depressed or slightly ill, resort is made at once to medicine, more or less strong. If they would try to find out the cause of the trouble, and seek to obviate it by regulating their mode of living, the general health of the community would be better. The drug habit tends continually to lower the tone of the system. The more it is indulged in the more apparent becomes the necessity of continuing the downhill course. The majority of persons do not look beyond the fact that they seem to feel better after the use of a stimulating drug, or patent medicine. This feeling comes from a be-