THE ILLS OF HUMANITY.

Several examples have been encountered in previous chapters of the system of getting into personal communication with a possible customer, and addressing to him a series of letters warning him of the dire consequences should he fail to purchase the advertiser’s “treatment.” Over and beyond the chance of frightening the customer, the system, which seems to have originated in the United States of America, has the advantages that a profession can be made of adapting the treatment to the individual case, that the price may be lowered if the charge first made is considered too high and that possibly, in return for this concession, testimonials and the names of other sufferers may be obtained. A letter-writing system of this kind is found at work behind the advertisement from which the following paragraphs are extracted:

Free! Free!

To the Sick and Ailing Everywhere.

The Cure for your Disease—Delivered Free—Free for the Asking—Free to You.

To the sick—the suffering—to every man and woman victim of organic disease—local trouble or broken general health—Dr. Kidd’s offer of free treatments is given in the absolute faith and sincere belief that they can and will stop disease, cure it, and lift you up again to health and vigour....

Rheumatism, kidney trouble, Bright’s disease, diabetes, heart disease, partial paralysis, bladder troubles, stomach and bowel troubles, piles, catarrh, bronchitis, weak lungs, consumption, asthma, chronic coughs, nervousness, all female troubles, lumbago, skin diseases, scrofula, impure blood, general debility, organic vital ailments, etc., are cured to remain and continue cured....

Will you let me do this for you—will you let me prove it—brother and sister sufferers? Are you willing to trust a master physician, who not only MAKES this offer, but PUBLISHES it and then sends the test and proof of his remedies without a penny of cost to anyone except himself?...

My home office is at Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A., but for the benefit of my thousands of English patients, I have established an office in London. Please address Dr. James W. Kidd, “Box” No. ____, E.C.

The advertisement was illustrated by the portrait of a man who, it might be assumed, was the “master physician” in question, but that in a book of some hundred pages, entitled “The Ills of Humanity, by Dr. James W. Kidd, Fort Wayne, Ind.,” issued apparently by “the J. W. Kidd Co.,” there is a portrait of Dr. James W. Kidd, which seems to represent a totally different person.

The book is principally occupied with a series of paragraphs on different complaints, rather over a hundred being dealt with; in the majority of cases the description leads up to reference to Dr. Kidd’s treatment, or medicines, etc. Dr. James William Kidd, the book states, possesses a profound knowledge of medicine, a remarkable power over disease, and has “among his resources remedies that enable him to treat successfully many diseases that are generally considered incurable.” After this the fact disclosed by analysis that his remedies seem in reality sadly lacking in originality and novelty, must excite a mild surprise.

It appears that persons writing to Dr. James W. Kidd, or the J. W. Kidd Co., receive a “Self-Examination and Consultation Blank.” In one instance in which the blank was filled up, the reply was as follows:

Diagnosis and Case Record. By Dr. James W. Kidd, Fort Wayne, Ind.

For a complete description of your case, the probable results and my method of treatment, see pages 46, 99, 29, 13, 9, of the pamphlet “The Ills of Humanity,” sent you under separate cover.

I find that you are afflicted with Rheumatism, Scrofula, Catarrh, Dyspepsia and Gastritis.

Rheumatism MEANS an excess of uric acid in the blood.

Scrofula is a constitutional disease almost synonymous with tuberculosis.

Catarrh is an excreting inflammation of the mucous membrane.

Dyspepsia (Indigestion) MEANS impaired secretion of pepsin and consequent imperfect digestion.

Gastritis MEANS catarrh of the mucous membrane of the stomach.

TAKE THE REMEDIES ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS:

This was accompanied by tablets marked “A,” “B,” and “18,” three of each, four marked “45,” and five marked “7”; also by a letter which appeared to be lithographed, and although the name and address were in the same writing and the same ink, they showed evidence of having been added afterwards. It seems probable, therefore, that, although professing to be a personal letter, it was one in regular use. It stated that Dr. James W. Kidd has “to-day selected and will forward to your address upon receipt of your remittance of 1l. the complete course of treatment,” the tablets sent being only samples. The letter apologizes for the smallness of the samples on the ground that the drugs “are very expensive.” The writer adds: “I have taken special interest in your case, because I want a cured patient in your immediate vicinity.” The tablets were analysed as completely as was possible with the small quantities sent, with the following results:

Tablet A (triangular) was coloured externally with a salmon-pink dye; the outer coating was of sugar, and below this was a rather thick coating of chalk, forming a very hard and resistant covering to the tablet. The decoated tablets weighed about 3-¼ grains each; they contained 52 per cent. of sodium bicarbonate, and the remainder consisted principally of a bitter extract agreeing in all respects with extract of gentian; small quantities of potato starch and a substance of resinoid nature, which could not be identified, were also present. No other medicinal substance could be found.

Tablet B (triangular) was coloured externally with a bluish-purple dye; the coating and the material of the tablets agreed in all respects with Tablet A, and the two were apparently identical.

Tablet 18 (circular) was white; the coating was of similar composition to that of A. The decoated tablets weighed about 3·8 grains each; analysis showed the presence of about 1 grain of sodium benzoate in each, together with a small quantity of a greenish, moderately bitter resin which could not be identified, and a trace of oil of wintergreen. Faint indications were obtained of a trace of an alkaloid, but not enough to amount to positive evidence. No other medicinal substance could be found; the remainder was of “extractive” nature.

Tablet 45 (circular) was coloured externally with a pink dye; the coating was of similar composition to that of A. The decoated tablets weighed about 1·1 grain each; the chief constituent was aloes, and there was also present a very small quantity of ginger extract, and a small quantity of a resin, which was probably jalap or scammony resin; also a moderate trace of alkaloid, which was not the alkaloid of nux vomica, belladonna, or hyoscyamus, but was not present in quantity sufficient to be identified; the only other ingredient found was a little potato starch.

Tablet 7 (circular) was not coated. The average weight of these was 6·5 grains each, and they consisted principally of charcoal, with some sugar and a very little saccharin.

“These special remedies are very expensive!”