The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 1 of 2

by Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry

“It supplies complete nutrition to the patient.”

“Bovinine contains all the elements of the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms for the production of new blood with great rapidity. Its principal constituents have been selected with a view to furnish the largest amount of nutriment in the most condensed form and all the resources of modern chemical analysis have been brought to bear on this important problem.”

A series of experiments carried out with dogs under anesthesia, by injecting Bovinine into the stomach, the pyloric end of which was ligated, shows that Bovinine is not readily absorbed and assimilated by the stomach as claimed. The amount of protein material found in the stomach at the end of one-half hour to one hour and a quarter was practically equal to the amount introduced by the Bovinine.

It is also represented that Bovinine is of great service in case of an irritable stomach. This is not borne out by experiment. Bovinine fed to dogs by the mouth, either alone or mixed with food, induced vomiting, which was less marked when Bovinine was given with the regular diet. An examination of the urine of these animals showed a marked diminution of the amount of indican, while the ethereal sulphates were enormously increased, both absolutely and relatively, when Bovinine was given. Experiments on rabbits have shown that Bovinine injected into the peritoneal cavity was invariably followed by large quantities of albumin in the urine, which persisted for from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Thirty to 50 c.c. per kilo given by mouth daily caused emaciation and weakness; in some cases, irritation of the gastro-intestinal canal, with death of the animal in from seven to twelve days.

CARNINE

Carnine is a French preparation imported into the United States by Fougera & Co., of New York City. In physical appearance it looks like highly concentrated food, but analysis shows that it consists of a small proportion of defibrinated blood dissolved in a mixture of syrup and glycerol, the whole agreeably flavored. It is represented as a “juice of rare meat, prepared by cold process. Each tablespoonful represents 100 gm. of raw meat, or 3¹⁄₂ ounces.” It is clear that Carnine is not a meat juice in any sense of the word.

VALENTINE’S MEAT JUICE

Valentine’s Meat Juice resembles in physical appearance taste, odor and by chemical analysis a diluted meat extract. The nutritive value of meat extracts is virtually nil, as is well known by the medical profession. Notwithstanding the composition of Valentine’s Meat Juice and the fact that beef extract represents little nutritive value, the manufacturer makes the following misleading representations:

“The two-ounce oval bottle, adopted for the Meat Juice contains the concentrated juice of four pounds of the best beef, exclusive of fat; or the condensed essence of one and a half pints of pure liquid juice which is obtained from the flesh of beef.”