4. On the label of a sample package sent through the mails during 1914, and on the label of a “small size” trade package purchased in 1914:
“FORMULA.—Borohydrofluoric Acid, Borosalylbenzoic Acid, Boroglycerine, Formaldehyde with Menthol, Thymol, Amyl Acetate and other Antiseptic Aromatics.”
5. In the circular which was wrapped around the sample package referred to above, and around the “large size” trade package purchased at the same time that the “small size” package was bought:
“Germiletum is a slightly alkaline chemical solution of Borobenzoic Acid, Boroglycerine Formaldehyde, with Menthol, Thymol and other Antiseptec [sic] Aromatics.”
6. On the sample package, on the “small size” trade package and on the wrappers of the “large size” trade package:
“Alcohol 18 per cent.; Formalin 3⁄4 M. per oz.; Amyl Acetate 1⁄3 M. per oz.” (also written “Acetate Amyl.”)
The label on the large trade package states that Germiletum contains “Formalin 1⁄2 M. per oz.”
One and all of these various formulas spell mystery. The existence of some of the constituents is problematic; even if the theoretical possibility of such combinations be conceded, some of them could not exist in Germiletum, for they would be broken up by the alkaline fluid. As illustrating the contradictions which the formulas present: While the wrapper of the “large size” trade package claims that Germiletum contains 3⁄4 minims Formalin (Formalin is a proprietary name for a 40 per cent. formaldehyd solution) the label on the bottle claims only 1⁄2 minim. Again, while the composition expressed in chemical symbols asserts that “H3BO3” (boric acid) is a constituent of Germiletum, the “formula” which follows it states that Germiletum has an alkaline reaction; hence it cannot contain much boric acid. Finally, the “small size” bottle of Germiletum purchased at the same time as the “large size” bottle and also the label of a sample package sent through the mails to a physician in 1914, give as a constituent “Borohydrofluoric Acid,” which is mentioned neither on the label of the “large size” trade package nor in the pamphlet wrapped around it. The only information which these contradictory “formulas” can convey to a physician is that Germiletum is an unscientific, varying mixture of many drugs.
A trade package, having the name “Germiletum” blown in the glass, bears on the label recommendations for its use in the treatment of “catarrh,” “Gastritis, Stomatitis, Gastric and Intestinal Catarrh,” “Leucorrhea and Uterine Diseases,” “Hemorrhoids,” “Whooping Cough,” “Tonsilitis and other forms of sore throat” and “Eczema.”
The following statement on the label is designed to induce physicians to place false confidence in Germiletum to the danger of their patients: