BAUME ANALGESIQUE BENGUE
A physician writes asking for the formula of Baume Analgésique Bengué. This product is another of the “patent-medicine”–“ethical-proprietary” type of nostrums. In Great Britain, it is advertised to the public as “A Wonderful Remedy for Rheumatism, Gout, Neuralgia.” In this country, the exploiters find that space in cheap medical journals, reinforced by the aid of undiscriminating physicians, is a cheaper method of getting the stuff to the public. According to the statements of the manufacturers, Bengué’s Analgesic Balm contains “menthol, salicylate of methyl and lanolin.” When analyzed by the chemists of the British Medical Association, it was reported to have the following composition:
| Menthol | 18 | per cent. |
| Methyl salicylate | 20 | per cent. |
| Lanolin, anhydrous | 54 | per cent. |
| A fat, apparently lard | 8 | per cent. |
The estimated cost of the ingredients of a 50-cent tube of Bengué’s Analgesic Balm, according to the British chemists, is 21⁄2 cents. Evidently this imposingly named product is practically a lanolin ointment containing oil of wintergreen and menthol. Similar products are catalogued by various pharmaceutical houses under various names and with varying degrees of frankness concerning their composition. Two firms give the medical profession full details regarding the composition of their products: The H. K. Mulford Company, who sell it under the name “Methyl Salicylate Ointment,” and the Pitman-Myers Co., who name their product “Anodyne Balm, P-M Co.” Some other firms are not so frank. Parke, Davis & Co., for instance, sell “a combination of methyl salicylate and menthol with a lanolin base” under the name “Analgesic Balm,” but do not give the quantities of the ingredients; Frederick Stearns & Co. sell “Analgesic Cream, Stearns” without giving the quantities; Nelson Baker & Co. sell “Anti-Neuralgic Ointment,” and no quantities are given.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Dec. 14, 1912.)
ANTIDIABETICUM—BAUER
In Germany the makers of nostrums, their methods and their products are systematically exposed by the Society for the Suppression of Quackery (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung des Kurpfuschertums) through its publication, the Geseundheitslehrer, under the aggressive editorship of Dr. Kantor.
Ludwig Bauer,[104] the manufacturer of “Antidiabeticum,” inserted advertisements in daily papers asserting that for his “humanitarian efforts” the society “Opera Educativa pacifica” in Rome had granted him a diploma and placed his publications in the celebrated “Bibliotheca Marciazzi.” Dr. Kantor, editor of the Gesundheitslehrer, declared that, according to information received from the German Consulate in Rome, no such society existed there, and the library referred to probably was the Bibliotheca Marciana in Florence, which, like other public libraries, accepts all donations without critical examination. To offset these exposures, the promoter of Antidiabeticum published advertisements libeling Dr. Kantor and attacking the Society for Suppression of Quackery. This resulted in suits and counter-suits for libel between Dr. Kantor and the directors of the antiquackery society on the one side and the promoter of Antidiabeticum on the other. As a result of the recent combined trial, the court declared that Dr. Kantor’s charges had been substantiated and the manufacturer of Antidiabeticum was fined 600 marks or forty days’ imprisonment, while apparently on purely technical grounds Dr. Kantor was fined 50 marks or five days’ imprisonment. The costs were divided between Bauer and Dr. Kantor in the proportion of 11 to 1. As Bauer in the course of the trial made further libelous charges, Dr. Kantor has lately started new proceedings against Bauer. The incessant persecution of Dr. Kantor was described in an editorial in The Journal, May 20, 1911, p. 1486.
The persecution of Dr. Kantor previously described shows no signs of abatement nor has Dr. Kantor given evidence of loss of courage. Some of the German medical societies have subscribed for the Gesundheitslehrer for each of their members. It is written in popular style for the masses and is a sharp and effective weapon for the campaign against quackery.—(From The Journal A. M. A., April 27, 1912.)