In another place we read that Phenalgin is made

Under the immediate personal supervision of the original inventor of ammoniated coal-tar products.

By comparing this last quotation—which is from a current—​1905—​advertisement—​with the preceding one it will be noticed that we are asked to believe that Phenalgin is made “under the immediate supervision of” Dr. Cyrus Edson—​and yet Dr. Cyrus Edson died Dec. 2, 1903. This is equal to Lydia Pinkham’s prescribing for the suffering women of America when the dear old soul had been dead for over twenty years.

We have before us a full-page advertisement taken from a recent number of a weekly medical journal, which possibly is meant as an answer to the announcement of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry that Phenalgin is a simple acetanilid mixture. The advertisement is divided into two parts; the first part is as follows:

Facts About Acetanilidum (Ancient History)

It has long been recognized that Acet­anil­idum and most other coal-tar pro­ducts are apt to ex­ert a de­press­ing in­flu­ence upon the heart, but there has never been any doubt about its great value as a pain re­liever and tem­pera­ture re­ducer. Its thera­peu­tic value has, how­ever, been prac­tic­al­ly nul­li­fied by the danger of cyan­osis and other evils caused by its well-known de­pres­sant action and the dif­fi­culty of ob­tain­ing it in a pure state. It being known that certain dele­teri­ous sub­stances are often to be found in Com­mer­cial Acet­anil­idum and that much of the in­jur­ious effect at­trib­uted to this drug is entirely trace­able to these impur­ities.[114]

The above are also falsehoods. The therapeutic value of acetanilid is not “practically nullified ... by the difficulty of obtaining it in a pure state.” Neither is it true that “much of the injurious effect attributed to this drug is entirely traceable to these impurities.” While deleterious substances may be found in commercial acetanilid, they are not found in the substance offered as medicinally pure acetanilid by reputable firms. Pure medicinal acetanilid is a cheap article, costing less than 30 cents a pound, for it is a substance that is easily and cheaply purified. It is a fact that the injurious effects are in the acetanilid itself and not in the impurities it may occasionally contain.

The second half of the advertisement in part is as follows:

Facts About Phenalgin (Modern Science)