But while the manufacturers in their advertising matter have on the whole not disguised the presence of chloral so much as they have attempted to make it appear that the chloral has been robbed of its dangers—for all hypnotics if used thoughtlessly are dangerous—after all the name has created the false impression that Bromidia is a bromid preparation. It is because of this false impression carried by its name, that Bromidia came to be used indiscriminately by the profession and in the course of time still more indiscriminately and recklessly by the public. Bromidia is a vicious chloral preparation masquerading under a misleading name. That physicians have been impressed by the claims of its harmlessness and by the mystery connected with the formula is not a credit to the intelligence of our profession. There is no doubt but that physicians are responsible for the use and abuse of this chloral preparation by the public.
There is no scientific or rational excuse for a ready-made preparation of this sort. When chloral or a bromid is indicated the proper dose of each of these, if they are to be combined, should be determined for each patient. Potassium bromid and chloral hydrate both are readily soluble in water, syrup or elixirs and it is a simple matter to prescribe the required dose of chloral and of bromid dissolved in some aromatic water like cinnamon-water (Aqua Cinnamomi), in some syrup like syrup of orange (Syrupus Aurantii) or in an elixir like the aromatic elixir (Elixir Aromaticum) or adjuvant elixir (Elixir Adjuvans). If this mixture is prescribed thus the physician is alive, alike to the dangers and the limitations of the drugs; if it is prescribed under a misleading proprietary name, the physician endangers his patient, stultifies his profession and tends to perpetuate the great American fraud.
[Editor’s Note.—A list of some of the medical journals that advertise Bromidia:
| Texas Medical News | Southern Practitioner |
| Nashville Journal of Medicine & Surgery | New Orleans Medical & Surgical Journal |
| Medical Brief | Therapeutic Gazette |
| Annals of Surgery | Medical Herald |
| Charlotte Medical Journal | Medical Times |
| Medical Sentinel | Texas Medical Journal |
| Memphis Medical Monthly | Wisconsin Medical Recorder |
| Laryngoscope | International Journal of Surgery |
| Medical World | Vermont Medical Monthly |
| Medical Review of Reviews | Atlanta Journal-Record of Medicine |
| Louisville Monthly Journal | St. Paul Medical Journal |
| Indianapolis Medical Journal | Hospital Bulletin of the University of Maryland |
| Monthly Cyclopedia & Medical Bulletin | Denver Medical Times |
| Journal of Nervous & Mental Diseases | Buffalo Medical Journal |
| Maryland Medical Journal | Medical Review |
| Merck’s Archives | Ellingwood’s Therapeutist |
| Iowa Medical Journal | Eclectic Medical Journal |
| Medical Standard | Massachusetts Medical Journal] |
| —(From The Journal A. M. A., May 16, 1914.) |
CACTUS GRANDIFLORUS
Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry [H]
The Council voted that cactus grandiflorus should not be accepted for New and Nonofficial Remedies, and that a statement be prepared for The Journal giving the reasons for this action. Accordingly the following report has been adopted by the Council and its publication authorized.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary.