Typical of Bell-ans advertisements as appearing in medical journals.
A recently purchased package of Bell-ans contained a circular in which it was stated that Bell-ans removes flatulence, vertigo, weakness and other symptoms of indigestion quickly and pleasantly; that it aids the digestion of food and tends to restore the digestive tract to a normal condition; that it relieves vomiting in pregnancy, alcoholism, seasickness and cholera morbus, besides being pleasant, harmless and effective for colic, sour stomach, feverishness, and wakefulness of infants and children. The circular contained paragraphs purporting to be taken from various medical journals, including the New York Medical Journal, Wisconsin Medical Recorder, the Lancet Clinic, International Journal of Surgery, and Massachusetts Medical Journal. No exact references were given to permit verification or to determine whether or not the quotations were from “reading notices” (advertisements) or from the scientific part of the journals in question. To quote one of the statements given:
“The results from the use of Bell-ans (Pa-Pay-ans Bell) in the treatment of indigestion are so prompt and so generally good—and the evidence of this fact is accumulating so rapidly and from such reliable sources—that we venture to suggest to our readers who have not tried this remedy that they prescribe one original sealed package of Bell-ans (Pa-pay-ans Bell) and that they carefully note the results from its use.
“We suggest an original sealed package because the preparation is widely and badly imitated, and unless such a package is specified an imitation of little value may be substituted and the experiment be thus rendered useless.”
It is possible that Bell-ans has been imitated, but it is not true that it is widely imitated, for no such imitation has ever been called to our attention, and we strongly suspect that the main reason for desiring that an original package be dispensed is that the patient may see for himself the name BELL-ANS plainly blown in the glass.
The circular in question states that there is no derangement of the digestive organs on which the proper dose of Bell-ans will not act quickly and pleasantly! These are samples of the claims made for Bell-ans. Let us inquire into the nature of the conditions for which the preparation is recommended and the treatment advised by well known clinicians.
The subject of indigestion is discussed by Robert Hutchison and Robert Saundby under the general title of dyspepsia in the “Index of Treatment by Various Writers,” Edition 6, 1912, pp. 260–265. Hutchison says: “In the first place it must be remembered that in many patients who complain of ‘indigestion’ the seat of the trouble is not in the stomach at all.”
Newspaper advertisement of Bell-ans, capitalizing the statements of physicians.