OCR Text |
Show Alcohol Iri Pe-ra-na An Unjust Criticism i,,. .... . ... S. B. HAR i "MAN, M. D. Having a little business In one of the federal offices of the city, after it was finished I fell in conversation with the official in charge concerning Pe-rvma. Pe-rvma. I mention his business to show tha- the conversation was conducted -with a man of more than ordinary intelligence, in-telligence, being a employe of the government gov-ernment who had passed through several sev-eral civil itervlce examinations. He said to me, not knowing who I was: "I think a er'St deal of this patent rr.ediine business ought to be stopped. Especially such remedies as Peruna. Peruna. as you know, is a stimulant smd conuloa eighteen or twenty per cent, of ale. hoi. People take it without knowing tviia' it is, end such remedies ought to be p.-ohibited by law. My own mother tocU Peruna once. She had cough, night sweats, was growing emaciated and we-.k. Several doctors .examined her. The orinion was expressed ex-pressed several times lhat she was Agoing Into consumption. One thougnt it was chronic bronchitis. At any rate, Iher condition was quite serious. Ehe was unable to get any relief from t!-e doctors doc-tors she consulted, although she took their medicines faithfully for nean a year. Rome one told hef about Peruir.i. and against my wish and against the wishes of our family, she began taking it At ortoe she improved, and in less thn six month she apparently was -vli We did all WC could to discour-mge discour-mge Her in taking Peruna, but she persisted. per-sisted. It finally came out in me magazines mag-azines tltat Peruna contained alcohol. Then we knew at once what it was tthai benefited my mo' her. it was s.m-jply s.m-jply the alcohol that Peruna contained. We had the laugh on mother. Vv'e have iMOt c-ased to make fun of h.-r yet about ii,er ! Ing cured with a dilution oi alcor -...i i .seems to be embarrssea by our teasing her, but is very stubborn-She stubborn-She says that if she were to be sick in the same way again she would certainly cer-tainly get Peruna and take it, alcohol or no alcohol. So you see if people will persist in such foolishness there ought to be a law to prevent them." I ventured to interpose a question. "You say the doctors could not cure her, and yet you say Peruna did cure her. what difference does it make to you whether It was alcohol or some other druff that effected the cure?" "Well, I don't know that It makes any difference, but It is deceiving the people to give them alcohol even though It does cure them," he said. I I replied. "Why, I cannot ex-1 actly understand that. Alcohol is a drug, the same as quinine qui-nine or morphin. If alcohol cures certain diseases where is the deception? I understand that the Peruna people print on the label of each bottle the per cent of alcohol contained In Peruna. Peru-na. Each patient may read it, if he pleases. I cannot see where there is any deception." , "Well, I would not take Peruna," I he persisted. "Now, I was sick, I had a stomach disease. A violent pain, that would come on about an hour or two after each meal. It grew worse and worse. I was also constipated. I consulted con-sulted several doctors in our city about my health. I went to see a prominent specialist In New York City, paid out a great deal of money, but no help. One time I was having a bad spell on the train. The gentleman who occupied the next seat was a retired physician with whom I had been acquainted. He said to me, 'My friend, If you want to get well I would advise you to take a glass of lager beer before each meal. I think that will cure you.' Having followed fol-lowed the directions of several good physicians without any assistance, I thought I would try the beer. In a very short time I found it was helping me, and I got entirely well. My bowels became regular and I had no more pain. No more distress after meals. Now, if my mother had used some remedy like that It would be all right, af-ut to persist in using some secret remedy like Peruna, I think it is outrageous." out-rageous." Again I ventured to ask some questions. ques-tions. I asked: "What do you suppose sup-pose it was In the lager beer that effected ef-fected the cure?" "Why, I presnme it was the stimulant it contained. Yes, no doubt it was the atirrrakint." "Von know, of course, that the stimulant stim-ulant in beer is alcohol, the same as in wine or whiskey or any other alcoholic alco-holic drink?" "Yes. I have heard say that beer contains con-tains about five per cent, of alcohol. . "That is correct," I replied. "You took a bottl of beer before each meal, diil vou?" "Yes." "In doing so you were drinking a pint of a five per cent, solution of alcohol." "Yes, I suppose so." "Five per cent would be one-twen tieth. As each pint contains sixteei ounces you were then taking a little lef than an ounce of alcohol before eac. meal." "Yes." "But you objected to your mother" taking alcohol in the Peruna, and yet she was talcing far less alcohol than you were. As I understand it, the dose ol Peruna is one tablespoonful. Supposing it to be twenty per cent, alcohol, there would be in each dose one-fifth of a tablespoonful of alcohol, which would bo about half a teaspoonful, while you were taking at least four teaspoonfuls of alcohol in your bottle of beer. And yet you objected to your mother's taking tak-ing Peruna on the ground that the Peruna Pe-runa contains alcohol. In my opinion It was the alcohol that cured both of you. Your mother evidently was cured of a very serious ailment. Peruna contains con-tains alcohol. It was undoubtedly the alcohol that cured her, or at least helped to. The other ingredients of Peruna might have assisted, no doubt did. In your case it was the alcohol in the beer that cured you of the stomach stom-ach difficulty. Peruna has cured thousands of such cases." "Well, I declare," he replied, "I never thought of it in that way before. There has been bo much said about alcohol al-cohol being poisonous that I suppose my mind has been prejudiced against it But if as you say there is also alcohol in beer, the same kind of alcohol alco-hol as is used in Peruna, I cannot see where the difference is myself." "Well," I replied, "you have been doing exactly what the average man and woman is doing. You have allowed al-lowed your mind to become prejudiced against Parana on account of its containing con-taining alcohol. Without stopping to look into the matter at all you have assumed that there is something terribly terri-bly disreputable about remedies containing con-taining alcohol. The fact is,, however, that most all fluid medicines, whether prescribed by a doctor or ptt up as a patent medicine, contain a certain amount of alcohol. It was alcohol that cured your mother. It was alcohol that cured you. In my opinion, alcohol in some form or other is making more cures than all other drugs combined. This is not saying, however, that Peruna Pe-runa contains only alcohol, for it does contain excellent remedies besides alcohol. al-cohol. But I do contend that the alcohol alco-hol in Peruna is not only not harmful to those who take it, but if taken in the doses prescribed on the bottle it will do a great deal of good and there is not the slightest danger of forming a drug habit." PERUNA IS FOR SALE at '"All drug stores. SPECIAL NOTICE Many persons are making inquiries for the old-ttme old-ttme Peruna. To such would say, this formula Is now put ot under the name of KA-TAR-NO, manufactured by KA-TAR-NO Company, Columbus, Ohio. Write them and tkty will be pleased to send you a tn booklet. |