"The only thing of a medicinal nature that we could find in this preparation appeared to be a small amount of senna combined with a bitters of some kind."
Proprietary "Foods" have not escaped attention from chemists. Dr. Charles Harrington, for several years secretary of Massachusetts Board of Health, was the first to publish an analysis of these preparations showing their alcoholic strength and their small nutritive content. He lists "foods" examined by him as follows:—
"Liquid Peptonoids 23.03 alcohol; maximum amount recommended will yield less than one ounce of nutriment per day, and the equivalent of 3.50 oz. of whisky. Hemapeptone 10.60 alcohol; Hemaboloids 15.81 alcohol; the maximum dose recommended yields about ¼ oz. of nutriment, and the equivalent of about 1½ oz. of whisky daily. Tonic Beef 15.58 alcohol; doses recommended yield about ½ oz. nutriment daily, and the equivalent of one ounce of whiskey. Mulford's Predigested Beef 19.72 alcohol; doses recommended yield about 1¼ oz. nutriment daily, and the alcoholic equivalent of about 6 oz. of whisky. There were "Foods" for the sick examined which were non-alcoholic, but their nutritive value was about nothing in comparison to their cost."
The Committee on Pharmacy of the American Medical Association reports on the following foods thus :—
Carpanutrine 17.3 alcohol; Liquid Peptones (Lilly & Co.) 22.0; Nutrient Wine of Beef Peptone (Armour) 21.5; Nutritive Liquid Peptone 23.0; Panopepton 18.5; Peptonic Elixir 18.8; Tonic Beef 16.1. The report on these says: "There are no fatty substances present in these products; their food value from this point of view is, therefore, nil.
A prominent physician of Philadelphia said of these "Foods" in the Journal of the A. M. A. :—
