The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

THE HEALTH BULLETIN. 161mysterious looking, highly polishedapparatus, surrounded with highsoundingwords unknown to science orthe dictionary writers, and especiallywhen reinforced by a lot of testimonialsfrom users, many of them prominentpeople, who report marvelous cures.Cures and Testimonials.This brings up another interestingphase of this and many similar patentmedicine frauds, the cures and testimonials.Some one says, "If it is afake, what about all those cures andtestimonials?" That is easy. Did youever stop to consider that at leastninety-five per cent of all the aches andpains and sickness that you or anyoneelseever had, or thought you had, gotwell? You never had a headache ora toothache that didn't get well, if yougave it time enough. And what'smore, you never will have but one fatalcase of sickness, and after that is overthere will be no testimonial forthcoming.This gives a very wido margin ofills and near ills that get well fromnatural causco, frequently even inspite of patent medicines, Oxypathorsor old tin cans and shoestrings; andthis wide margin is where the Oxypthor and similar industries flourish.Take a case where some one has $35worth of faith in an Oxypathor (that'ssome faith these days), and buys one.Now, if that person has enough faithin a piece of gas pipe to spend$35 for it, it goes without saying thathe believes it is going to cure himof whatever he has or thinks he has.Otherwise he would not have boughtIt. To be sure, in 95 cases out of 100he gets well, and such a person wouldnot be true to himself if he did notdeclare that it was the Oxypathor thatcured him. For such people the Oxypathoris simply a high-priced faithcure, but it is not so advertised. Thenegro who cannot afford an Oxypathoruses a rabbit's foot to equal advantage,and some people use buckeyes,but no one has capitalized or has amonopoly on rabbits' feet or buckeyes.But does that prove that the Oxypathorcured this person? Whatabout the thousand and one naturalcauses? What about people, perhapsthis very person himself, who recoveredfrom this same trouble threeyears ago, before the advent of thismarvelous instrument? We defy anyoneto prove, in all the advertised curesand testimonials, that a single curewas in any manner whatsoever dueto any action of the Oxypathor. Thefact that the Oxypathor has beenpalmed off on people that are verysusceptible to mental suggestion isshown in the fact that since the exposur) of the fraud people who used themhave confided to the writer, "I did thinkit helped me, but since I found outwhat it is, it doesn't do me a bit ofgood." Was it Barnum who said, "TheAmerican people like to be humbugged"?Now, let us be serious just a momentand look at this testimonialbusiness from a common-sense viewpoint.How about your family physician?When he treats you, does hecome around after you get well andask you for a testimonial? Whatwould you think of him if he did?How about your preacher? Does headvertise in the newspapers or publisha pamphlet telling what nicethings his other congregations saidabout his preaching? Does your dentistor lawyer have to drum up tradeby means of testimonials? Whatwould you think of them if they did?Did any really great invention or discoveryhave to resort to such meansyear after year to make the publicaccept it? If the Oxypathor reallywere such a good thing as it is saidto be, don't you think everybody would