Nostrums and quackery : articles on the nostrum evil and quackery reprinted from the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Date:
[1911]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Nostrums and quackery : articles on the nostrum evil and quackery reprinted from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    186/522 (page 182)
    With the erection of these excellent civic improvements, attention was attracted to the two brothers who were thiis demonstrating their faith in San Francisco, no less tlian their business acumen, by these very considerable investments from the proceeds of the well-cultivated “idea.” They nOon became prominently identified with various commercial activities. One of them was urged to become a director or trustee of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and did so, retaining that connection, by request of the association, up to the present time. The other brother, we have been informed, has so impressed the financial element of the community with his most remarkable abilities as a financier and his excellent judg- ment in the selection of investments, that he was offered a large honorarium to give a few hours of his time as adviser to the management of one of the large banking institutions of the city, but could not spare the time from his own affairs. The commercial sagacity which saw the value of the “idea” and its development along original lines, and which intrepidly had its beginning with an extremely small capital, has been justified a thousand fold and has added to the city many large and magnificent buildings. The real estate and commercial activities of these brothers must have been conducted with scrupulous probity, for they have the confidence of the moneyed interests and none is so keen to detect dishonest practices as the successful business man. THE viAvi “idea” Let us see whence came this stream of gold, pouring from tlie original “idea,” broadening and deepening until it has become a river of gold, capable of conversion into palatial buildings and holdings valued at millions. The “idea” found its material existence in what is known to the promoters as “the Viavi treatment,” and in its essence is so simple as to pass recognition. After reading all the Viavi literature hereafter referred to, and after statements made to us by Dr. Law, in our opinion the merit of the “treatment” consists in the well-known principle of the vaginal douche. To be sure, the real “idea,” the douche, is masked about and hidden under “Viavi capsules” and “Viavi cerate,” and “Viavi royal,” and almost innumerable other “Viavi” stuff with cura- tive powers apparently unlimited, as appears from the state- ments of the promoters hereafter set forth. Other things were cultivated as the territory enlarged under the brilliant man- agement of the promoters, but the original source of the golden stream seems to be the vaginal douche. It is a well-known fact that women seem to have the sinau- lar and rather unhealthy idea that the sexual organs should be ignored as something “low,” “vulgar” or “indecent.” IMost of them do not keep these ])ortions of the anatomy, which are Few mothers teach their daugh- ]>eculiar to tliemselves, clean.