The subject of patent medicines is but little understood by the general public. Any medicine, the composition of which is kept secret, but which is advertised on the label for the cure of diseases, must in Great Britain bear a patent medicine stamp equal to about one-ninth of its face value.
Other industrial establishments of importance include petroleum refineries, ship-yards, brick, stone and lime works, saddlery and harness factories, lithographing establishments, patent medicine works, chemical works, and copper smelters and refineries.
The government accepts all the therein published formulae as " known, admitted and approved " remedies, and therefore not requiring a patent medicine stamp. In this way widely advertised secret remedies can be replaced by medicines of known composition and accepted value in any part of the world.
