As stated in the preface to the section on the Principles and practice (items 1375-1476), Osler was criticized for his therapeutic conservatism by a number of American physicians .... This caution was motivated by Osler's awareness of the lack of therapeutic value of most of the contemporary drugs ... . Yet Osler was well aware that most physicians prescibed drugs so readily because patients wanted some tangible device, usually in the form of a pill .... one can well imagine Osler's reaction when the Bell drug company pirated his portrait to promote their latest remedy!