Tyrant Morphine

Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about opium and the evils resulting from its indiscriminate use, tbe babit still prevails, especially among wonien, to the extont that may be said to threaten the very foundations of our social system. Begun in many instances by the family physician who administers a hypodermic injection of luorphine (one of the most insidious forms of opium) to allay some acute or chronie pain, the patiënt is captivated by its medicinal effects. The feeling of cxhilaration and freedom from suffering that follows its introduction into the svstem is so great that the dose will be repeated again and again. Soon only a very slight pretext is needed, until at last the habit is formed and the victim of the syringe will resort to any means to procure what now becomes necessary to her very oxistence. Should the physician discover the danger and decline to indulge the fancy of the victim, she will procure a hypodermic syringe and administerthe doses herself. 'T have known," said a Brooklyn physician, "a lady whose whole side was a mass of sores from hypodermic injections of morphine." Dr. Skene, of Brooklvn, in speaking of morphine, said: "lts effect is the same whatever the way it is administered. Hypodermic injections, however, are more prompt in their action; henee more exhilarating and fuscinating to the patiënt. In acute and chronie diseases there are opium-eaters who are so in a sort of legitímate way, but that physicians should bo exceedingly careful in the use of the drug is a point that is urged in all lectures touching on opium in its various phases. Morphine is the aueen of cerebral stimulants when given in the proper quantities. It diflfers in one important respect from alcohol - the more you take of it the more your system can endure. A man can et drunk on the same quantity of liquor without increasing it, but with opium he would require more each time. It is this peculiarity which makes it so dangerous. Half a grain has proved fatal, yet some opium eaters have gone as high as twenty to thirty grains in a day. Morphine should never be used hypodermically except In cases where the pain is so seTCIO Lililí lb ia doccodaij to giro Ho p tient immediate relief, or where the stomach refuses to retain anything. it in a fatal and painful disease, where the patiënt takes opium of necessity, but prefers it hypodermically, and the doctor indulges the fancy, it is all right. But where recovery is possible a hypodermic injection should never be used. One important point in the morphine habit is that victims will go to any extreme to procure the drug and they lose all moral sense of right or wrong when it touches that subject." "This fact is well illustrated in the folio wi ng case," said another physician : "A lady in a distant city, connected with one of the oldest and best families in this country, was suffering from a disett.se which her physiclan could not, or at least did not, cure, but gave her morphine to keep her comfortable. The habit grew until she took eight to tea grains a day. Her friends nnally sent her to me, and affer relieving her of her trouble I began the procesa of ouring the opium habit. At laat she became, as we both thought, entirely cured, but soon a slight cravlng for it reappeared and grew until, nnknown to me, she succeeded in getting a supply, and was soon as bad as ever. The supply was cut off, the desire was successfúlly combated; and a year passed without her touching itorexperiencing any desire for it. One day she called with a little bronchitis, I gave her a prescription in which was a little paregoric. This she called for again and again, taking larger doses each time, until she was on the verge of re-establishinjr the old habit. I discovered this. forbade the use of the medicine, and ahe again recorered. A year or two afterward, when I had almost forgotten her, she came to me with a sprained joint. I gave her a liniment containing a small quantity of opium. When she discorered this she immediately began taking the liniment intemally, and again the thirst for the drug was awakened. This was detected, and when I upbraided her for deceiring me she said that I was as much in the wrong as she was for giving her such a liniment. On all other pointf she was honest and truthftil, but in this particular respect she would do anything to sret the dra? she loved so much." "Morphine, said Dr. rancia Quinlan, of tki city, "is aa alkuloid of opium, and the one most extensively used. The preparation used is a Majcndie solutioa oontaining sixteen erains to an crance of water. Thé dose is about eren drops, and the effects laat from two to threo hours. Administered hypodermically, its effects are feit at once, and is conseqttontly more sougbt after bv opium nsers. lts effect is terrible. The victims lose all scnse of right or wrong, and will steal to procure it. One of my patients, an English lady, wife of a prominent engineer, living in an up-town flat, had a gyringe of her own. She broke the needie, and I was called in to give her a hypodermic injection. I found her dull, torpid nd nerrelesa, and prepared my syrlnge, when she said: 'Excuse me, doctor, but I will take it myelf.1 Tbinking it a matter of delicacy I acqniesced, and ahe retired. She returned in a few minutes as active as possible, her eye bright and her manner as animated as ever. She was 'so sorry she had broken my necdle.' She had stolen it, and put her own broken one in my case. Her husband carne next day with a new one, but of oourse I refused to receive it The habit is afrlgtotful curse," sadly ended the doctor, "and aumbers some of our most briiliant society ladies auiong its ¦rictims."- N. Y. Tüegram. Cliicnfro isbecomint; a fashlonable place for briUal eoupl lo go to. After enting tiie CliicHgo bread, a man can put up with almot nnythlnt; short of frozen rocks.-