Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-03-04


tities-not in solid opium, but in tincture-
daily ration was eight thousand drops."
Zone hundred of these drops" he adds,
would fill common teaspoon so that
his daily dose Of intellectual delirum was
about eighty teaspoons full This would
have been the common hospital dose for 800
adult patients; yet DE QUINCY lived to near
the age of seventy
The eulogy which this eccentric genius
pronounced upon opium, though but par
ody upon Sir WALTER RALEIGH's apostro-
phe to death, has been much admired: Thou
only giyest these gifts to man, and thou hast
the keys Of Paradise, oh, just subtle, and
mighty opium"
According TO the old tradition of the
Arabs there are seven heavens one above
another. The first is described as Of emer-
aid; the second fwhite silver; the third of
large white pearls; the fourth Of ruby; the
fifth Of red gold; the sixth Of yellow iacinth;
and the seventh Of sunlight Some declare
Paradise to be in the seventh Of these heav-
ems, which are each of them five hundred
journies in width. The most direct and
speedy route TO Paradise, according to the
testimony Of the opium-eaters, is by means
Of the subtle and mighty drug. In the
Orient, the opium-smoker holds bamboo
tube to his mouth, at the end of which is a
little earthern bowl filled with opium, per-
forated at the bottom, and with a coal or
two Of fire placed upon the drug. The
smoker inhales three or four whifis of this
most intoxicating narcotic. The effect is
almost immediate. He sinks gently back
ward and becomes insensible TO what is pass
ing around him. Nothing on earth, it is
said, can equal the quiet and profound en-
joyment of the opium-smoker. His eye
glistens, his features soften in their express
ion, dreamy, soft languor steals over his
senses and his soul is wrapped in bliss.
Then is felt lightness of the head, a tin
Cling in every limb, an inclination TO soar
on high, with an elasticity surprising utter
ance, and feeling Of pleasure which deep
ems into ecstacy until deep sleep succeeds.
But the sleep soon becomes disturbed and
broken, haunted by dreary phantoms, and
the wretched being awakes to a full concep-
ton of his misery. An unutterable feeling
of melancholy succeeds this pleasurable pc
riod of excitement, and the next day nausea.
headache, and tormenting thirst, make the
wretched victim curse opium as the destroy
er of his peace. But the worst horror,
which those who indulge in opium suffer- is
that Of the mind. When its use has bean so
long continued as to bring disease, the plea
surable feelings wear away, and instead of
disposing to.happiness, il fills the brain with
images of horror and disgust.
Such are the distinctive qualities of a
substance which, as has been estimated, sup
plies the most favorite stimulant of four
hundred million of people, which is con-
sumed in China alone to the value of fifty
million of dollars annually, and the enor-
nous consumption of which, in the East, no
severity of Legislation, even that denouncing
the penalty Of death, has been able to Grad
icate. because it possesses, besides its intox-
icating qualities, the invincible attraction of
the forbidden fruit.