The New York herald., 1869-07-14
THE OPIUM EATERS OF NEW YORK.

American Use-Drusgisfs ana thc statote'
The Arab to his hashish. The Afghan 10 MS
sherbet The German TO his lager, mock ana tooac-
60 The bohemian to his arsenic. The Partisan to
his absn he to which, by the way. and not to the use
of tobacco, the eminent DR.. Hammond late Surgeon
General in q late number Of the North american
Rerear attributes the increase OF insanity in france.
Again. the mummy, as New Yovkers term the cigar
vending Celestias OF City Hall square, to his opium
smoking; so also the Turk. The En9lishman TO his
audanum. De Quincy insists there Is nothing Ike
IT, though there are those who aver that DE quincy
knew nothing about the matter practically, or. at
least less did his friend Coleridge. Again, the
American TO MS m0rphia, or his laudanum or MS
opium eixIr-for the American Is catholic IN his pa
tronage and often tries new forms OF Old essences.
Some years since an attempt was made to intro
duce hashsh into this country. literary BOhe-
man wrote it up enthusiastically. second author
wrote book on the subject. The book out OF print;
so is the subject Then came the mania for arsenic,
limited mostly to women and supposed to improve
the complexion, which might have been termed
taking complexion internally. The arsenic man Ia
Is out of jont now; 1t found less troublesome to
get enameled. Arsenic was not sure as to the de-
yeoping Of the porcelain in appearance. Enamel
effects that deslderatum, With more expense to be
sure, but with more certainty Also Besides, enamel
ling ls so easy, and the process with arsenic is
tedious. Morphia mpaIts an intellectual palor-a
languor OF appearance. Some people would insist,
perhaps, that the palor ought 10 be considered as
cadaverous; but in point of paor there Is no special
difference between the cadayerous and the intellec
tua. To be intellectually pald II Is only necessary TO
look and benave Ike corpse under tle influence OF
internal gavanlc battery So let the topic be dis
missed with q wave OF the hand, as Mr.. Pecksnif
used TO dismiss the admlrlng and confdng Tom, or
- haN nrstp
sure that the patent was dead.
A les DlOut0Rs, Diogenes Is reputed TO have
SAID to the muttons of the There is
difficulty in collecting the statistics OF the
use OF opium. Druggists reticent for legal
reasons; one is not compelled III law to crmi
nate one's self. Takers OF the drug are reticent
for personal reasons ones personal affairs are ones
personal affairs. That the use OF the article Is on
the increase-uangerously so-is generally agreed,
and for this increase there several reasons. In
numerous cases the habit is first formed by means
Of It's injudicious prescription on the part OF the
family physician. dozen instances OF this sort
nave perhaps come under the observation of every
person OF extensive acquaintance Stmulants and
narcotics are just now the hobbies OF the fashion
able practitioner. In the former case he beiuddes
his patient III the latter he soolnes ana the fashion
able practitioner to have idea ineprety
OF some Kind Is exceedingly recuperauve to the
nervous system. Stnulants, tones and mar
cotlcs, in fact, just now form the trinity Of
medical practice. IL you are deollitated, Bour-
bon II feverish, sulphate OF quinla. Ii nervous
morphla. II debitated feverlsn and nervous all AT
once then you take diet OF tue three III combina-
tlon: but by all means you take one OF them If 1t
Causes the mortal coil to be shueu OF within the next
twenty-Iour hours. The thing is done properly and
by prescription and, OF course the coroner Is sas.
ned with that. THIS cause.-The frequent and rather
random prescription OF the opiate-ls one OF tie
most prolific iormalves OF the habit. The cause Is
DUE perhaps, TO a very general prevalence OF ner-
vous diseases among American men and 10 the lacs
tnat morphia Is one OF the easiest paatlves that
can be prescribed. The statistics OF Bellevue Hos
ptal exhibit yearly long catalogue or cases
treated for the opium habit, and one or two in
winch The consumption OF laudanum has attained
The maximum OF q pint a day-eqaal to sixteen
ounces OF the purple liquid. Numerous cases
in which the patient mas been addicted 70 a Gill IA
day recorded AT Bellevue, though the cases at
Bellevue form really only small percentage OF the
aggregate There is IN fact, now resident In the
sixteenth ward and buying Al certain drug store
on Sixth avenue, an old man OF seventy,
who for ten years has averaged fifteen grains
OF morphia per day, and mas been an opium eater
for twenty-five years. sea captain by profession,
and in early years engaged In the East Indian trade,
this gentleman contracted the habit TO begin with,
by tasting raw opium aud now takes quantity equal
TO thirty doses per day Tor healthy adult without
apparent inconvenience, OF course the Old man Will
drop or and be pgeonholed, after the manner OF
tue last sad pgeonnoling OF humanity, one OF these
days and, OF course the verdict OF the coroner Will
be-died OF Old age; for 1t can hardly be SAID,
in this case, that opium has very greatly shortened
the old mans days, II. indeed, the drug may be
accused OF having cut him or Of any.
Another worth mention In the Ninth ward Is
that OF a washerwoman VINO for ten years has been
In the habit OF scruopng out a certain drug store
for an allowance or an ounce OF laudanum day;
thus for ten years taking value received for services
In the shape OF the lqui1ed papaver. She Is a
thin, wlry, watery-eyed, attenuated old woman,
with Gil the appearance Of having been subjected to
process OF desiccation, and looks what sue H. an
opium hdbitue OF the first water,
A third case worth mention Is one directly tracea-
BILE TO medical prescription. In this case morphia
was prescribed Tor nervousness-the patient speedily
developing the mania TO twelve grains per day. An
effort was made to substitute brandy for opium and
the patient was kept In state Of deadly drunken
ness for days but all to no purpose. Recovering
from the brandy the drug was again resorted TO.
At last arrangements were made TOR the removal OF
the poor creature TO an asylum for the insane-the
examining hysician OF the asylum protesting, how
ever, that the patient would die If the use Of the
drug were to be cut OIL, and in the course OF delay
or three weeks the decease occurred from an at
tempted reduction OF the dose. Dozens OF these
Instances IN which the formation OF the habit has
been due to inJudiclous prescriptions might be men,
uoned-thougn generally the certificate or the attend
ing physician has secured burial without inquest
and friends, tue work having been done and being
undoable, pave been willing to keep the matter
quiet. II Is but just TO remark, however that their
occurrence has had the effect TO render the proes
sion more cautious; and thus the poor patients
have died in manner vlcarousy, their death serv-
ing to induce caution In other cases.
The habit once formed there Is nodiniculty in pro-
curing the drug even without prescription or medl
cal order. There Is scarcely drug store In this city
which has not It's score or TWO or opium customers;
and some Of them sell more without a prescription
or order than with either. The argument Is, the
law Is absurd; the customer can find enough phy-
scldns Wiling 10 write an order Tor small fee; II,
therefore, II Is not given without order il ia only
putting the ha6tue to extra trouble the conclusion
being that the seller is only legally and not morally
culpable. "If man wishes TO commit suicide with
morpha,n argues the druggist, ''my Withholding the
drug Till he brings an order VIII not prevent il: and
besides should Withhold he viii probably procure
II elsewhere, where the statute less stringently
Observed This Is the reasoning OF the vender m
point OF substance and II cannot be denied that it
has some pausbility about 1t, though, plausible or
otherwise, the fact remains that there is not a
drug store IN TINS city where customer cannot
procure the drug by asking for 1t. In TACT,
the druggists are not more than one In
four on the average who will not vend
TO total stranger without medical order as soon
they VIII 10 a regular customer OF the store. In
the majority OF cases even the name ana residence
Of the buying party are not registered, and IN many
cases IL Is not even naoitual with the druggist TO
label the bottle containing the audanum other than
with the word POISON the name Of the firm and
the definition OF the drug being omitted for pruden-
tal reasons. II morphia s called for 1t Is put mp
and enyeioped In PLAN envelope, with the simple
hall query "Iou know what this Is, or course - and
provided there II nothing 10 criminae the druggist
" YnaU "A.