New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-12-09
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
op,rM AND TnR OPIUM HABIT By A'Osio cAlklS'' NJ D
12no, rp $50 JB Lppipc0't Co.

Tho s,,,S;iect OF narcotic stimulation III a., s !
ny -, health Intellectual action, pasSiona' de-
,.,1ort and human Longevity j. ut"''' IN this
Time which though eccentric III S.9" ana Illus
,tiop. has accumulated an eNt'usN collection
- rs opd examples, many of W aich are Of a
DovG character and serve TO Lresent the sub
t.c, before the public IN ~ impressive light.
sccordinc 10 the writer, the ppry in early use in
crock and Roman antiquity Cybele represented on
,be OH monuments with wreath of peoples her head
Tho Romans regarded ;he plant gift Of Ceres ana
often used Il as symbol Of night and sleep OPIUM was
er introduced 20 tie notice Of Europeans by PoraesS
about two hundred years ago. Although the gum
a. hold in the highest rcpute throughout EUROPE
for us medicinal virtues. it is little known a.
narcotic except I'm England and Pans Ensi". -
consumes more than France and Germany anu 80, -,
rsl, altogether The chief consumption Is IN 'ne laIbo
manufacturing ceuters, sheffield Manchester D"iiHe
han Preston Nottineham which comprise an aggregate
OF nearly millions Tue drug Is s''' u an
enorrpou amount I'm those places, one snop alone supply
olaulsuum NJ the rate Of one diacAm TO een hunu
- ,,.r.ors for every day in the year. In THIS
,o,,rfr,. opiuu-catiug, national hadn't, may
80 n iat, from about the year 1870 Since that time
an, rorafion has increased from 2ioo0 pounds in one
q 10 nearly thc equivalent of 10000 pounds Of crude
oriu at The prime cost of over hall million OF dollars
with regard 90 the comparative effects Of opium ana
alcohol the author describes the former. more perma
mont i'm its action, tho latter potent but fugitive
Roth or.rafe as stmulauts in the first instance,
afterwards as scdatiyes, hut opium eNcites the
imagination and emotions, restraining the sensual
appetitos while alcohol produces a physical effect IN
proportion 10 the action Oh the mind Acohol Trans
forms the man into brute opium raises him for the tne
10 the elevation Of dcmgod Alcohol reaches ITS cu-
rninatiug point in a single raroXysm; opium cNerts a
gradual influence that gently changes into reyere Inc
case OF the alcohol driucr IS less hopeless than tat OF
the victim u opium II is reckoncd Though the author
y is not stated that the ra of drunhards reformed
on the basis of total abstinence IS one In six OF the
whole number, while that OF the confirmed opiumeaer
would scarcely amount to one in thrtysixThe statistics
collected hy the author in Illustration Of his positions,
appear % De tie result OF extensive though we know
not how accurate research and if they are Of charac
Ter TO De- relied on, afford important aid to the iu
COMMUNICATION the subject. The may be said OF
The numerous cases Of personal experience which nave
been hunted mp with great apparent diligence, and
which present formidable array Of awful exam
pies" The general tone Of the volume, however, does
not always inspire the reader with implicit confidence
in the correctness OF its statements In many cases. the
writer seems to take too much for granted and TO trust
10 imperfect information, fn0 TO indulge in assertions
without sitting their authority Thus, he states that Dr.
Thomas Brown. while preparing his treatise on the
"Phlosoply Of the Human Mind" would trench
upon the deep hours OF the night, and iortify his
dropping energies by hOuul pOtations Of whisky that
had been seasoned from the audanum VIAL in ilustra
ton which habit he adds, that Sir James Macintosh
who was Dr. Browns pupil at the time entering his
Office somewhat abruptly morning overheard pri-
waite order Co l, daughter: "Efie DEAR bring the
moderate stimulus Of hundred drops" This foolish
gosn simply enough d posed Of by remembering that
Or. Thomas Brown had no daughter having never mar
riel, ana that Sir James Macintosh, who than
ten years Browns senior, had completed his studies
and wa residing i'm India recorder Of Bombay, when
the latter began TO teach. - The style OF the
volume is q marvellous compound Of pretension and
pcdItIy, such slish critics at American
"slrc9d-eac lesn" although 70 is only specimen of in
dis ual had taste Almost the first in the book
which merely undertakes TO say "Te the truth and
shame the devil" is expanded into the fol-
lowing sororous platitude Fidelity Of descrip-
ton win ovcIhear the somblance of proper
tonotcuess neither exaggeratug incident for
tie sake Of p2ulcrug 10 pruent curiosity nor yet *
morning, else CLOSING over, corelatve facts out Of
EqUeaush delicacy or of overwoening prudence One
more example Of this beautiful simplicity is as follows
Speaking the eject produced the mind by the OPT
um-paroxysm. writer erscly remarks: The vohtor
faculty, that pripB mobile Of tine intellectual man, hav
lag shgunk into passivy, Judgment the balance
wheel now swayed this way and that in the conflict be
tween the ctutrpCal and centrifugal forces reason ant
Imagination iDtcd from its piyOtpoise and the sou
now d>,uthrallcl from terrcne clogs is waited AVA
upon faucy's cXuUug pcunOns by electric rebound
t. truvcrscif nay find empyrcan Of cthc
real and curaltu,ug enhancement than dull eartl
affords" The only explanation that be given o
such lofty nis IS that the author had been experiment
ing with opium ON his own person before writing III
effects.