The tribune. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-06-02
TILE USE. OF POISONS.
The Terrible Effect of Choral Upon the
Human System. ..

hhihhh SNSs'cH-.
I need not describe, says an English
writer, the horrid drug to The use of
which so many people are now addicted,
further than to say that IL il q salt of b
burning pungent taste, r. ,lg great
affinity for water; its b'-&@ s chioroform,
into which t is supposu.S 10 be changed
in the blood In sms. %.s itiis stimu-
liant and an.i-spasmod-c ). Ii larger, mar
cotic; while an overdose produces death
"a instantaneeusly as fash of lightning.
Like opium, the dose must be constant
ly increased to keep up the same effects.
The results of Il smaller dose of the drug
on chloral cater-and why say " on a
chloral eater" is, because the medical
profession Ito which I myself belong)
often err in Judging of the actions of cer-
tain kinds. of stimulant narcotics, such
as opium. Indian hemp, ETC., for this
reason: They take one or two doses of
the drug themselves, and base their
opinion of ,its action on the result pro-
duoed on their own systems, forgetting
that the same medicine may have to-
tally different effect upon one accustom-
ed to its use; a person not. q. smoker
might inst as we'll expect, by taking
one pipe, to tell how a real smoker feels
under the influence of tobacco-the re-
suits, them, of lesser dose on real
ohloral eater are partly of n stimulating,
partly of soothing nature. The stlmu-
lation, however, is not like that caused
by opium or alcohol; 1T is not exhilara-
ting, and does not incite to action either
mentally or bodily. But the subject OF
the influence rises for time above oil
his cares. or sorrows, or fatigue, and
seems to look Oh life through the mo
dunn of rose-tinted glass. But while
care and sorrow are forgotten, and n
strange dreamy sense of perfect ease,
comfort, and happiness takes their place,
ell affection. and love are likewise ban
ished He is apnthetic, and cares Tor
nothing save his own sense of comfort.
He is1if / might SO express it, merely a
living, breathing vegetable. - In this
state the confirmed chloral eater would
stand by the deathibedfof his nearest and
dearest % passive spectator, If not. IN
deed, actually smiling; and for the same
reason he would stand quietly on the
scaffoid until executed. II the dose is
repeated without the choralist lying
down. speech becomes indistinct, the
eyelids drop, and the gait in walking is
affected just as in drunkenness from al
COAol. 10 1hS CiiOftii5eJ iiUih III eliC iioe
degree, is by no means an unpleasant
companion. A stranger could mark
nothing unusual about him; he is genial,
and although rather languid, and by no
means bright in conversation, he is at all
events d good listener, md is easily
pleased, although his smiles often par
take of the simpering or hysterical or
der; and, too, he is Mt times easily
reused into an outbreak of furious pms
sion,, which dies away just rs suddenly
as it came, leaving no trace behind. But
of course every one will not be affected
precisely alike, as much depends on the
idiosyncrnsyI or innate peculiarities of
the ehloralist. !.j,..... -....... .... b.
In my own early stage of chloral eat
ing, used to- take small pick -me-up
dose wien startipg on a Journey by rail.
The effect WAS rather remarkable; all
sense of bodily, fatigue and even of un-
pleasant motion was banished; seemed
lifted ont OF myself-a spirit travelling by
train7--and the eyer-varying scenery went
gliding past me like an enchanted dio-
rama. The difference in the effects of
chlornl md opium under the same cir
cltmstances would be this, opium is
| more imaginative, and paints things as
they do not really exist-throws an arti-
fetal halo around them as it were;
ohloral merely increases the power OF
enjoying the real. The picture on the
brain Of the chloralist is, so to speak,
Photographic compared to that on the
brain of the opium eater, which might
be called phantasmagorical. But few, !
think, after having read these memoirs,
will care to. repeat MY experiments in
railway travelling.