Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-10-01
ONE WAY OF IyTOXI CATION.
The Alarming Extent Co which the Hypo-
 dermIc syringe Is now Employed

The Alarming Extent tO which the HyPo-
 dermIc syringe Is now Employed
 There are 100 hypodermie syringes sold now for each one that found pur- chaser few years ago, sad dealer in surgical instruments few mornings since, leaning over hls show case fuIl Oi gleaming tools. People have dlscOV- cred that they are not only of great service ID the alleviatiOn of extreme pain, such as sciatica, for instance, but that they afford q convenient sort of respectable intOxlcatlOn, or exhIlaratOn, tO speak more politely. Good young men-the kind Cf young men who would look with horror upon glass Of honest whiskey, and would not for worlds be seen entering a bar rOOm-are frequent ly slaves to this peculiarly insldlous and deadly phase of the opium habit. And 1t seems practically impossible to awak- en to a consciousness of its inevitably ruinous consequences one who once be- comes addicted to 1t. The dTunkard and the opium eater, or laud8num drinker, are much easier of reformation than the person who gets accustomed to throwing a few drops of morphia under his skin.
 "I can tell those who are devOtees of the habit when meet them in the street. Only yesterday morning young man rushed in here, excited, in great haste, and trembling all over like leaf ID the wind. knew at glance what be wanted and had the case open even before he could control his qulverlng jaws enough to say, I've broken the needle of my hypodermic syringe. l want 1t fixed, and won't you please lend me one quickly for few moments, and give me the use of your private room for mo- mentY handed one to him. He darted into the back room, and ln few minutes came out again, calm, smiling and steady He had had his dose. Mean while 1 replaced his broken needle by a sound one, for winch he paid, and, carefully pOcketing 1t, he strode away without sign Ofthe intense nervous ness from which he was suffering when he entered. If you have never seen a morphine victim of this class Tn the nervous agOnles consequent upon tenn pOrary deprivation of the drug, you can have no idea of how they suffer. Many young men have told me that they were in the habit of taking three, four or even five hypOdermIc injections of morphine every day, and even had to take them at night to get sleep. Of course, when the habit is once formed, the dose must be continually increased, or else made more frequent for the same results to be at taIned. Women buy great many of these instruments. Generally they get into the habit of using them through famiharizatiOn with the treatment by physicians for the mitigation of pain. One lady I know of who had a violent attack of sciatica- which, as you may know. or may not know, hurts worse than a thousand l tOothaches at once and her family physician gave her a hypOdermic In- jectiOn of morphine which afforded l instant relief. But 1t IS not cure, merely an allevlatIoD, and has tO be l repeated three or four times every day. It took the doctor about two minutes l sud he charged g. each time. After a | week or so, as she got to be such good, 1 steady, trustworthy source of revenue l be reduced hls to Sl. Even that, how 1 eyer was more than the husbands re- 1 sources would stand, so he came to me l for advice, and bought syringe. l | showed him how to use 1t. Now. | although the woman has got well of the | sciatica, she keeps up the morphine | practice-fnds it u necessity of her | existence, and her legs, her husband ! tells me, are pltt,d | all over with marks | of the application. I don't suppose she 1 ever will or can give 1t up. Yes, the | marks are ineradicable.
 "To administer the injection, you | take up a bit of skin between yOur | tnscr and tlumb, iab the needle m, | and squirt away. It doesn't hurt at all, | not as much Us pOking d needle mt | skin not pinched in that way would, | out care must be exercised to throw the | solution to just the proper depth, or l else Itis likely to produce hideous ulcers. 1 difficult to cure. We'll, each of those !abr [ leaves little, hard, callous-ike lump. l I'd rather, If I had wife, that she | should take O the cologne bottle than to | the hypOdemic syringe for her exhilara- | ton.
 "I suppose I sell, on an average. al | least one of those syringes every day, l and some days four or five. Then they | are sold by a number of other surgical instrument dealers, and by all the first class drug stores. Why, here js the best evidence of the magnitude of the DbIulEE utulhuQ TUT lltLu NdElous styles in which they are gotten up Here IS our, an imported article, from ] France, that cnsts Sl0, in a silver-plated | case, with finely made syringe, an e1 tra needle, wires to keep in the needle when not in use, to prevent their | clogging. n tiny bottle to hold the nor phine. and all iu form convenient foi | the pocket. Here IS another, of simpler | construction and fewer appliances. but | equally effective, that sells for Sl.jI There are none cheaper than this latter. | but there are much more expensive ones than the former, gottOn up in gold I and finished like jewels. The manu lecturers make them of god, silver, baser metal, hard rubber. celluloid and l glass. In all, the principle IS the same a tiny syringe tube of glass, with graduating scale of mInims engraved | on 1t, and hollow needle nozzle. And | the result of the continued use ir always the same-ruin. York | Sun.