Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-09-23
ONE WAY OF INTOXsCATION.
The Alarming Extent To which the
Hypodermic Syringe is Now En-


pioyed.
From the " Y. Sun
"There are 100 hypodermc syringes sold nov
for each one that found purchaser few
years ago." said dealer in surgical instruments
few mornings since, leaning over
his showcase full of cleaning tools. People
have discovered that they are not only of great
service in the alienation Of extreme pain, such
as sciatica for instance but that they afford
a convenient sort of respectable intoX-
cation. or exhilaTation, to speak more
politely Good young men-the kind Of young
men VINO would look with horror upon glass
of honest whisky, and would not for worlds be
seen entering a barrOom-are very frequently
slaves In this peculiarly insidiOus and deadly
phase Of the opium habit And it seems prac-
ticably impossible to awaken TO a Consciousness
OF its inevitably ruinOu5 consequences one who
once becomes addicted to IT, The Grunkard
and the opium eater, or laudanum drnker. are
mucii easier Of reformation than the person who
gets accustomed to throwing few drops of
mOrphia under his skin.
II can tell those who are devoteas of tho
habit when meet them I'm the street ONLY
yesterday morning young man rushed in here
excited. IN great haste. and trembling all over
IKE Ieai IN the wind | knew at glance
what he wanted and had the case open even
before he could control his Guiyernr laws
enough to say, I've broken the needle OF nv
hypodermic syringe / want it fixed. and won't
You please lend lie one quickly for a few mo-
Room for a minUte:' / handed one to him lie
darted into the back room, and in a few min
utes came out again calm, smiling and steady.
He had had his doe. Meanwhile | replaced
his broken needle with sound one for which
he paid. and, carefully pOcketing it. he strobe
out without a sign Of the intense nervousness
nom which he was suffering when he entered
If you have never seen morphine victim
OF this class In the nervous aCoilies consequent
upon temporary 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 hypo-
dernc injections OF morphine every day. and
even had TO take them at night to get sIeep OF
Course. when the habit is once formed the dose
must he continually increased or else made
more frequent for the same results to be at
talned Women buy great many of these in
struTents. Generally they get into the habit
Of using them through Authorization with the
treatment by physicians for mitigation of pain.
One lady know OF who had violent attack of
sciatica-Whlch. as you may, or may not. know
hurts worse than a thousand toothaches at
once-and her family physician gave her n.y.
podeTmc injection OF morphine. which afforded
instant relief. But il is not a cure merely an
alienation. and had TO be repeated three or
four times every day. 1t took the doctor about
two minutes, and lie charged - each time
After week or so. as she got to be such q good
steady, trustworthy source of revenue he re-
Cuced his rate to 81 Even that. however was
more than the husband resources would stand,
SYRINGE / showed him how to use it, Now
although the woman hos got we'll of the sciatica
she hcei1s up the morphine practice-findJ it
necessity OF her existence. and her legs her
husband tells me. are pitted all oyer with the
marks OF the application. | don't suppose she
ever VIII or can give it up. Yes, the marks are
1neTad cable.
To administer the Injection YOU take I'D a
OIL Oi shln between your finger and thumb lab
the needle in. and squirt away. 1t doesn't hurt
al all. not as much as poking a needle into skin
mol plnched In that way would, but care must
be exercised TO throw the solution to lust the
proper depth or else it is likely to produce
hideoa, ulcers, difficult to cure. Well each of
those jabs leaves little. hard calloused-l like
lump I'd rather. If / had a wife that she
should rake TO the cologne bottle than to the
nypoGermic syringe for her eXhilaratiOn.
L suppose sell. on an average at least one Of
those syrInges every day. and some days four or
nFe linen they ere sold by a number of other
surgical instrument dealers and by all the
hrst-c!ass drug stores. Why, here is the best
evidence OF the magnitude of the popular de-
Manu Tor tnem-the various styles in which they
are gotten up Here is one, an imported
article. from France. that costs $40 in silver
plated case, with finely made syringe an extra
needle. wires to keep in the needles when NOT
In use to prevent their clogging tiny bottle
70 hold the morphine, and all in form conye-
nlenf Tor the pocket Here is another of
simpler construction and fewer appliances but
equally effective. that sells for $50. There are
none cheaper than this latter but there are
much more expensive ones than the former
gotten up in gold and finished like jewels The
manufacturers make them of gold. silver, baser
metal. hard rubber, celluloid and glass In all
tne principle is the samoa tiny syringe tube of
glass, with graduating scale of mnims en-
grayed on it. and hollow needle nozzle And
the result of the continued use is always the
eame-ruin."