Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-06-26
A Rival TO THE OPIUM HABIT.
Effects Of the Abuse Of Choral.

From the New York Tribune.
Everybody is familiar with the abuse of opium
in its various forms. from the fashionable victim
who is slave to the hypodermic needle, to the
degraded outcast seeking forgetfuness in the
Chinese opium Joint ;" OF hasheesh or Indian
hemp. little is heard. the victims of this drug be-
Ing comparatively few in this country. though
Its use is common enough in India and
the east generally. But there is another drug
for some time after its discovery, some fifteen
years ago. considered comparatively harmless
and which is just beginning to receive the at
tention its balefu effects merit. This is hydrate
OF Choral. A well known physician of this city,
In speaking on this subject with Iri
b1ne reporter, said .'ChloraI hydrate
stands first in the list of hypnotics and to
overcome pure and simple sleepcssness is with
ont rival. When it first came into use much
was expected which experience has failed to
verify. 1T is not to any extent an anodyne; it
is simply the best hypnotic known and the most
deadly. The opium habit is easily acquired; in
deed. to some temperaments its cautious medi-
email use is pPrilOus from the readiness with
which the drug is reSorted to in every trifling
Illness and the fatal habit formed. But it needs
no bitter season of pain and suffering to become
habituated to the use of choral. So SOFTLY SO
gently. so gradually does its subtle, fatal chain
bind its victim that he only realizes it's power
when too late to break the bonds which bind
tack of insomnia. and perhaps small doses are
taken for few days. the result being sound
refreshing sleep with none of the evil results
common to other narcotics. The period of
sieepiessness past, which may be the result of
OverwOrk, business anxiety or nervous prostra-
tration. the drug is abandoned and all goes
well for q time. Sooner or later seeplessnesS
returns. Choral is resOrted to. kept up for a
longer time and taken in larger doses 1t is
again abandoned for a time. only to resume its
CyYoy rln rIrr nj l,als l.,
formed that renders sleep impossible without
Choral. which. like all narcotics, must be in
creased in quantity as the system becomes hab-
ituated to its poisonous effects.
The larger class of victims of the chlOral
habit are men who lead sedentary lives. and
who. from temperament and the nature of their
work. are peculiarly liable to suffer from sleep
lessness. One OF the most notable examples of
the baneful effects Ofthe choral habit was Dante
Gabriel ROssetti who, during the latter years
OF his life. was accustomed to take enormous
doses, reaching q total of nearly $50 grains
daily. For many years he took choral regu-
larry. at first In small quantities. but gradually
increased the dose until his power of resistance
was gone His life was darkened by power he
fought against in vain. His latter DAYS were
spent in solitude. He became a recluse and q
hypochondriac. filled with groundless fears for
himself. cherishing unfOunded suspicious against
his best friends and admirers. Dr. Maudsey,
the great English aenst stigmatiZes choral
as 'chrEstallZed nell. and condemns its use,
even In disease except to tide over some press
ing emergency; and there is certainly an In
creasing reluctance on the part OF physicians to
prescribe Choral except in exceptional cases.
Unlike opium. there are as rule no I'M
pleasant effects. no reaction following the use of
choral. 1t simply produces perfect sleep, or
the best possible imitation of dreamless rest
with no headache or sickness as reminder that
the slumber has been purchased and the debt
must be paid for. 1t is paid later on and the in
terest demanded is health. hope and often life
ITSELF"