The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-11-06
uloaral.

stDo many women bhy chl6raif".
asked d Representative of the Tribune
Of a West Side druggist who. had Just
sold q h~alf-ounee of the chemical.
"No, not many; still, 1 have five or
six Women customers who buy it regu-
larry. 1t is mostly used by those suffer-
| ing from nervous troubles to produce
| sleep. 1t is used to d much greater ex-
tent by faen who are accustomed to
drinking whisky"
sHo% is this 5piate obtainedp"
Naydrate of choral is a n oily liquid
with a peculiar, penetrating odor, and
is formed when anhydrous alcohol
THAT is, alcohol destitute os Mater) Is
acted upon BY, dry Chlorine gas. This
gas Is Obtained from common salt. The
| choral of commerce is in the form of
a white crystalline powder, and this
| chemical was discovered to be a power
full narcotic by the German chemist
| Liebig."
..What is its effect upon the human
systemP"
TT rapidly causes the deepest post
| bio sleep, "a slufabef prolonged for
many hours. which Can be brought so
near TO the sleep of death that a person
Under its influence might pass for dead
and still recover. In its action choral
decomposes within the blood and yields
c~hloroform which causes the sleep. As
an evidence of its power to produce in
sensibility for a considerable period ]
will give you an instance: A doctor
took, perhaps by accident, what. was
computed to be q dose Of. 100 grains Of
chloral hydrate. He had bought, a few
days before this event, 240 grains of
the narcotic. He took q first dose Of
ten grains in order to procure sleep.
The following night he took twenty
grains, and the evening OF the succeed
ing day a like quantity. These admin
istrations were known. He had re-
duced his purchase by these deses I'd
100 grains. While in a state Of semi
consciousness from the last quantity he
rot up from the bed on which he was
reclining and emptied all the remaining
contents of the bottle into a small tum-
bier of water aud drank the whole oil
the mixture. He was found insensible,
and did not fully regain consciousness
for sixty hours. lie finally recovered
"Then there is no danger to be APP.
pretended from the use of chloral?n
"But there is, though. The tendency
of it is to reduce the vital fire and hence
the necessity for keeping a person IN.
der It's influence in a warm atmosphere
death might easily ensue If the individ,
ual remained in a cold room. That i:
one danger; but there is another, ant
that is what hundreds of people are sui
fering from to-day. With many it pro
duces effects resembling those Of intoxi
cation from alcohol. The habit grow,
on the victim until the drug is taker
three or four times in twenty-four hours
The system Graves it. Jaundice ant
scurvy are often the result, to say moth
ing of congestion of the brain and nerv
GUS disturbances. The constant use o
this drug is, Ia fact, q disease, and ha!
become widespread, particularly amone
commercial, literary and professional
men. A sudden excess is all but Ger
tain to lead to some form of acute men
tai arrangement or stupor, more or les
decisive and prolonged, while genera
excessive indulgence iscertain to Leaf
to insanity. The digestion becomes i'm
paired; the natural tendency to sleep i
impaired; the blood is changed il
quantity, its plastic qualities and it
capacity for oxidation being reduced
the secretions are %depraved; the mus
cles become unsteady, the heart irregu
lar and intermittent, and the mind IN
stable. The man who takes to chlora
after alcohol enlists two cravings an
is double shotted in the worst sense
Gb;co1o Tribune