Smyrna times., 1884-08-06
The Horrors of ChlOralism,

/
" But am dying by inches for all that.
1 don't know that l shall ever leave
this bed alive, and it is perhaps for the
best, for / suffer fearfully. You do .
not see me at my best. 1t is toward /
evening my dreadful distress begins
the restIessness, the Undesirable knaw-
ing, tearing and dragging at my heart.
And this continues till 9 o'clock, when
l take my draught; then it is all over.
l sink into a sleep and am as dead as
a stone until morning"
"Your draught ?" said feeling the
pulse, which was soft, feeble and slow.
What draught ?" Hemerely motion
ed with his head to a table that stood
handy to the bed. took bottle up.
1t contained some white crystalline
substance in large scales. I smelt it.
"Why," l said, this is chloral.
You surely don't take much of this?
1t will kill you"
He smiled family and sadly. at
has already done its work. 1 taket two
drachms a night. If l have Il ray of
hope, doctor, it is centered in you.
I've heard you are practical man.
Do with me as you will"
/ am a practical man. I reptile 2
Every" l put the bottle Of chloral
into my pocket as I spoke, aAd button
ed my coat.
l shall never forget the despairing
look he gave me.
6 1 must not give it up all at once.
Surely, doctor, you do not know what
| shall suffer! Pain will be no name
for it; torture, torment, no name"
"Yes, all at once," | insisted at
is your only chance. Choose that OF
death.
ct seems to me, )" he murmured, it
is life or DEATH"
':It is, indeed, life or death" | re-
piled. "Do as wish you to, submit
yourself entirely to me, and, with Gods
help, will raise you again, and soon
from that bed of sickness, and you will
be once more man." From that very
moment l had hopes Of the case. Fol
if a chloralist can once give up tn,
habit he has no desire to resume il.
All that night | sat up with my un
happy patient His sullerings were
dreadful to witness. 1t was the tear
ing and gnawing at the heart that h'
complained of most. 1t was like al
immense crab eating his very vitals
he said How he tossed and moancC
and raved, sometimes hanging will
head down out of the bed for a littl
relief, pitifully moaning all night
He slept little during the next day
and took a little nOurishment.
salutary diarrh9a took place, and h
was reduced in every way to Il mer
shadow. On the fifth evening Offer
ed him dose of chlOral.
Not if l were to be made a prime
of the realm" he said, would l swal
low one grain of the dreadful poison.
"What made you commence tn
habit?" l asked one day.
81 had bad tooth, was the answer
: The reply only shows the truth {
what / have already said, that tn
most tri1ing excuse is often suflicier
to induce people to meddle with deatl
dealing narcotics.
. Do not imagine that my patient g
better all at once after giving up til
use of the chloral. No, nor did h
soon. During the first few weeks I'll
state of his mind was one of what
might term morbid joyfulness. II
had escaped out of the jaws of dealt
and there was mental elatedness
consequence. But this soon gave plat
to fits of the greatest and darkest d
spOndency. They did not last vel
! long, seldom more than day, and
this lay my hope of being able
thoroughly restore him to at least
fair state Of healthfulness. This co
ditiOn of mind lasted for months, bl
although weak in body, he was able
take a considerable amount of eXerci
- in the open air, and he was able
read at home. During the latter stag
of the chlOralism, he could neither re
nor write without the greatest suht
ing. His exercise was walking, anC
+. took pains to see that he always we
somewhere with some special object
RE view, for l do not believe in wha
call circular walking exercise, SIM
going out n certain distance and co
ing back again; paying visit of ce
- mOny to a distant milestone does l
l6 constitute healthy walk
The first real sign of returning hea
in my desponding patient was
ability to sleep tolerably well;
second, the desire he began to evincC
be once more engaged in active p
a. suits. This desire he evinced in
nG, singular way. He supplied hims
IN with a box of mysteriously small to,
and / often found him day after d
!. working at the table, with magn
ing glass stuck in one eye. He '
~ making a kind of fairy music box, ;
when completed the whole thing
no bigger than a thimble.
F. at is playing nOw," he said to
~ one day.
"Indeed !" 1 replied, 81 can h
mn nothing"
I'M, Ny patient smiled and enclosed
wonderful little instrument in wo
ed ball. From this an elastic t
,tv. with nipple at the end of it exte
~ ed.
"Put the nipple in the ear" he s
IES / did so, and was astOnished. l &C
hear it now, as loud apparently
church organ, but as sweet and soft
an Eolian harp.
0E' "I put the ball under my pillow
reto;; retoo; night" he said, "and the nipple in
S.tf ear, and 60 to sleep to music"
My desponding patient is still
and well-despOnding now no m