The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-04-30
ANEs1HErlcs.

some Costly Drugs-what the Average
Man or Woman Seeks at Drug Shops. |
what is cocaine hydrochloride, the
new anasthetic, worth per ounceP"
asked a Daily News reporter of a local
druggist.
'Five hundred dollars" he replied, |
''and it is not likely to be any cheaper
for some time to come. However, so
small a quantity of the solution is re-
quired for each operation that the cost
to the patient need not be very great"
why is it so expensiveP"
because the salts of cocaine had, be-
fore this new demand arose. but a very
limited sale in this country and whole
sale dealers carried but small stocks.
At last accounts the supply of the al
kaloid in New York had been ex-
hausted, while orders have accumulated
in hundreds. The demand in Europe,
likewise, has been so great as to deplete
the stock of the German manufacturers,
The stocks of coca leaves both m Europe
and America are reported to be small
and of inferior quality, SO that the pros
pect of supplying large amounts Of the
alkaloid in the near future seems not
very good. You know, of course, that
the value of this an@sthetic, so far as
demonstrated at present, is confined to
operations upon the eye. 1t has been
proved in the majority of cases that an
application to the eye of a few drops of
two or four per cent. solution will pro-
duce a more or less complete, transient
insensibility to pain. Operations ordi-
narily requiring the use of chloro-
form or ether have been performed
upon patients conscious of every
thing being done, but saved from pain
by a weak aqueous solution of this salt.
Outside of opthalmic practice this SUBJ
stance has n OF been universally so sue
~cessful, although it has been used for a
month or six weeks by some Chicago
dentists. 1t acts only on the mucous
membrane, and appears to have no eff
feet on the bone. Dentists use it on
teeth requiring treatment and the re-
moval of the nerves. One told me the
other day that he had placed a cotton
saturated with a few drops of a four
per cent. solution on the exposed nerve
of a patients tooth and removed the
nerve without her experiencing any Sc
verer pain than what would be occa-
stoned by the prick Of a pin. Another
claim set up for it is that it will cure
drunkenness and morphine taking.
completely paralyzing the craving for
either alcohol or opium. An individ-
ual cured of either propensity by its use
is said to have no relapses, and the dis
use of the cocoa is easily ~eradicated. II
! is more difficult to cure alcoholism
with it than morphine eating, for there
is a direct antagonism between CO
caine and morphine.
s.Another drug for which the demand
is greater than the supply at present is
antipyrin. 1t has been used with great
success in New York hospital practice.
1t possesses a remarkable power of low.
ering the temperature in cases of fever.
1t is an article manufactured aud sent
. out by a German firm. The compost
tion of it has not been disclosed.
"a great many curious substances
and many expensive ones are used as
drugs. Hyoscyamin, for instance, s
I narcotic used in conjunction and il
/ place of opium and its alkaloids, il
, worth 500 per ounce. Erseni. a prep
aration made from the Calabar bear
. and used in epilepsy, fevers, rheuma
: valued at 1925 per ounce. The CalabaI
bean has something the same propertie
] as strychnine.. and erves as a nerve
: tonic. Morphine is expensive, ranging
in price from 81 to 50 per ounce. q
its various salts bimeconate is tho mos
costly and brings $40 per ounce. Chic
ride of gold is worth $l5 per ounce. l
: is used for scrofula and various chro nj
diseases of the blood. Musk is wortl
!, $40 an ounce. 1t is used most largely
of course. as a perfume, but occasion
e ally to relieve spasms. 1t is obtained
t from the musk Ok. 1t is used for burn
by the Chinese. 1t is believed tn
Chinese have knowledge of many valu
able remedies which would be of grea
: benefit to science, but they jealousl
. guard their secrets. Ergotin is a cur
f Gus but inexpensive drug, being wort
i but 81 cents an ounce at wholesale. ]
is used in apoplexy. 1t is a fungi
growth found on rye in Normandy
A similar growth on the rye j
q this country contains very littl
: ergotin, even less than that foun
in the smut on corn. The viii
g ginseng root was used a few years ag
extensively as a tonic, many person
e smoking it. The demand is less now
Some people in the Wisconsin wood
really made a living searching out tn
wild ginseng. Its root are very fin
and light and it requires a ~considerabl
3 quantity to make a pound. 1t seems t
necessitate the possession of a peculia
Il instinct to discover where it grows
something like that which leads wild
n bee crackers to the haunts where tn
bees have stored their honey. Th
is most successful ginseng gatherer | eve
1t knew was an old woman nearly seventy
n There are many valuable metal
used in pharmacy. Vanadlum. a whit
n metal discovered. in 1880, is worth $40,
re 900 per avoirdupo|s pound. An alks
line metal called rubidium is worth SO,
O70 per pound. Zirconium, a metal oh
ii tanned from zircon and hyacinth in tn
form of a black powder. is worth 1920
If per pound. Terbium, a Swedish meta
IS is worth $1,000 per pound. There ar
many others of great value used a
is medicines. Magnesium, the metal has
,r of common magnesia' is valued at $6
[e per pound"
Of . '.What are the most commonly Gale
for drugs?"
10 /. 80, arnica, alum, rhubarb, sulphur
j. castor oil, ipecac, epson and Rochell
salts, ~quinine, and ream of tartar.
IS weak solution of cream of tartar an
s, water is excellent for. watery eyes an
redness of the lids. The majority {
A the people do not know that, howevei
IL and buy to take inwardly. Nearl
lie every one buys ammonia and glycerin'
Borax is something else for which thel
is continued demand. There are fe
persons who have knowledge of any bl
IS the simplest drugs. They neither kno
~ the names of medicines, nor their pro-
Is critics when they do. 1t is this ign'
rance of remedies for ordinary con
ts plants that make certain well-adve
: tised patent medicines sell so extensive
X. ly. Some particular preparation will |
re- Wanted as a cure for every ill undo
Of the sun, and if it chances to relieve
- .1,olt nD,,rl Co.., t,.ao - uyi11 fir