Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-06
n,,,,,oxn a~n COCAINE.
Entertaining the Neurological soc'-
CIV W:th lis Experiences.


E,o,a The .Vcar York Tribune.
aCocaine and tue Cocaine Habit were
,.-,.,ssfd bv the New York Neurological
S.o-ntv last Eight, and some interesting
,.,, Of the new drug were presented.
,vi,3iam A. Hammond related his per-
-.a1 exnorience in using It. He stated
.So+bebad discarded the fluid extracts and
- Of the wines of coca because of
H.Y, one kind of the wine pre-
.'crs+ions he did use, however, because IL
lros nnre and gave excellent results in
49, 49, Of sninal irritation. AS general
o,7,c II had an excellent effect, especially
tJn n'SCor,oming nausea and other results
~ Ulaak stomach; it had tendency TO
-" the sensibility OF that organ.
r0ra decided effect, however, he used
oire Big stories of disaster resulting
tnon, 'Its employment have been told ana
NM .no,,nt of how the South American
ewes lost their teeth and Their minds
trom chewing coca leaves had been
hondad down from 1927, but subse-
ont rpnorts did not confirm this.
Dr. Hammond declares LnaC Che $40
Iias told of the wreck of DR.. Johnson's
Inind originated with quacks who were
-, tn cure the "cOcaine habit" Dr.
Hammond proceeded:
~ have taken as many as eighteen
oroirs at dose by hypOdermic injection,
sividingitup over some fifteen minutes.
bagan my experiments on myself with
ono Grain at night. was rather dlscour-
AGED bv the first dose. Every puncture
have made has left an lndurated spot ana
at one time feared that cry
sinal8s might follow. This may
bdvn been due to the condi-
ION Of nv system or the kind of cocaine
/ usnd The result was pleasant; l felt
hanDv-hapnier than before on that day.
pnt / aid rot sleep until 4 a. M, and l had
a severe headache. The exhilaration was
slight-equal to that given by two or three
glasses of champagne.
'oThe next nigDt took two grains with
tho same result, and the additional one of
an inordinate disposition to write.
TLaughter.l wrote eight or ten pages
If fooiscap. and thought it was unusually
good the best | had ever written, in fact.
g. read it over the next morning. L
fonn6 each sentence complete, but the
iJeas were incOberent. The third night
took three grains. My energy then
turned to talking. [ made speeches TO
myself; still | could restrain myself; |
had a splitting headache. | stopped tor
tour or five DAYS and then in
iected six grains, three into each arm.
was upset. / did not lose my relations
10 events, but | could not sleep. After
t3ree nights | injected eight grains with
the same results. The next night put
in eighteen grains in six injections, two
in the legs, two in the thighs and two in
the chest | am not sure that | was con-
scious of what | did after that. | was
intensely exhilarated. got to bed some
how. When | rose At a. m. things were
generally mixed. | had not arranged my
I fro
appearances, | had had pretty lively
time all by myself. Laughter. | had a
headache, my heart beat so that | could
[eel il and hear it when l raised my arm.
But there was none of the horrible effects
attributed to cocaine, no disposition to-
ward violence, acquired no habit, l left
off easily"
DR.. Hammond said he believed that the
drug accelerated the action of the heart,
made respiration oppressive and induced
headache. Its use, however, could be
readily stopped. 1t gave apleasant thrill
about four minutes after the injection.
He had used it in cases of melanchOlia
accompanied by refusal to talk, and had
set one patient to talking who had not
stopped at last accounts; it did not cure
the melanchOlia, however.
DR.. Madison. of Brooklyn, controverted
DR.. Hammond's views as to the cocaine
habit, and said that there was such a
habit, one more destructive than the NOR
phine habit; he himself had had five ply
sicians and two druggists under his care
who were victims of the habit; one OF
them had become demented. His own
experience bore out that of DR.. Hammond
tbat the use of cocaine produced insom-
MIA, VOlubillty, headache, unrest and de-
lusl0ns, though none of them was homi-
cldal. The effect was fieetlng.