, 1888-02-29
A VICTIM oE
Gives His Experience with tho Fasoinat-
ing Drng-Nursed Back to Hcnlth.

came into undesirable prominence in No.
vember, 1885, when Ire was arrested
charged with being insane through exces-
sive indulgence in morphine and cocaine.
the latter a powerful narcotic of which
up to that time little had been heard. He
was taken before Judge Prendergast, was
declared to be insane, and given a sem
tence of three months in the Washing
tonian home. After fortnight's stay at
the home DR.. Bradley went to Canada,
his old home, where he gave himself up
entirely to the demands of the drug, the
Vaccinations of which completely en-
thralled him. Practice and home were
gone, and he gave free rein to his vice.
He returned to Chicago and was sent to
the insane asylum, where a complete cure
was effected, and he resumed his practice,
only to find himself deserted by his
clients and his reputation impaired.
Consolation for the reverses came with
cocaine, to which he again became n
victim, and there were months when he
absolutely lived in the state of mind it
produced, securing it by hook or crook
until his last possession was gone and his
family beggared.
The physician went to the gutter, and
a year ago was begging for cocaine ut
drug stores or securing it by fictitious
orders on druggists. Then he disap-
peared. He was occasionally heard from
in Canada and the east until last fall,
when h papers recorded his arrest in
New York city for e~ndeavoring to obtain
a supply of cocaine by representing him
self as a messenger sent from one ply
sician to another. In the police court
the gaunt, emaciated, ragged man told
his story of want and woe, md the
causes which brought them about. AT
that. time he was using sixty grains of
cocaine a day. He was sent to Bellevue
hospital to die. There he was found by
the manager of the Christian home,
where he was nursed back t o mental and
physical vigor.
DIR. Bradley was reluctant to dwell on
the episodes thus briefly given, but con-
versed freely on other circumstances of
his life.
Until 1885 there was nothing to dim
my prospects," said DR.. Bradley. ut
was in that year that cocaine was first
brought to notice through a German
physician, but it was only known as Il
practical anasthetic in operation by
oculists. There was no method known
for using it for other purposes. I was
the first man to discover that it could be
otherwise used-in fact, to take the place
of ether or chloroform. That discovery,
SO important to the world, was most I'M
fortunate for me. When l announced
my discovery physicians laughed and de-
clared l was crazy. l wrote a letter to
Mayor Harrison asking him to appoint a
medical commission to inquire into the
value of my discovery, which was the
administration of cocaine hypodermic-
ally. l first utilized my discovery by
testing it on a cat. 1 dissected a leg OF
a cat, exposing tissues and muscles, and
kept the animal on my desk for hours
watching the circulation. There was NJ
pain, the drug exercising a soothing
effect.
'tNext I began experimenting on my
self. 1 found that the anasthetic infu-
ence of cocaine is limited. I expert
mented on myself again and again to see
just how far this limit extended, and
learned just where, when and how to
give injections. Physicians then be-
lievcd that the effects of the drug were
similar to those of morphine. To dis
prove this 1 tried actual cautery by APP
plying to my body red hot irons, but 1
felt no pain, and there was not the
slightest sensation as the flesh withered
under the heated irons. For three
months every day for a half hour I ex-
perimented with the drug, and often
passed several hours of the night in its
study before a mirror, watching its eff
feet on myself. But 1 never realized
that it was obtaining a mastery over me.
Its fascinating powers were unknown to
the profession. Twas thunderstruck when
1 found that the drug was absolutely
necessary to my mind and body. l be-
lieve l could AVE conquered the habit
then were it not for a misunderstanding
with the man from whom l rented my
home. He wanted his house, and when
/ refused to vacate it my weakness was
made a point by which l was dragged
into an insane court. Persecution and
publicity drove me to desperate extremes.
At the Washingtonian home no one
knew how to treat my disease. Every
body knows the rest-how / went to the
gutter and lost everything"
with all your experience with Co
caine, how do you now regard it," asked
the reporter.
81 think it is a grand drug, with re-
markable~ properties, and destined to take
the place Of ether and chloroform. 1t can
be used without danger of death. 1t
produces no nausea or pro6tratlon. 1t Is
a great specific for nervous diseases, for
certain diseases of the spine, for paralysis,
for tetanus, hydrophobia and other con-
vulsive diseases. 1t will unite with other
anti-spasmodics and intensity their ac-
ton. 1 think 1 know more about cocaine
than most men, but 1 nave no compre-
hensive idea of its possibilities. Sci
entists are only in the experimental stage
with it."
. "What are the effects Of the drugP'
ITO begin with, it is like the effects of
any stimulant at certain stages, but it is
not Supplying, as is opium. The person
taking it has q feeling that everything is
lovely and serene, of perfect content
ment and universal satisfaction. All
things seem perfect. There are none of
the frightful illusions which come from
liquor or other stimulants. Excessive
quantities, though, cause great irritable
ity. The duration of the effect is about
two hours, and is succeeded by a feeling
of depression and exhaustion. But there
is non of the disturbance Of the mind or
nervous system that follows drunken
ness. The victim loses all strength after
each indulgence, and there lies the chief
danger in using cocaine, II weakens tho