, 1889-11-10
SLEEP INDUCING DRUGS.
Thar Are Many Used. but Ono That l. Alb
soluteiy Safe Not Yet Found.

rh-re Arc Many Used. but Ono That l. sb
~soiuteiy Safe Not Yet Found.
When one loses the knack OF sleep
ing he makes no bones of going into
n doctors shop, laying down his
money and confidently demanding so
muchNs worth of sleep. He wants
dreamless aud restful sleep, with no
after effects. This is what experiment
al medicine has beer trying Ia supply,
but unlcSst tie new hypnotic. sulphonai
meets The requirements. the demand
OF the sl.rplcSs cnunot be supplied
u chance, are many that sitlplIonal.
however liusble. will not give sleep
with @" after effects, In the past fifty
years i gir.,I deal has been done to
mitigate uni only the desperate pains
vi discssSed tissues but alSo To allay the
distress OF multiplying victims OF then
nerves. Before the discpvery that
c~hloroforln would prolsrr nnasthesia
II medical mcn lad ainnit given up
all hopes of medicines other than OPT.
um. TO give relief froil physical pains:
but ever since lIundr,t..s OF ANALYSTS
and experimenters h.,ge been search
ing for new sedatives The means OF
introducing morphi: under the skin
has become frightfuily popular; bel
h1OSCl dllluS.
aconite and Indian hemp have each
had a turn Of popularity for the relief
OF different forms of distress; for cere-
bal excitement and nervousness the
bromides have had and still have a
considerable IA of professional
and popular favor; choral was wei
coined as a glorious and harmless rem
edy for the sleeplessness of pain and
of excitement; cocaine created
a widespread enthusiasm not merely
o Its property of producing local an
esthesia, but also for its general
effects in h~ypodermic injection; anti
pyrln came upon the stage with a
blare of trumpets; and now sulphonal
is heralded as the long desired hyp-
motto, without danger and without
after effects.
Each of the annsthetics, hypnotics
and sedatives mentioned above is an
instrument of great value in the medi-
cal arsenal. We are absolutely mas
tiers of all pain and of all the distresses
and depressions that increase under
the pressure of civilization. But we
are yet without a single agent, unless
1t be sulphonal. that is certainly harm
less. There is no medicine the pro
longed use of which does not leave a
bad eifect, and the use of which, ex.
cept under the eye of the physician,
is without immediate danger. Sui
phonal has been taken in all quaint
ties and under many conditions, with
out any apparent bad effects: but it i,
from recent reports that we learn its
use is attended with some danger, and
n fatality has been ascribad, though
doubtfully, To its use.
Let tht doctors work out the issue.
The public has no business to deal
with these things. The victims OF
simple insomnia are many, their tor
lures are considerable, but until they
are ready to appeal to the physician
they should let drugs alone. When
the doctors find a harmless sleeping
medicine the world will know it. I'm
til the victim of insomnia who does
not rely on the doctors can only resort
to the simple ways Of counting sleep,
the most emcacious of which, without
danger and without any i'll effects, ia
change of scene and change of inter
est-Milwaukee Sentinel.