The national leader., 1889-06-15
MORPHINE FOR LADIES.
HOW AND WHY THE PARISlENNES
USE THE DEADLY DRUG.

! Syringe a Simple Matter-The Most Dan
eerous of All Habits-It Insidiously
Takes Possession of Its Victims.
The ladies of Paris today apparently possess
what Macbeth desired for his wife. He de
mandeCi from her bewildered physician ''sorne
sweet obliviouS antidote" to cleanse away
"the perilous stuff which weighs upon the
heart" At that period opium in all its forms
had rot been discovered as poison to be used
| by murderers or in minute doses to deaden
| pain and soothe agitated nerves Morphine
injected under the skin is the fashionable drug
| of the day. This is one of the most highly
| concentrated forms in which opium can be
| given, and is, of course, Il deadly poison. 1t
! is communicated to the system by little
| syringe, which at the point is about the size
of a large needle and the operation is almost
as trivial and painless us the process OF vac
cination After having seen it done by
surgeon, sometimes without any teaching,
! lady can do il for herself, and thus this most
| dangerous, because most seductive, of all
| forms of narcotization may become a secret
and deadly habit:
A CAPACITY FOR EXCITEMENT.
All classes of Parsennes take 1.-THE
fashionable lady, wearied by the vigils of the
ball room; the actress, overpowered by the
| excitement of the footlights and others over
! whelmed by drinking too deeply of pleasures
cup" One writer i'll the French press i'm
plores the doctors to interfere; morphine, he
says, is daily numbering dozens of Parish
ennes, and the drug is about to reappear
under the name 'exalgine'" For, while in
comparatively large doses this powerful
poison is narcotic, it can be used, it seems, as
| ~ e tl,a ste
sleep, then the drug exalts and excites the
whole nervous system. The person who has
taken it feels able to say with Romeo: my
bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne. And
all this day an accustomed spirit lifts me
| above the ground with cheerful thoughts
In fact, an exhiarating form of intoxication
is induced, and the same result was recorded
some years ago. when the people of a village
in the north Of Ireland adopted methylated
ether as their customary drink They could
laugh and boast and swagger after it as if
each had received that day some joyful news.
This dangerous habit is peculiarly PERM
cious to such persons as the ladies of Paris.
They are not robust; they inherit from their
progenitors a capacity for feverish excite
ment; they are not fond of exercise They
are pleasure seekers almost from birth, for a
| French child shares much more of her moth
er's life than any English boy or girl, The
power of stimulants or narcotics is much
greater in such cases. 1t will be said, how
ever, by the fair slaves to the bad custom,
that they require it most because they are
physically weak and nervously excitable; if
they were calmer, they could go to sleep
without it; or, if stronger, brace themselves
for the coming fete without any such arti
fetal stimulant. Why, then, should they
| ahO oil
want2 Now, no doubt, there are cases where
opiates have been prescribed by the physi
clan when it is necessary to secure absolute
quiet for restless nerves, when the mind is
wearing out the body, or when pain banishes
sleep. Yet, even when doctor is thus com
PEELED to in ject poison in order to gain time
for something that will really cure, there is
considerable danger.
THE AWFUL REACTION
The first effect of morphine is either a de
licious forgetfulness of existence, doubly wei
come after hours of pain, or an uplifting of
the spirit after days of deadly depression;
| but these effects are and must be temporary.
| Then follows reaction and the dose is repeat
ed but after the doctor, seeing the danger Of
continuance cuts off the supply, the suffering
| of the patient is redOubled, and there comes
on him or her fierce craving for the old re-
lief If this is secretly INDUCED all hope of
| happiness must be abandoned unless the man
or woman, which is rare, has a strong will
and can stop Oh the downward slope. Every
body knows how difficult it is to cure an
habitual female tippler but the charm of
alcohol is nothing to the charm of morphine;
and here is the danger to the unfortunate
women in Paris who have begun to use this
fascinating and fatal drug. 1t is a sweet poi
son, that sooner OF later saps the body, the
mind and the will, and reduces what was
once vigorous, virtuous, intellectual wo-
man into a bundle of restless nerves, to be
composed at intervals into lethargy or sleep
We doubt whether the mania for opiates,
once thoroughly established, has ever been
eradicated
! That fair Parisians should have moments
of WEAKNESS, languor and depression is nat
ural enough. They, above all people, can
understand the saying of Sir George Corne-
wall Lewis that life would be very tolerable
| if it were not for its amusements. They ever
| seek pleasure, and therefore constantly miss
| it. Parisians of both sexes seek new sensa-
tions every day in every form Of vice, some
| times even i'll fashionable virtues Yet
| through their light literature, as through
their lives, runs a wearisome monotOny of
sin-a perpetual round of the same kind of
Shiny jests on the same kind Of dishonor and
infidelity. That a man or woman should
be faithful to a promise, vow or an oath
would break the charm of French life There
are in their dramas and stories two charac-
ters that recur always in the same relation
the person who violates a duty or breaks a
pledge and the avenger on his or her track.
This central situation is the kernel of every
Partisan fiction and every Partisan play. So
ciety is made up of persons engaged in con-
cealing such faults committed by themselves
or detecting them when committed by others
When this has gone on for generations it be
comes rather monotonous, and Paris plunges
for change in any direction. Paris Letter.