The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1889-06-08
OPIUM AND AnrlpYRlN.A
Women Who Are slaves to Habits which
Ruin Body and Mind.

mum Asohy anu
ut is strange said IA popular pharma-
cist of Park row to "A New York correspond
ent of the st. LOUIS Globe Democrat, ito
SEQ how many women are 'fiends.' or
course, when say tiends, | do not mean
any thing peculiarly demonlac or suggestive
of that sulphurous realm of which SO much
Is SAID. lam only using an old term in the
pharmaceutical trade for people who get
into the habit OF using some pernicious
drug As-~~s,.. sss<rus~>--sw&pssso
"The commonest vice in this regard is the
opium habit. The number of victims of
this habit is far up in the thousands. Some
buy the crude gum, and cat it as regularly
as they take their daily meals. Others buy
laudanum, and drink it in quarter ounce,
halfounce and even ounce portions, accord.
ing TO the extent to which they are con-
trolled by the narcotic. Some, who have
keen palatcs and tender stomachs, can not
take laudanum, and use instead paregoric
This ancient midwife's favorite is simply
sweet preparation of opium fla
vored chiefly with | aniseseed and
tastes somewhat like the anisettc or
kummcl used in French and German res
taurants. Still others of the same sort use
the infants soothing sirups, which quacks
pat upon the market for the apparent bene-
tit but the eventual ruin OF babies, and
which are so heavily spiced and favored
as to suggest French mixed candies rather
than any medicine. Outside of these are
the people who use Dover's powders and
morphine pills. Both OF these, aud es-
pecally the latter, act rapidly and are very
popular with opium fieuds who wake up in
the early morning with large and painful
heads. All OF these opium fiends are OBJ
jects OF pity. Tho habit seems more q
disease than vice. AS 1t progresses, their
whole nature, physical, mental aud moral,
seems to undergo complete revolution.
Atthe first they slowly lose their appetites,
and then the eyes become preternaturally
bright. Soon the flesh begins to fall away,
and the space around tho eyes becomes
dark from being surcharged with blood.
Next the skin loses its normal color and
changes to sodden gray, blotched brown
or an unhealthy yellow. After this come
tho strangest symptoms imaginable. In
the coolest day the victim perspres copi-
ously and shivers at the same time. On the
other hand he complains Of being frozen in
mid August, when the thermometer is in
the nineties. Without the slightest cause
he suddenly weeps ana betrays all the
thiOeAoho Va lhbCuoo QihbTcaS. w ucu luis
stage Is reached he or she Is 'fiend S~~- 4
"Another habit" continued DR.. Perry,
(which comes under the druggists eyes is
the bromide habit which includes the ex-
cessive use of bromide of potassium, bro
mide Of ammonium and bromide of lithium.
"The bromide fiend gradually develops an
abnormal condition Of the nerves, under
which sleep, or even comfort, is impossible
without constant use of the anodyne salts
Muscular and intellectual exertion grow
more and more difficult, until the habitue
gets into semi-sleepy state, in which she
simply moves and vegetables rather than
lives. -,1 &<rsN4s-s~r-
1.-The new coal-tar product, antipyrin, has
already started q vice of it's owns, This
singular compound was discovered by a
German chemist, and on account of its re-
markable qualities, is now used the world
over. 1t has the power of reducing the
temperature of the body by several do
grees, and so is of vast utility it treating
fevers and feverish stages of many
diseases. 1t does its work by depressing
the action of the heart, and generally when
employed by physicians it is accompanied
with diRitalis to neutralize its influence in the
latter regard. Women use 1t partly because
It sedative and partly because it makes
the complexion beautifully clear and pale
by keeping the blood away from the surface
OF the body. The habit, like all others,
grows upon the person who. practices it.
1t does harm. however, from the first.
With women who are weak, it increases
their weakness; with those having pre-.
disposition toward heart disease OF any
sort, 1t increases the tendency to terrible
extent. Besides these results, antipyr,n
exerts peculiar influence upon the blood,
which Is not thoroughly understood by the
faculty. It seems to undergo some decompo-
sition or breaking down when absorbed by
the system, developing unknown com.
pounds which either attack the blood itself
or else powerfully influence the nerves and
ganglia which control the vital functions
1.-TWO other habits" said DR.. Perry, .are
much more common than is generally be-
lieved, the use OF choral and of cocaine prem
arations Both are terrific vices, while
the latter means physical and mental
ruin. Choral acts in peculiar way. 1t
decomposes In the blood and changes to
chloroform, which in turn acts as an esthetic
within the body just the same as when in
hailed. The 'ctloral fend' can be detected
at glance. Her face assumes yellowish
or grecuish hue that is unmistakable; the
eyes become SATIRE or blood shot; the orbits
grow discolored; the breath assumes hor-
rible flavor; the appetite vanishes and the
nerves become disordered to the worst dc.
gree. The cocaine fiend is beyond redemp-
ton. She lives in worlo Of dreams that
are shattered only when health departs and
reason vanlshes. She is irresponsible and
deaf and blind to conscience and even de-
cency. ..Ar.-~ >~@..s ,4r-..--..-s.
There is one thing more which ought to
be said, and that, is . protest against the
senseless outcry Of how physicians start
these habits by careless prescriptions. Out
Of one hundred alleged cases which l have
examined every one arose from the curios-
ity, folly or intrinsic viciousness Of the vic