The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1895-08-16
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O6aneote1 with the ODlun uaHets
Few drugs in recent tin e. have re-
.seived more general commentator
than cocaine; Ito advantages ~ local
lnaesthetic, received With some incre-
dullty when 1t was flrst introduced,
have bccn 50 abundantly proved that
there may be tendency to overlook
the fact that there are certain dangers
attendant upon its too frequent OK
reckless employment. AS local an
aesthetic 1t has won golden opinions
where small operations were required
apon superficial parts; in ophthalmic
and laryngeal surgery It may fairly be
said to have revolutiOnized the method
Of q few years back. But every now
and again warnings are brought for
ward which indicate that with cocaine
az with opium and other modes Of pro-
tlucing local or general anaesthesia,
there IL danger In the familiarity
which breeds, II not contempt, at least
disregard Of ordinary precautions.
verlicts of misadventure are no con.
ISOLATION to those concerned, II there
Ia an underlying conviction that the
fatality might never have occurred II
there had been any due appreciation
Of danger.
Cocaine IL n drug which shares with
opium and many others the question
lblc credit of developing ''habit" |. G.,
of leading by the bcncticent effects cx-
pcricnced after small doses. to de-
sire for the REPETITION of the relief; and
rs consequence, the dose employed
tends to become greater and the pre-
cautions which. perhaps. were taken at
first, are gradually relaxed. "COcain-
ISM is not so we'll recognized in this
country as in America, but 1t undoI..
cdly exists as Il form Of self indui-
gcnce or as Il practice which, like NOR
pninism, originally employed as q
means . of alternating some chronic
trouble. has ultimately developed into
form of self-indulgencc, In which
the need of restraint and OF precAu-
tiOnary measures IL entirely lost In
the fascination of the relief afforded
by the drug. In n recent inquest, the
evidence showed that the drug had
been originally prescribed for the re-
lief of pain In the gums. and the symp-
toms Immediately preceding the ter
mination were merely those Of col
lapse; there was no Indication of the
amount employed or taken. In most
cases collapse Is the most marked fea-
ture, and this symptom may arise
when the drug llas been employed as
local application in the form of a
hypodermic injection or spray, and
may frequently call for stimulant
treatment after employment of the
spray in laryngeal examinations.
1t must not he forgotten however,
that true cocaine habit may lie de-
veloped when the drug is taken inter-
nally In any quantity and that this
condition il occasionally marked by
curious Authorizations and pcrvcrsions
of moral sense, which If the use of the
drug Is not discontinued. may lead to
more serious central disturbances. The
summary of the whole matter may be
expressed in the provcrb that fire is
good servant. but a bad master"
Cocninc. or any other drug which al
lays pnin, has its limitations, and
these are reucled when the craving
for the relief afforded leads to disre-
gard of the attendant dangers.-Lon.
don Lancet.