The Portland daily press., 1897-01-06
STRYCHNlNE AS A DRINK.
DEVELOPMENT of New Habit Which IL
Rapidly Spreading.
(From Pearson's Weekly.) }

The straugesu victim to drugs OF an
| excessively stimulating nature, is the
strychnine fiend. Strychnine is known
to medical science as deadly poison.
but when under medical direction it acts
as powerful tonic, greatly stimulating
| the beart's action. So powerful is it in
its operation that only the most infinite
SINAI proportion ls allowed in a, tonic
| prescription. Yet it has been seized up
ON by the physical wrecks of civilization
as a means of stimulating the Pickering
spark OF life, and o stryohnine "jag"
can be added to she hilarious moments
that nerve-smashiBg drugs afford.
The discovery of the strychnine fiend
was made by religious worker in a
large city, whose mission takes him
nightly into the society of women to
whom excitement of some kind is ess en-
tinl to the forgetfulness of life's dark
side. This missionary recently found
early one morning the form of we'll
dressed woman prosIrate on the pave
ment. She was taken to one OF the in
stitutions in connection with which the
missionary worked, and doctor sent
for. 1t was clearly a case of "jag" of
some kind or other. The usual remedies
were applied, but the death-like pallor OF
he patients face and the queer action of
the heart alarmed the doctor, and he Or
dered her clothing to be searched to OBJ
tain clue to guide him in his efforts to
bring her to consciousness.
In the Wonian's pocket was found a
small bottle containin q few pellets,
which, upon investigation, proved to
contain enough stry chnine to kill an
| elephant. The woman was suffering from
| an overdose off strychnine, and the drug
had done it's work well. 1t was with the
greatest diffic ulty that her life was saved
and for days following this she cried
pitifully Tor the deadly tonic that WAS
| withheld from her. From her own state
ment, and the doctor and those present
| believed it, she had begun by taking n
very small portion of stry ychnine, and,
| as the craving Tor the drug increased,
| had added to her daily doge, until she
found she could take with impunity q
quantity sufficient to kill ten people
who were unused to poison.
A reporter who visited the, chemists
shops in the district gathered some ad-
ditioRal particulars regarding the new
dope One chemist stated that the
|
all deadly drugs sold showed steady in
crease III the amount of strychnine con-
sumed. at is quite evident that the
| new stiniulant is gaining in favor, said
| this druggist, land the reoklessness OF
| the fends' is sure to result i'll some fatal
| ity unless druggists decline to sell strych-
nine altogether. Those addicted TO It's
use buy it in pellets, and the dose they
take is regulated by themselves. The
seasoned hands are able to take an enor-
NOUS quantity without doing any more
than quicke ening the beating Of their
dying hearts and stimulating their
jaded nerves, out those to whom the
drug is new thing are likely to kill
themselves with a comparatively small
quantity.
81 have on my books the names OF
women who are shining ornaments OF
society who sent to mo for ssryohnine
pellets with the stereotyped assertion
that theV are wanted to XIII dying CAT.
The women who send for The poison are
without doubt victims of the strychnin5
habit. Then ] shall show you the names
of men who are regular oustomets for
strychnine In their case the poison is
taken to countHract the evil effect If to-
bacco smoking. a person can derive
some benefit from taking strychnine. as
the stimulating action of the one poison
counterRcts the sedative effects OF the
other. In thess CAGES the poison May be
taken with some benefit under medical
direction, but with the ordinary 'flend'
W ho merely takes it for the Measurable
sensation il produces, the after-effect is
bound to De disastrous.
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