The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-05-03
MANIA FOR EXCITING DRUGS
THE NATURAL EFFECT OF STIMU
 L4N2S.
Sure 10 be Some Form of Mental Un
 sOuDdness.

sOuDdness.
 The basis of incompetence is the effort to secure by means of drugs the feeling of happiness when happiness does moi exist. Men destroy their nervous sys- tenn for the tingling pleasures they feel as it's tissues are shriveled or torn apart There are many drugs which cause this pleasure, and in proportion to the de- light they seem to give is the real mis- chief that they work.
 Pain is the warning of the brain that something is wrong in the organ in which the pain is felt. Sometimes that which should be felt as pain is interpre- ted as pleasure. If a man lay his fin gers upon an anvil and strike them one by one with a hammer the brain will feel the shock as pain. It will give or ders to have the blows checked. But if, through some abnormal condition, some twist of the nerves, or clot of the brain, the injury was felt as exquisite there would arise the impulse to repeat it. This would be temptation. The knowledge of the injury which the eye would tell to the brain would lead the will to stop the blows The impulses of delight would plead for their repetition, and in this fashion the hand might be sacrificed for feeling of pleasure, which is no pleasure at all but form of mania Of this character is the effect of all nerve-exciting drugs. As a drop of water Is of the nature of the sea, so in its degree is the effect of alcohol, opi- um, tobacco, cocaine, kola, tea or cof- fee, of the nature of mania. They give feeling of pleasure or rest when rest or pleasure does not exist. This feeling arises from injury to the nerves which the brain does not truthfully interpret
 There have been men in abnormal conditions who felt mutilation as pleas ure in the way have just described. Men have paid others to pinch their bodies, to tear their flesh, to bruiSe their bones for the exquisite delight of self mutilation. This inversion of sensation is the basis for the extraordinary mania which shows itself from time to time among those ~Sects who call themselves f1agellantes and penitentes. Such ex- travagance is not religion; it was never translated into sane and helpful life; It is madness, and drunkenness is mad ness also. Differing in degree, and somewhat in kind it has yet the same original motive, self-destruction, be- cause of the temptation of imaginary pleasure.
 To make clear what have to say, we must consider for moment the nature of the mind It is the brains business to know, to think to will and to act. All these functions taken together we call the mind. -The brain Is hidden in <1 .J~ el,a1 knv, and from all the nerves of sense it re- ceives impressions of the outside world and of the conditions of the parts of the body. These impressions are the basis of knowledge. All that we know comes to us in one way or another through the nerves of sense. It is all drawn from our experience of the world through the brain. ~
 These impressions are compared one with another. and brought into relation with past experiences, that the mind may deduce the real truth from them. This is the process of thought which ,has many forms and many variations.
 The purpose of knowledge is action. When we see or fell or hear anything what are we going to do about it? The function of sensation is to enable the body to act safely and wisely. Hence the brain controls the muscles. Hence thought always tends to go over into action, The sense organs are the brains only teacher. The muscles are its only servants. But there are many orders which can be issued to these servants. There are many sensations and many thoughts, each calling for action, and these actions may be incongruous one with another. How shall the brain choose? This is the duty of the will, to choose the best action and to suppress all the others. The power of attention enables us to fix the mind on the sensa tions or impressions of most worth, and to push the others into the background. These competing sensations are not alone those of the present; the memory pictures of all past impressions finger in the brain, and these arise, bidden or un- bidden, to mingle with the others. To know the relation of these; to distin- guish present impressions from memo ries. to distinguish recollections from realities is the condition of sanity. This is mental health, when the machinery of the brain and nerves performs it's ap- pointed tasks; hen the mind is clear the
 
 all is well with the world.
 But there are many conditions in which the machinery of the brain fails. The mind grows confused. It cannot tell memories from realities. Its power of attention flags. A fixed idea not re- lated to external things may take pos session of the mind or the ill may fail and the unwind may be controlled by a thousand vagrant impressions (really half-forgotten memory pictures) in as many minutes. In any case, the re- sponse of the muscles in action becomes uncertain. The action does not respond to external conditions, but to internal whims. The deeds which result from these whims may be dangerous to the subject himself, or to others. This is a condition of mania, or of mental ire sponsibility.
 Some phase of mental unsoundnesS is the natural effect of any of those drugs called StimuantS or narcotics Alcohol | gives a feeling of warmth or vigor, or collaboration, when the real warmth or vigor, or exhilaration does not exist. Tobacco gives a feeling of rest which is not restfulnesss. The use of opium | seems on intensity the imagination, giv- ing its clumsy wings wondrous power | of flight. It destroys the sense ot time 1