The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1900-11-30
NEEDS
REFORMING
Death in the MethyIated
Spirits Sold,
A MENACE TO HONOLULU
Druggists Organ Points the Danger
Of the Free Sales in
Hawaii.

! The police records show that in the
past few weeks a half dozen or more
men and women have died of drinking
methylated spirits or wood alcohol.
The coroners jury in the case of the
victims of old man Silva's vile decoc-
tons after certifying to the cause of
death said:
And further in view of the indis-
putable evidence which has been ad-
duced in this case to show that methy-
lated spirits, wood alcohol, Columbia
spirits and like posons are being sold
freely in such quantities at the several
drug stores in the city of Honolulu as
to be public menace, and that for the
public safety it is imperative that some
stringent measures be adopted to pro-
tect the health and welfare of the
community at large.
Therefore, we, the undersigned cor
overs jury, do recommend that the
Government issue such regulations as
will make the said poisons, known as
me thylated spirits, wood alcohol and
Columbian spirits scheduled as poisons
the sale of which is regulated by stat
ute"
The following from the Druggists
Circular concerning the toxic effects of
| wood alcohol or methyl alcohol COM
pared with ethyl or pure alcohol is in
teresting when it is remembered tina:
druggists here are allowed by law 20
sell wood alcohol to anyone but may
sell pure alcohol only on a physicians
certificate:
ITO begin with, there is no question
whatever as to the extremely danger
Gus character of unpurified methyl al
cohol (wood spiriD. 1t is capable of
producing serious disturbance in small
doses; and in addition to the danger to
life Is the chance of destroying the
sight. In our last issue we mentioned
two cases in which vision was seriously
impaired by only inhaling the vapor
in quantity, and in this one report is
made of total blindness following it's
internal use. A popularity of this ac-
ton is that the patient RECEIVERS sight
for time, but eventually the optic
nerve suffers partial or complete
atrophy.
so much for the unpurified. Now
for the purified article. In discussing
the matter several years ago, we re-
ferred to the following case reported by
Drs. Cecil MacCoy and f. M. Michael
in the Medical Record:
"a young man who was conVa-
lescing from measles surreptitiously
drank about two ounces of methyl al
cohol, the article being highly purified
probably the best quality obtainable
in the market. Two hours after he
took a similar quantity mixed with SUI
gar and water, and eluding the nurse
made his way to a hay loft, where,
thoroughly intoxicated, he slept for
about ten hours. On awakening he
sought his bed, suffering from violent
emesis and gastric pain. Twenty-four
hours afterward he complained of total
loss of sight and examination showed
double optic neuritiS with congeSted
retina. About a week after, lack of
vision still persisting, the patient COM
planned of visual Authorizations.
Eventually he became able to distin-
guish light and shadow and large OBJ
jects held near his eyes, but had re-
manned without further Improvement
when the report was made, two and a
half months after the occurrence
I'VE see, then, that with the ordin-
airy kind of wood alcohol there is dan
ger even III eNpoSuTe W us NapoI' anu
the purified may not be free from this
risk, so far as we know at present, as
it has produced the result noted above.
with these facts in view he would
be rather bold man who would un-
dertake to experiment with wood al
cohol to determine its relation to grain
alcohol in point of harmfulness. And
even We're it settled that it could be so
purified as to render it no more harm
full than grain alcohol one would have
to remember that there would always
be uncertainty as to this publication
having been fully accomplished. With
ordinary alcohol we have no parallel
risk.
THE facts we have presented carry
their own argument"