The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1914-12-30
Motherhood Without
Fear.

Hf'th'tH - Ah' tNhutfN iMoA ttNtdit-
able discovery had been made by
which the pangs Of childbirth wore
To be forever abolished. The an
nouncement was made IN the form Of
an article by two women, apparently
Of no medical training The Remark
able discovery was the long-dlacred-
tied scopolamin-morphin u~nalgesia.
first suggested in 1902. This sensa-
ttonal article was taken advantage 81
by a pharmaceutic firm FOR iroe adj
Nertising Of a nostruuL. based on q
similar formula; a number of physi-
clans previously unknown brought
themselves into newspaper promi-
hence with naive statements regard
ing their ability In the use OF the
the method and with reports OF their
success; a host of "Cob-writers'' and
sisters Of the pen, whose work Is test
ed by their ability 10 wiring anguish
from sympathetic hearts filled col
umns OF the daily press and magazine
with pseudo-scienufic rubbish.
And now. when this sensation has
about died out, we are supplied with
another. This one is furnished by Mr..
Vance Thompson. playwright and nov
elist; the medium Is the Cosmopolitan
magazine. In an editors note the ar
ticle describing the new method Of
eliminating the pains OF labor is intro
duoed as follows:
The al~l-abaOrbing events OF tho
last days of July prevented the spread
OF the most joyful message ever sent
from the s~cientis, laboratory 10
woman. II was that %henceforth she
viii bear children not in pain and ter
Tor but In gladness. Paris knew q
Il; the French Academy OF Medicine
had accepted Il, but Il got no further,
Mr. Thompson was then IN the city
aud TO him has fallen the wonderful
opportunity Of carrying the good news
10 the men and women Of America.
Here II is:
Attention must be called 10 tho
fact hat the practice here described
has nothing 10 do with the morphin-
sCopolamin treatment originating
some years age In Freiburg and which
recently has had some measure of eX-
ploitation under the popular name OF
twilight sleep" This requires spe-
| cial and very expert care on the part
Of the physician. and has the further
NA0uNNAAAHEN VI hAkttk WV RaNAfAA
into a state of partial in~sensibility. II
can be administers properly only in
hospitals, and It's use In general prac-
tioe should. and probably viii. be for
hidden by law. But detoNicated NOR
! phin. without the slightest danger 10
the mother. causes neither check nor
delay. doe not interfere with the nee
essary rhythmic muscular c%ontrac-
lions. and makes painless childbirth a
scientific certainty"
As q composition. The Journal OF
the American Medical Association re-
| gards Mr.. Thompson's article as fair
ly comparable with that Of The two
ladies who reintroduced twilight
/ sleep" 10 American women; but for
sentimenia rot. for pseudoscientiho
rubbish, and for downright sob
writing Mr.. Vance Thompson must
be given the palm.
As to the facts, in one place Il Is
stated:
"a do not write Of this discovery as
being in an experimental stage IL
/ has been accepted by the French
| Academy Of Medicinc-the date was
the third week Ia July. surgeons
( gynec0iogists. chemists. doctors OF al
degrees have examined, tested. ap-
proved. For once scientific men have
been unanimous"
There Is no excuse for such false
statements; even Mr.. Thompson could
easily have learned the ruth.
What are the facts? What is this
"detoxlcated morphin' which, we are
told. eliminates the pains OF child
birth? Las July. Dessaiznes
| reported 10 the Academy OF Medicine
OF Paris a number OF cases Of child
| birth In which ne had used, for me
relief OF pain, a preparation "discoN'
cred" by a chemist named Paulin
The nature Of the preparation was not
disclosed 10 the academy. September
!. presumably as q result OF the sug'
gestieu OF Psulin, a request came "a
the academy from the minister 81
war asking the opinion OF the aead'
envy az to the ACCESSIBILITY OF usinl
this remedy. presented under tbs
name OF 'ToCanalgine and "Antal'
CINE" in military hospitals as "A sub
stitute Tor morphin. By unanimoui
vote the academy declared that. th'
formula and composition Of these
medicines being ~anknown, IL coule
give no opinion. Since 81 was stated
however. that the new drue was pro.
duced by the action Of enzy1nes on
morphin. the academy appointed 4
COMMITTEES 10 investigate oNydi-mor
phln. a chemical substance which 3
was known could be produced oy th'
action % enzymes Of morphin. I'm.
der the direction Of the COMMITTEES
two chemists examined samples o
the new preparation obtained direct
Isl from the discoverer The examina
ton showed that these samples wer'
variable. and that they dld not conteil
any oxydimorphin. The only active
ingredient found by these chemis,
was morphin -hydrochiorid, and this u
quantities varying from COS 20 pc
cent. Tbs conclusions Of these W.
chemists we're later emphasized 81
bertrand who. after c~arefal chemica
ard biologhc tests Of samples submit
ted 60 him. found that the solid res
ldue vas exclusively formed Of hydro
Chord 81 morphin, and b q u va
fully as toxic and dapeerons as NOR
phln, az might be expected IN
symptoms o. poisoning were exactl
the same a. those ~ morphin ydf