Year: 1878


pared by my instigation, and I signed the
same without any mental reservation.


H. B. ROBERTS.


OPIUM EATING.


IT'S PLEAsURE-THE TERRIBLE SUFFERING


1T ENTAILS.


The first dose Of opium upon healthy or.
ganization is new and remarkable revela-
ton. When taken in a. proper quantity its
primary effect upon the nervous system is not
to producesleep The first sensation is cor
dial radiation from the epigastrum of an in.
describable warmth, or glow, accompanied
by change in the mental condition so COM
plex as to totally defy description. Opium
stimulates all the faculties of the mind, but
especially the reflective and imaginative 1t
is peculiarly picture-graving, castle-build.
ing agent, and among its most singular effects
is that of confounding the real and the ideal
to the degree that the person using the drug
accepts the structures Of the imagination as
present realities. Opium is the most complex
substance known to pharmacopeia, and its
effects upon the human system are correspond
ingly diverse. 1t not only soothes irritation
and mental anxiety, but it imparts sense
of peace, a calmness under difficulty, and q
self reliance in danger which is only equalled
by the sensation which it bestows of primeval
health of body and elasticity of spirits 1t
sings in the ear of the wretched victim a song
30 seductively sweet that there is no waking
to sense of danger until too late. The fact
that it is the most powerful anodyne known
to medicine accounts for the deceptive sensa-
tions of health and strength it imparts to
the user, at the same time that it is working
out functional and structural changes of the
most startling character.


The pleasurable effects of single dose
generally continue from four to eight hours,
when the reaction from the stimulus of the
drug results in stupid sleep, often thronged
with dreams which, with some mental orgsni-
cations, consist in succession of stupendous
scenes and situation. Upon awakening ths
body is bathed with perspiration, the mind is
confused, deep sense of detection and ia.
tigue, with considerable disturbance of all the
secretory organs, ensues, which may not fully
disappear for many hours, but which may ba
temporarily concealed by second dose


1t must be remembered that the action of
opium is to lock up the great excretory or.
gans of the body, and throw the whole task of
eliminating effete matter from the system upon
the skin. Thus the bowels Of the opium eater
constantly are consti pated, the kidneys fail
to secrete the proper proportion of fluid, the
liver is inactive, and all the poisonous matter
which it should filter from the blood, and
which is the bowels proper purgative, must
be gotten rid of by the pores of the skin. No
anodyne less powerful than opium could sue
cessfuly conceal such dire disturbances fthese
most essential functions.


So long as the previous forces are not mate.
rally diminished by the heavy drafts made
upon them the pleasurable sensations derived
from opium may continue. But the time
soon comes when an opium eater finds that
his system fails to respond to the exciting
power and instinct and analogy both teach
him that the dose must be increased. Nor is
this step dictated by the desire Of enjoyment
alone. The system demands constantly IN.
creasing stimulus to enable it to meet the
new requirements and discharge the abnor
NAL functions which are created by opium.


At length, after longer or shorter period,
during which all suggestions of danger are
dulled, symptoms appear which alarm even
those most ignorant or unsuspicious OF the
impending evil. The tremendous effects
wrought upon the system during so long
period can no longer be wholly concealed. A
more appalling discourse cannot be easily pic
tured than that which reveals the hitherto
unconscious dreamer that he has involuntari'
" rivited upon himself the chains of a most
terrible, and, perhaps, hopeless slavery. The
enlightenment does not proceed from clearly
defined symptoms of disturbance, which sci.
dom appear ut this stage 1t is rather in the
nature of an underlined but dreadful, forebod.
ing, an instructive, shuddering suggestion of
something dimly pictured upon the conscious:
ness, and assuming outlines more distinct and
proportions more appalling. The narcotic
having hitherto successfully yelled the changes
which it worked, now, when it has fixed
grasp of iron upon every nerve and tissue,
conveys the first hint of danger in the form
of suspicion, rapidly ripening into convic.
ton, that all is wrong with the organs and
functions most essential to life.


In most cases the first impulse following
this awakening is to renounce the cause CT
the evil without delay. The moment this
is attempted the eyes of the sufferer are fully
opened to his condition. lie finds now an
ample cause for all the vague, terrifying sug-
gestions, dimly limited during his waking mo-
ments and reflected in solemn colors upon
the substance of his dreams.


Speedily following the omission of the usual
stated dose, the patient experiences sudden
and inde6nable sensation, as if of the failure of
those vital powers mort essential to lite.
This is accompanied by restlessness and ner'
vous irritation 80 acute as to amount to actu'
al torture, with alternate hot and cold flush
es and profuse perspiration which drenches
the entire body. This is speedily followed by
the feeling of a peculiar, congested or cordial
tightness about the epigastrium, with a now
perceptible cerebral excitement similar to
that Immediately preceding the stage of de-
lirium in fever.


At this point the patient experiences the
only condition resembling sleep which, if bis
habit has been of year or two duration, he
can hope to enjoy again for at least fortnight
This will appear strange enough to the unlnl.
tiated total absence of sleep for a period of
fourteen consecutive days being almost be-
yond the limits Of belief: But | wish to be
understood, with literal exactness, that even in
habit of comparatively short standing the
patient will, if he endures his sufferings to the
end, be wholly snd utterly without sleep fer
at least week, and more probably for 2
weeks. But this period cf wakefulness is
ushered in by short periods of deep stupor
quickly following the first symptoms of con.
gestion and excitement of the brain which |
have mentioned The patient is never in any
sense refreshed by this slsep, but wakens
from each recurrence with more drenching