1292

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

first instance, and its use afterwards continued from habit; chronic coughs, 1 [ )3 yC

opium is also used as a popular medicine; habitual drunkards also freque 11 . g t 0 frecourse to opium as a new stimulus, after they have abjured wine in s0 ° urs e 10repentance. Persons holding high offices or dignities in the state also have r ec0 _ g0l neopium, when the preservation of their character forbids them the use of r'n as tb®very strict believers also take opium as a restorative in cases of great exertion ‘Tatars (couriers), who travel with astonishing celerity. . „ aid

“ Opium-eaters generally begin with doses of from half a grain to two g ral ^’ ore agradually increase the quantity till it amounts to two drachms and sometime* | n j{day; they usually take the opium in pills, but avoid drinking any water a ^ r t „[ ) le ) * tswallowed them, as this is said to produce violent colic: to make it more p aIa . g ] e ssis sometimes mixed with syrups or thickened juices ; but in this for " 1 . sBJ allintoxicating and resembles mead ; it is then taken with a spoon or is dried wcakes, with the words ‘Mash Allah,’ ‘the work of God, ’ imprinted on them. a i)d“The effect of the opium manifests itself one or two hours after it has been ta» £ (foelasts for five or six hours, according to the dose taken and the idiosyncrasy j oBlsubject. In persons accustomed to take it, it produces a high degree ot aI11which the Theriaki (opium-eaters) represent as the acme of happiness. , total

“ The habitual opium-eater is instantly recognised by his appearance. ^ dieattenuation of body, a withered, yellow countenance, a lame gait, a bending j. e #spine, frequently to such a degree as to assume a circular form, andeyes, betray him at the first glance. The digestive organs are in the high® 8 * ^ek-disturbed, the sufferer eats scarcely any thing, and has hardly one evacuation w a ^ t |,ehis mental and bodily powers are destroyed,—he is impotent. By degrees, _ ^ t |,ehabit becomes more confirmed, his strength continues decreasing, the craving 1 cC ii-stimulus becomes even greater, and, to produce the desired effect, the dose mu*stantly be augmented. he» l ^ |C

“ When the dose of two or three drachms a day no longer produces the j,e]intoxication so eagerly sought by the Opiophagi, they mix the opium with [ c ° r aS »sublimate, increasing the quantity till it reaches to ten grains a day ; it then aCstimulant. rilf-

“After long indulgence the opium-eater becomes subject to nervous or ° e nj,pains, to which opium itself brings no relief. These people seldom attain the 0|, 0 iforty, if they have begun to use opium at an early age. The fasts in the W® j e ofRamasan are for them fraught with the most dreadful tortures, as during th® " . ati t<jthat month they are not allowed to take any thing during the day. It is said ysiUassuage their sufferings, they swallow, before the morning prayer, besides jpg

dose, a certain number of other doses, each wrapped up in its particular pap er > ^ pillpreviously calculated the time when each envelope shall be unfolded, and a "°' V i, e co lll ‘ !to produce the effects of their usual allowance. When this baneful habit ha*

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confirmed, it is almost impossible to break it off; the torments of the 0 P ,un ] 1 " e b jiwhen deprived of this stimulant, are as dreadful as his bliss is complete when ^ oi etaken it; to him night brings the torments of hell, day the bliss of paradise- (Vii Xiwho do make the attempt to discontinue the use of opium, usually mix it ' V1and daily diminishing the quantity of the opium, the pill at last containsbut wax.”

For an account of the effects produced on English opium-eaters 1refer to the well-known confessions of Mr. De Quincey {Confessions »jEnglish Opium-eater ) and of the late Mr. S. T. Coleridge, ^ p ofl d-Early Recollect, of the late S. T. Coleridge, vol. ii. p. 149, et seq- ^jcl'1837). Numerous instances of the enormous quantities of opium" g ( it'by habit may be taken with impunity have been published. y n 0 fthese I have already referred to (see p. 36). Dr. Chapman 0® ^ ^

tef,

notb^

Therap. ii. 199) tells us that he knew a wine-glassful of laudanumgiven several times in the twenty-four hours. “ But what is stilltraordinary,” says this author, “in a case of cancer of the uterus," eiwas under the care of two highly respectable physicians (Drs. jjiyand La Roche) of Philadelphia , the quantity of laudanum was g radl 1 j u n'increased to three pints, besides a considerable quantity of solid °l 0 iin the same period.” Pinel mentions a lady who required 120 g ralopium to give her ease in cancer of the uterus.