Show THE COCAINE 1 A writer in ibe boston herald gives a graphic account of the cocaine habit a pernicious vice that has within the past few years claimed thousands of victims the writer relates anat about fifteen years ago a young german physician called tho attention of the medical pro fesgian to the fact that a soluble combination of cocaine with hydrochloric acid possessed remarkable properties as a local an aesthetic the expense of procuring the drug for a number of years precluded its extensive use until a few years ago the cost of manufacture being greatly reduced it came into more general use to dull the of the nose and larynx during examination and operation and was introduced into the field of patent medicines as the basic condition of bo called catarrh remedies apparently it produced the most marvelous cures because tho patient finding the delicate nasal membrane deadened and all discomfort and annoyance removed imagined that the evil had passed away noi knowing that the relief was anly temporary many physicians also after using this agent as a palliative in treating disturbances of the hafsal passages placed it in the bands of patients to be employed at pleasure and thee accredited men of medicines are unquestionably responsible 10 a very large extent for the spread of what has really become an alarming ala national evil when cocaine says the writer bad come into general nee by physicians and makers of patent medicines for tho alleviation of all nasal troubles including even and for toothaches or for the temporary suppression of any pain or irritation the delicate mucous membrane w affected it was found that a craze was created for the continued use of the drue this it was soon learned had its origin not in the mere suppression of aba pain or irritation but by rea on of the tact that ap of claice cc aice either to the nasal membrane or by hyper inactions the bame method by which morphine 13 most introduced into ahe system produced a sense of extreme exhilaration in fact a condition of most enjoyable intoxication those who hi d once experienced this found k difficult to abstain from a renewal of the application and in time found the use of thy drug absolutely essential to life cocaine is a call estr isted from coca leaves the product of a shrub that grows wild in south america the virtues of the plant as a nerve stimulant have long been known to the peruvian natives who for many years attracted the wondering notice of travelers by tho prolonged fatigue which they were enabled to endure by simply chewing its eaves they ara haggard eyed aud eoon we will power and belf respect and eventually sinks lower than tho opium fiend he can not leave off the habit it hb does his heart aud kidneys refuse to perform their functions and only by systematic treatment is be enabled to overcome the disease dise aee not long ago a story came from a town in new hampshire of tho deplorable effects which had attended the treatment of catarrh by the use of cocaine a third of the population having become addicted to abe cocaine habit with just such an attending mental and physical collapse as is described in the herald the wine of cocoa ie also said to be responsible for tho addiction of many to the habit the unfortunate who innocently forms the habit under the belief that it is a catarrhal remedy is certainly to be pitied but tho doctor who knowing the resulting evils prescribes or gives cocaine except as an an aesthetic in a surgical operation or examination is unworthy rf the to practice medicine |