STIMULANTS AND NARCOTICS 



serve to cause a large part of his energy to be con- 

 sumed, and a larger amount of stimulant is therefore 

 required to arouse to action the exhausted cells. Thus 

 it goes on ; the more he abuses his system by arousing it 

 to expel the poison, the less energy he has left and the 

 more difficult it is to arouse. The nearer worn out the 

 tired horse is, the sharper must it be lashed to keep it go- 

 ing. The habitual user of alcohol is not only its slave, but 

 a slave that is constantly being drawn closer and closer 

 within its relentless clutches. The energy of the cigarette 

 user sinks to a lower and lower ebb, and he constantly 

 increases the nicotine in order to arouse it. 



504. Inebriate Cures. These are sometimes successful, 

 but are usually failures. What makes the cure of the 

 drunkard so difficult is, that he is not really willing to 

 undergo the pain and trouble necessary to stop. During 

 some unselfish moments, and when he realizes more than 

 usual the destruction that dissipation is bringing upon him, 

 he may truthfully desire to make any sacrifice to free him- 

 self and become restored to manhood, but so ruinous has 

 been the effect of alcohol upon his moral nature, that such 

 moments do not last long, and when the first promptings of 

 the appetite return, he falls, and would sell the roof from 

 over the heads of his wife and children to get money to 

 gratify his thirst. The inebriate cures base their method 

 upon convincing him, by secretly adding a nauseating dose 

 to his drink, or by some other plan, that alcohol has turned 

 against him and no longer gives him pleasure, and he be- 

 comes convinced that he must stop, and willing to try to 

 quit. The best way to quit alcohol, opium, tobacco, or 

 other narcotics, is by a straightforward resolve to do so, and 

 by stopping at once. While the poison is being removed 

 from the body, the nerves are so irritable that the least 

 sound or change of temperature may bring torture to the 

 patient, and sometimes it is necessary to keep him in a quiet 



