NARCOTICS 143 



is interrupted, there follows a peculiar unsatisfied and 

 nervous feeling which few men are able to overcome. 



Alcohol and tobacco often go hand in hand. Tobacco produces a 

 dry state of the mouth which demands drink, while alcohol causes a 

 nervous excitement which the benumbing tobacco tends to overcome. 

 Most users of alcohol smoke. The only way to break off the habit of 

 using tobacco is to do so by resolute efforts of the will. So-called cures 

 of the habit are of no value, for they cannot give a man a strong will. 

 On the other hand, they may induce sickness. 



238. Tobacco poisoning. Severe tobacco poisoning is 

 rare ; for when swallowed or inhaled, it produces vomiting, 

 which expels the poison. When applied to the skin in the 

 form of a poultice, as is sometimes done, enough may be 

 absorbed to produce great weakness, for then the stomach 

 cannot expel it. The principal sign of poisoning is extreme 

 weakness of the muscles and heart. 



To treat it, strong coffee should be given, and the patient 

 should be kept perfectly at rest. 



239. Opium. Opium is a narcotic drug which is used 

 to benumb the feelings of fatigue and care. A little of the 

 drug acts partly as a real stimulant, causing the cells to 

 act more vigorously and clearly. At the same time its 

 benumbing action is beginning, and only a little more is 

 needed to produce a drowsy feeling or a deep sleep. Just 

 as it causes the brain cells to cease acting in sleep, so also 

 it lessens the action of all the other cells, and especially 

 of those of the alimentary canal. The disturbance in the 

 action of the intestine sets up digestive trouble, which 

 extends rapidly to the liver. Then the nutrition of the 

 whole body is lowered. No habit is more enslaving or 

 more harmful in its effects. 



240. Cure of the opium habit. The only cure for the 

 opium habit, and yet a safe and sure one, is to keep the 



