EFFECTS OF NARCOTICS UPON THE MIND 317 



577. Effect upon the motor regions. Shortly after the 

 judgment is clouded the motor regions begin to fail. Then 

 the hand will be unsteady, and the legs will totter as they 

 support the body. The person is now visibly -drunk, and 

 his judgment is so far gone that he could not decide where 

 to go even if his legs could carry him. The cerebellum is 

 also affected, so that he is still more uncertain in his 

 movements. 



578. Effect upon the sensory regions. Next after the 

 motor regions, the sensory regions begin to fail. Sensa- 

 tions of touch are first affected, so that the drinker cannot 

 feel the glass at his lips. In former days it used to be 

 the custom to make a person drunk and insensitive before 

 he underwent a surgical operation. After the sensations 

 of touch are benumbed the sight begins to fail. A 

 drunken man sees double, or the buildings and trees seem 

 to sway and dance before his eyes. Hearing, smell, and 

 taste are also lessened, so that he does not heed loathsome 

 surroundings, but will lie contented in a filthy gutter. 



579. Stage of paralysis. When the thought, motor, 

 and sensory regions of a man's brain are all weakened or 

 stopped in their action, the mind is dull and drowsy, and 

 soon he is in a condition resembling a deep sleep, from 

 which he can be roused only with difficulty. The medulla 

 and spinal cord still carry on the processes of life, but 

 they too begin to be overpowered. By the time the 

 cerebrum is almost overcome, the spinal cord is also much 

 decreased in action so that there is no response to pricks 

 or blows. Then the medulla is all that remains of the 

 central nervous system. It continues to send out impulses 

 for respiration. The respiration and circulation are the 

 only remaining signs of life, but even they are weak, 

 and may become almost imperceptible. Since little oxy- 



