2694 



Dru, AIGUILLE DU. Rocky 

 needle or peak in the Mont Blanc 

 chain, near the Aiguille Verte. The 

 Grand Dru or Pointe Este (alt. 

 12,320 ft.) was first ascended by 

 Dent and Hartley in 1878 ; the 

 Petit Dru or Pointe Charlet (alt. 

 12,244 ft.) by Charlet-Straton in 

 1879. See Alps. 



Drug. Medicinal substance 

 obtained from the vegetable and 

 mineral kingdoms. The term also 

 includes the substances as pre- 

 pared for use in the treatment of 

 disease, but these are better dis- 

 tinguished as pharmaceutical pre- 

 parations. Sometimes the word is 

 employed to indicate narcotic sub- 

 stances, such as opium and cocaine. 



London is the world's chief port 

 for drugs, hundreds of which arrive 

 in the crude state from all parts 

 of the world. They are stored in 

 special warehouses at the docks, 

 and the importers hold drug 

 auction sales about twice a month 

 at the Commercial Sales Rooms, 

 Mincing Lane, the purchasers 

 generally being wholesale drug- 

 gists or exporters. Cinchona bark 

 is brought to Amsterdam, because 

 the Dutch colonies are now its 

 chief producers. Liverpool is the 

 port for American drugs. In the 

 case of wholesale druggists the 

 drug, as imported, generally has 

 to be sorted over " garbled," as 

 it is known in the trade to 

 separate the various grades. For 

 example, pieces of rhubarb root of 

 fine appearance are reserved for 

 selling retail to the public, but 

 broken pieces are equally well 

 suited for reducing to powder, or 

 for pharmaceutical preparations. 

 Some drugs, such as aconite, bella- 

 donna, digitalis, henbane, lavender, 

 peppermint, etc., are grown in 

 Great Britain. Others require 

 warm or moist climates for their 

 successful cultivation. 



DRUG HABITS. Continuous tak- 

 ing of certain drugs produces in 

 some persons an irresistible craving 

 for them, despite their injurious 

 effect upon both mind and body. 

 The commonest instances are ad- 

 diction to alcohol and smoking. 

 The less frequent drug-habits 

 such as the taking of opium or 

 cocaine may originate in taking 

 the drug in the first instance under 

 medical orders, its use being con- 

 tinued because of pleasurable sen- 

 sations produced. 



Many victims display a progres- 

 sive deterioration of their moral 

 faculties, and when fully in the grip 

 of the habit will lie freely and resort 

 to any tricks to satisfy their crav- 

 ing. Another characteristic feature 

 is the marked degree of tolerance 

 acquired after taking a drug for a 

 considerable time, the victim of a 



Dru. View of the Aiguille du Dru, 

 near Chamonix 



drug habit sometimes taking daily 

 an amount of poison which would 

 be fatal in an ordinary person. 



In most cases the habit of taking 

 opium is initiated by taking the 

 drug to relieve pain, and is more 

 frequent in women than in men. 

 Morphia may be injected hypoder- 

 mically, laudanum drunk, or solid 

 opium eaten ; opium smoking is 

 more common in the East than in 

 Europe. Those who are addicted 

 to this habit become pale or sallow, 

 and suffer from nausea, vomiting, 

 loss of appetite, sleeplessness, and 

 emaciation. Periods of severe 

 mental depression follow the tem- 

 porary exaltation at first produced 

 by a dose. The temper becomes 

 irritable, and the moral faculties 

 degenerate, the sufferer becoming 

 untruthful and utterly unreliable. 



Delusions and hallucinations may 

 occur. Remarkable tolerance for 

 opium may be established. De 

 Quincey (q.v. ) states that at one 

 period he was taking 320 grains of 

 opium a day, the full Pharmaco- 

 poeial dose being two grains. 

 When the habit is definitely estab- 

 lished, it needs strong will-power 

 to overcome it. The patient 

 should enter a home or institution 

 where he will be unable to obtain 

 the drug. When the habit has not 

 been of long duration, it may be 

 possible to stop the drug at once, 

 or reduce it very rapidly, but in 

 long-standing cases the symptoms 

 induced by abrupt withdrawal may 

 be severe, and it is generally advis- 

 able to reduce the drug gradually. 



The habitual taking of chloral 

 hydrate is nearly always started 

 by its use to prevent sleeplessness. 

 The symptoms of chronic poisoning 

 which gradually develop are dys- 



DRUGGIST 



pepsia, eruptions on the skin, 

 weakness of the heart and respira- 

 tion, and impairment of mental 

 power. The acquirement of toler- 

 ance is not so marked as with 

 opium, and a slightly greater dose 

 than usual may be fatal. 



Cocaine is sometimes taken as a 

 constituent of a snuff by persons 

 suffering from nasal catarrh, and 

 in this way the habit is initiated. 

 Both the mental and bodily facul- 

 ties become affected in course of 

 time. 



The taking of Cannabis Indica 

 frequently becomes a habit in 

 Egypt, India, and other Eastern 

 countries, where it is taken in the 

 form of hashish, bhang, or ganga. 

 It produces symptoms resembling 

 those of mild intoxication, followed 

 by sleep which is often accompanied 

 by pleasant dreams. 



To check the serious growth of 

 the drug habit an act of parliament 

 was passed in 1923 which particu- 

 larly aimed at the suppression of 

 illicit traffic in cocaine and other 

 dangerous drugs. 



Drug. District, subdivision, and 

 town of Central Provinces, India, 

 in the Chhatisgarh division. Area, 

 3,807 sq. m. ; pop. 775,688, five- 

 sixths Hindus. Of the total area 

 about one-quarter is under cultiva- 

 tion, rice and wheat being among 

 the chief crops. The town has 

 small metal and weaving industries. 

 Pop. 7,048, four-fifths Hindus. 



Drugget (Fr. droguet, dim. of 

 drogue, poor material). Coarse 

 woollen stuff, woven or felted, 

 sometimes printed with a pattern. 

 It is chiefly used as a protection or 

 substitute for carpets. The name is 

 also applied to a stout fabric of 

 linen warp and worsted weft for 

 rough aprons, etc. In early times 

 drugget was much used for cloth- 

 ing, being sometimes partly of silk. 



Druggist. One of the titles 

 reserved by the Pharmacy Act, 

 1868, for persons who keep open 

 shop for the sale of poisons and are 

 registered under the Act. The list 

 of poisons which can only be sold 

 retail by registered persons is given 

 in the schedule of the Poisons and 

 Pharmacy Act, 1908, this list re- 

 placing the schedule given in the 

 Act of 1868. The sale of poisons 

 wholesale, i.e. to retailers only, 

 requires the article to be labelled 

 " poison." The title wholesale drug- 

 gist is not a protected one. In 

 Ireland the title druggist as regards 

 retail vendors of poisons is regu- 

 lated by the Pharmacy Act (Ire- 

 land), 1875, Amendment Act, 

 1890. Druggists deal generally in 

 f medicinal substances and chemicals 

 required in the arts ; in Great Bri- 

 tain they dispense prescriptions, but 

 are not qualified to do so in Ireland. 



