234 Life and Health 



358. The Victim of the Opium Habit. Occasionally per- 

 sons convalescing from serious sickness in which anodynes 

 were taken unwisely cling to them long after recovery. 

 Other persons, jaded with business or with worry, and 

 unable to sleep, unwisely resort to some narcotic mixture 

 to procure rest. In these and other similar cases the use 

 of opiates is always most pernicious. The amount must 

 be steadily increased to obtain the desired repose. 



Even if the desired sleep is procured, it is hardly the cov- 

 eted rest, but a troubled and dreamy slumber, leaving the 

 body in the morning quite unrefreshed, the head aching, 

 the mouth dry, and the stomach devoid of appetite. But 

 far worse than even this condition may be the opium habit, 

 which soon becomes a bondage in which life is shorn of its 

 wholesome pleasures, and existence becomes a burden. 



359. Chloral. Chloral is a powerful drug that has been 

 much resorted to by unthinking persons to produce sleep. 

 Others, yielding to a morbid reluctance to face the prob- 

 lems of life, have sought shelter in artificial forgetfulness. 

 The chloral habit is a source of great danger and is difficult 

 to cure. 



360. Ether and Chloroform. Ether and chloroform, those 

 priceless blessings to the human race if properly bestowed, 

 may become instruments of death when carelessly trifled 

 with. Persons who have been accustomed to inhale the 

 vapor in slight whiffs for neuralgia or similar troubles do 

 so at great peril, especially if lying down. They are liable 

 to become slowly unconscious, and so to continue the 

 inhalation till life is ended. 



361. Other Powerful Drugs. There is still another class 

 of drugs, often carelessly used, whose effect, while less 

 directly serious than those mentioned, is yet far from 

 harmless. They have sprung into popular use since the 



