288 Physiology. 



to relieve pain, as in neuralgia. The habit, once formed, 

 is hard to break. Only the confessions of such victims, 

 and the degrading effects on character, show how power- 

 ful is the sway which this class of drugs gains over those 

 who yield to their influence. Let no one flatter himself 

 that he has a strong will and can control himself. One 

 of their first effects is to weaken the will. The history of 

 their use is ever the same. They enslave. They destroy. 



Summary. i . Narcotics deaden pain or produce insensibility. 



2. Opium is the chief narcotic; morphine is extracted from opium. 



3. Chloroform, ether, and nitrous oxide are anesthetics, and are used 

 to produce insensibility during surgical operations. 



4. Chloral hydrate is a sleep-producer, or hypnotic. 



5. Cocaine is a local anesthetic, useful in minor surgical operations. 



6. Soothing syrups usually contain opium or other narcotic, and 

 their use is dangerous unless under the direction of a physician. 



7. Narcotics reduce strength as well as sensibility. 



8. Narcotics make the habitual user a slave to their influence, and 

 are usually ruinous to mind as well as to body. 



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