Am  oc°tu,ri8^.arm"}       Opium  Smoking  by  the  Chinese.  501 
Smokers. — Smokers  are  divided  by  the  Chinese  into  two  classes,-, 
those  who  have  "  the  habit  "  and  those  who  have  not.  Those  of  the 
first  class  may  occasionally  be  seen  here  in  a  condition  in  which  they 
babble  in  their  talk  and  appear  prematurely  old.  The  writer  has 
not  been  able  to  trace  the  moral  deterioration  that  invariably  results 
from  the  excessive  use  of  opium  in  other  forms  among  the  Chinese 
opium  smokers,  although  it  probably  exists. 
From  an  economic  view  the  habit  is  a  most  extravagant  one. 
Much  time  is  taken  up  in  preparing  and  consuming  the  drug,  and 
days  are  sometimes  lost  in  recovering  from  its  effects.  The  occa- 
sional Chinese  smoker  will  consume  on  an  average  25  cents  worth 
per  day,  while  a  victim  of  "  the  habit  "  will  require  from  $  I  to  $1.50 
worth  during  the  same  period. 
In  its  behalf  the  Chinese  urge  the  value  of  the  drug  as  a  prophy- 
lactic against  the  effects  of  cold  andexposure,  and  contend  that  it  is 
far  less  injurious  than  alcohol.  They  say,  too,  that  while  the  habit 
is  general  few  smoke  to  excess. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  at  least  some  of  our  own  physicians,  who  have 
treated  patients  for  the  habit,  that  the  constitutional  effects  of  smok- 
ing opium  are  much  less  serious  than  those  arising  from  taking  the 
drug  in  other  ways,  and,  as  compared  with  the  use  of  morphia 
internally,  are  in  the  ratio  of  the  effects  of  ether  when  inhaled  and 
when  taken  into  the  stomach.  However  this  may  be,  there  can  be 
no  question  as  to  the  undesirability  of  the  extension  of  the  vice  in 
this  country.  If  the  importations  of  prepared  opium  through  the 
Custom  House  are  an  indication,  it  would  appear  that  there  is  a 
considerable  decline  in  the  use  of  the  drug.  In  1 880  the  total 
importations,  which  had  been  gradually  increasing,  amounted  to 
77,196  pounds.  For  May  31,  1890,  according  to  information  kindly 
furnished  by  Mr.  S.  G.  Brock,  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  the  importations  were  29,955  pounds,  and  for 
the  corresponding  months  of  the  present  year,  66,549  pounds.  The 
illegal  importations,  concerning  the  amounts  of  which  it  is  impossi- 
sible  to  obtain  information,  render  conclusions  based  upon  these 
returns  very  uncertain. 
The  writer  has  said  that  the  Chinese  are  responsible  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  custom  into  the  United  States,  but  they  are  not  the 
only  ones  that  are  blameworthy.  As  already  stated,  the  preparation 
of  this  drug  is  a  monopoly  with  the  English  in  Hong  Kong,  as  the 
