Dr. Joseph Parrish, of Burlington, N. J., writes me of the following curious case:—
“I have known persons (and have one under treatment at this time) who are habituated to the use of narcotics, and who, to avoid being enslaved by either one, alternate between morphia, chloral, whiskey, and the bromides, with the result of rest and composure from each in its turn. They are not opium or chloral habituès, nor inebriates from alcohol, but they are habituated to artificial narcotism.
“In the case now under treatment, the chloral dose does not exceed fifteen grains at bedtime, and the morphia dose does not exceed half a grain, nor the whiskey dose more than a fluid ounce. I learn from the patient that his former physician employed these remedies for long-standing insomnia.
“Present condition fair; i. e., delicate constitution, but good appetite, and even temperament; functions not interfered with, though the habit of taking something to promote rest and sleep is of several years’ duration.”
The following is from a prominent physician, who does not care to have his name appear in connection with the case:—
“A lady patient of mine—now fifty-seven years of age—began to take fifteen grains of chloral about eight years ago, after very great family affliction, to procure sleep, and has kept up its use almost uninterruptedly ever since, without increasing the dose, though she occasionally (not very often) repeated the dose once during the night. During seven of these eight years she was subjected to the depressing influence of the care of a child with severe epilepsy and mental deterioration slowly progressing. During the last year she has gone several times, for a week at a time, without the drug, and I think that she could now dispense with it almost entirely were it not for constant anxiety about one of her children. She takes it only to procure sleep; and I cannot see that it has harmed her in any way.
“The above case cannot be called one of the chloral habit, as during a number of hours out of every twenty-four she is free from the influence of the drug; but I think the case may be of value as illustrating the length of time during which the drug may be taken, almost daily, without any increase of dose.”
Professor Henry M. Lyman, of Rush Medical College, Chicago, writes as follows:—
“I am acquainted with a clergyman, sixty-five years of age, whose mother died insane. He informs me that for ten years past he has been obliged, in order to procure sleep, to take ten grains on retiring, and ten grains more about 3 A.M. His health is otherwise good, and he is possessed of more than common intellectual power. He, however, though never in the habit of using alcoholic drinks, has the red eyes and rather ‘groggy’ appearance of a person who drinks too much. I have known of other cases where persons were in the habit of taking ten grains at bedtime, every night, for months together, with great benefit. I have never happened to make the acquaintance of a person who was addicted to its use as a simple instrument of pleasure.”