Morphinism and narcomanias from other drugs : their etiology, treatment, and medicolegal relations / by T. D. Crothers.

Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Morphinism and narcomanias from other drugs : their etiology, treatment, and medicolegal relations / by T. D. Crothers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    same as before. The want of decision and irreso- lution may be concealed, and only appear along lines of new personalities. When morphin is taken again, the defects of will and conduct may sud- denly disappear and all the old vigor apparently return. Thus, in one case, a clergyman who occupied a prominent place was at times considered by his intimates to be insane. These insane attacks would be followed by periods of great mental clear- ness, in which his sermons and intellectual work were equal to those of any time of his life. Except a slight pallor and loss of pride of appearance, noth- ing could be noticed. He was a morphin-taker, and these periods of mental aberration followed the hyperesthetic state from abstinence from morphin. At times the pulse was intermittent, the heart’s action weak, and dyspnea with hoarseness was especially marked. The eyes lost their brightness and the face its power of expression; the skin had an earthy look. All this would change in a brief time and his former vigor would come on. These strange periods of insanity and great mental activity were due to his secret efforts to give up the drug, and his failure and relapse to its use again. Sudden changes of this nature suggest the use of morphin or other narcotic drugs. The presence of delusions and hallucinations is