Growth of Morphiomania. Treatment of the Dreaded Habit in France.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 130, 26 February 1887, Page 6

Growth of Morphiomania. Treatmen t of the Dreaded Habit in France.

I'j the course of tho last few yeais the ai=ea=e which the doctors call movphioinania has made formidable headway all eve- Franco. In the capital its victims i.lcuost rival those of alcoholism. At Beilo vua a groat hospital haa been opened for the care, and, if possible, the cure of theeo patient?. Here at least all the symptoms of the disoaae may be studied, and curioua statistics of its course and of the character of. its victims have been collected, The nhaa^e in its prepcnt form is necesparily but of recent origin. Morphia itself wm only discovered in ISI6 The cure of it i= vary rare. Ifc ib found that both the ueo and the deprivation ol the drug lead tha victims almost inevitably to suicide, and at Eellevue there are cushioned rooms for soma of the patients and a constant watch kept on all. Ono is not surprised to hear that the chief sufi'orers are women After women come doctor?. One can see the reason of this. A fow years ago the injection of morphia was almost a surgical operation. Doctors would have most opportunity and least fear of the results. Now, unfortunately, the instruments have been made so perfect that the vee of them hns ceased to be either painful or formid- 1 able. '