On the uses of narcotics and stimulants and their effects on the human constitution / by Kanny Loll Dey.

Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the uses of narcotics and stimulants and their effects on the human constitution / by Kanny Loll Dey. 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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    OF NARCOTICS AND STIMULANTS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION. ♦ As a sequel to my paper on the laws of Health, which I had the honor of reading at the last meeting of this Association, X propose in this paper to treat of the narcotics and stimulants, em- bracing therein all the drugs and beverages used either for excite- ment or intoxication, and to view their uses and effects in relation to health. In examining this subject, I must guard against the common error of taking a one-sided view of the question, in which many in the fervour of enthusiasm overlook facts and principles to the great disparagement of truth and science. I will take first for review the known varieties of the most important drugs used as intoxicating agencies, giving, where prac- ticable, their chemical composition and describing the properties of the constituents. The beverages or stimulants properly so called will come last for consideration. In treating of them, I will devote some space to the description of some of the commonest forms of adulteration of wines, as many serious evils to the system may be traced to these adulterations as much as to abuses of excess and intemperance. It appears from the universal use of narcotics and stimulants amongst all races and tribes of mankind in some form or other, that the craving for such excitement arises from a natural want, and that the same instinct which drives man as well as the inferior animals to seek for those healthy aliments wdiich contribute to their bodily support and nourishment compels him to seek for these indul- gences, hence it may be presumed that their use is a necessity of life. Adhering to the plan I have laid down for the treatment of this subject, I will first describe the known varieties of the intoxicating drugs. The most important amongst these, as far as they are known, are, 1st, tobacco, Ind, gunja, and its com-