ABSTRACT
Morphia is a sedative, even to the habitue, but not only or principally a sedative. Its predominating action is that of a stimulant, and this contradiction is not more flagrant than those which obtain in all its other effects, both of abuse and of abstinence. The weaning from the morphia habit may be divided into several periods. The first begins with the commencement of the reduction, and lasts until it is necessary to give some substitute for the decreasing hypodermic injections. The second night from the last dose of morphia there may be insomnia, but there is no restless craving for morphia, and henceforth, until sleep is properly re-established, there may be wakefulness, but it is a wakefulness that is quite bearable. The heart will scarcely beat without it, the brain only thinks by it, and digestion is entirely dependent upon it. In a word, morphia to its unfortunate slaves is the synonym of vital force.
