y which
has tempted many to destruction, absolutely deny the truth of his
statements. No one has any stable reason on which to found denial of De
Quincey's statements as to the magnitude of the doses he was able to
take; and his frankness and truthfulness is equal to that of any of his
detractors. William Rosse Cobbe, in a volume entitled "Dr. Judas, or
Portrayal of the Opium Habit," gives with great frankness of confession
and considerable purity of diction a record of his own experiences with
the drug. One entire chapter of Mr. Cobb's book and several portions of
other chapters are devoted to showing that De Quincey was wrong in some
of his statements, but notwithstanding his criticism of De Quincey, Mr.
Cobbe seems to have experienced the same adventures in his dreams,
showing, after all, that De Quincey knew the effects of opium even if
he seemed to idealize it. According to Mr. Cobbe, there are in the
United States upward of two millions of victims of enslaving drugs
entirely exclusive of alcohol. Cobbe mentions several instances in
which De Quincey's dose of 320 grains of opium daily has been
surpassed. One man, a resident of Southern Illinois, consumed 1072
grains a day; another in the same State contented himself with 1685
grains daily; and still another is given whose daily consumption
amounted to 2345 grains per day. In all cases of laudanum-takers it is
probable that analysis of the commercial laudanum taken would show the
amount of opium to be greatly below that of the official proportion,
and little faith can be put in the records of large amounts of opium
taken when the deduction has been made from the laudanum used. Dealers
soon begin to know opium victims, and find them ready dupes for
adulteration. According to Lewin, Samter mentions a case of
morphin-habit which was continued for three years, during which, in a
period of about three, hundred and twenty-three days, upward of 2 1/2
ounces of morphin was taken daily. According to the same authority,
Eder reports still larger doses. In the case observed by him the
patient took laudanum for six years in increasing doses up to one ounce
per day; for eighteen months, pure opium, commencing with 15 grains and
increasing to 2 1/4 drams daily; and for eighteen months morphin, in
commencing quantities of six grains, which were later increased to 40
grains a day. When deprived of their accustomed dose of morphin the
sufferings which these patients experience are te