temperaments the probability, that somewhere in the course of so very
gradual a descent the same influences which led originally to the use
of opium may recur, with no counteracting influence derived from the
excitement of the mind produced by the earnestness of the
struggle. With some constitutions I have no doubt that a process even
so slow as that of Dr. S.'s might be successful, but I suspect, with
most men, that some mood of excited feeling, and some conscious sense
of conflict, will be found necessary, in order to bring them up
resolutely to the work of self-emancipation. On the other hand, I am
satisfied that my own descent was too rapid. Had the experiment of
between five and six weeks been protracted to twice that time, much of
the immediate suffering, and probably more of that which soon
followed, might have been prevented. As in the constitution of every
person there is a limit beyond which further indulgence in any
pernicious habit results in chronic derangement, so also there seems
to be a limit in the discontinuance of accustomed indulgence, going
beyond which is sure to result in some increased physical disorder. In
the cure of _delirium tremens_, the first step of the physician
is to stimulate. With more moderate drinkers abrupt cessation from the
use of stimulants is the only sure remedy. In the first instance the
nervous system is too violently agitated to dispense entirely with the
accustomed habit; in the second, the nerves are presumed to be able to
bear the temporary strain imposed upon them by the condition of the
stomach and other organs. But with opium the case is otherwise.
Insanity, I think, would be the general result of an attempt
immediately to relinquish the habit by those who have long indulged
it. The most the opium-eater can do is to diminish his allowance as
rapidly as is safe. For the same reason that no sensible physician
would direct the confinement of a patient and the absolute disuse of
opium with the certainty that mania would result, so it would be