It will be seen, from the foregoing cases, that while there is no doubt that in certain individuals a morbid craving for chloral may be established by the prolonged use of the drug, it is very different, as a habit, from that produced by opium or morphine. As an offset to this stands the fact that, in those cases where a habit is formed, _it causes a more complete and rapid ruin of mind and body_ than either opium or morphine. Persons addicted to the habitual use of this drug are usually of the educated class, as is the case with opium. It has been denied by some authors that it is ever used as a stimulant to the mind. In one case now under my care, and in several reported to me by correspondents, this was the object for which it was first taken, and it was found to answer the purpose admirably, especially in the case of those doing continuous literary work. This effect was, however, short-lived and the reaction decided. Dr. Quintius C. Smith, who has had a large professional experience among the prostitutes of the Pacific coast, writes me that the drug is or was used largely by this class, they finding it quite as efficient a stimulant, nerve sedative and sleep producer, as opium or alcohol, and having the advantage of leaving no ill after effects. One such patient, unless she previously took a dose of chloral, would have a severe epileptiform convulsion at each connection. A clearer idea of the ill effects of the long-continued use of chloral in large doses is best studied on each system or apparatus separately. Unlike morphine, it not only shows its baneful effects on the nervous system, but it acts to directly undermine the health by disorganizing the blood. CHAPTER IX. EFFECTS OF CHLORAL ON THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS AND APPARATUSES. As I said in my last chapter, it is not every person who uses chloral for a lengthened period who becomes an habituè, and it is not every habituè who is affected in every way as fully or completely as in the manner about to be described. In each individual the organs chiefly affected and the length of time necessary to produce the effect vary according to idiosyncrasy, which simply means peculiar personal susceptibility. This same fact holds good with reference to opium and morphine, as well as chloral. MIND. The effect of the long continued use of this drug on the mind is, in the majority of instances, much more rapid and distinct than that of opium. At first there is a transient period of stimulation, followed by gradual weakness and cloudiness of intellect, mental hebetude, apathy to what is going on around. A low species of cunning is usually developed, that leads to the planning of plausible excuse and subterfuge to obtain a full supply of the drug. This condition is well illustrated by the following:— Dr. Wm. Kirkpatrick Murphy[61] reports three cases of chloralism—