I am well aware that such coercive measures are the only hope of cure in some cases, but I also know that such patients are not of the better class, and that, once the drug abandoned, the prospect of continued recovery is small, because they lack one of the essential requisites for a permanently good result—that is an earnest desire to be cured. And the promise of good results from this better way in regarding such patients is more far reaching than on first thought might appear, for the ex-opium habitué forced to stem a tide of distrust—special, as to his cure, and general, as to the permanence of that cure—finds himself hampered in continued well-doing by the lack of that hopeful trust that would largely conduce to his good getting on. In a recent letter from a lady who honored the writer with her care, nearly three years ago, she referred to the permanence of her recovery, and added—“but as I found it difficult to make every one believe this, much less acknowledge it in my favor, I resorted to the best means I could think of to establish corroborative testimony that _would_ avail, and during _all_ the time I have been in or near—the past two years, I have gone regularly every few days to a physician of prominence here, my old friend and medical adviser of many years’ standing, and had him make every test he desired, placing on record my exact condition, and showing the real truth of the matter. I continue to do this, and intend to do so, and have let people generally know that such a record is being made. I need not tell you that I am proud of my victory. The struggle against ungentle and unfair judgment of those around you make a combination of overwhelming power against the reformed opium taker. It is there that the _real_ conflict begins.” The writer’s professional work among this class has long been along the line here noted. He has extended confidence—very rarely has it been broken; he has asked for confidence, and the general result can be truly and tersely stated—increasing satisfaction and success. And now, gentlemen, what are the conclusions of this whole matter? These. Reason and right alike demand a more rational and correct idea as to the origin of the toxic neurosis we have noted. This demand complied with—regarding such patients, with certain exceptions, as creatures of conditions beyond control, and so no more culpable than the subjects of other functional disorder—will be most helpful against the protective temptation to untruth. The medico-legal status of such cases will then be more in keeping with advanced forensic medicine. The medical care of these cases will tend to a more humane method, with a larger promise of good results, both near and remote.