Cocain hydrochlorate is a white crystalline alkaloid obtained from the leaves of the erthroxylon coca, a small shrub of Peru and other western South American countries. Its extensive use as a local anesthetic is so familiar to all that repetition is here unnecessary. It is not my intention in this paper to especially refer to its anesthetic properties, only its toxic effects relatively with those of eucain, as observed in actual practice and as determined by original experimentation.
Eucain is a colorless crystalline powder of German production, and was placed on the market some years ago as an anesthetic to be used in a similar manner to cocain. It was soon observed that the first product, or that which is now called "Alpha Eucain," produced many undesirable and some very disagreeable effects, so much so that its use was soon largely discontinued. In February, 1897, Dr. Silex of Berlin brought