A good account of these stories. There are several things mentioned that I haven't seen elsewhere. For example, I always assumed that Halstead washed his hands in carbolic (phenol) like Lister did, but he used a series of baths of permanganate, oxalic acid and bichloride of mercury [!!!]. Markel says that they had their hands in mercuric chloride for five minutes. This seems unlikely to me. It's probably just me, but I don't see why the author sometimes refers to Dr. Halstead as Halstead and sometimes as William. ( )

A combination of history and biography, this book focuses on the use of cocaine as an early drug by Austrian neuroscientist Dr Sigmund Freud and American chief surgeon Dr. William Halstead. Both began experimenting with cocaine in the 1880s. Freud noticed a numbness in the lips and nasal passages with cocaine in its solid form, and Halstead experimented with cocaine in its liquid form as a local anesthetic. Halstead often injected himself as a test subject first, which sadly led to a debilitating addiction, eventually he was sent to an asylum in Providence, RI. Upon release he used morphine to counteract withdrawal throughout his career at Johns Hopkins. In reverse, Freud tried to use cocaine to treat morphine addiction, culminating in “Uber Coca," a review on the mental effects and general uses.

It drops a lot of famous names like Sherlock Holmes as one of the first cocaine addicts in literature, and infamous instances like cocaine as a former ingredient in Coca-Cola. Thankfully these don't distract from the narrative too much. It keeps a steady pace. Just as well, the author is sympathetic and there no attempts at humor aimed at those suffering from addiction or withdrawal. It's a solid read and I enjoyed it. ( )

Short, but very enjoyable. First half particularly good. ( )

Sigmund Freud and William Halstead are analyzed in this work of history and biography. Both men began experimenting with cocaine when it was newly available as a refined drug in the 1880s. Freud took oral or nasal doses, and reported on the general effects on energy, appetite, and mood. He missed completely the events of cocaine as a local anesthetic. Although Freud noticed the numbness of the lips or nose with local application, Carl Koller became famous for demonstrating its use for eye operations in 1884. Halstead experimented with cocaine as a local anesthetic, injecting himself as a test subject first, but rapidly proceeding to using IV injections to obtain a significant euphoria, and within months was disabled, abandoned a patient in the OR, and after a long sea voyage with a friend failed to help, he had to be sent to an asylum, the Bulter home in Providence RI. He managed to aovid cocaine for a while, with the insistence and help of William Welch (the dean of Hopkins medical school) but started using morphine to counteract the withdrawal, and continued to use it throughout his career as the chief surgeon at Johns Hopkins. Halstead periodically relapsed and took cocaine vacations.
Freud tried to use cocaine to treat morphine addiction in a fellow physician; the effects lasted only a few weeks, and the physician continued to decline for years. He wrote a long review “Uber Coca” on its mental effects and general uses. He increased its use for patients as an application to the nasal passages while collaborating with William Fliess, who had odd theories about how the nose affected bodily health, until Fliess left nasal packing in a woman he and Freud had treated, resulting in a chronic infection. Freud became gradually disenchanted with cocaine, and was probably able to stop using it after a few years.
Fascinating volume, organized well, author a bit involved with and sympathetic to the extremes of the recovery faith. ( )