Cocaine?

[Stephen Thomas]

Him or the tower?

Hi c.d.

Both!!!!!!!!

[Fisherman]

Jeff asks:

"Wasn't BS man described as walking, as if drunk?"

You are forgetting two things here, Jeff:

1. He WAS described as intoxicated - but only by the lousy rag the Star, and not in the police report.

2. B S man was not the Ripper...

I´ve only just started readin Dave Yosts book on Stride (came with the post today; the book that is, and not Stride...), and I could not refrain from taking a look at the last page first, finding that Yost feels confident that both the man who killed Stride and Jack will one day (well, probably TWO days) be revealed. I have a feeling that it will be a read in my taste.

The best,
Fisherman

[c.d.]

Hi David

Did you know that Gustave Eiffel told the owner of the Coca Cola Company that if he had discovered the wonderful cocaine based drink earlier he would have made his tower (built 1888) three times as high.

Him or the tower?

c.d.

[Stephen Thomas]

Hi David

Did you know that Gustave Eiffel told the owner of the Coca Cola Company that if he had discovered the wonderful cocaine based drink earlier he would have made his tower (built 1888) three times as high.

[DVV]

Hello halomanuk, after a long time!

Doing fine and I agree with you; the Ripper was so madly in love with his deeds, that he didn't need any drugs!

What it comes to Sherlock Holmes, there was a mentioned "narcotics" in some story. But that's (since English is not my mother-tongue! ) a pretty wide concept, I think!

All the best
Jukka

Hi Jukka,
cd is right, Conan Doyle furnished Sherlock with cocaine.
Obviously, we hardly imagine this character using opium. That's another world...

Amitiés,
David

[DVV]

Agreed!
I can't see why JtR should be a teetotaller.

Amitiés,
David

[j.r-ahde]

Hello halomanuk, after a long time!

Doing fine and I agree with you; the Ripper was so madly in love with his deeds, that he didn't need any drugs!

What it comes to Sherlock Holmes, there was a mentioned "narcotics" in some story. But that's (since English is not my mother-tongue! ) a pretty wide concept, I think!

All the best
Jukka

[Jeff Leahy]

Wasn't BS man described as walking, as if drunk?

Pirate

PS While you're discussing abortion I heard somewhere that Gin was used in the process which is why it is reffered to as 'mothers ruin', does anyone know if that is true?

[halomanuk]

Exactly..

JTR was a cold calculated killer who knew the streets and how to gain the working girls confidence.

Not a man on drugs or necessarily alcohol either.

You wouldnt need those stimulants if you were already mad or just evil.

[Leighton Young]

ergot would have bene used as part of an abbortive mixture.. it was used to expell after birth from the womb in conventional medeecine but could also be used to abort a feotus... william gull was known to use this (a letter being found in auction containing a prescription which had this included on it). it is poisonous though and can not be easily abused as it is so easy to overdose on the stuff. it makes you hallucinate and you would totally not be able to plan or execute anything as complicated as these crimes while you were off your face on the stuff..

[Marlowe]

Ergot.

[GregBaron]

Holmes...

Ok, I'll take your word for it. I think I was referring to the stories rather than Novels but it doesn't much matter. I imagine cocaine would have been available for a price but think it has little to do with the JTR case....

Greg

[Mike Covell]

Here is an interesting website, http://drugs.uta.edu/drugs.html
It covers drug abuse during the Victorian period, and don't be put off by the name "Victorian's Secret", My wife thought I was looking at ladies underwear!


Chloral http://drugs.uta.edu/chloral.html
Absinthe http://drugs.uta.edu/absinthe.html
Opium http://drugs.uta.edu/opium.html
Hashish http://drugs.uta.edu/hashish.html
Alcohol http://drugs.uta.edu/alcohol.html

If under the influence, and having spent time with people under the influence, I think "Jack" would have made a mistake and being caught.

[Jeff Leahy]

I'm not certain if anyone was listening to Radio Four sunday afternoon but there was a play/diary about Scotts quest to make the antarctic.

I had a real double take moment when one of the party starts discuss that its a good job they had a good supply of Cocaine and opium?

I guess it kept them going

To my knowledge such drugs are unlikely to drive a person to such murderous lengths..

That said, if Jack had a mental health problem then other drugs/alcohol/mixtures may have been a contributing factor.

I believe Laurdenum was the most popular drug at the time. (Liquid Opium) as far as I'm aware it does not make you violent, the exact opposite.

So in itself I would say no. But as a contributing factor, to someone with other mental issues, possibly.

The cheapest and most available however would be Beer and Gin.

Theres no way of knowing for sure.

Pirate

[c.d.]

Hi all,

In reality I don't believe any true Sherlock Holmes story mentions cocaine. That came in a modern movie remake called The 7 % Solution (I think?). Also, Poe was not an opium addict. This is a common misconception. It's possible he tried it a few times, he did try a dramatic suicide attempt by ingesting laudanum - an opium alcohol mixture - but immediately threw it up. He was also dirt poor. Pharmacies at this time would have had liquid opium available and possibly liquid cocaine. Don't know anything about Pharmacies in 1888 East London. I tend to agree that alcohol was probably the only thing JTR was ingesting - and it's quite a good stimulant (at least at first) and inhibition reducer.....

Sincerely,

Greg

Hi Greg,

"A Study in Scarlett" alludes to Holmes' cocaine habit and it is confirmed in "The Sign of Four."

c.d.