Practical comments on the use and abuse of cocaine; suggested by its invariably successful employment in more than a thousand minor surgical operations.

The first experiments on local infiltration anesthesia were made by Halsted, who even produced anesthesia by the intradermal injection of water. Through the process of self-experimentation Halsted became addicted to cocaine for the remainder of his life. His addiction was kept a secret from all but his closest associates until after his death.