The pain-relieving and sleep-inducing properties of opium were well known to ancient healers, but which chemical was responsible for its effects? In 1806, Friedrich Wilhelm Sertürner, then an obscure German apothecary apprentice working in Paderborn, reported that he had isolated a chemical from opium that was able to induce profound sleep in dogs.
These findings and subsequent others attracted little attention until 1817, when Sertürner announced that he had isolated pure “morpheum” (named after the Greek god of dreams represented here) which he had taken himself and given to three boys under the age of seventeen. Although historically groundbreaking, the experiment was a near disaster, as all subjects almost died from drug overdoses.
Newer drugs may cause less abuse and addiction than morphine and they may act longer or be more effective by mouth, but no drug has been discovered that is more effective than morphine for the relief of severe pain of all kinds. Morphine remains the gold standard against which all other analgesics are compared and is one of the most significant drugs ever discovered.