An alternative to syringes in the 1970s was to use a glass medicine dropper, supposedly easier to manipulate with one hand.[17] A large hairpin was used to make a hole in the skin and the dropper containing the drug (usually heroin) was inserted and the bulb squeezed, releasing it into the tissues.[18] This method was also reported—by William S Burroughs and other sources—for intravenous administration at least as far back as 1930.