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(Prohibition S«rlcii.>
The Effects of Alcohol on the
Human System.
BY THOMAS C. WATKINS.
Alcohol, where taken into the sys-
tem in a pure state, or mixed with
water and the sugar of fruit, or grain,
and flavored with drugs to make it
more palatable and seductive, is ad-
mitted, nay, positively declared, to be
one of the strongest narcotic, acrid
poisons known to toxicologists, who
class it with deadly-nightshade, tobacco,
strychnine, etc. Dr. F. R. Lets,
F.S A., . Kdinburgh, defines poison to
be " A substance which, brought into
contact with the skin, mucous surfaces,
nerves, bloool discs, or other animal
parts, disturbs their normal state ; such
disturbance means, first, some degree
of altered struiiure, temporary or per-
manent ; and second, a const(|uent
altered function which may be either
increased, or lowered action."
It appears strange indeed that any
intelUgent being, endowed by the
Creator with moral principles; with the
knowledge of good and evil ; of right
and wrong, would take into his system
an agent v.f destruction, however dis-
guised or diluted, which produces such
sad consequences ; ruining families,
shortening lives, filling lunatic asylums
Iwith the sad wrecks of humanity, caus-
' ing the fall of our daughters, the dis-
grace and incapacity of our sons, and
iiie uUimate end of many of them \n
I our penitentiaries, or on the gallows.
It alters the natural condition of the
[various organs of the body, particuiar-
£l
ly of the brain, and resul:s sooner or
later in shortening human life, and
ushering man as a suicide into the
presence of his Creator at the Judg-
ment Day.
Our vital statistics plainly show that
health, strength, wanutli, power of en-
durance, and vital force ; are all main-
tained much more effectually by the
teetotaler, than by those»^,who ];artakc
of alcoholic liquors, even in very sin II
(|uantities. Dr. Baer, of IJerlm, in h,,s
great work on alcohol, says ; *' One
designates as food those substances
which supply the body with energy,
such as, under suitable conditions, will
produce action. These substances
must be oxidizable, or assimilable in the
system, i.e., they must either become
a part of the body, or replace some of
its elennents, or else become, througli
combination, the source of force, and
neither they, nor the i^rodurt of their
oxidation, must disuiro itie structure,
or function of any organ." Then he
states that alcohol lirst acts upon the
digestive apparatus, upon the organs
and functions of the body, and
U|;on the nervous system, not as food,
but rather as p jison. By reason alone
ofns banelul influences, it is iiu[jossible
to regard alcohol as lood, and Ct'.rtainly
not as food adapted for the animal
body.
Professor Donders, when speaking oi
alcoholic liquors reducing the appetite
,'p
^
for food, says : " If the taking of aico"
hoi limits the craving for food, the life
activity is at the same time decreased ;
and the man, as a physical' and physi-
ological being, is reduced to a lower
level, and is it not cruel to allow the
I borer wantonly to waste his strength,
instead of removing from him thealco-
h<;l, which only momentarily disguises
i:io iiii;)ending exhaustion ? There can
be no display of strength unaccompani-
ed by tissue change. Alcohol is
no savmgs box for muscular strength ;
for in time it utterly destroys it."
Some of the leading physiologists of the
day, as, for example, Prof Sallemand,
Dr. King-Chambers, and Dr. Edward
Smith, all concur in the belief that the
chief action of alcoholic liquors, is to
depress vitality by their narcotic action
upon nerves and brain. Alcohol, and
other narcotics, given in small doses,
act upon the system something like a
whip to a horse, making a man expend
a great deal of force, while it does not
supply any to replace that expended,
hence the lassitude, and weakness ex-
perienced afterwards. Dr. Aitkin says :
" When spirituous liquors are intro-
duced into the stomach, they tend, in
the first instance, to coagulate all albu-
nimous articles of food, or fluid with
which ihey come in contact ; as an ir-
ritant, they stimulatetheglandularsecre-
tions from the mucous membrane, and
ultimately lead to permanent conges-
tion of the vessels, and to thickening
of the gastric tissues." In these effects,
the most skilful and renowned physi-
cians of Europe, recognize the operation
of an agent, most pernicious in its ulti-
mate results. The alcoholic coagula-
tion is quite different from that effected
by the gastric fluids, and tends to ren-
der it very difficult to solve by the gas-
tric juice. Dr. Lankester informs us
b2
that " Even diluiod in the form of beer
or wine, it is found to act injuriously on
the delicate membranes o.' le stomach,
and other digestive organs. When
taken in large quantities, it acts most
injuriously on the stomach, liver, brain,
heart, and other organs. It is f lund
to destroy the quality of the blood, to
congest the membrances of the brain,
to produce incurable affections of the
liver and kidneys; and to effect
changes in the muscular structure of
the heart ; the result of any of which is
painful and lingering disease, or sud-
den death."
Then, as Prof Lees says, " another
result is, that it masks the sympioms of
disease produced by otiicr causes, and
selves to frustrate the aims of proper
treatment ; and to set the physician's
skill at defiance. The abstainer has
not half the sickness of the moderate
drinker, the diseases to which he is
subject are much more amenable to
treatment, and require less violent re-
medies." Alcoholic liquors, even in
small doses, if continued, alter the nature
of the blood. This has been proved
by numerous experiments ; and by
microscopic observations made by Pro-
fessors Schultz, Virchow, Bocker and
others. Professor Carl Schultz says :
" Alcohol stimulates the vesicles to an
increased and unnatural contraction,
which deprives them of coloring matter,
and hurries them on to the last stage
of development ; i.e. induces their pre-
mature death, not suddenly, but grad-
ually; and more or less according to
the quantity of alcohol used. The pale
vesicles lose all vital resistance, less
oxygen being absorbed, and less carbon
being carried out, and the plasma itself
becomes an irritant to the circulatory
and secreting organs. This is the
reason why alcoholized blood cannot
I
nourish the
is so very t
cf wounds 1
, Vircfiow,
is experin
Tinkers, sa
if water, ar
;olored clot
apidly on
'normal bloc
i^/e blood
perfect heali
as defunct
,|of their orip
oxygen. " 1
that the larj
the blood o
of partially i
in their bio
Rheinish wi
of the quant.
ut of the I
cretion of t
retaining th
the system,
All alcoholic
most undou
of the most
cal men, (m:
named), to 1
exact propc
^alcohol they
" that from
ood becoi
:hanged an
fcontains at \
carbon than
The ordei
omes to pas
Alcohol is
,,'blood vessels
ichange. Pai
ifslowly by tb
kidneys, but
amount in th
recently analy
£3
I
the form of beer
:t injuriously on
Oi ie stomach,
organs. When
s, it acts most
ich, liver, brain,
i. It IS found
f the blood, to
s of the brain,
"fcctions of the
ind to efTect
ar structure of
any of which is
lisease, or sud-
says, " another
e sympiorus of
cr cause;^, and
ims of proper
he pliysician's
abstainer has
tiie moderate
which he is
amenable to
■ss violent re-
luors, even in
liter the nature
•■ been proved
Its ; and by
made by Pro-
, Bocker and
Schultz says :
vesicles to an
contraction,
'loring matter,
he last stage
Jces their pre-
ily, but grad-
according to
ed. The pale
iistance, less
d less carbon
piasma itseif
s circulatory
This is the
ilood cannot
nourish the body suitably, and why it
is so very unfi' to promote the healing
cf wounds and inflamed parts."
Virctiow, in describing the result of
lis experiments in the blood of beer
Irinkers, says : " It shows a decrease
>f water, an increase of febrin and of
;olored clot, w'Mch reddened much less
apidly on exp^oure to the air than
[normal blood, and contains more of the
''ale blood discs than an usual in
"ler/ect health, which may be regarded
as defunct bodies, no longer capable
jof their original duty, that of abs rbing
[oxygen." Bocker agrees with Virchow,
that the large quantity of pale discs in
the blood of beer drinkers, is evidence
jof partially effete matter being retained
in their blood. His experience with
Rheinish wine, showed a large lessening
if the quantity of catdonic acid breathed
uit of the lungs, and sto]:)ping the se-
cretion of earthy phosphates ; thereby
retaining the ashes of combustion in
the system, and retarding ventilation.
All alcoholic liquors are proven by the
most undoubted evidence of hundreds
of the most skilful analysts, and medi-
;al men, (many of whom I have already
named), to be ruinous to the system in
exact proportion to the quantity of
alcohol they contain. Dr. Aitkin says :
I" that from excessive drinking the
•lood becomes surcharged with un-
;hanged and unused material, and
^contains at least thirty per cent, more
[carbon than in the normal state."
The order of events by which this
:omes to pass is somewhat as follows :
^" Alcohol is directly absorbed by the
^'blood vessels without undergoing any
Jchange. Part of it is eliminated very
islowly by the lungs, skin, liver and
kidneys, but appears to tarry in largest
[amount in the brain." Schulinus has
I recently analysed the blood of drinkers,
e3
and asserts, that it contained a large
percentage of alcohol. Professor Salle-
mand also states that " alcoholized
blood, contains, during life and after
death, a great number of free fatty
globules, visible even by the naked
eye." The pathological alterations in
the drinker's system, as stated by Dr.
F. R. Lees, are " very vivid inflam-
mation of the mucous membrane of the
stomach, accumulation of blood in the
right chamber of the heart, and in the
large veins ; congestion of the mem-
branes covering the brain, and especi-
ally of the lungs." Lecanu found in a
drunkard's blood, 117 parts of fat in
1,000 parts; the highest healthy pro-
portion being 834! parts, and the usual
quantity only three parts." Dr. King-
Chambers remarks : " Alcohol is really
the most ungenerous diet there is.
It impoverishes the blood, a.ndthe>e is
no surer road to that degeneration of
muscular fibre so much to be, feared.
Three quarters of the chronic illnesses
which the medical man has to treat, are
occasioned by this disease. In heart
disease it is especially hurtful, by
quickening the beat, causing capillary
congestion, and irregular circulation ;
and thus mechanically inducing dilata-
tion of the cavities." Dr. F. R. Lees
says "that alcohol is concerned in pro-
ducing the peculiar conditions of the
tissues called fatty degeneration, more
than any other agent known."
The influence of alcohol upon the
blood, is strikingly exhibited in its
effects upon the milk of nursing
mothers. Dr. E. Smith states, that,
" Alcohols are largely used by many
persons in the belief 'hat they support
the system, and maintain the supply
of milk for the infant ; but this is a
serious error; and is a not unfrequent
cause of fits, and emaciation in the
child." Sir A. Carlisle, the celebrated
surgeon, said of fermented liquors,
" The next in order of mischief is their
use by nurses, a common cause of
dropsy in the brains of infants. I
doubt much whether the future moral
habits, the temper, and intellectual
abilities, are not ^leatly influenced by
the effects of fermented liquots upon the
brain, and sensorial origans." Dr. In-
man, of Liverpool, in his ' New Theory
of Disease,' states that, " Through the
influence of lactation, children have
suffered severely from diarrhoea, vomit-
ing and convulsions. I have known a
glass of whisky todHy, taken by the
mother, produce sickness and indiges-
tion in the child 24 hours thereafter."
On the analysis of the milk of the
same woman, a few hours before, and
after the use of the pint of beer, it was
found that the alcohol in the beer in-
creased the promotion of water, and
diminished that of the caseine, or curd,
which is the nourishing element ; and
the alcohol was quite perceptil)le in
the milk." From the experiments of
Sallemand, Perrin and F^uroy, of Paris,
they state, " That the action of alcohol
upon the blood and nervous system,
when taken in small quantities, which
only cause moderate excitement, is but
a lower degree of the same kind of ab-
normal stimulation, which is known as
inebriation, and that alcohol never
gives power, but merely uses it up."
Further they say, " These facts estab-
lish from a physiological pqint of view,
a line of demarcation between alcohol
and foods. Foods restore the vital
forces, without the organism betraying
by disturbed functions, or by outward
agitation, the labor of rep.uation,
which is accomplished silently in the
woof of the tissues. Alcohol, on the
other hand, immediately provokes, even
k4
tn small doses, an excitement whi<
extends through the entire economy
Dr. F. R. Lees, F..S.A., says, "The
facts enable us to realize the subtK
and varied consequences of the use (<
alcohol, through the nervous system J
and brain, u|)on the minds and actions!
of men. The forms of mental perver
sion to which the use of this poison
gives rise, from irritable temper to out-
rageous crime ; darkening the percep
tions, exciting the passions, hardening
the heart, blunting the conscience, and
destroying the brain, are infmitel}
various, and fmd their abundant illus-
tration in the records of our legal tri-
bunals. It is not a text-book, but a
cyclopcxJia that can adequately exhibit
them. Pyromania, and kleptomania
are two forms of impulse, sometimes \
created, but more often developed by
the action of alcohol. Its use is at
the bottom of brain defect, as well as of
brain disturbance. Idiots are engen
dered by a single act of alcoholic
excess. It determines the character o'
the unborn child ; it strikes a blow ai
reason and virtue in the very womb.
A drinking father is a fool, and a
drinking mother a monster; and, but
for the deceptive influence of modei-
ate drinking, these truths would be
admitted. Plato, twenty centuries ago,
recognized this fact in physiology,
when he forbade wine to the newly
married."
The Spectator, of England, in an
article on women and alcohol, remarks :
"Women of the higher middle class
swallow quantities of wine, or liquors,
which keep them in a condition known
as permanent alcoholization, the mos
dangerous condition into which a man
can fall, and, from physiological dil
ferences, infinitely more dangerous ro
a woman. Its effect tends directly i)
diminish
fact, to obs
moral cha
\liability ti
formerly a
alcoholic
skilful, anc
don, Edir
Vienna, (w
of medica
substitute
instead. 1
'' Alcohol i
of men, an
cause any
possession
will, but ii
more comp
upon the v
the poison
visibly whe
them back
whether th(
concession
The me(
vice, are n
evils, whicl
upon thous
should no'
undo the t
commendal
as medicine
merable fat
world ; by
love for th<
liquor ; and
die out, thi
resort to t
they have b(
I have kno
result from
desolation,
body and s
able conseq
vising thei
wine to st
excitement whi< i
entire economv
S.A., says, "Thos
realize the subtle
nces of the use of
! nervous systeni
minds and actioni-
of mental perver
se of this poisonj
^le temper to out-
ening the percep-^
;ssions, hardening
e conscience, and
n, aro infinite!)
ir abundant ilJus-
1 of our legal tri i
text-book, but a
dequately exhibit
and kleptomania;
pulse, sometimes;
en developed by I
A. Its use is at'
feet, as well as of-
diots are engen-
ct of' alcoholic
; the character o'
itrikes a blow ai j
the very womb.
1 a fool, and a '
)nster ; and, but
lence of modei-
ruths would be
ty centuries ago,
in physiology,
e to the newly
England, in an
Icohol, remarks :
er middle class
.ine, or liquors,
ondition known
aiion, the mos;
to which a ffian
lysiological dil
e dangerous to
;nds directly m
diminish nervous power, that is, in
fact, to obscure the mind, to ddericrate
moral character, ani to increase the
\liability to insanity." The doctors
formerly advised the practice of using
'alcoholic liquors, which the most
skilful, and leading physicians in Lon-
don, Edinburgh, Berlin, I'aris and
Vienna, (which are the great centres
of medical skill) now deprecate, and
substitute water and nourishing food
instead. The Spectator says further :
'' Alcohol is the ruin of women, as it is
of men, and for the same reason, be-
cause any narcotizing poison, once in
possession of the system, paralyzes the
will, but it is ruin far quicker, and
more complete. Women depend more
upon the will, which the influence of
the poison cripples ; and sulTer more
visibly when its paralysis has thrown
them back defenceless upon impulse,
whether the impulse be kleptomania or
concession to solicitations."
The medical men who by their ad-
vice, are responsible for many of the
evils, which that advice has brought
upon thousands of unfortunate i^eople,
should now do all in their power to
undo the terrible calamities, their re-
commendations to take alcoholic liquors
as medicine, have, brouulu upon innu-
merable families all over the civilized
world ; by their patients contracting a
love for the excitement caused by the
liquor; and when its exhiliration would
die out, they would again and again
resort to the doctor's medicine, until
they have become confirmed drurkards.
I have known many instances of this
result from the doctor's advice, where
desolation, beggary, and utter ruin to
body and soul, have been the deplor-
able consequences of medical men ad-
vising their patients to take a little
wine to strengthen them, but if the
e5
doctors would have had the wine ana-
lysed, they would have been convinced
that there was more nourishment in a
pint of pure milk, than in two gallons
of the purest alcoholic wine that could
be obtained, for the process of putri-
faction through which the grape-jm'ce
passes, destroys very nearly every par-
ticle of nutrition in it, and generates
alcohol, the devil in solution.
Dr. Lees, F.S.A., says, "Alcohol, is
not only the teeming fount of the sad
idiocy which disgraces, and depresses
our boasted civilization, as truly so in
highly educated Massachusetts, as in
the slums of Glasgow, Manchester, or
Liverpool : its moderate use is the
cause of so many ill-balanced minds,
neither insane nor sensible, who are
destined to make failures in life, and
become the centres of misery in many
circles. It is an undoubted fact, ex-
emplified in the history of thousands
of families, that the children born after
the parents have joined the temperance
societiesare not only physically healthier,
but mentally brighter, and morally
better than those born before." Dr.
E. Smith tried an experiment with
aicohol. He and a friend met and
took moderate doses, " when in three
to seven minutes it disturbed their
minds, lessened consciousness and the
perception of light and sound, and the
p . ' • of co-ordinating muscles. The
spirits made us very hilarious and
talkative in ten minutes — so much so
that my friend was altogether a king.
Bat as minutes flew away, so did our
joyousness, and little by little we
lessened our garrulity, and felt less
happy, until at length ; having gone
down by degrees, we remained silent,
almost morose, and extremely miser-
able. Then indeed we felt the horrors,
and the sorrows of a drunkard's lot.
and saw with clearness which can only
be perceived by expcience, how cer-
tain it is that he must again drain the
intoxicating cup."
An agent with such tendencies can-
not be regarded as a friend of man or
God. By physical law it is thus plainly
seen to be the seed of inordinate appe-
tite, creating and fostering a passion
for itself, which grows with what it
feeds on. The sole issue of its use is
immorality and sin; ending in that
awful condition of moral slavery, con-
firmed drunkenness; a condition the
most hopeless, when the rational will is
destroyed, when the throne of reason is
overthrown by alcohol : that distilled
damnation which many physicians ad-
vise their patients to take to strengthen
ihem ; which many ministers of the
Gospel drink with their members ! thus
setting them an example, which leads
to their ruin ; instead ot inculcating on
their membersliip the duty of abstain-
ing from the appearance of evil, from
what they know well is the direct cause
of three-fourths of the crime, the in-
sanity, the unutterable woe that pol-
lutes, debases, imbrutes and destroys
man, and fills hell continually with
millions of victims.
Professor Parkes and Count Wil-
lowicz, of the Netley Army Hospital,
in the " Proceedings of the Koyal
Society," give a most convincing ex-
planation of the great evils, and deadly
effects flowing constantly from the use
of alcoholic liquors. In a healthy per-
son, the average number of heart-beats
are, according to observations made
carefully by Professor Parkes, on per-
sons free from excitement, 106,000 in
twenty-four hours. When he gave a
moderate dose of alcoholic liquor, the
heart-beats were increased four per
<:ent. Alcohol was given by the ex-
e6
pcrimentor during six successive dnv,
and on the last of the six days ihc
heart-beats were increased 23 per cent
To show the labor caused, and the
excess of work done by the heart under
the moderate inlluence of alcohol, and
the consequent weariness and txhaus
tion experienced, which leads the
victim of alcohol to drink deeper, anH
deeper still, I cpiote Professor i'arkes
again : " The period free Irom any
exciting cause, the heart-beats were
106,000 in 24 hours ; in the alcoholic
period it was 127,000, or about 21,000
more ; and in the brandy peri d it was
131,000, or 25,000 more l>eats. Ad-
mitting that each beat of tin- heart was
aa strong i\\inng the alcoholic period
as in the water period, (// wai really
VKrre pinvrrfitl) the heart, on the last
two days of alcohol, was doing one-fifth
more work. Adopting the luwest esti-
mate which has been given of the daily
work done by the heart, viz., as equal
to 12.2 tons lifted one foot, the heart,
during the alcoholic period, did daily
work in excess equal to lifting 1 5,8 tons
one foot, and in the last two days, did
extra work to the amount of 24 tons
lifted as far." As alcohol causes the
heart to beat faster, " the period of rest
was shorter."
Six days after alcohol was left off,
the sphyi^mograph showed signs of un-
usual feebleness in the heart-beats.
Dr. F. R. Lees says : " The sphygmo-
graphic lever, one end of which is
accurately adjusted to the artery at the
wrist, shows the pulse-tracings some-
what like the telegraph writing. It
gives the force of the heart-beat ex-
panding the arteries, the resistance of
arteries to the expansion, and the ej^ect
of the onward-flowing blood wave.
Any variation in these conditions will
efTect the force which moves the lever.
ind ileterninc
:lir heart-beat
tone of th
balance t
al or uneqi
ings shouh
!h a nearly
X, gradual
faintly m;
e pulse-wav
loholic liqun
fatigue, is t
liar and disi
ency, with
ire abrupt c(
quality and
: curves ind
th^ heart's
ire work in
riod of res
ortened."
Experiments
s no patholc
mented liqi
cohol is al
uors are onl
lors and fl
laumetz, and
ental Resea
ted our |)osit
en ted liquors
idified for th
kof " alcoho
'eal their u
iy write ab
ipealing to
;ainst facts, I
jperstition, se
tain that no
prevail, tha
is an aid to
and beyon
is is the fact
iparent — its \
lenomena. ]
le soul otheru
k7
determines the pulsetra 'ng, i.e.,
heart-beat may be (juick or slow,
tone of the vessel strong or weak,
balance between the two forces
jal or unequal. In health, the pulse
:ings should be of moderate height,
|h a nearly vertical ascent, an acute
i\, gradual and long descent, and
faintly marked secondary waves.
le pulse-wave of a person drinking
koholic liquor exhibits the character
1 fatigue, is more subdicrotous, irre-
llar and disturbed, increases in fre-
|ency, with shorter tracings, and
3re abrupt colLipse after diast(;le, the
juality and di (Terence of form in
i^urves indicating a varying powe '
thj he.art's action, the heart doing
are work in a given time, and the
Iriod of rest for the heart being
ortened."
I Experiments with wine showed there
IS no pathological difference between
piiented liquor, and pure alcohol.
Icohol is alcohol, and ft;rnicnted
juors are only alcohol disguised by
liors and flavors. Drs. Dujardin,
eaumetz, .nnd Adige, in their " Experi-
;ntrtl Researches," have fully indi-
|ted our position, that alcohol in fer-
snted liquors, or in mixtures, is not
■)dified for the better. When divmes
|k of " alcohol combined," they simply
k'eal their utter ignorance of what
ty write about. It is a blunder
Ipealing to imbecility, in a battle
lainst facts, to uphold a system of
[perstition, sensuality and sin. It is
rtain that no more pernicious fallacy
prevail, than the opinion that alco-
M Js an aid to thought. It is, above
and beyond all, a brain poison.
lis is the fact that has always been
^parent — its power to disturb mental
ienomena. But drink cannot affect
le soul otherwise than by disturbing
e7
its organ. It therefore literally steals
away the brain, and thus brings to one
common level peer and peasant, philo-
sopher and fool.
Dr. Haer well observes "that all per-
sons who have relied upon alcohol as a
brain-rtistorer, have discovered too late,
that it is really a brain destroyer. It
does not strengthen the intellect, but it
excites the passions, and dissolves the
curb of self control." Abstract ideas
are in fact the basal structure alike of
religion, philosophy and science. The
drinker cannot reason ; he only feels.
Hence the danger lurking in our cities,
towns and villages cursed with grog-
shops, wages being misapplied, the
people are insLilliiiently nourished,
L...dly housed, live in a state of misery,
consuming alcoh '1 and tobacco in ever
increasing (luantities, the brains get
into a state of chronic excitement and
weakness, so that the people become
the prepared victims, and ready dupes
of designing men, who preach impossi-
ble, and wild methods of bettering
their condition in society.
Thus physiology teaches the patri-
otic, the important relation of Tem-
perance to the community. Until that
is understood, politicians legislate in
the dark, the fruits of which are dis-
appointment and despair. But the
horizon brightens, the morning is com-
ing, truth and wisdom must prevail.
Let each individual of the temperance
army feel, that God and Canada expect
them to do their duty, and glorious
victory will crown our efforts with
Prohibition.
Whiskey debauches manhood and
womanhood and degrades and drags
childhood from its throne of purity
and innocence.
CULLS AND CLIPS.
Canada consumes 2^ gallons per
head of intoxicating drinks per annum ;
Lfnited States consumes 13 gallons per
head per annum ; Great Britain 40 j^
gallons per head per annum.
The American Consul-General at
Berlin reports to the Secretary of State,
that certain brewers of Germany " are
exporting to the United States weiss-
heer adulterated with salicylic acid.'
The wife of United Slates Senator
Spooner, of Wisconsin, :s credited with
saying in a recent interview, "the wo-
man or girl who offers one of my
sons a glass of wine will personally af-
front me."
Mrs. Harrison, it is announced, will
give three or four luncheons at the
White House during the season, to
from twenty-four to forty ladies, which
will be served in courses as dinners,
but without wine.
Congressman Breckenridge, of Ken-
tucky, is reported as saying, that the
Kentucky distillers promise to send
him to Congress forever, if he will
promise that the internal revenue laws
concerning 1 quor shall not be dis-
turbed.
In the face of the Supreme Court
decision, tliaf7lhe people may destroy
the liquor trade without compensating
manuiacturers, English capitalists nave
within a yearinvested fully $25,000,000
in American breweries and distilleries.
The International Committee have
fixed the date for the next Interna-
tional Congress against Alcoholism, to
be held in Christiana, Norway, from
September 3rd to 5th, 1890, inclusive.
Delegates and paper j are invited from
America.
The Prince of Wales has been obli-
ged to largely forego the use of cigar-
ettes, and also strong-flavored cigars;
and is advised by his physicians to stop
.■m king altoga ler, on account of gas-
iri s, which it IS thought is occasioned
luereby.
The tobacco manufacturers are said
to disapprove the proposition to repeal
the internal revenue tobacco tax, anl
will ask a hearing in opposition theretT
at Washington. PV/iy do they, as we
as the whisky men, prefer to continu
to pay the tax ?
The Brervers' Journal says, the grei
prohibition fight of 1890 will be madl
m Nebraska, on the two amendmenti
pending there ; one for prohibition, thl
other for license. It thinks " a liberj
license policy will draw vast amount
of capital to Nebraska."
Another illustration of the drinj
havoc, by which the innocent are sao
rificed, is furnished by a late Halifa){,
N.S., telegram, which says: "Geord
Cunningham and wife smothered theil
child during a drunken debauch, ank. Verily, alco-
hol is no respector of persons.
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