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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1^ lii i^ i^ 3.6 2.5 2.2 1.8 ^ . iPPLIED IIVMGE 1653 EasI Main Street Rochester. New York 14609 USA (/1 6) 482 - 0300- Phone (716) 288 - 5989 -Fox fl'l A] Sirl says : ledges natural reasona actions, states tl hoi -m the boil 172 and the com and whi kind oft ardson, hers of t Times, s; tiie bod hours, h butyl ic, when h( general rum, wii what he of his pr The r> pital she quantity corrospot From 181 from se\ cases trea ^ partment, from 4.48 in each c some mec practice, difference patients ' /1 /9f 2^. / ALCOHOL AS A MEDICINE. ri'fofilhtHon Krt'lnH.) BY THOMAS C. WATKINS. Sir Thomas Watson, M. I)., V. R. S., says : " Every one now-a-days acknow- ledges that it is only by directing the natural forces of the body that we can reasonably hope to govern its diseased actions." Dr. F. R, l.ees, F. S. A., states that '" Of the three sorts of alco- hol -methylic, ethylic and amylic - the boiling points are respectively 150, 172 and 270 degrees F. In drinking the compounds generally sold as wine and whisky, few can detect the actual kind of alcohol consumed." Dr. Rich- ardson, speaking of the typical mem- bers of the profession, in the Medical Times, says : " Does he want to reduce the body, to prostrate it for many hours, he can do that with amylic, or butylic, or caproylic alcohol. But when he is ordering alcohol by the general loose names of gin, brandy, rum, wine, he has no conception of what he is prescribing, nor of the effect of his prescription." The statistics of the London Hos- pital sliow a gradual advance in the quantity of alcohol prescribed, and a corresponding increase in the mortality. From 1S52 to 1S64 the death rate rose from seven to ten per cent, of the cases treated ; and in the surgical de- partment, from 1854 to" r864, it rose from 4.48 to 6.55 percent., an increase in each case of nearly one-third. If some medical men use alcohol in their practice, and others use water, the ditterence in the percentage of their patients who die certainly indicates which system assists nature to a speedy recovery, and which to a speedy death. Dr. F. R. Lees, F. S. A., tells us that " Alcohol is generally prescribed where the symptoms are obscure, or where other things have failed, with the mere chance or hope that the case may be hit." Dr. Aitkins in his " Prac- tice of Medicine " informs us : " The progress of modern science has dis- tinctly demonstrated the poisonous action of alcohol. But now it is a matter of fact, determined by direct experiments as well as by observation, that alcohol is absorbed directly into the circulation, and is capable of acting as a direct poison upon the nervous tissue through which infected blood circulates." The mode of treatment with opium, alcohol and bleeding killed 25 per cent, of the patients in Edinburgh, and 50 per cent, in Glas- gow. Under the present treatment with warm bath and nourishing food, without either opium or alcohol, hun- dreds of persons have been treated and not one in a hundred dies, according to the statement of Dr. Lees, F. S. A., of Edinburgh, who states further that, " As to the general use of alcohol in disease, he was quite open to say that every form of disease would be better treated without alcohol than with it." Again he says, " Every trial in the Brit- ish hospitals in the treatment of partic- ular diseases without spirits, or with vastly reduced quantities of alcoholics, has been succeecjed by a largely les- /V sened mortality. Cholera, rheumatic fever, typhus and typhoid fevers may be taken as instances." Dr. Todd (who killed I'rince .Mburt with alcoholics) gives a statement of 1 1 cases which Dr. i.ees states thus: " No stimulants were given in cases i, 2, 3, and 4, and these were rapid re- coveries, but were slighter cases of ill- ness. Stimulants were given in cases 5 (died), 6 (lingering recovery), 7 (slow recovery), 8 and 9 (recoveries), 10 (died), II (recovery). One death in five cases is certainly not a splendid success. Taking the 78 cases of all kinds treated in the hospital by Dr. Todd, we have 10 deaths- -one in eight." Dr. Heslop of Birmingham sums it uj) thus : " There is but one inference possible ; those who were not stimu- lated at all did the best and got well the soonest ; those moderately stimu- lated were next in order ; those who were gready stimulated either died, or the natural process of cure was greatly retarded. Experience has gradually compelled to a more moderate and exceptional use of alcohol in fever, and die substitution of true and innocent physiologial remedies." Dr. T. J. Macl.agan, of Dundee, speaks of treating fevers thus : " Water ad libitum, fresh air and good ventila- tion ; as much beef-tea and milk as the patient can digest. Such is the treat- ment which chemical experiment has taught to be the most successful.'' See British Medical Journal, 4th Oct., 1873. Dr. Lees says: "The history of Idiopathic fever is that it is caused by a contagium-germ, which, for its own development, eats up the nitro- genous matter of the tissues, .^nd ab- sorbs a vast quantity of water, and thus necessitates a supply of these sub- stances. Alcohol, of course, has no nitrogen in its composition. Fir the reduction of heat, far better af)p"iiances can be resorted to than narcotic alco- hol." Professor Mienieyer, treating of ty- phoid fever, says : " Cold baths are much more convenient than wet sheet- ing. There is occasional exhaustion. This usually passes off quickly, and the disease finally terminates in recovery. I have not observed the same exnaus- tion (consequent on the i)roduction of heat) since I adopted a less sudden abstraction of heat, as solved by Ober- nier and Zienessen. A^ ofien as the temperature rises to lo.^ degrees, the patient is placed in a bath 10 degrees below his temperature. While the body and limbs are rubbed gently, add cold water gradually till the tempera- ture of the bath is reduced to about 68 degrees. The patient remains in the bath 20 to 30 minutes, till he is slightly chilled, and is then placed quickly in a warm bed. At first four or five baths are necessary, subsequently two or three." Dr. Lees states that " Dr. Brand, of Stettin, in his treatment of typhoid fever and typhus during the P>anco-German war, demonstrated the advantages of hydropathy. Dr. Franz Glenard, a French physician, a captive, who assisted Dr. Brand in carrying out his treatment on the French prisoners, says: "Out of 170 cases, there was not a single casualty." " On his return from captivity, Dr. Glenard adopted this method of cure, and having 13 cases of typhoid fever entrusted to his care, every one of whom recovered, he announced that he had verified the conclusion of Dr. Brand, /. e., that all rases of typhoid fevers, treated regi;- larly from the commencement with cold water, will be exempted from complica course, has no dtion. Fir the etter appliances 1 narcotic alco- I treating of ty- Cold baths are than wet sheet- )nai exhaustion, quickly, and the tes in recovery, e same exnaus- -' production of a less sudden iolved by Ober- \i- ofien as the 3.[ degrees, the lath to degrees :. While the il)ed gently, add II the tempera- ced to about 68 remains in the till he is slightly ced quickly in a ir or five baths [uently two or ites that " Dr. is treatment of hus during the monstrated the Siy. Dr. Franz iician, a captive, in carrying out ench prisoners, ases, there was " On his return lenard adopted and having 13 ntrusted to his n recovered, he ad verified the 3, /. e., that all ^, treated regii- ement with cold i from complica tiuns. and be ^ n,st assuredly cured. He says that the few fatal cases he had observed were due to delaying the treatment until the fever had far ad vanced. l)r Brand admits of no ex- ception in its use, except intestinal jjer- foralion, and u: -'■ from three to six baths per day." 1 nere is no alcohol, no wine, no brandy, no rum, no beer, no death in this treatment. Dr. Richardson says that " Drs. Wilks, Rees, and Sutton have treated rheumatic fever extensively, with )Ut drugs and stimulants, and instead of the common frightful se(iuel of heart disease, it has ben cured in half the usual t^ime, with less than one per cent, of that malady which turns out to be rather the result of stimulant treatment than of any natural connec- tion with the disease." This accords with Dr. R. D. Mussey's statement in Cincinnati, that, " under the stimulant practice, trains of morbid symptoms are often aggravated, and new centres of irritation established, which, if not suf- ficient to destroy the patient, prolong the period of fever and frequently cause relapses or lingering convalescence." The reports of the treatment of fevers by Dr. Bishop, of Naples, and Dr. Henderson, of Shanghai, without the use of any stimulants, when their treat- ment reduced the death rate from twenty-eight to seven per cent., attrac- ted the attention of many English physicians some years ago. Dr. T. K. Chambers, who, under the ordinary treatment, lost one patient in five, under the new method had only three deaths in 121 cases. Well might this physician say to his students, in his Clinical Lectures : " Above all, I would caution you against employing wine as a substitute for the true restor- ative treatment " Dr. Lees states : '• Two uses have been imagined for alcohol as a medicine - the one, that of fuel to keep animal heat when solid food cannot be taken ; the other, that of an an;esthetic. like chloroform- which will stop the destructive waste of the nervous system. Our answer is that this is altogether a matter of fact, not f)f theory, and the facts are dead against the fancy. .Milk, unfermented wine or fruit juices are better fuel than alcohol, while the wet sheet, tepid bath, or ice apjjjied to the head or spine are eijually potent and infinitely prefer- able for soothing the nervous system and regulating the pulse." 'I'he unhappy influence of the late Dr. Todd's treatment (with stimulants) not only led to the sacrifice of Mr. Hindley, M. P., of the Prince Consort, and of himself, but of tens of thousands of valuable lives, besides the mortality in his own practice was always large, and, as Dr. A. W. Barclay observes in hi.s " Medical Errors," " the cases con- tain in themselves a complete refuta- tion of his theory. The 18 cases re- ported give 15 in which there was heart complications, and in some of these the stimulating treatment was fully carried out. In common fever again, eleven deaths occurred among twenty-four cases." Dr. Lees, F. S. A., states further : "The error of the prevailing system was pointed out long ago by a clinical and philosophic physician. Dr. Archi- bald Billing, who thus enforces the truth, 'Tonics give strength; stimu- lants call it forth.' Stimulants excite action, but action is not strength. On the contrary, over action increases ex- haustion. One thing necessarv to the recovery of the nervous system (in fever) is arterial blood. To produce this jf good quality, digestion and free /' '.£IL rcbpiralioii arc rLHiuisilc. I'hc iliyc.i tion having been disturbed, it is useless to sujjply other than fluid nutriment (1 have found milk the best) until some renewal of nervous energy takes place. This restoration will not be expedited by stimulants. The elaborate statistics published in 1864 as to the treatment of typhus fever in the hospital at Cllas- gow, by Dr. \V. T. (lairdner, professor of physic, are of the greatest weight, and must eventually settle the problem with the profession. In nearly 600 case of all ages, the mortality lessened exactly as the doses of alcf)hol dimin- ished, milk or buttermilk being given in place. Wine, reduced from an average of 34 ounces to 2^ ounces, wa? followed by a reduction of deaths from 17 to II per cent. Of 209 children under 15 years of age, treated without any alcohol, not one died, though the very same class of cases, treated with alcohol in the Infirmary, had a mortality of six per cent. An in- quest should have sat on the six, and the just verdict would have been ' Infanti- cide by medical routine and obsti- nancy.' " It is quite plain to any ordinary per- son who studies the matter, that it is worse than useless when in health, as every function of the system is per- formed noiselessly and perfectly with- out it. In sickness it weakens the life powers, the stomach, the lungs, the heart, the kidneys, and above all the brain, and sends millions of our race to premature graves. Even one ounce of alcohol taken into the system daily has a decided effect in destroying the power and harmonious working of the vital organs. Professor Parkes and Count Wollowicz state : "It appears to us unlikely, in the face of chemical results, that it (alcohol) can enable the body to perform more work on less food, though by quickening a failing heart, it may enable work to be done which otherwise could not be. It may then act like the spur in the side of a horse, eliciting force, though not supplying it. . . . In spite of our experience in the use of brandy, we were hardly prepared for the ease with which appetite may be destroyed, the heart unduly excited, and the capillary circu- lation improperly incr -ased." Dr. King Chambers, in his " Clinical Lectures,'' says "Alcohol has not, like mercury, a virtue whit-h makes you overlook its felony. It seems to do nothing but harm in that deficiency of life which is the essence of the disease." He further states : " \Vc can hardly hesitate to call alcohol an arrester of nerve life, and consecpientiy a controller of nervous action in tlie rest of the frame. On the whole, tlie effect of continued small doses of alcohol is to diminish vital metamorphosis, to make it irregular, and to induce in healthy people the necessity for crises of cvacu alion. Its secondary effect is a dimin- ution of vital functions in ,i,'eneral, and of digestion among the number. I do not think we shall be able to trace any direct increase of force to alcohol, even in the smallest doses, or for the niinut est [)eriods of time. Researches show pretty clearly that us continued use does not add power to vitality. What I wish particularly to remark is, that the primary as well as the secondary action is a diminution of vitality. We may, without hesitation, conclude that alcohol is primarily and essentially a lessener of the power of the nervous system." And again, " It is clear that we must cease to regard alcohol as in any sense an aliment.'' Dr. E. F. Smith gives us the exper- ience of a temperate man who takes a glass of brandy on a fasting stomach, he says: "First, lessened conscious- ness and lessened sensibility to light, sound and touch. Then a peculiar sensation of stiffness, with swelling of the skin, particularly in the upper lip and cheeks. This is very unlike a spur to extra exertion. In a patient at present under our care, the same peculiar sensation of stiffness, and the objective phenomenon of rigidity of the skin without loss of sensation, is produced by the pressure of injured bone on the fifth nerve in the skull. It is a partial paralysis of a sensitive nerve and cannot in any sense be con- sidered as an increase of vigor." Frofessf 49 experir " Two cir the extens acute dis( pulsf, and diameter duces dil.n various reg ly those of and certai cause of cc in his wor " din drini phthisis." where Dr. •' in the do one (jf aico In the exa he found tl and 48 1 Professor 'I accredited cendinry '1 ■ New York i fancy that 1 \ protects frc I F. R. Lee I Bell, says I leads me I Professor > I go, publish! •■ hospital an( ; "Of these, number, th menced anc I stages, whil the time, a twelve yean ' ing either ft I have neve apparent ir , of alcohoIi( 5 On the cor i the digestiv ■ ed, emaciati rapidly thar arrives at a Professor ^ gical Chemi ; once the fac thing in mai copious sup which has b ^lecomposed ycd. I lie heart capillary rircu- ised." II his " ("litiicul )l has not, like .-•h makes you t seems to do t deficiency of )f the disease." \'c lan hardly an arrester of itly a controller le rest of the , the effect of ' alcohol is to hosis, to make ice in healthy arises of evacu ect is a diinin n ,1,'eneral, and lumber. I do e to trace any J alcohol, even for the minut- searrhes show i:ontinucd use itality. What iinark is, that the secondary vitality. We conclude that essentially a if the nervous ;t is clear that alcohol as in us the exper- 1 who takes a ting stomach, ed conscious- jility to light, ;n a peculiar ;h swelling of the upper lip J' unlike a spur a patient at e, the same ness, and the Df rigidity of sensation, is re of injured in the skull. jf a sensitive sense be con- vigor." Professor Binz, commenting on his 49 e.\perinients on men and dogs, says : "Two circumstances are opposed to the extensive employment of alcohol in acute diseases- -its effect upon the ))ulsi.', and its effect upon the tone and -diameter of the vessels. Alcohol in- Iduces dilatation of the capillaries of [various regions of the body, but especial- ( ly those of the head, with great precision and certainty." Alcohol is a fruitful cause of consumption. Dr. E. Smith, in his work on consumption, says that "(Jin drinking is one of the causes of I phthisis." Even in a sjiecial case, I where Dr. Smith prescribes rum, it is ; •' in the dose of two teaspoonsful, /. f., one of alcohol to a half-pint of milk." .^ In the examination of 1,000 jiatients, I he found that 24 jjer 100 drank freely, I and 48 per 100 smoked tobacco. I Professor 'IVousseau, of Paris, calls the I accredited prescription of alcohol, " In- • cendinry Therapeutics." J)r. Bell, of : New York, has refuted the strange I fancy that the use of alcoholic drinks \ protects from tuberculization, and Dr. I F. R. Lees, F. S. A., in quoting Dr. , Bell, says : " My own experience I leads me to the same conclusion." I Professor N. S. Davis, M. D.,of Chica- I go, publishes the result of 210 cases of hospital and private practice, and says : 5 "Of these, in one-third of the whole number, the tubercular disease com- menced and progressed through all its I stages, while the subjects of it were at I the time, and bad been from one to I twelve years previously, habitually us- I mg either fermented or distilled spirits. I have never seen a case in which an apparent improvement under the use of alcoholic drinks was permanent. : On the contrary, after a few months, I the digestive functions become impair- ■ ed, emaciation begins to increase more rapidly than ever, and in a few weeks arrives at a total prostration." Professor Lehmann, in his Physiolo- gical Chemistry, observes that " When once the fact is admitted, that the first liimg in many diseases is to furnish a copious supply of oxygen to the blood, which has been loaded with imperfectly .lecomposed substances, and to remove as quickly as possible, the carbonic acid that has accumulated in it, these observations will have afforded us true remedial agencies which exceed almost every other in the certainty of their acii.jn. We should forbid the use of spirituous drinks, and not even pre- scribe tinctures, which hinder the neces- sary excretion of carbonic acid." May I not ask what sort of a disease can possibly require the continued use of a depressing agent? Dr. Crichtton Browne speaking of its use in certain cases of insanity, says : " Whether the beneficial effects are due to a check imjiosed upon excessive tissue changes, or to the disintegration of blood cor- liuscle, (jr to a hardening of the vascu- lar walls of the blood vessels, cannot at present be determined." Dr. F. R. Lees, F. S. A., remarks on this : "One thing may however be determined at once — the insanity of the people who use such a jjowerful drug without clear vision and absolute necessity." " Public writers," says the British Medical Journal, of May i6th, 1874, " are always insisting upon the need of pure air and sanitary regulations, who yet fail to see the important fact that the use of alcoholics violates both con- ditions" "Excess of carbonic acid," says one of them, " is the most discern- able injury inflicted by communities upon open air, an injury revenged with fatal force upon the aggressors. In different air, taken from different parts of the same town, the amount may vary as much ^s from 9 to 29, and in this latter &.., ict, says Dr. Smith, the deaths rose to 4.5 per 100 of the popu- lation. It is remarkable that this is exactly the ratio of mortality amongst drinkers, while it is only one per loo amongst abstainers, who will not live in bad districts. Much of the scrofula and consumption arising from defec- tive nourishment of town populations are doubtless due to an atmosphere overcharged with carbonic acid." The drinkers of alcoholic linuors always keep their blood thus overcharged, and hence the excess in their death rate of 3 J^ per cent, over that of abstainers as stated by Dr. Lees. I _ I I'he exaggeraud iiuliuitsol the Lh :>■ ai->eutir value of alcohol arc giviiifjway bcf'ire onquiry aii'l Lvidciuc, and Uic old iheories are beiiif^ f.ist cxplodcil. The Ihids/i Medical /i)unuil, (or ex- ample, in reporting one of llio admir- able lectures of Professor Gairdner nn The Limits of Ale iholic Stimulation in \cute 1 )iseases, remarks : " The lec- turer condemned the practice and also tiie theoretical views leading to tiio practice of the late Dr. 'lodd. It is as nearly as possible a deinonstraled fact that nuicli of what is spent in wine and spirits for the sick, and therefore |)ro- bably in private practice, is umivces- sarily, if not injuriously spent" Dr. F. K. Lees, V.'n. A., says: "Lei a few more gre.it men be sacrificed to tlie prevailing su|)erstition, and then we presume con)iiion sense wil! be shocked and a heultliy reaction set in. In the meantime the thoughllcis n-.ust parish according to fashion.'- In cholera, it now appears, the treat- ment with alcohol has always ben more fatal than the disease. Dr. George Johnson states in the Medical Times for March .jth, 1867 : " Patients have recovered from cholera in all its stages under the most varied and oppo- site treatment, and without any. It is therefore obvious that there is a natur- al process of cure. An impartial in- quiry seems tp show that those methods have been most successful which have interfered least with the natural pro- gress of the disease. Of cholera it may be said, as of many other acute diseases, that for the cure of most cases curable by any means, the vis medicatrix natures will suffice." He then states the results of treatment of cholera in Liverpool Parish Infirmary, thus : "Admissions, 375 ; deaths, 161, equal to 43 per cent. Special treatment, astringent and stimulant, cases, 91 ; deaths, 71.42 per cent; Camphor and ice-water, the same ratio ; hypodermic injections and ice, the same ratio. Castor oil, with stimulants, 87 cases ; dciths, 41.37 per cent, Castor oil alone, 197 cases; deaths, 30.47." He adds : " The mortality fe'! immediate- ly on the change of treatment, and ai every period oi the epidemic the mor- tality under the astringent and stimu- lant treatment was much the same." Dr. V. R. Lees, F. S. A., in his works, Section on Cholera, demonstrates the same truUi. .'^ir W. Gull says that "although opium and diffusible stimuli --brandy, camphor, and ammcjuia — ■ were useful at an early stage of the disease, as collapse set in they not only failed to jiroduce any favorable result, but often aggravated the symptoms." — see "Gull's .M rbiil Anatomy of Chol- era." Dr. I'idduck, (jf Londun, gave common salt (4 to 8 ounces in a small quantity of water) as an emetic, forcing out the bile. The drcadftil symptoms at once abat -d. He says: " Of 86 cases in the stage "f collapse, 16 only proved fatal, and scarcely one would liavediedifl had been able to keej) them from taking brandy and laudanum, which counteracted the ojjcration of the salt emetic. It was singular how large a quantity of bile and fa;ces was dis- charged after reaction was established, the retention of which, doubtless, caused the typhus fever of which so many died afiertvards." From Dr. Braithwaite's tract on Cholera we quote the following : " Avoid all stimulants if you can, and let the reaction come slowly. If you feel compelled to stim- ulate, let it be by spirit of ammonia, champagne, or other mild wine. Stim- ulants are generally injurious. A com- bination of compound spirit of ammonia with chloric sether is one of the safest and best stimulants we possess." Dr. BuUar candidly confesses the great benefit of the water cure. While he gave opium and stimulants he lost 67 per cent, of his patients, when he sub- stituted calomel he had 30 per cent, of deaths. He says, " The treatment by calomel was certainly better than that by opium and stimulants. It left the cases more to nature. Cold water is one of tl:e best remedies. The less stimulants, opium, and other violent treatment, so much the milder will be the reaction and consequent fever." Dr. Pain in his letters on Choleia As- phyxia, New York, 1832, speaking of alcoholic stimulant, says : " We have " no popul lessly expc overthrowi pectedfacl^ sal belief i drink and (juestion tl trifling ailr perance in social and " I have s( sician to i cases of pe have entir the pleasui come par: what we h( bors, it wo compound of exhausti a much mo seem that 1 the alcohol A poisonous 1 The late *| tioner for '^ said : " Ai men often they do n accuracy w i hoi, ordere I purpose, 1 quished w ceased, h of this coni dcinic tlic iiiur- [;cnt and stimu- iicli tlic same." L., in his works, tmonstratos tliu (lull says lliat ciiffusibio blimuli iiid aiumoriia — • y stage of liic in they not only tavorai)le result, le symptoms." — latomy of Chol- f Londun, gave jnces in a small 1 emetic, forcing adfiil symptoms s.iys : " Of 86 jlhipse, 1 6 only rcely one would :n able to keep y and laudanum, operation of the igular how large , faeces was dis- vvas established, tdch, doubtless^ ?r of which so '$:' From Dr. 'holera we quote d all stimulants : reaction come mpelled to stim- rit of ammonia, lild wine. Stim- urious. Acom- pirit of ammonia ne of the safest possess." Dr. ;sses the great ure. While he ants he lost 67 3, when he sub- I 30 per cent, of le treatment by letter than that Its, It left the Cold water is dies. The less d other violent ; milder will be isequent fever." on Cholera As- 532, speaking of /s ; " We have \ often seen no benefit from thei. liberal use, and it is even dou!)tful whether they contribute mui h in any ( [uantitics. " " It was found," svys Dr. F. R. F.ees, " that in the battles lately in .Xmerici, the wounded soldiers left to nature recovered the ([uickest and most per I fectly, simply because they were saved from the doctors' stimulating treat- r nt." The truth is making its way into the hospitals in ICngland. Dr. J. (Irey Cilover, for e.\aini)le, says that " the administration of large i|uantuics of stimulants in cases of carbuncle is now only a part of a gL'ncral fashion that is already going out. I am s ilis- fieJ that, of ali forms of b!ood-i)oijon- ing, that by alcohol is n')t the least common." In July, 1S.S3, we find Dr. C. R. Francis, .\I. B., declaring that "no popular delusion has been so ruth- lessly e.xposed, no Ihecry so completely overthrown h the evtdenrt' of unex- pected facts, as the once almost univer- sal belief in alcoholic 1 (piors, both as drink and medicine." There is no (juestion that stimulants prescribed for triHing ailments have introduced intem- perance into many families, and spread social and personal ruin all around. "I have seen," says Dr. S. Wilks, phy- sician to Guy's Hospital, "so many cases of persons, especially ladies, who have entirely given themselves up to the i)leasures of brandy drinking, be- come paraplegic (paralysed). From what we hear of our continental neigh- bors, it would seem th.it z'^//' diabolical compound styled absintiie is productive of exhaustion of nervous power in even a much more marked degree. It would seem that the volatile oils, dissolved in the alcohol, give additional force to its poisonous effects." The late Dr. Anstie, in the Practi- tioner for February, 187 1, has well said : " Anothef way in which medical men often fail to do their duty, is that they do not ascertain with sufficient accuracy whether a daily d.^se of alco- hol, ordered for a i),irticular temporary purpose, has or has not been relin- quished when the occasion for it ceased. A comparatively short course of this conduct is sufficient to implant in the unstatiie nervous systems of women a firmly fi.xed drink craving. Many girls of the wealthy middle and u|)per cl.is.ses. especially the former, are of late years taking to consume all kinds of wine, partirul.irly champagne, to an extent which used never to be permitted. Many girls are in the habit of taking, in the shape of wine, two or three ounces of absulute alcohol, a i|uaniily which, if exp-essed in cheap beer, would be eqii il to six or seven pints. .\n unfavorable stimulus is often given to the animal nature of young women. There is a subtle hange, percjptible enou;;h to those who study character with any care, telling of the gr.iliial decline of the intellectual, and the increased prominence of the sensu.al tendencies" Dr. F. R, Lees, F. S. A., lulinburgh. siiys : " l.et us hope, h ..-ever, that the members of a noble profession will speedily awake to a full sense of the great responsibility under which they labor in prescribing alco- holics, rec illectiug the fact, of which their daily jiractice gives tiiem a perpet- ual pronf, the fact, as stated by Profes- sor Laycuck, M. I)., that •' indigestion bein't teinjiorarily relieved by alcoholic stimulants, it lays the foundation of an ever-griuving habit of taking them in women, and excites a more and more urgent desire in the drunkard, so that it IS in this way tluat inar.^ persons of position and education become irre- coverable sots. Forgetting this law, and pandering to fashion or appetite, the i)hysician will fail in his true and holy mission, and, under tlie jiretence of fiealing phy.->ical disorder, will leave behind him in many households, a demon more ramiKint and more re- morseless than ever tore the flesh of the possessed in olden time." Dr. James Ross, of Waterfoot, in the British Medical Journal iox Oct. i;b, 1873, asks; " \Vhat of the stimulant effect ()f alcohol ? Partly delusive, partly real. In so far as it is real, it must depend upon a certam amount of nervous energy being set free. It is this diffused effect which goes by the name of the stimulant-action of the drue;. The degree of diffusibility also ■\\ I '( JLJL. explains why alcohol primarily affects the higher brain centres. The delicate structure of these centres is soon per- meated by the drug, and hence the intellect and moral nature suffer first." How important these trutlis to literary men, and women too, to students, to clergymen, to lawyers, to merchants, and to every profession and calling in li'e. Yet how few will believe it ; how few will take warning and act upon it ! " Many will scarcely bear the naming of it, even though warned by the many billions of the self-murdered victims of alcohol, rising from their drunkards' graves, and in agonizing groans exhibit- ing the torments of the damned to its votaries here, they would scarcely be • persuaded to give up this distilled damnation. Shakespeare spoke with a prophetic insight of the h.ivoc which alcohol makes amongst men of jrenius when he said " Oh that man should pu: an enemy into his mouth to steal away his brain." It lays the foundation of many in- sidious and painful disorders, and often produces a sad and premature ecliijse of the brightest intellectual powers. It brutalizes husbands, murders wives, beggars orphans, fires the assassin's brain to kill his fellow man, fills our jails, penitentiaries, lunatic asylum.s, the gallows, and hell itself with its victims of despair. FOR THE BOYS. BE SURE TO READ THIS. As you go along the streets do you not notice a great many little men, many of them only from four feet ten inches to five feet four inches high ? Do you ever enquire tiie reason why these men are so very small ? I will tell you the reason in most cases. They, or some of their forefathers thought it manly to smoke or chew tobacco when they were growing, hut instead of it being manly to smoke or chew tobacco, it was very foolish and unmanly, and very likely to prevent them trom ever being really useful and intelligent men, as the tobacco contains a most virulent and deadly poison called nicotine, a little of which is drawn into the stomach in chewing, or into the lungs in smoking, and is taken into the blood and carried through the whole system, and prevents to a large extent the expansion of boys' bodies, while growing, by poisoning the Ijlood and rendering it unfit to im- part the requisite nourishment to their systems. The alcohol in whisky, beer, cider, or any other spirituous liquor, has the same effect on the growth of boys and girls who use it, as the alcohol is a deadly poison also, and like tobacco it [)oisons the blood, weakens the bodily strength, destroys mental ability to a great extent, renders habitual drinkers morose and selfish, and creates an e^•er increasing desire which soon ripens into a burning thirst for more and still more of jtseH', until the unfortunate victim falls into a drunkard's grave -into a drunkard's hell. Boys and girls, if you ever hope to be respectable and useful men and -.vomen, of good size, good looking, intelligent and useful to yourselves and to your fellow creatures, never use tobacco or alcoholic li(iuors in any form whatever, and your lives will be far more healthy and iiapjjy. CULLS AND CLIPS. The British Medical Temperance .Association has now a membership of 402 registered medical practitioners, with 109 medical students as associates. It is stated that only 25,000 of the 400,000 population of San Francisco attend church. It would he interesting to know how many visit its numerous wine-shops and saloons. Governor James E. Campbell, of Ohio, very naturally, in his first message to the I.egislature. recommended that " home rule " (rum rule) be restored to the cities at once. Out of 164 members of the Kansas Legislature, 151 have been interviewed by the Hutchinson News on the sub ject of resubmission, and only four of that number favor it.