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There is an erroneous notion to the effect that
the use of stimulants produces a depressing' reaction.
If there is a so-called reaction, that is to say a de
pression of vitality, it proves merely that the liquor
has been taken in such quantity as to act, not as a
stimulant, but as a narcotic, from the first. A
drunken man has not been over stimulated; he has
been narcotized. His incoherency is owing to incip
ient cerebral paralysis: while his unsteady gait indi
cates incipient paralysis of the cerebellum, which
presides over, and in health properly co-ordinates
movements. If a narcotic dose be taken all at once
there is no stimulation followed by depression; there
is immediate depression. In other words, the taking
of a small quantity of alcoholic liquor results in
stimulation; whereas the taking of a large quantity
results in depression -narcosis. But the depression
is not a reaction from stimulation; it is the after
effect of lhe destructive narcosis. The same princi
ple applies to moderate and violent exercise; mod
erate exercise being stimulating, and violent depres
sing. Wine. then, in moderation, stimulates, and is
never followed by a corresponding depression. Per
sons there are. however, in whom even small amounts
of alcohol produce poisonous effects almost in
stantly. Such —shall 1 say, unfortunates? — should,
« •
of course, be total abstainers.
Here it may be interesting to note the distinct
difference between the common terms, chronic alco
holism and dipsomania. A chronic alcoholic is
called in ordinary parlance a tippler, lie drinks a
little at a lime, but often. A dipsomaniac, on the
other hand, drinks seldom, but a great deal when
he does drink. One afflicted with dipsomania has
periodical cravings for liquor, which often he can
not resist. This is distinctly a pathological con
dition. and requires medical treatment. Xor is the
tippler healthily constituted; but, while the dip- i
somaniac's abnormal appetite for strong drink is
dm* to a degneration of.the molecular structure off
Ids brain usually an inheritance from a bibulous
ancestor lhe tippler has himself acquired his appe
tite through his habitual intemperance. Clearly,
therefore. though the tippler deserves less sympathy,
there is more hope for him than for the dipsomaniac.
The questions How much wine, beer or whiskey
shall we drink. When shall we drink one another?
and What alcoholic liquid is the least injurious?—
have been often asked, We shall answer the last
THE REASON
question first; the first next, and the second last.
Roughly speaking, whiskey contains about 55
per ('ent, of alcohol; in brandy the percentage of
alcohol is somewhat less; and American beer has
only about 4 per cent. One beer glass of whiskey,
then, contains as much alcohol as fourteen glasses
of beer. Xow, every one knows that alcohol is the
ingredient that produces the stimulating or nar
cotic effect, depending upon the amount taken. If
the amount be small, as it is in a glass or two of
beer, the effect will be stimulating; if large, as
when one drinks several glasses of whiskey, the
effect will be narcotic, and the condition of nar
cosis is incipient paralysis.
The general drinking of ardent spirits is un
questionably a curse. It causes many diseases, ami
it fills posterity with dipsomaniacs, murderers, idiots
and other kinds of degenerates. The evils of exces
sive drinking have brought even the moderate in
dulgences of temperate men into disrepute. The
cry now is, not temperance, but prohibition. Yet
moderate drinking of light wines or of “nut-brown
ah*" is not harmful, and it is often beneficial. When
one is worn out and really needs a stimulant, a mug
or two of ale, or a pint of claret, may be drunk
without any narcotic effect. But no healthy man
needs at any time the powerful stimulation of
whisky; and it is accustoming one’s self to the nar
cotic effects of large amounts of “hard stuff" that
makes drunkaards. A light wine or beer drinker
rarely becomes an inebriate. Go into a saloon and
observe the physical condition of its patrons. A
healthy, full-blooded man with steady nerves will
order a glass of ale or beer; a punny, thin man with
hollow, flushed cheeks will order and pour out with
shaking hand a large dose of whisky.
No one should drink any alcoholic liquid what
soever during lhe day; but at night, when the
energies are fagged, a moderate quantity of light
wine, or of malt liquor, may be drunk during or
after dinner. When mental labor has to be done in
the evening, however, very little stimulant of any
kind should be indulged in.
It is said that wine, and especially malted drinks,
stupefy the brain. Probably they do; at all events
they sometimes make one sleepy. But is this a bad
effect ? A dulling of the edge of thought occasion
ally rests the brain and prolongs its powers.
