Class _
Book_

Tkl

/

ESSAY, ~*>Q

MEDICAL. PHILOSOPHICAL, AND CHEMICAL,

ON

DRUNKENNESS,

AND

ITS EFFECTS ON THE HUMAN BODY.

BY THOMAS TROTTEK, M. D.

LATE PHYSICIAN TO HIS MAJESTY'S FLEET UNDER THE COMMAND

OF ADMIRAL EARL HOWE, K. G. ; AND TO THE SQUADRONS

COMMANDED BY ADMIRAL LORD BRIDPORT, K. B. ADMIRAL

EARL ST. VINCENT, K. B. AND THE HONOURABLE

ADMIRAL CORNWALLIS ;

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH;

AN HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY

OF EDINBURGH, OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF

ABERDEEN, OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND

LITERARY SOCIETY OF NEWCASTLE,

&.c. Sec.

O ! thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be
known by, let us call thee— Devil. Shakspearc.

THE FIRST PHILADELPHIA EDITION,
CORRECTED AND ENLARGED.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY ANTHONY FINLEY,

th East Comer of Chesnut and Fourth Streets; sold also by
E. J. Coale, and J. Cashing-, Baltimore; John lioff, Charleston;
Seymour and Williams, Savannah ; J. and J. Boyce, Richmond:
J. 11. Bedford, Nashville; and Crockett and Weisiger* Prank*.
fcrt.OEj.)

iNi'iHriuMmijjiim

John Bouvier, Printer.

1813

!

DEDICATION
TO

BR. JE^NER,

MY DEAR SIR,

AFTER having addressed you on the oc-
casion of your Great Discovery from the
first medical station in the public service of the
country, which I had then the honour to hold,
you will be the less surprised to hear from me in
my present obscurity. In laying the following
Essay before the world I feel so independent in
motive and expectation, that nothing but the
patronage of Dr. Jenner can satisfy me. I shall
thus escape the common accusation brought
against authors of being flatterers. The man
whose labours go the length of saving annually
half a million of his fellow-creatures, is as far be-
yond the sphere of compliment as he has out
stripped the measure of human gratitude, and can

(iv)

need no adulation from my pen. I have, there-
fore to request that he will accept of all, as a pri-
vate man, I can offer him, which is to say, with
all sincerity,

t am, my dear Sir,

Your most faithful friend, and
Most humble servant,
XeS5twDe T. TROTTER.

PREFACE.

WHEN I became a candidate for the degree
of Doctor of Medicine, in the University of
Edinburgh, I was rather anxious that the subject
of my Inaugural Dissertation should be some-
thing that had never been noticed by any former
graduate. This was a difficult point ; for scarce-
ly any thing remained that had not been pre-
viously discussed. After much consideration,
however, several objects of inquiry presented
themselves, and I fixed upon Ebriety. But some
doubts arose in my mind whether such a thesis
was proper matter for an academic exercise ; and
as soon as I was enabled to put it into a regular
form it was submitted to the judgment of the
late worthy Dr. Charles Webster. The doctor
was delighted with the performance, and gave it
as his opinion that it would be highly acceptable
to the professors. When my private examina-
tions were finished, it became the task of Dr,

A2

(vi)
Gregory, now Professor in the Practical Chair,
to give it his imprimatur. Dr. Gregory perused
it with great pleasure, and encouraged me to
think of it as a subject worthy of future investi-
gation. In the public hall my venerable friend
and preceptor, Dr. Cullen, was pleased to intro-
duce my examination with some elegant allusions
to the thesis ; and after a few facetious remarks
on the author, in his u^ual style, commended the
design, execution, and importance of the work.
I was shortly after this honoured with the thanks
of the Royal Humane Society, transmitted to me
by Dr. Hawes, the illustrious founder of that in-
stitution. Dv. Hawes observed, that, " the in-
"■ vestigation of so important an inquiry, in a re-
" gular scientific manner, was never before
u thought of: it was a subject left, happily left,
** to be ingeniously executed and amplified by
«' Dr. Trotter/5

Aiter such testimonies from men at the sum-
mit of the Medical Profession, it became a task
o: gratitude, as well as duty, with me, to review
the Dissertation. From 1788 till lately my
studies have been entirely occupied by naval af-
fairs ; and it is only within these few months that
I began to compile the following Essay, which
may be considered as a comment on the diesis.

(vii)

Dc Ebrietate, ejusque Effectibus in Corpus huma
num. Edin. 1788.

The importance of the undertaking will be
generally acknowledged. It is of a nature that
must interest every friend of mankind ; and I
trust it is demonstrated in these pages the share
which the medical profession ought to take in
checking the evil habit of intoxication in society.
How far I am right in the execution of the plan
others must decide. I shall receive every hint
for improvement with much satisfaction ; and
shall correct my errors, wherever they may ap-
pear, with equal pleasure.

CONTENTS.

Dedication, ------ iu

Preface, ------ v

Introduction, - - - - 11

Definition of Drunkenness, - - 17

Phenomena and Symptoms of Drunkenness, 23
In what Manner Vinous Spirits affects the

Body, - - - 39
The Catalogue of Diseases induced by

Drunkenness, - - - - - 98
The Method of correcting the Habit of

Drunkenness, and of treating the Drunken

Paroxysm, - 137

ON DRUNKENNESS, &c.

INTRODUCTION.

-Dulce periculum est,

O Lenaee ? sequi Deura

Ciugentem viridi tempera pampino. Hor.

MANKIND, ever in pursuit of pleasure, have
reluctantly admitted into the catalogue of their
diseases, those evils which were the immediate
offspring of their luxuries. Such a reserve is
indeed natural to the human mind : for of all de-
viations from the paths of duty, there are none
that so forcibly impeach their pretentions to the
character of rational beings as the inordinate use
of spirituous liquors. Hence, in the writings of
medicine, we find drunkenness only cursorily
mentioned among the powers that injure health,
while the mode ot action is entirely neglected and
left unexplained. This is the more to be won-
dered at, as the state of ebriety itself exhibits
some of the most curious and interesting Pheno-
mena that are to be met with in the history of an-

12

imated nature. The potent stimulus of vinous
spirit, as if by magical influence, so disturbs, or
operates on the animal functions, that new affec-
tions of mind, latent, or unknown before, arc
produced ; and the drunkard appears to act the
part of a man of deranged intellect, and altogeth-
er foreign to the usual terror of his sober reflec-
tions.

But a long train of the most dangerous diseases
are the certain consequence of habitual intoxica-
tion : the body and mind equally suffer. Sudden
death, apoplexy, palsy, dropsy, madness, and a
hideous list of mental disquietudes and nervous
failings, prey upon the shattered frame of the in-
ebriate, and prove fatal in the end. These suf-
ficiently point out the subject as highly impor-
tant in a medical view, and worthy of the nicest
investigation. But as I have not any precursor
in my labours, nor example in the records of
physic, to direct my steps, I shall need the less
apology for the manner I mean to pursue ; and
must claim indulgence where I appear singular
in my method.

Most instances of casual or sudden death,
and suspended animation, have obtained rules
for recovery ; while the drunkard, exposed in
the street and highway, or stretched in the

IS

kennel, has been allowed to perish, without
pity and without assistance ; as if his crime
were inexpiable, and his body infectious to
the touch. Our newspapers give us too fre-
quent accounts of this kind. The habit of
inebriation, so common in society, to be ob-
served in all ranks and stations of life, and the
source of inexpressible affliction to friends and
relatives, has seldom been the object of me-
dical admonition and practice. The priest-
hood hath poured forth its anathemas from the
pulpit; and the moralist, no less severe, hath de-
claimed against it as a vice degrading to our
nature. Both have meant well; and becomingly op-
posed religious and moral arguments to the sinful
indulgence of animal appetite. But the physical
influence of custom, confirmed into habit interwo-
ven with the actions of our sentient system,
and reacting on our mental part, have been en-
tirely forgotten. The perfect knowledge of those
remote causes which first induced the propensity
to vinous liquors, whether they sprung from situ-
ation in life, or depended on any peculiar tem-
perament of body, is also necessary for conduct-
ing the cure. A due acquaintance with the hu-
man character will afford much assistance ; for

the objects of our care are as diversified as the

B

14

varieties of corporeal structure. Pleasure, on
one hand, presents the poisonous bowl : low spir-
its, on the other, call for the cheering draught.
There business and the duties of office have plun-
ged one man into frequent hard drinking ; while
cares and misfortunes have goaded on another.
The soldier and the sailor get drunk-while narra-
ting the dangers of the battle and the storm : the
huntsman and the jockey, by describing the joys
of the chase and the course. Here genius and
talent are levelled with the dust, in trying to for-
get, in wine, the outrages of fortune, and the in-
gratitude of the wTorld ; while more ponderous
and stupid mortals, in attempting to seek in the
bottle the feelings and sentiments of exalted
beings, gravitate to their original clay, or sink
deeper into their parent mud.

In treating these various descriptions of persons
and characters, it will readily appear to a discern-
ing physician, that very different methods will be
required. The patient already knows, as well as
the priest and moralist that the indulgence is per-
nicious, and ultimately fatal : he is also aware,
without the reasonings of the physician, that the
constant repetition will destroy health ; but it is
not so easy to convince him that you possess a
charm that can recompence his feelings for the
want of a grateful stimulus, or bestow on his ne *-

15

vous system sensations equally soothing and
agreeable as he has been accustomed to receive
from the bewitching spirit. Hie labor ^ hoc opus
est : this is the difficulty ; this is the task, that is
to prove your discernment, patience, and address.
That little has been done hitherto with success,
we may be assured, by very rarely meeting with
a reformed drunkard. The habit, carried to a
certain length, is a gulph, from whose bourne no
traveller returns: where fame, fortune, hope,
health, and life perish.

Amidst the evils which flow from modern
wars, is to be reckoned the vast consumption of
spirituous liquors. The tax on distilled spirits
forms so large a part of finance, and fills up so
great chasm in the annual budget of any minis-
ter, who may strive more to retain his place than
to reform the morals, or check the diseases of his
countrymen, that we cease to wonder at its con-
tinuance. A few years ago, the crops of grain
were so deficient over this island, that thedistilla-
tion of spirits from malt was prohibited: and
thus scarcity, bordering on famine, became a bless-
ing to the human race. But no sooner had fruit-
ful seasons, and the bounty of Providence, cover-
ed the earth with plenty, than the first gift of Hea-
ven, abundance of corn, was again, for the sake

16
of taxation, converted into poisonous spirits, by
opening the stilleries. Might not other taxes be
devised that would be equally productive ? and
would it not be a virtuous act of the Legislature
to abolish the practice for ever ?

In order to treat my subject philosophically,
and, for the sake of method, I propose dividing
it into the following heads, viz.

1st, Definition of Drunkenness.

2d, The Phenomena, or Symptoms of
Drunkenness.

3d, In what Manner Vinous Spirit affects
the living Body.

4th, The Catalogue of Diseases induced by
Drunkenness. And,

5th, The Method of correcting the Habit of
Drunkenness, and of treating the Drunken
Paroxysm.

Into these heads I shall occasionally introduce
such practical remarks as may arise out of the
subjects; but which are too desultory for metho-
dical arrangement.

17

CHAP. I

Definition of Drunkenness.

0\ thoti invisible ipirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by let us call
t|ie€ Devil ! S/iakspeare.

IN medical language, I consider drunkenness,
strictly speaking, to be a disease ; produced by
a remote cause, and giving birth to actions and
movements in the living body, that disorder the
functions of health. This being the case, besides
the value of an accurate definition for the sake
of system, it may be of some practical utility to
point out the affinity which the paroxysm has
with other affections. In assigning the charac-
ter formerly, I was well aware of the difficulty of
fixing any symptom, or even concourse of symp-
toms, that are invariably present. For this rea-
son delirium seemed to be the most certain, as
it is the most prominent and general. But ob-
jections may yet be made to this ; for difference
of age, and varieties of temperament and consti-
tution, influence the accession and progress of
wavering intellect during intoxication. Again,
although the animal functions are evidently dc-

B2

13
ranged, exhibited by all the shades and grada-
tions of delirium, such as imbecility- of mind or
fatuity, erroneous judgment, imaginary percep-
tions, false relations, violent emotions called ra-
vings, &c. yet at the same time, the paroxysm
is so generally attended with a partial or total
abolition of the powers of sense and motion; that
it assumes very much the nature of a comatose
condition. Indeed the most frequent fatal ter-
mination of the drunken fit is apoplexy. It is
certainly no uncommon occurrence to see an
inebriate who can neither walk or speak, exercise
so considerable a degree of mental power, as to
recollect every circumstance that passes ; yet so
conscious of his inability to move without stag-
gering, that he cunningly watches the opportu-
nity, when unperceived by his companions, to
take his leave. The character of this disease
therefore, partakes both of delirium and coma.

To avoid confusion, I take the remote cause
into my definition. Drunkenness is the delirium
occasioned by fermented liquors. It is true that
other narcotics, particularly opium and bang, pro-
duce nearly the same phenomena, and their ha-
bitual use almost the same diseases ; yet, for ob-
vious reasons, the chief of which is the common
occurrence of drunkenness in this country, I am

19

induced to separate them here, and consider ttvi$
subject by itself. — Our definition is briefly this:

Post Vinun immobice assumptum, De-
lirium et Coma. — Which may be thus trans-
lated : — " Imbecility of intellect, erroneous judg-
" ment, violent emotions ; and loss of sense and
" motion after the immoderate use of vinous li~
"quors."

The Latin word " Vinum," has been prefer-
red as being the most concise, and best convey-
ing the meaning of vinous spirit, the product of
fermentation, and on which the inebriating pow-
er of all fermented liquors depends ; such as
wine, malt-liquors, cyder, perry, mum, mead,
koumiss, &c. all of which by distillation yield
" alkohol."

The carbonic acid gas> or fixed air, which is
evolved in great quantity during the vinous fer-
mentation, that gives a sparkling and pungency
to certain liquors, such as champaigne, bottled
beer and cyder, is known to produce a kind of
stupefaction resembling intoxication, independent
of the spirit. This kind of ebriety is but mo-
mentary ; as the action of the gas on the nerves
of the stomach is of short duration. Very differ-
ent are the effects of this gas when breathed.
Brewers have frequently been suffocated in

20
taking out their ale or beer from the vat, as the
air lies on the surface of the fermenting liquor.
Nay it has sometimes accumulated in such quaii-
tites in those cellars, as to prove fatal to several
people before the cause was detected, and the air
expelled by ventilation. In mines, wells, and
the holds of ships, this vapour has often proved
lethalic.

Dr. Cullen, in his order of Vemnice, or mental
derangement, has given five genera : but the
paroxysm of ebriety more particularly exempli-
fies the mixed character of amentia, insania et ma-
nia, or ideotism, agreeable emotions, and violent
emotions. Oneirodynia, disturbed sleep, which
comprehends sleep-walking and night-mare, per-
haps only occurs during the decline of the drunk-
en paroxysm. And melancholia, melancholy,
would appear to be suspended during the stimu-
lant power of wine. This disease is rather the
offspring of habitual intoxication ; it is probably
confined to a peculiar temperament of body, that
is little disposed to be excited, and can endure
excessive stimulus without proportional action,
as well in the functions of the sensorium commune,
as in the circulating system.

There is a species of delirium that often at-
tends the early accession of typhus fever, from

21

contagion that I have known to be mistaken for
ebriety. Among seamen and soldiers, where ha-
bits of intoxication are common, it will some-
times require nice discernment to decide ; for
the vacant stare in the countenance, the look of
ideotism, incoherent speech, faultering voice, and
tottering walk, are so alike in both cases, that the
naval and military surgeon ought at all times to
be very cautious, how he gives up a man to pun-
ishment under these suspicious appearances.
Nay, the certainty of his having come from a
tavern, with even the effluvium of liquor about
him, are signs not always to be trusted : for these
haunts of seamen and soldiers are often the
sources of infection. In all doubtful cases of
this kind, let the members of our profession be
guarded in their opinions ; it is safe to lean to the
humane side.

There is another species of intoxication that
follows the inhalation of inflammable spirit, by
the nose and mouth, without being swallowed.
This species of ebriety is common to coopers,
porters, and other workmen employed in cellars
and distilleries. The most volatile part of the
spirit, or purest alkohol, which arises in pouring
it from one vessel to another, probably acts by
directly stimulating the nerves of the membrana

22

Shneideriana spread about the nose and frontal
sinuses ; and also the inside of the mouth, trachea
and lungs, and thus produces delirium. This
ebriety is likewise transitory, and soon disappears
when the patient is moved into the open air. It
frequently happens in ships, in pumping spirits
from a large cask into a smaller, in the confined
space of a spirit room : but the practice is dan-
gerous, as vessels have often been set on fire by a
lighted candle touching the spirits ; and it is now
strictly forbidden in all well regulated ships in his
Majesty's navy.

23

CHAP. II.

Phenomena and Symptoms of Drunkenness.

Hue, Pater O Lenfce, veni: nudataque musto

Tinge novo mecuna direptis crura eothurnis. Virg*

THE first effects of wine are, an inexpressi-
ble tranquility of mind, and liveliness of counte-
nance : the powers of imagination become more
vivid, and the flow of spirits more spontaneous
and easy, giving birth to wit and humour with-
out hesitation. Dissipat Evius curas edaces. All
anxieties of business, that require thought and
attention, are laid aside ; and every painful affec-
tion of the soul is relieved or alleviated. Placed,
as it were, in a paradise of pleasure, the being
only contemplates delightful and agreeable ob-
jects; the most prominent of them are love and
desire,

■ sine Baecho friget Venus.

Ter.

The man of a lively fancy, who happens to be
in love at such a time, sees beauties in his mis-
tress that he overlooked before ; and he culls

24
every flower of poesy that can add warmth to his
emotions, or passion to his feelings. The deli-
rium of love may, therefore, be said to begin
first.

An agreeable heat is diffused over the whole
body ; muscular strength is recruited and the ac-
tion of the heart and arteries is manifestly in-
creased.

The vigor of the circulation of the blood, be-
ing thus augmented, a sparkling of the eyes may
be observed ; a flush or redness is spread over the
face, and the whole appearance of the countenance
is brightened into a smile.

A painter, such as Hogarth, would find fine
exercise for his talents in delineating the shades
and gradations of feature that take place in partic-
ular persons, from perfect sobriety to the last
stage of intoxication. The soul, as if inconscious
of its danger, looks with bodily organs that be-
speak rapture to the deceitful bowl, which carries
in its draught every degree of sensation, from
pleasure to pain from the purest perceptions of
intellect, to the last confusion of thought ; which
raises man above the sphere of mortals, and ends,
by bringing him to a level with the brutes.

When the mind has attained the highest de-
gree of pleasurable feeling from vinous stimulus,

2i

it is wrapt in reverie, which may be called a
boundary, between the agreeable sensations of
sobriety, and the delirious tumults of thought,
which usher in complete inebriation. The sys-
tem has been enough excited to bring forth plea-
surable sensation, to subdue pain, and sufficient
judgment remains to analize the reflections
which arise from condition of life, so as to fortify
the present moment against all intrusive approach-
es of care or sorrow. Did the giddy votaries of
Bacchus but stop here, some indulgence might
be granted, that human nature should a wrhile
forget those ills which flesh is heir to.

During this period, which I must beg leave to
call the drunken reverie, that disguise which all
mankind, more or less, carry about them, is in
some measure thrown off. The grave philoso-
pher himself, becomes convivial, lays aside his se-
vere demeanour and applauds the jest and the
song,

— — Teucer Salamina patremque

Cum fugerit, tamen uda Lyaeo

Tempora populea fertur vinxisse corona, Kor .

Narratur et prisci Catonis

Ssepe mero caluisse virtus. Ho?

Invigorated with wine, the infirm man becomes
strong, and the timid courageous,

C

26
The desponding lover forsakes his solitude,
and silent shades, and in a cup of Falernian for-
gets the frowns and indifference of an unkind
mistress. Even the trembling hypochondriac,
unmindful of his fears and ominous dreams,
sports and capers like a person in health. Regaled
with the pleasures of the board, the soldier no
longer complains of the hardships of a campaign,
or the mariner of the dangers of the storm.

Quis post Vina gravem militiam aut pauperiem crepat I

Hor.

Vino peliite curas:
Cras ingens iterabimus sequor. Hor.

Dr. Johnson says, "In the bottle, discontent
!* seeks for comfort, cowardice for courage, and
u bashfulness for confidence*."

Such appear to oe the cheerful and. inspiring
powers of wine. All beyond seem to be chaos
and madness. " Tria ego pocula tantum misceo,
u illis qui sapiunt ; unum sanitatis ; alterum vo-
u luptatis; sopor is tertium, &c.f" " Give strong
" drink unto him that is ready to perish ; and
M wine unto those that be of heavy heart. Let

* Life of Addison. f EabuL

27
u him drink and forget his poverty, and retnciri-
" ber his misery no more*." So spake the roy-
al voluptuary, who planted him vineyards, and
gave himself unto wine : yet he soon found, as
o very drunkard has done since, that " all was
" vanity and vexation of spirit."

A lover of the bottle, a jolly companion, as
commonly expressed, would give you just such
a description of the effects of wine, as Shak-
speare has put into the mouth of the maudlin
Falstaff. " Good faith, this same young sober-
" blooded boy doth net love me ; nor a man can-
" not make him laugh : — but that's no marvel ;
" he drinks no wine. There's never any of
" these demure boys come to any proof : for thin
" drink doth so overcool their blood, and mak-
< c ing many lish meals, that they fall into a kind
*' of male green- sickness : and then when they
" marry, they get wenche$:\ they are generally

* ?ro verbs.

f " If a drunken man get a child, it will never likely have a good
" brain/' as Gellius argues. Lib. xii. cap. i. " Ebrii gignunt
" ebriosy one drunkard begets another," saith Plutarch: — and
Aristotle himself admits, that " drunken women bring forth chil-
u dren like unto themselves." Burton Anat. Mel.

If these authorities, along with Sir John FalstafPs, can have any
weight, mankind have a stronger reason against intoxication, than
has usually been urged by moral writers. That is the dread of

as

: fools and cowards ; which some of us should
- be too, but for inflammation, A good sherries
" sack hath a two-fold operation in it. It ascends
"me into the brain ; dries there all the foolish,
tJand dull, and orudy vapours which environ it ;
*' makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full
" of nimble, &ery, and delectable shapes ; which
u delivered over to the voice (the tongue), which
"is the birth, becomes excellent wit. The
M second property of your excellent sherries is,
" the warming of the blood ; which before, cold
" and settled, left the liver white and pale ; which
*' is the badge of pusillanimity and cowrardice :
" but the sherries' warms it, and makes it course
"from the inwards to the parts extreme. It il-

transmitting insanity to their offspring. Dr. Darwin, in bis reve"
ries about generation, speaks of the progeny receiving likeness of
form from the imagination of the parent. But if imagination can
have the power of impressing the shapeless ens, how much more
must the real condition of the inebriate. The legislators of some
countries had such ideas of the effects of wine, as being a poison
to the soul and a fomentor of vices, that their women were sub-
jected to the same punishment for drinking" as for adultery. Gel
lib, x. cap. 23. Whatever may be the truth of this doctrine, so
briety in husband and wife must give the best chance for a sober
progeny. Dr. Darwin even says, c< It is remarkable that all the
** diseases from drinking spirituous or fermented liquors are liable
u to become hereditary, even to the third generation, gradually in
u creasing, if the cause be continued, till the family becomes tx
" tinct." Bot. Gard, Part. iL Note on Vitti.

29
1 lumineth the face; which, as a beacon, gives
c warning to all the rest of this little king-
1 dom man, to arm : and then the vital com-
6 moners, and inland petty spirits, muster me all
1 to their captain the heart ; who great, and puff-
1 ed up with this retinue, doth any deed of cou-
A rage ; and this valour comes of sherries : so
1 that skill in the weapon is nothing without
c sack ; for that sets it a work ; learning a mere
( hoard of gold kept by a devil, till sack com-
| mences it and sets it in act and use. Hereof
; comes it that prince Henry is valiant ; for the
1 cold blood he did naturally inherit of his father,
* he hath, like lean, sterile, and bare land, ma-
c nured, husbanded, and tilled, with excellent
' endeavour of drinking good, and good store of
' fertile sherries : that he is become very hot and
1 valiant. If I had a thousand sons, the first hu-
1 man principle I would teach them, should
' be, — to forswear thin potation, and to addict
4 themselves to sack*."

Hen. iv. part ii. act 4.
The sober pleasures of Bacchus have now
been detailed ; noisy folly and ribaldry next ap-
pear : the song becomes louder, and dancing com.

* This speech when transposed into more philosophical terras, is
jio bad assemblage of the phenomena of Vinoleacy.

C2

30
inences with the rude squeeze, and every odd
gesticulation ; cheerfulness and wit are changed
into low humor and obscene jests.

-tollite barbamm

Morem;verecundumque Bacchum

Sanguineis prohibite rixis. Hfcr.

The man is now drunk, and whatever he says
Or does, betrays the errors of the thinking princi-
ple. This scene is finely painted by Thomson
in his poem of the Seasons ; and as it is far be-
yond the compass of medical or technical lan-
guage, I shall gives it in his own words :

• But earnest brimming bowls

Lave every soul, the table floating round,

And pavement faithless to the fuddled foot.

Thus as they swim in mutual swill, the talk,

Vociferous at once from twenty tongues

Reels fast from theme to theme, from horses, hounds.

To church or mistress, politics or ghost,

In endless mazes intricate, perplex'd.

Mean time, with sudden interruption loud,

Th* impatient catck bursts from the joyous heart;

That moment touch'd is every kindred soul ;

And opening in a full-mouth'd cry of joy,

The laugh, the slap, the jocund curse go round.

Along with this noise and folly, all the weak-
nesses of disposition are unveiled, and the sc-

31

crcts of the breast are exposed without reserve*
He must be a fool indeed, who shall expound to
a rival, the arcana of his profession, of his love,
or of his friendship ! hence the old adage, " in
"vino Veritas"

Condita cum verax aperit pracordia Liber. Hon,

From this circumstance, it is finely recorded
of the Roman chief, that he proved the confi-
dence and sincerity of his counsellors by wine be-
fore he ventured to trust them.

Religious enthusiasm is apt to occupy the ima=
gination of fanatics at this time, and they burst
forth with blasphemous and familiar addresses to
the Deity. Their hypocrisy has lost its veil ;
they have now the audacity to talk of visitations
from heaven, and the inspirations of the spirit,
in all the impudent and unintelligible cant of
their sect.

The cultivated mind is even seen in drunken-
ness. It commits no outrage, provokes no quar-
rel, and turns its ear from insult and offence. But
the ignorant and illiterate man is to be shunned
in proportion to his excess : it is human nature
in its vilest garb, and madness in its worst form.

There seems no physical strength of constitu-
tion that can sufficiently guard against the expo-

sure of these frailties of disposition ; the most
torpid feelings discover the infirmity. But there
is one trait of the moral character, that I have ob-
served, proof against them. It is notorious in
the gamester, that he shuns drinking ; but plies
his companions with the bottle, that he may se-
cure some advantage to himself. I speak here
of gaming as a species of avarice. The avari-
cious man, when drunk, never tells a secret of
his soul. Avarice is a passion of so mean a na-
ture, that it will flourish where no other can grow;
no mental soil is so steril not to nourish it. A
smaller portion of intellect is required for its ex-
ercise than for anv other vice. As it is so com-
pletely environed by self, it feels for no fellow-
creature : in all conditions of life it looks at
home : when sober, it displays no charity, and
never needs to repent of profusion. During
drunkenness, the ruling passion is steady to its
purpose; "virtus post nummos:" it is always
prepared to take advantage of a drunken brother;
and whether it fleeces him at games of chance, or
overreaches him by the tricks of a bargain, you
perceive the grasp of avarice, as true to the lust of
gain, amidst the delirious excesses of the bottle,
. as the magnet to the pole, in a storm as sea*
*' Quiladit temulentiim prodit absentemS*'

S3

In the heat of intoxication, supposed affronts,
that had never been noticed by the party before,
are called up, to claim an apology, or provoke a
a quarrel. Resentments that had been long sup-
pressed, or apparently forgotten, are brought to
recollection, that they may seek revenge, or meet
with redress. These give birth to numerous
feuds and animosities, which frequently terminate
in bloodshed and death.

Some conditions of body also mark and ac-
company this degree of ebriety. As stupor su-
pervenes, voluntary motion being partly lost, the
head nods, the walk is tottering, vox faucibus
hteret*. The countenance looks swoln and in-
flamed, the eyes start and glare, vision is
doublef; or, is rendered obscure, from mists or
meteors, flying, as it were, in the atmosphere.

-Their feeble tongues,

Unable to take up the cumbrous word,

Lie qnite dissolved. Before their maudlin eyes,

See dim and blue, the double tapers dance,

Like the sun wading- through the misty sky.

Thomson.

Rt ebrins intendum imptaviso minget, et alvum
exonerat. These imbecilities are the conse-

* Aphonia temuientorum. Sauv. s. 3.
f Diplopia a temulentia. Sauv. Var, 10.

34

quence of the loss of power in the sphincter
muscles : they are peculiar to certain persons.
Even voracious appetite, such as is sometimes
observed in the apoplectic state, is no unfrequent
occurrence in this stage of ebriety.

Such are the chief phenomena of drunkenness;
but they vary considerably in different persons,
and very much depend on the natural disposition
and temperament. We thus see some men, in
their cups, mild, good-natured, and gentle ; while
others are fierce, irrascible, and implacable : this
one is complaisant to his enemy, and forgetful of
injuries; that, is insulting to his friend, and
mindful of revenge. This person is gay, musical,
and loquacious ; that one is dull, sullen, and si-
lent. Here, a drunkard weeps and moans with
wry faces ; there, another, turbulent and loud,
foaming with rage, makes the dome echo with
oaths and imprecations, As in every other spe-
cies of insanity, so in these moments the inebri-
ate forgets the blush of ingenuous shame, and
commits many indecent actions.

How dreadful the lot of that man, who while
heated and mad with wine, should plunge his
sword into the bosom of his friend ! In such an
hour the infuriate Alexander slew his most dear
companion Clytus !

3d

The doctrine of temperaments is net well tin-
derstood : and it would be difficult to explain the
peculiar actions of persons during the influence
of wine, by the induction of this doctrine. The
sanguineous and choleric temperaments, I con-
ceive to be most prone to resentment and ferocity;
as may be observed in those whose countenance
becomes very much flushed or bloated, with their
eyes as if starting from their sockets : the former
of the two is the most lascivious and amorous.
The nervous temparament exhibits most signs of
idiotism, and is childish and foolish in its drunken
pranks. The phlegmatic temperament is diffi-
cult to be roused ; is passive and silent, and may
fall from the chair before many external signs of
ebriety appear. The melancholic -temperament,
as when sober, is tenacious of whatever it under-
takes ; and shews least of the inebriate in its man-
ner. But all constitutions havesomething pecu-
liar to them, and the shades of character blend so
insensibly with one another, that distinction be-
comes difficult.

When matters are come to this pass, the stom-
ach, from being too much overloaded, or from
that debility which follows all excessive stimula-
tion, is affected with nausea and vomiting. Should
this nothappen, sleep quickly seizes the inebriate.

36

and very frequently attended with sierteroirs
breathing. After the space of a few hours, or soon-
er or later, his senses being recovered, but with-
out recollection of what has passed, the drunkard
awakes, languid, low-spirited, and much debili-
tated.

Here the paroxysm may be said to terminate,,
and more or less of febrile affection commences :
from whence are produced, sensibility to the ex-
ternal air, chills, shivering, creeping on the skin,
weakness, inactivity of body and mind, heavi-
ness and pain of the head, nausea, thirst, vomiting
small pulse, for the most part frequent, with many
other signs of debility.

The drunken paroxysm, as far as can be ob-
served in those who are addicted to the habit, has
some variation from the history now given of the
phenomena. The cheerfulness of mind, and lively
countenance, with all the agreeable and pleasura-
ble feelings, are by no means exhibited in the de-
gree. In short, like all human enjoyments, the
exhilirating powers of wine lose their fine zest
and high relish, by being too frequently indulged.
This very circumstance at once draws the line
between the temperate man and the sot.

It ought to be remembered, that the same
quantity of wine, or vinous spirit, will not always

37

produce the same effects in the same person;
or in the same man at all times. This must de-
pend on the habit of intoxication ; the stomach be-
ing full or empty ; the usual hour of drinking ;
a cold or warm country ; the temperature of the
room ; the summer or winter season ; fasting, or
after a repast ; and finally, by whatever means
the state of the body increases or diminishes the
action of stimuli. This is the scale of excitabili-
ty, as explained by Brown in his Elementa
Medicine.

The most sotted drunkard knows well that a
smaller quantity of spirit will do his business in a
morning than after he has dined. Hence a rule
in temperance never to drink wine on an empty
stomach ; or after very long fasting. A very
striking fact to this purpose, is to be found in
Captain Bligh's narrative of his passage to Timor,
after the mutiny on board the Bounty, The al-
lowance of water and provision was so exceeding-
ly small, that it was little better than fasting. The
rum was measured by a tea spoonful ; yet the
body was so susceptible of stimulus, that this
quantity produced inebriation. This condition
has been called accumulated excitability.

Again, persons labouring under typhus fever
very frequently consume from four to six pounds

D

38

of wine in the twenty-four hours ; not only with-
out stupour supervening, but delirium, such as
it is in that disease, disappearing ; and the fre-
quency of the pulse diminishing in proportion at
the same time. The use of wine as a cordial in
fever is of very ancient date. Pliny the elder
says:- — "Cardiacorum morbo, unicam spem in
" vino esse, certum est*." Aretaus, and
Caelius Aurelianus give similar evidence. In
my own practice, supported by experience more
extensive than that of any physician of the pre-
sent age, it has been my chief remedy ; and
when directed with due precaution, by far the
most efficacious in the low typhus feverf .

* Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. xxiii. c. 2.

| Vide Medicma Nautica, vol. i. art. Typhus.

39

CHAP. III.

In what Manner vinous Spirit affects the Body.

Every inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient is a— devil !

Shakspeare.

IN the preceding chapter I have detailed the
effects of wine in the living human body, as far
as seemed necessary for marking the phenome-
na which take place from perfect sobriety, to the
state of intoxication and total insensibility.

The first effect to be perceived is stimulant
and exciting ; calling forth vigor of body and
mind, pleasurable sensation, and power of intel-
lect. The next is loss of voluntary motion, and
delirium. The last is a state of indirect debility,
or exhausted excitability, from inordinate action
©f the different functions.

The inebriating quality of all liquors, I have
said, depends upon the alkohol which they
contain. This word is of Arabic origin ; for the
Arabians first obtained alkohol from wine. It
means the pure spirit separated by repeated dis-

40
filiations- from all grosser matter. It is the pro-
duct of the vinous fermentation from sugar, and
can only be obtained from those substances
which possess the saccharine principle.

As an article in materia medica, physicians
have referred alkohol to the class of narcotics;
medicines which induce stupor and sleep, among
which are reckoned opium, bangue, cicuta,
belladonna, hyosciamus, nicotiana, lauro-cera-
sus, &c.

The operation of narcotics has lately given
birth to much controversj' in medical writings ;
the one party contending for a primary sedative
power in these medicines, v7hich, by suspending
sense and motion, that condition of the body
takes place which is called sleep. On the other
hand it is argued, that the first effects of narcotics
are stimulant and exciting ; and that sleep only
comes on as a consequence of preceding excite-
ment : they are therefore to be considered as only
indirectly sedatives. Experiments have been in-
stituted by both parties, from which each have
drawn conclusions favourable to their own side
of the question. In disputes of this nature, pre-
conceived theories, attachment to particular doc-
trines, and favourite modes of reasoning, have had
great influence in prejudicing the minds of the

41

different combatants, and thus giving birth t<>
seeming contradictions. But there is one point
in which they nearly agree, and which seems suf-
ficient for the purpose of the practical physician.
It is admitted, I think on all hands, that narcotic
medicines, or I will take the chief of them,
opium, is universally found to be hurtful and im-
proper, in all sthenic diseases, or those reputed to
be inflammatory in their nature. Who ever
thinks of prescribing opium in pneumonia ? in
phrenitis, or in acute rheumatism previous to
venisection and other evacuations? What rea-
sons are assigned for this caution ? They are ob-
vious : In pneumonia, opium increases the dif-
ficulty of expectoration and breathing, and
anxiety; in phrenitis it exalts the delirium and
restlessness ; and in acute rheumatism, the fever,
pain, and heat of the body, become more severe
after its exhibition. These effects are produced
by a general stimulant power, spread over the
whole body, but particularly exemplified in the
circulating system. The stroke of the artery
becomes either fuller or more oppressed ; the
lungs are overloaded with blood, and incapable
of due expansion ; the blood is also accumulated
in the head, apparent from the flush of the coun-
tenance and redness of the eyes, and throbbing of

D2

42
the temporal arteries ; the circulation being also
increased in the joints, gives additional heat and
pain. The physician who thus decides from
sick-bed experience, wisely withholds opium in
all such conditions of body.

But in another state of the body, very oppo-
site to the diseases just mentioned ; and often in-
dependent of all authorities of physicians, various
substances of this class are used by the inhabi-
tants of different countries, as opium and bang
by the Turks and East Indians, and tobacco by
all others. These articles are certainly not taken
in this manner, either for their antispasmodic or
sedative virtues : but as stimulants and cordials,
that give vigour to the system, raise the spirits,
call forth agreeable feelings, and render the body,
for a time, capable to bear fatigue and privation
of food.

Opium, it is well known, is the juice obtained
from the seed-pcd of the white poppy, papaver
somniferum Lin. S. P. and when taken in due
quantity is very analogous in its action to ardent
spirit. Bang, or bangue, is made from the leaf
of a wild kind of hemp, that grows in the coun-
tries of the Levant. It is first dried and then
pulverized. The effects of this drug are to con-
found the understanding; set the imagination

43

loose ; induce a kind of folly and forgetlulne&s,
wherein all cares are left, and joy and gaiety take
place thereof. Bang in reality is a succedaneum
to wine, and obtains in those countries where
mahometanism is established ; which prohibiting
the use of that liquor absolutely, the poor Mus-
sulmans are forced to have recourse to succeda-
nea to rouse their spirits*.

In a large dose these substances bring on de-
lirium, stupor, and other phaenomena of ebriety.
Their habitual use causes universal debility,
emaciation, loss of intellect, palsy, dropsy, dys-
pepsia, hepatic diseases, and all others which flow
from indulgence of spirituous liquors. I may
therefore conclude, that all narcotics have more
or less the same effect.

From these articles, and some others of the
same class, alkohol chiefly differs, by being taken
generally in a diluted state, such as in wine, beer,
or punch, and used as an ingredient in diet. High-
ly rectified spirit, or pure alkohol, could scarcely
be admitted into the human stomach, even in ve-
ry moderate quantity, without proving immedi-
diately fatal. The coats of the stomach would
be unable to resist so concentrated a stimulus;

* Ency. Brit,

44

they would be instantly decompounded, as is done
by nitric or sulphuric acids. When given by
drops like tinct. opii, in any convenient drink,
this pure alkohol will prove equally serviceable in
allaying pain, in increasing the strength and vel-
ocity of the pulse, raising the spirits, &c. and
would be called antispasmodic. But to show
how inconclusive much of the reasoning is,
which has been employed here ; the supporters
of the sedative doctrine, do not deny a directly
stimulant power to all vinious liquors. The ef-
fects of opium, I consider nearly alike to those
of ardent spirit. The opium-eaters among the
Turks, give evidence of this substance increasing
desire, and the sexual appetite, like wine in mod-
erate quantities ; but destroying the passion
when long used, or too largely employed. It is%
well known that many of our fair countrywomen
Garry laudanum about with them, and take it free-
ly when under low spirits. This custom is cer-
tainly as little to be justified as the use of bran-
dy. Were opium a sedative, how could it pos-
sess those powers, evidently stimulating to the
bodies of persons who never troubled themselves
about the disputes concerning the mode of action
and who could be biassed by no theoretical opin-
ion.

45

There are some liquors which have a hurtful
tendency, independent of spirituous quality. The
malt liquors, and cyder of this country, do not
undergo so perfect a fermentation, as the product
of the grape in warmer latitudes. The first is
therefore apt to disorder the stomach, by a slight
fermentation afterwards in the body: this is a pro-
cess that persons of weak degestive organs cannot
suffer without much pain. The carbonic acid
gas which is there disengaged, excites gastro-
dynia, flatulency, and distention ; but we are ac-
quainted with no virtues which this gas possesses
beyond a slight stimulus ; the modern practice
of exhibiting it so often, and in various ways,
has rather arisen from the rage after chemical
remedies, than any fair evidence that has been
given of its medical qualities. The cyders of
of England, and America, and I rather suppose
of all countries, are impregnated with much un-
decompounded acid : the apple yields but a small
quantity of saccharine matter, at least not suffi-
cient by its fermentative quality to overcome the
whole of the malic acid which abounds in the fruit
and thus convert it into vinous spirit. But beer,
and particularly porter, have their narcotic pow^
er much increased by noxious compounds which
enter them ; and the bitters which are necessary

46

to their preservation, by long use, injure the
nerves of the stomach, and add to the stupefactive
quality. Malt-liquor drinkers are known to be
prone to apoplexy and palsy, from this very
cause : and purl drinkers in a still greater degree,
a mixture peculiar to this country. This poison-
ous morning beverage was, till lately, confined to
the metropolis and its vicinity ; but has now, like
other luxuries, found its way into all provincial
towns.

The legislature has lately turned its attention
to the noxious quality of some of the porter
brewed in London; and opium has been men-
tioned as an ingredient frequently added to this
liquor. An increase of duty has been laid on
this celebrated drug by way of prohibition. But
when we consider that four grains of opium are
sufficient, to double the intoxicating power of a
gallon of porter, the article is still cheap enough
to be used by the brewer, without subtracting
much of his profits. The increased duty will
also increase the temptation to smuggle. The
Minister of the present day is a professed phy-
sician, and once prescribed a hop pillow to an il-
lustrious patient. May Heaven direct, that the
Hopes with which he now pillows that sacred
head, may not turn out a bitter pillow J But Mr.

47
Addington does not seem to have been aware,
that while he was taking opium from the brew-
ers, he left them in full possession of a long list
of narcotics. They have the Coculus Indicus,
dog-poison, which is said to be their favourite
ingredient : they have also hyosciamus, bella-
donna, and lauro-cerasus ; all of which are cheap ;
and could they not also procure, at a low price,
bangue from the Levant, which many Mahome-
tans prefer to opium itself ? I believe bitters of
all kinds, long continued, are hurtful to the nerv-
ous system ; it is difficult to say which of them
ought to be preferred as being most salutary.
Hop is certainly one of the most grateful, but
possesses no superior efficacy as an antizymic.
It is an article on which Government can levy a
duty with more certainty than on any other, and
its bulk and mode of growth preclude smuggling;
but these seem the chief reasons for the prefer-
ence. Again, while the Minister was commend-
ably employed in checking the nefarious traffic
of the brewers, he forgot that he was wresting
from the bed of pain and sickness, by increasing
its price, an article that is the last refuge of our
art ; that fortifies the soul against the pangs of
separation from the body, and as it were prunes
its wings for its flight to another world ! But, to
return to my subject :

48
The operation of vinous spirit on the body k>
twofold ; which may be divided into

I. Intoxicating ; and,
II. Chemical.

Intoxication or drunkenness is the delirium
which succeeds the immediate use of fermented
liquors or wine. It is " delirium ferox ;" it is
the ferocious delirium of authors, to distinguish
it from the mild delirium, " delirium mite"
such as attends the fever from typhoid con-
tagion.

It would be an endless digression, and very lit-
tle useful to the present investigation, to detail
the various theories and conjectures of physicians
and metaphysicians on the connexion between
body and mind. That our intellectual part can
be disturbed, and so completely deranged, by bo-
dily diseases, as to be incapable of using its rea-
soning powers, is a fact sufficiently established
to be universally admitted. But to offer opinions
on the nature of a soul, of a nervous power, or of
a sentient principle, is not the intention of this
work. I shall therefore confine myself to the
humbler, but more useful task, of gleaning the

49
lield of inquiry for scattered facts, and endeavour
to collect them into 'a groupe.

The stimulant action of ardent spirit is first
exerted on the stomach, and spread, by sympa-
thy, from thence to the sensoriam commune, and
the rest of the system. But there can be no
doubt that much of the liquor also enters the
circulation, and gives there an additional stimu-
lus : for we are acquainted with no particular ap-
petency inherent in the lacteal vessels, that can
confine the absorption only to mild and bland
fluids. It is true that the urine, perspirable mat-
ter, and serum of inebriates, have never yet been
so carefully analyzed as to discover alkohol ; but
that vinous spirit mixes with the blood we know
to a certainty, from the hydrogenous gas which
escapes from the lungs, to be perceived in the
fcetor of the breath. We are, however, ignorant
what combinations the hydrogen, or other parts
of the alkohol, may form with the human fluids.
But, besides the effect which spirits may have,
in directly exciting the nervous system, it would
appear that intoxication and delirium are also
much increased, by the force of the circulation
in the blood vessels of the brain, and the me-
chanical compression as a consequence of their
surcharged state. This being admitted, at once

E

60
explains why so much comatose affection attends
ebriety. It is also observed that some liquors,
more than others, produce sopor : porter, and all
strong malt liquors, are of this description, as
characterised by the swoln and bloated counte-
nance, stupor, sluggishness, drowsiness, and
sleep : while gaiety and an immense flow of
spirits distinguish the frisky delirium from drink-
ing champaigne, and some other liquors. Obesity
and fulness commonly follow the long indulgence
of strong ale, strong beer, or porter : the blood
vessels would appear to be clogged with a dense
blood ; and I have observed, in such cases, that
the drunken paroxysm lasts much longer, than
when it has been produced by any kind of wine,
or even ardent spirit diluted or otherwise. The
fixed air in champaigne must give but a tempo-
rary stimulus ; and the tartar, which is an ingre-
dient in all wines, probably facilitates their
evacuation from the body, by its diuretic quality.
Indeed the only way of accounting for the solu-
tion of the drunken paroxysm, must be as follows:
the ardent spirit must either be attenuated, dilu-
ted, neutralized, or evacuated, that it ceases to
have effects. It probably partakes of all these.
It is also peculiar to the living fibre, to remain a
given time in the state of excitement only, unless

51

a new portion of stimulus is supplied. But the
body does not immediately return to the former
condition after the solution of the disease. It has
been weakened by excessive stimulation ; and it
is only by the exhibitation of moderate stimuli,
such as pure air, animal food, and mental exhila-
ration, that it can resume its former health and
vigor. The head-ach, nausea, languor, and low-
spirits, which follow a debauch, are so many
proofs of a debilitated frame. The sot is then
a subject for the prescription of Horace* who, like
Solomon, speaks from experience.

Tostis marcentem squillis recrealris, et Afra
Potorem cochlea : nam lactuca innatat acri
Post vinum stomacho : perna magis, ac magis hiliis
Flagitat inmorsus refici :—

The disciples of the late Dr. Brown, author
of Elementa Medicines^ some of these, men of
great genius and learning, were always at a loss
to explain the scale of exciting power on the
excitability, by demonstration. Thus, if you
begin at good health, and stimulate a man up to
any sthenic disease ; afterwards he must fall to a
point beneath what he originally was ; and in de-
scending the scale he must at one period of his
descent touch at good health. Now this seems

52
a paradox. The yellow fever is a sthenic disease
in the first stage ; in the second it is a mixture of
sthenic and asthenic ; and in the last it is truly
asthenic. Now in its descent from one end of
the scale to the other, the patient at one time
must have been at the point of good health. Mr.
Christie, who, I believe, first contrived to de-
monstrate this doctrine by a mathematical scale,
should have formed it in a circle, which would
have exactly answered his purpose. The fit of
intoxication is somewhat analogous to the above
description of yellow fever.

While the bodv is under the influence of in-
toxication, it is suprising how it will resist im-
pressions, that at other times would be fatal. This
is particularly the case with respect to the conta-
gion, and cold ; and perhaps also its insensibility,
to pain. Men in this condition have certainly,
on many occasions, been exposed to typhus
contagion, and escaped ; while others have suf-
fered : but whether under the same circum-
stances they would have resisted variolous infec-
tion I cannot determine. This being the case,
a practice has been inculcated by some physi-
cians, to swallow a little brandy when they ap-
proach the sick bed, by way of precaution. With
respect to the preference to be given to this mode

of prevention, I am not enabled to subscribe, a-
I have never practised it ; but it appears to me
rather the placebo of a timid attendant. It is
well known that a vigorous circulation of the
blood, with that resolution and temper of mind
which accompany it, is highly favourable to the
resistance of contagion ; and such a condition of
body and mind may be induced by ardent spirit.
But this kind of practice does not agree with
my ideas on the subject. A physician in the act
of visiting a patient under an infectious disease,
whether in an hospital ward, or in a private apart-
ment, ought to consider what effect his example
may have on those about him ; for whatever he
does will be imitated. The use of spirituous
liquors, 1^ think, might have bad effects among
nurses and other attendants of the sick. I would
much rather inculcate those precepts of security,
froui ventilation and cleanliness, &c. which have
effected wonders in our naval service. I am also
partial to mental stimuli, which naturally spring
from the desire of doing our duty. But if at
any time these spirits should be too freely taken,
the debility that succeeds will more certainly
predispose the body for the reception of coiKa-
gion. Persons under such circumstances should

E2

54

carefully avoid all communication with infected
people, furniture, or cloathing.

The drunkard is also found, in the first stage
of the paroxysm, to resist the operation of cold.
No stronger proofs of this need be adduced than
what are daily observed among our seamen in the
naval sea-ports. ~ These men are permitted to
come on shore to recreate themselves ; but,
from a thoughtlessness of disposition, and the
cunning address of their landlords, they drink
till the last shilling is spent ; they are then thrust
out of the door, and left to pass the night on the
pavement. It is surprising how they should
escape death on such occasions ; for I have
known many of them who have slept on the
street the greatest pajt of the night in the severest
weather. Nothing but that hardiness of consti-
tution peculiar to the British seamen, which
braves every danger, could survive such ex-
tremes of cold. During my residence at Ply-
mouth Dock, towards the conclusion of the late
war, I had the satisfaction of getting 200 gin-
shops shut up. They were destroying the very
vitals of our naval service* In the year 1800>
not less than one million four hundred thousand
pounds prize-money were paid at that port to
the seamen ; and every trick was practised to en-

5o
trap those credulous and unthinking people. At
overgrown brewer, who had monopolised a
number of these houses, complained heavily of
my representations to the admiralty ; and said
that he had lost 5000/. by the business. It was
a most fortunate measure, that such nuisances
were corrected before the ships were paid off at
the peace.

The following fact is a strong instance of the
inebriate resisting cold. A miller, wry much
intoxicated, returning from market late at night
while it snowed and froze very hard, missed his
way, and fell down a steep bank into the mill
dam. By the fright and suden immersion, he
become so far sensible as to recollect where he
was. He then thought the surest way home
would be to follow the-«tream, which would take
him within pistol-shot of his own door. Instead
however, of taking that course he waded against
the current, without knowing it, till his passage
was opposed by a wooden bridge. This bridge
he knew ; and though he felt some disappoint-
ment, he still thought his best way was to follow
the stream, for the banks were steep and difficult
to climb. He now found himself in a comforta-
ble glow ; turned about, and arrived at his ow*n
house at midnight, perfectly sober, after having

56
been nearly two hours in the water, and often up
to the breech. He went immediately to bed,
and rose in perfect health. — As his senses were
recovered at the time he got home, it is probi-
ble he could not have resisted the cold much
longer. This instance tends to confirm a com-
mon observation, that sudden immersion in cold
water puts a speedy end to intoxication.

In an uncommonly cold day? and when snow
and sleet were falling, I found a seaman asleep
on the road, most stupidly drunk. Afraid that he
would soon perish, I ran to the guard house, and
procured two soldiers to carry him into a house.
We succeeded in getting him upright ; but the
moment he saw soldiers about him, the dread of
becoming their prisoner so far operated, that
he recovered the use of his limbs, and fled from
them with the utmost speed, and did not stop
till he thought himself out of their reach. I
came up, and found him again asleep by the side
of a wall. When I roused him he knew me,
and humourously remarked, that he had a right
to sleep where he pleased, for he came on shore
on liberty ! ;

Insensibility to 'pain, in the inebriate state is
daily exemplified, by the most dreadful bruises
and wounds being inflicted without the smallest

57
>igns of feeling, and generally without recollec-
tion. Cases of this kind are more frequent
among seamen than any were else : their heed-
less revels expose them to more disasters than
other descriptions of mankind. A fatal wound
is thus often received without the slightest recol-
lection how it was done.

A sailor belonging to a king's ship, in which I
then served, while drunk, quarrelled with his
wife ; and, in the fury of his passion, seized
a butcher's clever, and cut off two of his fingers
by the root. The wounds were dressed and
the man put to bed. When he waked in the
morning, he had no remembrance of what hap-
pened ; showed the utmost contrition, and wept
like a child for his misfortune when he was told
that he had done it himself.

Many curious anecdotes might be collected
of drunken people, that could not well b* arranged
among the usual phenomena. Men of unculti-
vated minds exhibit most signs of outrage and
ferocity : and are certainly the most dangerous.
Drunkenness has been called a vice of barbarous
and uncivilized nations* ; for savages in the state
of intoxication are like so many devils. But
Christians have little reason to charge the Negra

* Robertson's America, book iv. Forster's Voyage, page 481 =

58

and Indian with the propensity to intoxication
while it prevails so much among themselves.
I have known a drunken man whip a post
till he was tired, which he took for a human
being that would not move out of his way. An
eld gentleman of 80, when in his cups, became
so amorous, as to take a lamp-post for a lady,
and addressed it with all the language of passion
and flattery. Dreams are sometimes known to
make a strong impression on the minds of some
people, and it requires a considerable time to
weigh circumstances and compare facts, before
they are undeceived. An officer much accus-
tomed to hard drinking, after getting intoxicated
at the mess-table, fell asleep ; and awoke sudden-
ly at the end of two hours. He then told one of
his brother officers in a peremptory tone of voice,
that as it was an aifair of honour, now was the
best time for settling it ; and insisted upon their
taking their ground immediately. It was with
great difficulty that he could be pacified : and no
small remonstrance took place before he was con-
vinced that he had been dreaming.

The following history of a drunken party is
taken from Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy;
a work that abounds with odd sayings*. u A

♦ Part i. Sect. 2. Mem. 5. Subs. i.

59
''company of young men at Agrigentum in Sicily
" came into a tavern ; when, after they had free-
11 ly taken their liquor, whether it were the wine
■? itself, or something mixed with it, 'tis not yet
"known ; but upon a sudden they began to be
11 so troubled in their brain, that their phantasies
" so crazed, that they thought they were in a ship
*l at sea ; and now ready to be cast away by rea-
"son of a tempest. Wherefore, to avoid ship-
u wreck, and prevent drowning, they flung all
" the goods in the house out at the windows into
"the street, or into the sea, as they supposed;
u thus they continued mad a pretty season ; and
" being brought before the magistrate to give an
" account of this their fact, they told him (not yet
" recovered of their madness), that what was done
"they did for fear of death, and to avoid immi-
"nent danger. The spectators were all amazed
" at this their stupidity ; and gazed on them stilly
" whilst one of the ancientest of the company, in
u a grave tone excused himself to the magistrate
" upon his knees, 0 ! viri Tritonis, ego in imo
"jacui; I beseech your Deities, &c. for I was
11 in the bottom of the ship all the while. Another
u besought them as so many sea-gods, to be good
u unto them ; and if ever he and his fellows came
41 to land again, he would build an altar to their

60

u service. The magistrate could not sufficiently
" laugh at this their madness ; bid them sleep it
" out, and went his ways."

This drunken adventure, I believe, was ori-
ginally told by Plato, The house where it hap-
pened was one of the first in the city ; and was
ever afterwards called Triremes, or the ship,
Brydone, in his Tour through Sicily, gives us an
account of another drunken party, for whom he
made punch after the English form. He says,
" We were obliged to replenish the bowl so
u often, that I really expected to see many of
" them under the table. They called it Pontio,
" (alluding to Pontius Pilate), and spoke loudly
" in its praise ; declaring that Pontio was a much
" better fellow than they had taken him for.
" However, after dinner, one of them a reverend
" canon, grew excessively sick, and while he was
" throwing up, he turned to me with a rueful
u countenance, and, shaking his head, he groan-
" ed out, ' Ah Signor Capitano, sapeva sempre,
" che Pontio era un grande traditore.' ' I al-
" ways knew that Pontius was a great traitor.5 —
" Another, overhearing him, exclaimed, c Aspet-
u tativi Signor canonico*' c Not so fast, my
4i good canon.' 'Niente al pregiudizio di Sig-
u nor Pontio vi prego/-— Recordate che Pontio

61
" v5 ha fatto un canonico; et Pontio ha fatto
" sua excellenza uno vescovo ; non scordatevi
u mai di vostri amicis.'* — Let. xx.

From these accounts, we must conclude the
Sicilians are rather a frisky people in their drunk-
en revels. We thus observe that the character
of nations, as well as individuals, may be dis-
covered in these moments. The description
which Tacitus gives of a German carousal differs
considerably from that of these volatile islanders;
for, according to what he asserts, deliberations
of the most serious kind seem to have been en-
tered upon during ebriety, as well as quarrels
and bloodshed. He says, " Diam noctemque
" continuare potando, nulli probrum. Crebae ut
11 inter vinolentos rixse, raro convitiis, saepius
" csede et vulneribus, transiguntur. Sed et de
u reconciliandis invicem inimicis, et jungendis
" affinitatibus, et adsciscendis principibus, de
" pace denique ac bello plerumque in conviviis
" consultant : tamque nullo magis tempore aut
" ad simplices cogitationes pateat animus, aut ad
" magnes incalescat. Gens non astuta nee calli-
u da, aperit adhuc secreta pectoris licentia loci.
" Erga detecta et nuda omnium mens, postera
" die retrahitur : et salva utriUvSque temporis
" ratio est. Deliberant dum fingere nesciunt ;

F

62
" constituunt dum errare non pos9unt*." We
thus perceive that the frisky Sicilian, and the se-
date German exhibit very opposite traits of
character, when under the influence of wine. It
is notorious of the Dutch, and some other
Northern nations, that they are very prone to
quarrel and commit murder when drunk. Dif-
ference of climate, religion, political institutions,
and customs may account for this contrast in the
disposition and passions of these nations ; but
such an inquiry is not consistent with the nature
of our work ; it is sufficient to notice the
fact.

II. That alkohol, independent of its intoxi-
cating quality, possesses a chemical operation in
the human body, cannot be doubted. Applied
directly to the animal solid, it constringes and
hardens it : and suspends its progress towards
putrefaction when separated from the body. It
coagulates the serum of the blood, and most of
the secreted fluids.

Alkohol certainly, deoxygenates the blood in
some degree ; at least decompounds its floridity.
The arterial blood of a professed drunkard, ap-
proaches to the colour of venous ; it is darker

* Tacitus De Moribus Gerraanomm

63
than usual. The rosy colour of the eruptions
about the nose and cheeks does not disprove this:
for it is probable that these spots attract oxygen
from the atmosphere through the cuticle that
covers them, just as Dr. Priestly observed ve-
nous blood, confined in a bladder, to acquire a
more florid colour from the exposure to his de-
phlogisticated air*. In the sea scurvy, a dis-
ease, where, in the advanced stage, the blood is
always found of a very dark colour, we know
that spirituous liquors more than any thing else,
have a manifest tendency to aggravate every
symptom. This fact has often come under my
observation ; and a very correct statement of the
kind is to be found in my first volume on the
Diseases of the Fleet, page 410.

The component parts of alkohol are not suf-
ficiently known ; but it has a large proportion of
hydrogen, which is proved by its combustion
in pure air, when water is produced. Thus
fourteen ounces of alkohol burnt in a proper ap-
paratus, with a sufficient quantity of oxygen gas,
yield sixteen ounces of pure water; hydrogen
and oxygen being the component principles of
water, as proved by modern chemistry. Alkohct

* Priestly, Experiments on Air. •

64
has a strong attraction for water, and readily mix-
es with it, and it is the chief vehicle in which it
is drank ; but in what manner it is separated
from the water within the body, would be diffi-
cult to find out. The evolution of hydrogenous
gas is chiefly learned from the fcetorof the breath ;
it seems to be sent off from the surface of the
lungs, in a disengaged state ; and so pure in its
kind from the expiration of a dram-drinker, that
it is easily inflamed on the approach of a candle.
The process of respiration probably effects this ;
and I should think at such a time there must be
an unusual consumption of vital air. No exper-
iments have been made on the blood of inebriates:
and we are not informed, that in the circulatiug
state, it exceeds the common temperature of the
human body. -But it is said, on the authority of
Mr. Spalding, the celebrated diver, that after
drinking spirits he always found the air in his bell
consumed in a shorter time, than when he drank
water. This gentleman was lost in Dublin bay
in 1783, in attempting to take the treasure out
of an imperial Indiaman that sunk there, on her
passage from Liverpool where she was built :
the misfortune, it appeared, was owing to the
negligence of the attendents in not renewing the
air.

65

If the blood of drunkards is strongly charged
with hydrogen, must not that very much affect
the quality of the biliary secretion, independent
of any effect it may have on the liver itself ?
Might not the resinous matter which bile is
found to contain, be greatly increased after
spirituous potation ? The liver is an organ very
liable to be injured by hard drinking ; this gives
cause for suspicion, that the chemical operation
of alkohol on the blood and the bile, has also
some share in producing hepatic diseases It
may increase the generation of biliary calculi, and
the disposition of dyspepsia, which prevail in the
constitution of drunkards.

Is the perspirable matter of drunkards, at all
impregnated with hydrogenous gas ?

I am much of opinion that the chemical opera-
tion of alkohol, has a great influence in retarding
the healing of wounds, and in converting them
into ulcers, I believe all surgeons agree, that
such an effect takes place after hard-drinking,
though it is generally attributed to the fever and
inflammation which it occasions. The common
appearance of eruptions on the surface of the
body, may in a great measure be referred to the
same scource. The exhalations of hydrogenous
gas, which arise in some places, are very apt to

F2

66

irritate the eyes, and bring on a painful ophthal
mia ; from which it is fair to infer, that the same
effect may take place, from blood loaded with
hydrogen, circulating through the minute vessels
of the tunica adnata, as the disease is a common
one with wine-bibbers. The foetor of ulcers, in
all drunken subjects, is unusually great ; and I
shall speak of this under the diseases.

But the most interesting part of this doctrine,
is the combustion of the human body, produced
by the long and immoderate use of spirituous
liquors. Such cases are on record ; and a col-
lection of them, with remarks, is to be found in
the Journal de Physique, year 8, by Pierre Aime
Lair. I subjoin a copy of that memoir, taken
from the Philosophical Magazine, vol. vi. p. 132.
by Mr. Alexander Tilloch. It is in vain to re-
quest implicit faith to this narrative. The testi-
mony on which the whole cases are given, seems
nearly alike. But in the present state of che-
mistry, and what we know of the nature of spirit-
uous liquors, it does not appear beyond credi-
bility, that from their long and excessive use,
such a quantity of hydrogen might accumulate
in the body, as to sustain the combustion of
it.

o/

it is remarked by some historians, when speak-
ing of the death of Alexander the Great, that
even in the warm climate of Babylon, his body
kept for several days without corruption, from
which it has been inferred, that he did not die of
poison, but of hard-drinking*. That a dead
body can be preserved in spirits of wine, is well
known ; but it is not equally certain that the
body can be preserved by drinking them before
death. It might, however, be a part of the pro-
cess which has been just mentioned ; the body
might be so far charged with hydrogen, as to
undergo a slighter combustion, that might in a
manner toast it without burning. It is notorious
©f this military tiger, that he was a monstrous
drunkard ; and as fond of wine as he was of hu-
man blood. It is to be regretted that his body
could not be preserved to the present day, as it
would have filled a niche in the Louvre for the
First Consul of France.

Some of my readers may have made the re-
mark, that the face of particular drunkards, at
certain times, appears as much like a burning
coal as any thing can well be conceived. It was
probably a face of this kind, that suggested

* Robertson's History of Greece, p. 4,27.

68

Shakspeare's description of Bardolph's nose^.
n Falstaff. Thou art our Admiral, thou bcarest
" the lanthern in the poop, but 'tis in the nose of
" thee ; thou art the knight of the burning lamp.
M I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire:
" but for the light in thy face, thou art the son of
i€ utter darkness. When thou ran'st up Gads-
" hill in the night to catch my horse, if I did not
" think thou hadst been an ignis fatuas, or a ball
" of wild-fire, there's no purchase in money*
w Thou hast saved me a hundred marks in links
u and torches., walking with thee in the night be-
u twixt tavern and tavern : but the sack that thou
11 hast drank me, would have bought me lights as
" good cheap, at the dearest chandler's in Eu-
i; rope. I have maintained that salamander of
" your's with fire, any time this two^and-thirty
:< years f •"

* As we observe our acquaintance sinking" into the habit of in-
toxication, we can sometimes mark the rapidity of their progress,
as the gutta rosacea sprouts on the face, till it partakes of the last
stage, and, like Bardolph, they become knights cf the Burning'
.Lamp !

\ Henry IV. P. I. Act. liL

69

On the combustion of the Human Body ', product d
by the long immoderate Use of spirituous Li-
quorsj by Pierre Aime Lair*.

" In -natural as well as civil history there arc
facts presented to the meditation of the observer,
which, though confirmed by the most convinc-
ing testimony, seem, on the first view, to be des-
titute of probability. Of this kind is that of peo-
ple comsumed by coming into contact with com-
mon fire, and of their bodies being reduced to
ashes. How can we conceive that fire, in certain
circumstances, can exercise so powerful an ac-
tion on the human body as to produce this-effect?
One might be induced to give less faith to these
instances of combustion as they seem to be rare*
I confess that at first they appeared to me worthy
of very little credit, but they are presented to the
public as true, by men whose veracity seems un-
questionable. Bianehini, Mossei, Rolli, JLe Cat,
Vicq d'Azyr, and several men distinguished by
their leaning, have given certain testimony of
the facts. Besides, is it more surprising to expe-
rience such incineration than to void saccharine
urine, or to see the bones softened to such a

*i?rom the Journal di Physique, Pluviose. Year. 3.

70
degree as to be reduced to the state of jelly ? The
effects of this combustion are certanly not more
wonderful than those of the bones softened, or
©f the diabetes mellitus. This morbific disposi-
tion, therefore, would be one more scourge to
afflict humanity ; but in physics, facts being al-
ways preferable to reasoning, I shall here collect
those which appear to me to bear the impression
ef truth ; and, lest I should alter the sense, I
shall quote them such as they are given in the
works from which I have extracted them.

" We read in the transactions of Copenhagen,
that in 1692, a woman of the lower class, who
for three years had used spirtuous liquors to such
excess that she would take no other nourishment,
having sat down one evening on a straw chair to
sleep, was consumed in the night-time, so that
next morning no part of her was found but the
skull, and the extreme joints of the fingers, all
the rest of her body, says Jacobaeus, was reduced
to ashes.

" The following extract of the memoir of
Bianchini, is taken from the Annual Register
for 1763 : — The Countess Cornelia Bandi of the
town of Cesena, aged 62, enjoyed a good state
of health. One evening, having experienced a sort
of drowsiness, she retted to bed, and her maid

71

remained with her till she fell asleep. Next
morning when the girl entered to awaken her mis-
tress, she found nothing but the remains of her
mistress in a most horrid condition At the dis-
tance of four feet from the bed was a heap of ash-
es, in which could be distinguished the legs
and arms untouched. Between the legs lay the
head, the brain of which, together with half the
posterior part of the cranium, and the whole chin
had been consumed ; three fingers were found
in the state of a coal ; the rest of the body was
reduced to ashes, and contained no oil ; the tal-
low of two candles was melted on a table, but
the wicks still remained, and the feet of the can-
dlesticks were covered with a certain moisture.
The bed was not damaged, the bed-clothes and
coverlid were .raised up and thrbwn on one side,
as is the case when a person gets up. The fur-
niture and tapestry were covered with a moist
kind of soot of the colour of ashes, which had
penetrated into the drawers and dirtied the linen.
This soot having been conveyed to a neighbour-
ing kitchen, adhered to the walls and the utensils.
A piece of bread in the cupboard was covered
with it, and no dog would touch it. The infec-
tious odour had been communicated te other
apartments. The Annual Register states, that

72
the Countess Cesena was accustomed to bathe
all her body in camphorated spirit of wine. Bian-
ehini caused the detail of this deplorable event to
be published at the time when it took place, and
no one contradicted it. It was also attested by
Scipio MafFei, a learned cotemporary of Bianchi-
ni, who was far from being credulous ; and, in
the last place; this surprising fact was confirmed
to the Royal Society of London by Paul Rolli.
The Annual Register mentions also two other
facts of the same kind which occurred in Eng-
land, one at Southampton, and the other at Co-
ventry.

" An instance of the like kind is preserved in
the same work*, in a letter of Mr. Wilmer,
surgeon : — " Mary Clues, aged 50, was much
addicted to intoxication. Her propensity to this
vice had increased after the death of her husband,
which happened a year and a half before, for about
a year, scarcely a day had passed in the course
of which she did not drink at least half a pint of
rum or anniseed- water. Her health gradually de-
clined, and about the beginning of February she
was attacked by the jaundice and confined to her
bed. Though she was incapable of much
action, and not in a condition to work, she still

* Annual Register for 1773, p. 78.

continued her old habit of drinking every day and
stnoaking a pipe of tobacco. The bed in which
she lay stood parallel to the chimney of the apart-
ment, the distance from it of about three feet.
On Saturday morning, the 1st of March, she fell
on the floor, and her extreme weakness having
prevented her from getting up, she remained in
that state till some one entered and put her to
bed. The following night she wished to be left
alone ; a woman quitted her at half past eleven,
and, according to custom, shut the door and
locked it. She had put on the fire two large
pieces of coal, and placed a light in a candle-
stick on a chair at the head of the bed. At half
after five in the morning, a smoke was seen
issuing through the window, and the door being
speedily broke open, some flames which were in
the room were soon extinguished. Between the
bed and the chimney were found the remains of
the unfortunate Clues ; one leg and a thigh were
still entire, but there remained nothing of the
skvn, the muscles, and the viscera. The bones
oi the cranium, the breast, the spine, and the up-
per extremities, were entirely calcined, and
covere j with a whitish efflorescence. The people
were much surprised that the furniture had sus-
tained so little injury. The side of the bed

G

74

which was next to the chimney, had suffered the
most ; the wood of it was slightly burnt, but the
feather-bed, the clothes, the covering, were safe.
I entered the apartment about two hours after it
had been opened, and observed that the walls
and every thing in it were blackened ; that it
was filled with a very disagreeable vapour ; but
that nothing except the body exhibited any
strong traces of fire."

" This instance has great similarity to that re-
lated by Vicq d'Azyr in the Encyclopedic Me-
thodique, under the head Pathologic Anatomy of
Man. A woman about 50 years of age, who
indulged to excess in spirituous liquors, and got
drunk every day before she went to bed, was
found entirely burnt and reduced to ashes.
Some of the osseous parts only wrere left, but
the furniture of the apartment had suffered very
little damage. Vicq d'Azyr, instead of disbe-
lieving this phenomenon, adds, that there has
been many other instances of the like kind.

" We find also a circumstance of this kind
in a work intitled Acta Medica et Philosophica
Hafniensia ; and in the work of Henry Bohanser,
intitled Le Nouveau Phosphore enflam?, a wo-
man at Paris who had been accustomed for
three years, to drink spirit of wine to such a

75

degree that she used no other liquor, was one
day found entirely reduced to ashes, except the
skull and extremities of the fingers.

" The transactions of the Royal Society of
London present also an instance of human com-
bustion no less extraordinary. It was mention-
ed at the time it happened in all the journals ;
it was then attested by a great number of eye-wit-
nesses, and became the subject of many learned
discussions. Three accounts of this event by
different authors, all nearly coincide. The fact
is related as follows : — " Grace Pitt, the wife of
a fishmonger of the parish of St. Clement, Ips-
wich, aged about 60, had contracted a habit,
which she continued for several years, of coming
down every night from her bed-room, half-dress-
ed, to smoke a pipe. On the night of the 9th of
April 1744, she got up from bed as usual. Her
daughter, who slept with her, did not perceive
she was absent till next morning when she
awoke, soon after which she put on her clothes,
and going down into the kitchen, found her
mother stretched out on the right side, with her
head near the grate ; the body extended on the
hearth, with the legs on the floor, which was of
deal, having the appearance of a log of wood, con-
sumed by a fire without apparent flame. On be-

76

holding this spectacle, the girl ran in great haste
and poured over her mother's body some water
contained in two large vessels in order to extin-
guish the fire ; while the foetid odour and smoke
which exhaled from the body, almost suffocated
some of the neighbours who had hastened to the
girl's assistance. The trunk was in some mea-
sure incinerated, and resembled a heap of coals
covered with white ashes. The head, the arms,
the legs, and the thighs, had also participated In
the burning. This woman, it is said, had drunk
a large quantity of spirituous liquor in conse-
quence of being overjoyed to hear that one of
her daughters had returned from Gibraltar.
There was no fire in the grate, and the candle
had burnt entirely out in the socket of the can-
dlestick, which was close to her. Besides, there
were found near the consumed body, £he clothes
of a child and a paper screen, which had sustain-
ed no injury by the fire. The dress of this wo-
man consisted of a cotton gown."

" Le Cat, in a memoir on spontaneous burn-
ing, mentions several other instances of com-
bustion of the human body. " Having," says
he, " spent several months at Rheims in the
years 1724 and 1725, I lodged at the house of
Sieur Millet, whose wife got intoxicated every

77
day. The domestic economy of the family was
managed by a pretty young girl, which I must
not omit to remark, in order that all the circum-
stances which accompanied the fact I am about
to relate, may be better understood. This wo-
man was found consumed on the 20th of Februa-
ry 1725, at the distance of a foot and a half from
the hearth in her kitchen. A part of the head
only, with a portion of the lower extremities and
a few of the vertebrae had escaped combustion,
A foot and a half of the flooring under the body
had been consumed, but a kneading trough and
a powdering-tub, which were very near the
body, sustained no injury. M. Christeen, a sur-
geon, examined the remains of the body with
every judicial formality. Jean Millet, the hus-
band, being interrogated by the judges w7ho in-
stituted the inquiry into the affair, declared, that
about eight in the evening on the 19th of Febru-
ary, he had retired to rest with his wife, who not
being able to sleep, had gone into the kitchen,
where he thought she was warming herself; that,
having fallen asleep, he was wakened about two
o'clock with an infectious odour, and that having
run to the kitchen, he found the remains of his
wife in the state described in the report of the
physicians and surgeons. The judges having no

G2

78

suspicion of the real cause of this event, prose-
cuted the affair with the utmost diligence. It
was very unfortunate for Millet that he had a
handsome servant-maid, for neither his probity
nor innocence was able to save him from the sus-
picion of having got rid of his wife by a concert-
ed plot, and of having arranged the rest of the
circumstances in such a manner as to give it the
appearance of an accident. He experienced,
therefore, the whole severity of the law ; and
though, by an appeal to a superior and very en-
lightened court, which discovered the cause of
the combustion, he came off victorious, he suf-
fered so much from uneasiness of mind, that he
was obliged to pass the remainder of his melan-
choly days in an hospital.55

" Le Cat relates another instance, which has a
most perfect resemblance to the preceeding: —
" M. Boinneau, cure of Plerquer, near Dol,"
says he, " wrote to me the following letter, dated
February 22d, 1749 : — Allow me to communi-
cate to you a fact which took place here about a
fortnight ago. Madame deBoiseon, 80yearsof age,
exceedingly meagre, who had drunk nothing but
spirits for several years, was sitting in her elbow-
chair before the fire, while her waiting-maid went
out of the room a few moments. On her re-

79
turn, seeing her mistress on fire, she immediately
gave an alarm, and some people having come to
her assistance, one of them endeavoured to ex-
tinguish the flames with his hands, but they ad-
hered to it as if it had been dipped in brandy or
oil on fire. Water was brought and thrown on
the lady in abundance, yet the fire appeared more
violent, and was not extinguished till the whole
flesh had been consumed. Her skeleton, exceed-
ingly black, remained entire in the chair, which
was only a little scorched ; one leg only, and the
two hands, detached themselves from the rest of
the bones. It is not known whether her clothes
had caught fire by approaching the grate. The
lady was in the same place in which she sat every
day ; there was no extraordinary fire, and she
had not fallen. What makes me suppose that
the use of spirits might have produced this effect
is, that I have been assured, that at the gate of
Dinan an accident of the like kind happened to
another woman under similar circumstances.55

" To these instances, which I have multiplied
to strengthen the evidence, I shall add two other
facts of the same kind, published in the Journal
de Medicine*. The first took place at Aix in
Provence, and is thus related by Muraire, a sur

*Vol.lix.p.440.

80

geon : " In the month of Februaiy 1779, Mary
Jauffret, widow of Nicholas Gravier, shoemaker,
of a small size, exceedingly corpulent, and ad-
dicted to drinking, having been burnt in her a-
partment, M. Rocas, my colleague, who was
commissioned to make a report respecting her
body, found only a mass of ashes, and a few bones,
calcined in such a manner that on the least pres-
sure they were reduced to dust. The bones of
the cranium, one hand, and a foot had in part
escaped the action of the fire. Near these re-
mains stood a table untouched, and under the ta-
ble a small wooden stove, the grating of which,
having been long burnt, afforded an aperture,
through which, it is probable, the fire that occasi-
oned the melancholy accident had been commu-
nicated : one chair, which stood too near the
■flames, had the seat and fore-feet burnt. In
other respects there was no appearance of fire,
either in the chimney or the apartment ; so that,
except the fore-pailt of the chair, it appears to
me that no other combustible matter contributed
to this speedy incineration, which was effected in
the space of seven or eight hours.*'

" The other instance mentioned in the Jour-
nal de Medicine *-, took place in Caen, and is

♦Vol.lix.p. 140.

81
thus related by Merillc, a surgeon of that city,
still alive : " Being requested, on the 3d of June
1782, by the king's officers, to draw up a report
of the state in which I found Mademoiselle
Thuars, who was said to have been burnt, I made
the following observations : — The body lay
with the crown of the head resting against one
of the andirons, at the distance of eighteen inches
from the fire, the remainder of the borly was
placed obliquely before the chimney, the whole
being nothing but a mass of ashes, Even the
most solid bones had lost their form and consis-
tence none of them could be distinguished ex-
cept the coronal, the two parietal bones, the two
lumber vertebrae, a portion of the tibia, and a
part of the ommoplate ; and these, even, were
so calcined that they became dust by the least
pressure. The right foot was found entire, and
scorched at its upper junction ; the left was more
burnt. The day was cold, but there was noth-
ing in the grate except two or three bits of wood
about an inch diameter, burnt in the middle.
None of the furniture in the apartment was
damaged. The chair on which Mademoiselle
Thuars had been sitting was found at the dis-
tance of a foot from her, and absolutely untouch-
ed. I must here observe, that this ladv was ex-

82

seedingly corpulent ; that she was above sixty
years of age, and much addicted to spirituous li-
quors ; that the day of her death she had crunk
three bottles of wine and about a bottle of brandy;
and that the consumption of the body 1 ad taken
place in less 'than seven hours, though, according
to appearance, nothing around the body was
burnt but the clothes.5'

" The town of Caen affords several other in-
stances of the same kind. I have been told by
many people, and particularly a physician of Ar-
gentan, named BoufFet, author of an essay on in-
termittent fevers, that a woman of the lower class,
who lived at Place Villars, and who was known
to be much addicted to strong liquors, had been
found in her house burnt. The extremities of
her body only were spared, but the furniture was
very little damaged.

*' A like unfortunate accident happened also
at Caen, to another old woman addicted to drink-
ing, I was assured, by those who told me the
fact, that the flames which proceeded from the
body, could not be extinguished by water ; but
I think it needless to relate this, and the particu-
lars of another event which took place in the
same town, because they were not attested by a
proces-verbal> and not having been -communis

cated by professional men, they do not inspire the
same degree of confidence.

•J This collection of instances is supported,
therefore, by all those authentic proofs which
can be acquired to form human testimony ; for,
while we admit the prudent doubt of Descartes,
we ought to reject the universal doubt of the
Pyrrhonists. The multiplicity and uniformity
even of these facts, which occurred in different
places, and were attested by so many enlightened
men, carry with them conviction; they have
such a relation to each other, we are inclined to
ascribe them to the same cause.

" I. The persons who experienced the effects
of this combustion, had for a long time made an
immoderate use of spirituous liquors.

u II. The combustion took place only in wo-
men.

" III. These women were far advanced ■ in
life.

" IV. Their bodies did not take fire sponta-
neously, but were burnt by accident.

" V. SThe extremities, such as the feet and
hands, were generally spared by the fire.

" VJ. Water sometimes, instead of extinguish-
ing the names which proceeded from the parts on
Are, gave them more activity.

84

M VII. The fire did very little damage, and
often spared the combustible objects, which were
in contact with the human body at the moment
when it was burning.

" VIII. The combustion of the bodies left, as
a residuum, fat foetid ashes, with an unctuous,
stinking, and very penetrating soot,

" Let Us now enter into an examination of
these eight general observations.

" The first idea which occurs on reading the
numerous instances of human combustion above
related, is, that those who fell victims to those fa-
tal accidents were almost all addicted to spirit-
uous liquors. The woman mentioned in the
transactions of Copenhagen had wf three years
made such an immoderate use of them that she
would take no other nourishment. Mary Clues,
for a year before the accident happened, had
scarcely been for a single day without drinking
half a pint of rum or anniseed- water. The wife
of Millet had been continually intoxicated ; Ma-
dame de Boiseon for several years had drunk no-
thing but spirits ; Mary JaufFret was much ad-
dicted to drinking ; and Mademoiselle Thu ars,
and the other women of Caen, were equally fond
of strong liquors.

Such excess, in regard to the use of spiritu-
acts liquors, must have had a powerful effect on
the bodies of the persons to whom I allude. All

ir fluids and solids must have experienced its

j influence ; for the property of the absorbing
vessels, which is so active in the human body,
seems on this occasion to have acted a distin-
guished part. It has been observed that the
urine of great drinkers is generally aqueous and
limpid. It appears that in drunkards, who make
an immoderate use of spirituous liquors, the
aqueous part of their drink is discharged by the
urinary passage, while the alfcohoiic, alftiqst like
the volatile part of the aromatic substances, not
being subjected to an entire decomposition, is
absorbed into every part of their bodies.

" I shall now proceed to the second general
observation, that the combustion took place only
in women.

" I will no pretend to assert that men are not
liable to combustion in the same manner : but I
have never yet been able to find one well-certi-
fied instance of such an event ; and as we cannot
proceed with any certainty but on the authority
of facts, I think this Angularity so surprising as
to give rise to a few reflections. Perhaps wiicii
the cause is examined, it will appear penectly

H

86

natural. The female body is in general more
delicate than that of the other sex. The system
of their solids is more relaxed ; their fibres are
more fragile and of a weaker structure ; and
therefore their texture more easily hurt. Their
mode of life also contributes to increase the weak-
ness of their organization. Women, abandoned
in general to a sedentary life, charged with the
care of the internal domestic economy, and often
shut up in close apartments, where they are con-
demned to spend whole days without taking any
exercise, are more subject than men to become
corpulent. The texture of the soft parts in fe-
male bodies being more spungy, absorption ought
to be freer ; and as their whole bodies imbibe
spirituous liquors with more ease, they ought to
experience more readily the impression of fire.
Hence that combustion, the melancholy in-
stances of which seem to be furnished by women
alone ; and it is owing merely to the want of a
certain concurrence of circumstances and of
physical causes, that these events, though less
rare than is supposed, do not become more com-
mon.

" The second general observation serves to ex-
plain the third ; I mean, that the combustion
took place only in women far advanced in life.

87
The Countess of Cesena was 62 years of age ;
Mary Clues, 52 ; Grace Pitt, 60 ; Madame de
Boiseon, 80 ; and Mademoiselle Thuars, more
than 60, The examples prove that combustion
is more frequent among old women. Young
persons, distracted by other passions, are not
much addicted to drinking ; but when love, de-
parting along with youth, leaves a vacuum in the
mind, if its place be not supplied by ambition or
interest, a taste for gaming, or religious fervour,
it generally falls a prey to intoxication. This
passion still increases as the others diminish,
especially in women who can indulge it without
restraint. Wilmer, therefore, observes, " that
;< the propensity of Mary Clues to this vice had
" always increased after the death of her husband^
" which happened about a year before :" almost
all the other women, of whom I have spoken,
being equally unconfined in their actions, could
gratify their attachment to spirituous liquors
without opposition.

" It may have been observed, that the obesity
of women, as they advance in life, renders them
more sedentary ; and if, as has been remarked by
Baume *, a sedentary life overcharges the body

* Essai du Systeme Chemique de la Science de i'Homsie.

SB
with hydrogen, this effect must be still more sen-
sible among old women. Dancing and walking,
which form salutary recreation for young per-
sons, are, at a certain age, interdicted as much
by nature as by prejudice. It needs, therefore,
excite no astonishment that old women, who are
in general more corpulent and more addicted to
drinking, and who are often motionless like in-
animated masses, during the moment of intoxi-
cation, should experience the effects of combus-
tion.

" Perhaps we have no occasion to go very far
to search ior the cause of these combustions.
The fire of the wooden stove, the chimney, or of
the candle, might have been communicated to the
clothes, and might have in this manner burnt the
persons above mentioned, on account of the pe-
culiar disposition of their bodies. Maffei ob-
serves that the Countess of Cesena was accustom-
ed to bathe her whole body with spirit of wine ;
the vicinity of the candle and lamp, which were
found near the remains of her body, occasioned,
without doubt, the combustion. This accident
reminds us of what happened to Charles II. King
of Navarre. This prince, being addicted to
drunkenness and excesses of every kind, had
caused himself to be wrapped up in cloths dip-

89
pcd in spirits, in order to revive the natural heat
of his body, which had been weakened through
debauchery; but the clothes caught lire while
his attendants were fastening them, and he perish-
ed a victim of his imprudence.

" Besides accidental cumbustion, it remains
for us to examine whether spontaneous combus-
tion of the human body can take place, as assert-
ed by Le Cat. Spontaneous combustion is the
burning of the human boby without the con-
tact of any substance in a state of ignition. Na-
ture, indeed, affords several instances of sponta-
neous combustion in the mineral and vegetable
kingdoms. The decomposition of pyrites, and
the subterranean processes which are carried on
in volcanos, afford proofs of it. Coal-mines may
readily take fire spontaneously ; and this has been
found to be the case \fith heaps of coals deposited
in close places. It is by a iermentation of this
kind that dunghills sometimes become hot, and
take fire. This may also serve to explain why
trusses of hay, carried home during moist
weather, and piled up on each other, sometimes
take fire. But, can spontaneous combustion
~ake place in the human body ? If some authors

H2.

90
are to credited*, very violent combustion may
be produced in our bodies by nature, and by ar-
tificial processes. Sturmius f says, that in the
northern countries flames often burst from the
stomach of a person in a state of intoxication.
Three noblemen of Courland having laid a bet
which of them could drink the most spirits, two of
them died in consequence of suffocation, by the
flames which issued with great violence from their
stomachs. We are told by Thomas BartholinJ,
on the authority of Vorstius, that a soldier, who
had drunk two glasses of spirits, died after an ir-
ruption of flames from his mouth. In his third
century Bartholin mentions another accident of
the same kind after a drinking match of strong
liquor.

" It now remains to decide, from these in-
stances, respecting the accidental or spontaneous
causes which produce combustion. Nature, by
assuming a thousand different forms, seems at-
first as if desirous to elude our observation ; but,
on mature reflection, if it be found easy to prove
accidental combustion, spontaneous combustion
appears altogether improbable ; for, even admit-

* German Ephemerides, Observ. 77.
■\ Ibid. Tenth Year, p. 55,
i First Century.

91

ting the instances of people suffocated by flames
from their mouths, this is still far from the combus-
tion of the whole body. There is a great differ-
ence between semi- combustion and spontaneous
combustion, so complete as to reduce the body
to ashes, as in the cases above mentioned : as the
human body has never been seen to experience
total combustion, these assertions seem rather the
productions of a fervid imagination than of real
observation ; and it too often happens that nature
in her mode of action, does not adopt our manner
of thinking.

" I shall not extend further these observations
on the combustion of the human body, as I flat-
ter myself that after this examination every per-
son mast be struck with the relation which exists
between the cause of this phenomenon and the ef-
ects that ensue. A system embelished with im-
aginary charms is often seducing, but it never
presents a perfects whole. We have seen facts
justify reasoning, and reasoning serve afterwards
to explain facts. The combustion of the human
body, which, on the first view, appears to have in
it something of the marvellous, when explained
exhibits nothing but the utmost simplicity : so
true it is, that the wonderful is often produced by
effects which, as they rarely strike our eyes, per-

92

mit our minds so much the less to discover their
real cause.

" Some people may, however, ascribe to the
wickedness of mankind what we ascribe to acci-
dent. It may be said that assassins, after putting
to death their unfortunate victims, rubbed over
their bodies with combustible substances, by
which they were consumed. But even if snch
an idea should ever be conceived, it would be
impossible to carry it into execution. Former-
ly, when criminals were condemned to the flames
what a quantity of combustible substances was
necessary to burn their bodies ! A baker's boy,
named Renaud, being condemned to be burnt a
few years ago at Caen, two large cart-loads of
faggots were required to consume the body, and
at the end of more than ten hours some remains
of the bones were still to be seen. What proves
that the combustion in the before- mentioned in-
stance was not artificial is, that people often arri-
ved at the moment when it had taken place, and
that the body was found in its natural state.
People entered the house of Madame Boiseon at
the time when her body was on fire, and all the
neighbours saw it. Besides, the people of whom
I have spoken were almost all of the lowest class,
and not much calculated to give rise to the com-

93

■mission of such a crime. The woman mention-
ed in the transactions of Copenhagen was of the
poorest condition ; Grace Pitt was the wife of a
fishmonger ; Mary Jauffret, that of a shoemaker;
and two other women, who resided at Caen, he-
longed to the lowest order of society. It is incon.
testable, then, that in the instances I have addu-
ced, the combustion was always accidental, and
never intentional.

" It may be seen, that a knowledge of the
causes of this phenomenon is no less interesting,
to criminal justice than to natural history, for
unjust suspicions may sometimes fall on an in-
nocent man. Who will not shudder on recol-
lecting the unfortunate inhabitant ot Rheims, who
after having lost his wife' by the effect of com-
bustion, was in danger of perishing himself on
the scaffold, condemned unjustly by an ignorant
tribunal!

" I shall consider myself happy if this picture
of the fatal effects of intoxication makes an im-
pression on those addicted to this vice, and par-
ticularly on women, who most frequently become
the victims of it. Perhaps the frightful details
of so horrid an evil as that of con) bust ion will re
claim drunkards from this horrid practice. Plu-
tarch relates, that at Sparta children were deterred

94

from drunkenness by exhibiting to them the spec-
tacle of intoxicated slaves, who, by their contor-
tions, filled the mind of these young spactators
with so much contempt that they never after-
wards got drunk. This state of drunkenness
however, was only transitory. How much more
horrid it appears in those unfortunate victims
consumed by the flames and reduced to ashes !
May men never forget that the vine sometimes
produces very bitter fruit, — disease, pain, re-
pentance, and death !"

How far are the Acts of a Drunkard to be
palliated ?

This is a point of great importance in civili-
zed society : but it is not the province of the
physician to decide with a legal view. Every
human being, who was ever intoxicated, must
have found, on reflection, that he had said and
done things which he would have neither thought
of or acted in a state of sobrietj\ The peace of
his neighbour has, therefore, required that the
drunkard should answrer for his conduct. But
it may be asked, ought a madman to answer for
his deeds ? Certainly : The man who becomes

95
mad from immoderate vinous potation must be
amenable to law, because that madness was of
his own seeking. — Again, it may be said, that
the drunken man, being as much in a state of
delirium as any maniac, ought he to be punished
for doing what he was unconscious of ? Yes :
But punishment might be mitigated here, if it
shall appear that no preconceived malice had
prompted him. This is, I think, what lawyers
call mal prepense. — Were a man, during ebriety,
to sign a deed, by which he should dispose of
his property in an improper manner, to the injury
of his family ; quere, would such a deed be le-
gal ? It might be deemed legal ; but to me it
would appear unjust to confirm it; because the
man never formed such a resolution when he was
in his senses. The acts of the drunkard, in this
respect, ought not to be valid : for this plain
reason, in the same condition he is not allowed
to injure his neighbour, or society at large, with
impunity ; and therefore he ought not to be per-
mitted to injure either his family or himself. All
debts incurred, or money lost at play, in the state
of intoxication, ought to be declared null^ on the
loser appealing in a proper manner when sober.
This would prevent the gamester and systematic
villain from taking advantage of the honest man.

96

and would correct some of the greatest evils in
the community.

When a drunken man is lavish of promises
which he never made when sober ; be assured,
his kindness is not worth your thanks.

When you hear a drunken man boasting of
his generosity to his friends ; beware, how you
receive a favour from that man.

When you hear a drunken man telling family
secrets, whether of his ovvii, or those of other peo-
ple ; put that man down for a fool ; and take
care what you say in his presence.

When you hear a drunken man boasting of
his favours from the sex ; be assured, that man
has no honour.

When you hear a drunken man bragging
of his courage ; mark that man a coward.

When v ou hear a drunken man vaunting of
his riches ; be assured, he cannot be estimable for
his virtues.

When you hear a drunken man pitying mis-
fortunes which he did not relieve whea sober ;
it is the strongest proof that he possesses no good-
ness of heart.

Receive no donations from a drunken man;
lest he should ask them again, when sober.

Avoid the company of a drunkard ; for if he
insults you, and you should insist on satisfaction
he will plead want of recollection, as apology.

Let the sober man beware of the society of
drunkards, lest the world should say, that he
means to take an advantage of their credulity.

In how much is the drunkard guilty of suicide,
that expires during the paroxysm, after the im-
moderate use of spirituous liquors ?

98

CHAP. IV.

The Catalogue of Diseases induced by Drunken-
ness.

-An anxious stomach well

May be endur'd; so may the throbbing head:
But such a dim delirium, such a dream,
Involves you; such a dastardly despair
Unmans your soul as madd'ning Pentheus felt,
When, baited round Cithseron's cruel sides,
He saw two Suns, and double Thebes ascend.

Armstrong.

THIS head very naturally divides itself into
two parts.

I Section I.

The Diseases which appear during the Paroxysm
of Drunkenness.

As I have purposely avoided the natural his-
tory of wine, and said but little of its chemical
qualities ; so I shall not take notice in this place
of some diseases, that arise rather from the adul-
teration of vinous liquors, than the effect of ar-

99
dent spirit. Of this description is the cohca
pictonum, occasioned by the nefarious introduc-
tion of lead, in order to correct the acid taste of
wines. The first and most fatal disease of our
catalogue is,

Apoplexy*.

The last degree of ebriety is apoplexy ; a pri-
vation of sense and motion, while respiration,
and the action of the heart and arteries remain.
This disease may be occasioned in two ways
during drunkenness. The powerful stimulus of
alkohol may directly act on the nervous system,
and assail the principle of life. Or it may in-
duce apoplexy, through the intervention of the
sanguiferous system, which, by being inordinate-
ly surcharged and stimulated, may cause such
an accumulation of blood, in the vessels of the
head, as to bring on apoplexy, by compressing
the brain, the source of sense and motion. The
first will most readily be induced by the ingur-
gitation of a large quantity of raw or undiluted
spirit ; and the last will follow the slower mode
of intoxication, from wine or strong malt li-
quor.

* Apoplexia Temulenta Sauv. Sp. 3.

100
When sudden death takes place, during
drunkenness, it must be in the manner now de-
scribed. And when a large quantity of ardent
spirit is swallowed at once, it acts so suddenly
on the stomach, and by consent with the whole
of the nervous system, that the common phe-
nomena of ebriety do not take place. There is
no time given for the regular succession of those
feelings and passions, which under the more tardy
exhibition of' wine, always appear. It approaches
at once to the most dangerous point; for the
man often falls down insensible, as soon as he
has finished the draught. Nor, on these occa-
sions, does the countenance shew any unusual
signs of colour or fulness : on the contrary, I
have always observed the face pale and contract-
ed. Arsenic has seldom been taken in such
quantity as to destroy life so quickly as ardent
spirit. Indeed that metallic poison, probably
acts by first decompounding the organization
of the stomach ; whereas the other more di-
rectly assails the vital principle in the nervous
system itself. In such a case, medical practice
could avail but little ; unless sufficient life re-
mained for throwing in warm water, or any
aqueous or even milky liquid at hand, to dilute
the spirit, and facilitate its evacuation by vomit-

101
irig. Vomiting in all stages of temulency is sa
lutary. Nature in this points to her own relief.
It is here, as when opium has been taken in great
quantities, whether by design or mistake ; if
vomiting comes on there is no danger.

But in particular habits of body, more than
others, ebriety tends to apoplexy. Physicians
have, therefore, marked a condition of body,
under the appellation of the apoplectic make^ or
form. This form consists, in fulness of blood, a
large head, short neck, &c, which, when joined
to advanced age, pave the way to comatose af-
fect:ons. When large quantities of wine, or
spirituous liquors, are drank after a full meal of
rich food, in such a habit of body, there is much
danger of apoplexy* Here the blood vessels be-
come distended with an immense increase of
chyle, mixed with vinous spirit, and both highly
stimulating. It is commonly after the approach
of sleep, that the drunkard is seized with apo-
plexy, when the digestive process sends forth a
copious supply of blood newly prepared. But
the state of sleep itself at all times favours the ac-
cession of this disease. This may, in part, be
accounted for, from the increase of povvfif it
gives to digestion ; and in part, to the less ex-
panded state of the lungs, and diminution of ex-

x ^

102
ternal stimuli, by the attention of the system being
passive*. The mechanical effect of an overload-
ed stomach, compressing the descending aorta, is
also said to have considerable share in the pro-
duction of apoplexy.

The proximate cause of apoplexy, as appears

by dissection, is blood or serum effused into the

ventricles of the brain ; or between the dura

mater, pia mater, and brain, and the cranium.

These, by compressing the medullary substance

and origin of the nerves, cause the abolition of

sense and motion. Among persons in the habit

of bibacity this kind of death is frequent ; for

predisposition is by that means acquired. The

circulation of the blood through the substance

of the brain becomes, by every fit of drunkenness

more impeded by the obliteration of small vessels;

hardening and ossification of particular parts ;

while the sinuses and vessels on the surface are

unusually distended. As drinkers of porter and

ale are most liable to the florid apoplexy, may

not this, in great measure, be attributed to the

great supply of nourishing matter which these li-

* I do not here allude to the Stahlian doctrine of an administer-
ing soul,- but, that while sensation is diminished, the natural func-
tions of digestion go on more briskly, and yield a greater quanti-
ty of chyle.

103

quors afford ; and to the bitters, and narcoi
drugs, which are fraudulently mixed with them,
as mentioned before ? the drinker of malt
liquor grows fat and corpulent ; while the drin-
ker of spirits becomes thin and emaciated.

I have, in the former chapter, said that purl
drinkers were very liable to apoplexy and palsy.
Bitters of all kinds seem to possess a narcotic
power ; and, when used for a censiderable length
of time, destroy the sensibility of the stomach.
This is a class of medicines that requires much
caution in the treatment of dyspeptic complaints,
what are called weak disgestion. A celebrated
medicine, some years ago, for the gout, was offer-
ed to the public, under the name of the Port-
land Powder*. It was composed chiefly of bit-
ters ; and though it was known to alleviate, or
cure the gout, it was always at the expence of
the constitution : for, in the space of a few months
after the arthritic affection disappeared, apoplexy,
palsy, and dropsy, commenced, and soon proved
fatjl to the patient. The purl drinker is expen-
sed to similar danger ; and, sooner or later,
must suffer for his indulgence, by an attack from
those dreadful maladies. Some people are very
fond of herb-ale, and diet drinks, the ingredients

* Cullen's First Lines, Gout.

104
©f .which are bitter herbs and roots, and arc
equally pernicious when continued long, or fre-
quently resorted to.

When apoplexy has once affected a person, in
the advanced period of life, even if temperate in
modes of living, it ought to be a veto against
the use of all spirituous or fermented liquors.
In such conditions of body, it is surprising how
small a quantity of wine will induce stupor. — A
gentleman of my acquaintance was subject to
periodical apoplexy, (for such I presume to
call it, from the frequent, attacks,) for the last
three years of his life. Such was the recurrence of
this disease, that certain signs of plethora always
indicated an approaching fit, From these premises,
I often foretold to his relations the exact period of a
new paroxysm. Some paralytic tffecjion cm-

ly remained after each attack, such as hesitation
of speech; inability to retain his urine and stools,
Sec. This gentleman was now apwards of seven-
ty ; and had nothing besides that constituted the
apoplectic make: he had beta accustomed to
much country exercise ; and always very mo-
derate m the use of wine : but now he could not
take two glasses, without defect of voice and
speech, and stupor coming on. Yet, in this
situation, he had upwards of tturty distinct nts of

105
apoplexy, the greater part of which I saw, and he
died in one of them.

This disease being so frequent an attendant,
or a consequence of vinolency holds up a most
awful warning to the inebriate. The thought
of a human being rushing into eternity, from a
board of gluttony, riot, and intemperance, ought
to appal the most depraved and obdurate of
mortals !

Epilepsy*, Ifysterics, and convulsions.

I class these diseases together, for obvious
reasons, as they nearly acknowledge the same
proximate cause, and are apt to occur during
ebriety, in the same person. It is in the early
stage of temulency that these affections chiefly
appear ; at least before much stupor comes on ;
and I suspect they are seldom known but where
there is a strong predisposition. The stimulus
of vinous spirit brings forth a large portion of
pleasurable sensation, and induces considerable
mobility of the nervous system ; and with these,
great fulness and turgescency of the blood- ves-
sels of the brain. I have known a number of

♦-Epilepsia Plethorica Saur. Sp. %

106
persons, of both sexes, but particularly seamen,
who were subject to epilepsy, and never got
drunk without a fit coming on. Two of these
men, unfortunately, fell overboard in that con-
dition, and were drowned at sea.

To those of the other sex, who happen to be
addicted to the bottle, the hysteric affection is
ver)r apt to occur during the paroxysm. There
are few female drunkards that do not experience
this : for, as fine spirits are easiest to inflame, so
slight irritations that ruffle the temper, and excite
anger, are seldom quieted without some degree
of hysteric passion. In several cases, the fre-
quent appearance of this affection has first led me
to detect the unhappy propensity. That modesty
which is innate in the female constitution, pre-
serves them from indulgence in company ; and
• they are commonly solitary dram-drinkers. This
delicacy of feeling, sometimes carries them great
lengths in concealing their situation ; and in
making them feign complaints to ward off sus-
picion. I have known a medical attendant ac-
quire much credit from the administration of his
catholicon; when a gentle nap had performed the
cure of an indisposition, of which he had formed
no conjecture.— Irregular menstruation, with all
its evils, and abortion, in the early months of.

107

pregnancy, arc the frequent consequences of in-
ebriation in the fair sex.

I remember to have seen a woman, many years
ago, who was much given to spirituous liquors ;
and, when intoxicated, was often seized with a
convulsive motion in the muscles of the lower
part of the face, which sometimes induced a dis-
location of the lower jaw. Violent emotions of
passion usually brought on these convulsions.
The common people, not inaptly, attributed the
luxation, as a punishment from Heaven for her
profane swearing, for she became silent the mo-
ment it took place. The complaint was always
remedied at the shop of a neighbouring surgeon
and apothecary.

Oneirodynia*: — -fearful Dreams.

I know not weather incubus, the nightmare, is
to be justly taken into our catalogue. Fearful
dreams are, however, common enough towards
the decline of the paroxysm : the fulness of the
vessels of the brain, and perhaps also the overload-
ed stomach, sufficiently explain them. The dream
of the officer, who wished to fight his friend, as

* Ephialtes Plethorica Sauv. Sp. i.

1G8
mentioned before, is of this kind : to which
ought to be added, the account of the drunken
party at Agrigentum, as quoted from Burton, in
the last chapter. Did the memory of drunkards
serve, I suspect, we should be furnished with
numerous curious stories of a similar kind.

The power which the body possesses, during
intoxication, to resist contagion, and to bearcoi/,
is well known : and it might probably prove a des-
perate remedy against some diseases. But it
ought to be remembered, that the exhausted con-
dition of the body, after ebriety, as much-favours
the action of marsh effluvium and infection, as the
excited condition repelled it before. It is in this
state that the fevers of tropical climates so readily
seize our seamen and soldiers in the West Indies:
the typhus contagion oi this country is also ex-
fended in a similar manner.

10<J

Section II.

The Diseases induced by habitual intoxication.

Phlegmasia : — Inflammatory Diseases.

The diseases of the inflammatory class, are a
frequent consequence of intoxication; particularly
to persons about the prime of life ; of vigorous
constitution, a full habit of body, and easily sus-
ceptible of stimuli. How can this be otherwise ?
The body, by drinking fermented liquors, or
spirits, is often excited to the last degree : un-
dergoing, in that state, all the vicissitudes of
temperature ; stewed sometimes in a hot room ;
and, at another, streched along the damp and cold
ground, in the open air, and frequently in the
severest season. It is in this manner that phren-
itis brain-fever, rheumatism, pleurisy, &c. are to
be accounted for, after a fit of ehriety.

Gastritis and enteritis, inflammations of the
stomach and bowels, are common followers

K

110

of the large use of ardent spirit. It is even
surprizing that these diseases are not more often
met with from this cause. The stomach is a
highly sensible organ ; and in particular con-
ditions of the system, cannot be stimulated to any
great degree without partaking more or less of
inflammation. Indeed, these diseases, in gener-
al, are very quickly fatal : they perform the work
of death, in the short space of a day or two ; and
with but little warning to the patient. The pain
and heat about the region of the stomach, deceive
so far, that fresh quantities of spirits are taken
clown with a view of relieving a cramp, and thus,
in a manner, fuel is heaped on the fire.

Ophthalmia: — Inflammation of the Eyes.

This complaint of the eyes is one distinguish-
ing badge of a drunkard; remarked by the vul-
gar, as if to point him out to the finger of scorn.
Solomon says, " Who hath woe ? who hath sor-
u row? who hath contentions ? who hath bab-
" bling ? who hath wounds without cause ? who
" hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long
"at the wine; they that go to seek mixed

Ill

" wine*." The wise king of Israel, who knew
human nature well, and probably spoke from ry .
perience, has, in this text, given a fine summary
of the evils which follow bibacity.

The eye is so constructed, that it readily dis-
covers, by its turgid vessels in the tunica achate
or white, the effects induced bv a hurried circu-
lation. By these means it displays some of the
most obvious phenomena of drunkenness. But
the turgescence and redness of the coats of the
eye do not always subside with the solution of
the drunken paroxysm : a true inflammation
succeeds, attended with pain, intolerance of light
&c. ; hence specks on the eye, dimness of sight,
and other frailties of that organ, are often per-
manent

Carbuncles ', and Gutta Rosacea*

Tumors and leprous eruptions, of various siz
and colour appear about the nose, and other
parts of the face. The vigorous circulation,
and determination to the head, may have some
effect, in increasing the disposition to these cv

♦Proverbs, Chap, xxiii. 29, 3Q

112

tancous affections : but I have some suspicion
that they are induced, in a great measure, by the
chemical qualities of alkohol, most likely by the
evolution of hydrogen in the course of the cir~
culation ; and they appear in the face where the
superficial blood vessels are more numerous than
in any other part of the body. It is in these
vessels that the hydrogen attracts oxygen from
the atmosphere ; the blood in them becomes pre-
ternaturally florid ; the skin is thus excited and
inflamed, and the spots appear in consequence.
Darwin* speaks of them as being sympathetic
of diseases of the liver. Although predisposi-
tion may touch assist here, yet, I think, from
what I have observed, that a long use of spiritu-
ous liquors will cause the growth of these erup-
tions in any constitution whatever. There is
no deformity incident to the human body
more disgusting than this, See Shakspeare's
description of Bardolph's' nose in the last
chapter.

* Zoonomis.

113

Hepatitis : — Inflammation of the Liver.

Hepatic inflammation, both of the acute and
chronic species, is a common effect of hard drink
ing. The liver, indeed, more than other viscera,
appears to be particularly subject to diseases
from this cause. The vicissitudes of heat and
cold to which the inebriate is so often exposed;
may have some share in the production of this
complaint, like other phlegmasia^ ; but the chief
cause must be the spirituous stimulus. It is not
evident whether the inflammation may be propa-
gated from the duodenum, along the common and
biliary ducts, to the substance of this viscus ; or
whether the blood, highly charged with alkohol,
may not be the means of exciting hepatitis.
The chronic species is not a painful disease ; is
slow in its progress, and frequently gives no alarm
till some incurable affection is the consequence,
It is probable that this inflammation, in some
degree or other, always precedes the enlarged
liver, and particularly that form of it ttyat may be
properly called the tubercular disease of ihp
*fiver.

vK2

114

Podagra : — Gout.

This disease, so often the companion of wealth
and indolence, has been so frequently induced
by excess in love and wine, that in every age it
lias been justly styled the offspring of Venus and
Bacchus- This fact, I believe, is sufficiently sub-
stantiated in the records of Medicine; for gout is
very seldom or never seen in the habitation of
poverty and labour.

Excess in vinous potation too often gives a
stimulus to the other passion; but when together
they are immoderately practised, and often re-
peated, debility of more than a common kind is
induced. If there is an hereditary disposition to
gout, all excesses must be more hurtful. In
youth hard drinking is particularly injurious ;
it brings on premature decay ; and, more than
any other cause, paves the way for the diseases
of age before the meridian of life. But as the
organs of digestion are so principally concerned
in gout, the excess in drinking acts there with
peculiar force. It is highly probable that the
mere pains, and inflammation of the joints, are
very secondary symptoms of this complaint ; and

115

that the only sure way to ward it off is by pre .
serving the vigour of the digestive organs by
mperateand abstemious living ; and by begin-
ning early in youth to pursue a regular and active
mode of life. These are the best security for a
sound constitution, which alone can insure a
happy and healthy old age. It is true, few young
men will submit to such rigid precepts : and ex-
perience of their truth and value is too often to be
purchased at the expence of health. Yet there
are many examples to be found, of men who
have suffered misery for years, and dragged out
a wretched existence under arthritic pains, that
would gladly forego the pleasures of wine, had
they life again to renew. As example is there-
fore better than precept, the juvenile debauchee
should be occasionally introduced into the sick
chamber of the hoary veteran in excess. If the
children in Lacedsemon were to be trained to
temperance, by looking on the disgusting ac-
tions and revelry of drunken slaves, let the
youths of present time be instructed from the
unwieldy joints, withered limbs, and hypochon-
driacal glooms of our modern Arthritics,

MS

Schirrus of the Bowels.

Ardent spirit hardens and contracts the animal
iibre, and coagulates the juices. Hence the
sensibility of different organs is gradually ex-
hausted ; and the vessels, whether arteries, veins^
lymphatics, or other canals and ducts for convey-
ing fluids, are lessened ih th^ir diameter, and
ultimately obstructed. A schirrus of the sto-
mach, at least of the pylorus, and liver especially,
are frequent concomitants of habitual ebriety*.
But the intestines, pancreas, spleen, and perhaps
the kidneys, are also liable to the same affection;
all of which, after a certain time, are incurable,
and often speedily fatal. The dram and purl
drinker may sooner experience these evils than
other drunkards, but even the guzzler of small-
beer has no security against them. Nay, so
sure and uniform is this effect of producing dis-
eased bowels, by fermented liquors, that in dis-
tilleries aud breweries, where hogs and poultry
are fed on the sediments of barrels, their livers

* Vide Morgagni De Causis et Sedibus ubicunque dejectionibus
vemulentorum disseruit. — See also Baillie's Morbid Anatomy
Discuses of the Liver*

117
and other viscera are observed to be enlarged and
hardened, like those of the human body ; and
were these animals not killed at a certain period,
their flesh would be unfit to eat, and their bodies
me emaciated.

Icterus : — Jaundice.

This disease is frequently a consequence of
ihe preceding one, affecting the liver ; when by
enlargement, the biliary vessels and ducts are
compressed, and the free egress of the bile pre-
vented ; by which means it is, by absorbing
vessels, carried into the circulation, and there de-
foedutes the whole body. It is another of those
disgusting signs which the habit of intoxication
gives to the external form ; when jaundice ap-
pears, it may be reckoned a prooi of the patient
being a veteran worshipper at the shrine of
Bacchus.

In most cases, it may be deemed the birthright
of clram-di inking, or the use of grog; but all
other Hquors produce it by long continuance.
Towards the end, the complexion and eyes, from
being yellow, put on a sable hue, which is a

118
symptom of approaching dissolution. The
drunkard should be taught to look into a glass,
that he may spy the changes in his countenance :
the first stage would present him with redness of
eyes ; the second Would exhibit the carbuncled
nose ; and the third, a yellow and black jaundice.
In the body of the inebriate, the liver might be
justly called the officina morborum*!

Dyspepsia : — Indigestion*

There are so many organs concerned in the
processes of digestion, chylification, and san-
guification, that we cannot be surprised at die ef-
fects of hard drinking in deranging them : for
the first introduction of the liquor into the body
comes in direct contact with most of them ; such
a$ the stomach, intestines, biliary and pancreatic
ducts, lacteals, &c. Want of appetite and bad
digestion are therefore common with drunkards.
The stomach, next morning after a last night's
debauch, is left in a state of febrile debility ; its

* Feb. 24. I have at present a patient just recovering' from
diseased liver and jaundice; who, by giving up the vinous stimulus
at once, has been miraculously snatched from the verge of the

119

muscular power feeble and exhausted ; and the
gastric juice vitiated and unfit to excite the de-
sires of healthful appetite, or to perform the of-
fice of an active solvent, in the business of pre-
paring the food. Hence to make a good break-
fast has always been reckoned a sign of good
health, and a proof of temperance. The sto-
mach, by degrees, grows torpid from immo-
derate stimuli, and their frequent repetition, till
it feels little inclined to receive that mild and
bland nourishment which is usually served up
for the morning repast. In this manner dyspep-
tic complaints first commence ; acidity, cardial-
gia, flatulence, and nausea, are succeeded by
nervous irritability, and pain, which tend to fix
the distress of the inebriate. To relieve these,
the megrim, tedium vitcs, and hypochondriacism,
which accompany them, he flies to his bumper.
Thus every succeeding day's potation exceeds
its predecessor in quantity, and he becomes a
habitual drunkard. The morning hours of such
a man, when neither business or rational recrea-
tion can engage him, are spent in listless inactivi-
ty ; he flies from trifle to trifle, expresses his
ennui by constant yawning, and impatiently
counts the tardy hours that shall relieve his long-
ing for the bottle. The man who has once ex-

120
hibited such symptoms is on the high road to
ruin. I have witnessed the situation of some
drunkards, when their potation had been longer
withheld than usual ; it is impossible to relate
such a scene; frantic gestures* hideous yells ;
screams of torture ; looks of despair ; groans,
sighs, weeping, and gnashing of teeth, are but a
describable part of it : it may iitterally be sum-
med up in what is called the " torments of the
" damned."

In such cases of dyspepsia, accompanied by
these strong mental hallucinations it is m vain to
expect a cure from articles of medicine. The
habit of drinking must be abandoned, and moral
arguments, with such religious admonitions as
inspire hope, must be speedily employed to pre?
vent suicide or derangement of intellect.

Hydrops : — Dropsy.

When infractions and enlargements of the ab-
dominal viscera take place, the dropsy, next,
makes its appearance. The irtQ return ol blood
to the heart is impeded ; and thus exhalation is
increased. But the torpid and palsied state, if I
may so cali it, of the absorbent system, best ex-

121

plains the accumulation of aqueous fluid m the
several cavities. The lymphatic vc like the

veins and arteries, possess muscular power by
which their contents are- propelled. This muscu-
lar power, by excessive stinuilus, is liable to be
exhausted, as in other parts of the body, and the
action of the absorbents is hereby lessened.
Thus, while an increased proportion of fluid is
effused from the relaxed exhalants, the debili-
tated absorbents are incapable of taking it up„
We observe the effect oi these vessels being
strongly stimulated in the stomach and intes-
tines, by the thirst which succeeds the large in-
gurgitation of ardent spirit. In the like manner
constipation is produced, from the more fluid
foecal matter being absorbed, while the more dry
parts of the mass are with difficulty pressed for-
ward. Diseases of the liver, more than others,
seem to be followed by hydropic disposition. I
think it requires something beyond the mechani-
cal resistance of diseased vise era to explain this ;
for that organ, it would appear, possesses some
uncommon sympathy or connexion with the
functions of the lymphatic system. Dropsy, is
therefore, very frequently the harbinger of death
with the inebriate.

L

122

Tabes : Atrophia : — Emaciation of Body.

These complaints naturally follow the weaken-
ed condition of the stomach and alimentary ca-
nal. The lacteal vessels themselves, by the fre-
quent application of alkohol, are rendered torpid,
constringed, or impacted ; and the glands of the
mesentery, for the same reason, are made imper-
vious. But when the bile, gastric and pancreatic
juices, are all vitiated and depraved, how is it
possible that healthful nourishment can be pre-
pared ? I have seen, in the space of a few months,
a man of the largest size, by the immoderate use
of spirituous potation, reduced to a mere skele-
ton. Even when some degree of appetite re-
mains,, the food gives no support ; for it cannot
pass into the blood to recruit the deficient juices;
hence emaciation of body and all its conse-
quences. A few weeks' indulgence in raw
spirit, or strong grog, in large quantity, will in-
duce these diseases. Like many others which
follow ebriety, they give little pain ; and as the
mental powers are lulled into stupor the greater
part of the day, the approaches of an incurable
malady are not sufficiently watched.

123

ncope : — Palpitation.

Fainting fits and palpitation of the heart, some-
times accompany excessive debility from habitu-
al bibacity ; and are called nervous symptoms.
But the most alarming degree of these evils is,
when they are the effects of organic affections of
the heart, pericardium, and large blood-vessels,
A hydrothorax, dropsy of the pericardium, ossifi-
cation of the valves of the heart, coronary arteries,
and aorta itself have all been discovered by dis-
section in the bodies of men subject to temulen-
cy*. The patient commonly dies suddenly at last;
after being long tormented with anxiety of the
most distressing kind, frequent fainting fits, fear-
ful dreams, that make him start from his sleep
with signs of the utmost terror and agitation, and
great dejection of spirits, To these may be ad-
ded, those symptoms which constitute the "An-
gina Pectoris" of some authors. The subjects of
these horrid complaints seem to undergo, every
hour, all the pangs of dissolution. They rank
among the most fatal and terrible evils of this
gloomy catalogue.

* Morgagni, Lib. II. Episi. xxvi. 13—37. Epist, xxviii,

124

Diabetes : — Excessive Discharge of Urine.

The majority of persons whom I have known
subject to diabetes, were lovers of the bottle.
About the proximate cause of this disease, vari-
ous opinions have been given by physicians : in
this place, therefore, I shall be permitted to refer
it to some depravity of the organs of digestion.
I suspect that many drunkards have this com-
plaint upon them without taking notice of it ; and
that it comes and goes, without creating alarm^
just as they happen to live regular or otherwise*
Dr. Rollo, of the Royal Artillery at Woolwich,
has lately published an ingenious chemical The*
ory of Diabetes ; and his practice has been attest-
ed by some striking cases, one of which I attend-
ed for a short time. It there appears, that the
saccharine urine always followed the use of malt
liquors, and such other matter as contained the
basis of the saccharine acid : and was cured by a
diet in every respect highly animalised, and di-
rectly opposite to the articles just mentioned.
Hepatic diseases being so common from hard-
drinking, and the bile being so important an in-
gredient in preparing the chyle and the blood,

125
presumptive proofs, that diabetes may derive
much explanation from these sources : but what
chemical analysis can unfold the nice operations,
and wonderful arcana of Nature !

It is impossible to mention the name of Dr.
Rollo, without adverting to the valuable reforma-
tion he has effected in the Artillery Hospital at
Woolwich. The success of these measures af-
fords a striking contrast to the opposition which
I met with in attempting similar improvements
in the naval department*.

T

Locked Jaw.

This disease is more frequent in warm than
cold climates : it has succeeded a fit of ebriety
when the patient, in the exhausted state, has slept
in the open air, or been exposed to the chilly
damps of the evening. I think a case of this de-
scription is mentioned by Dr. Girdlestone.

Palsy.

Tremors and paralytic affections are common
followers of the apoplcxia temulenta. The head

* Vide Med. Nautica; where all the late corrections are detail
sd, and others pointed out for the information of posterity.

L 2

126
and hands of some inebriates, particularly in the
morning, shake and tremble ; but regain their
usual strength, and become steady, as the dose
of stimulus is repeated, lvten of this description
are a kind of living thermometers ; as the blood
warms, their spirits rise ; and when it cools again,
by withholding their dram, they sink into languor
and dejectiono When affections of this kind
make their appearance, the wretched inebriate
has almost finished his career of dissipation : the
silver cord of life is nearly loosed, and the wheel
broken at the cistern I

Ulcers.

When habitual intoxication has sufficiently
weakened the solids and polluted the fluids of
the body, it also excites diseases of the skin, that
readily run into foul and incurable sores. In-
stances of this kind are to be daily met with in
private life.

An ulcer, the most malignant of its kind,
on record, during the late war, infested par-
ticular ships in the Channel Fleet : and common-
ly affected a large proportion of the crew before
the disposition to it could be overcome. The

127
character of this sore was directly opposite to
that of the scorbutic ulcer ; and what was found
a certain cure for scurvy, had no effect on the
Channel sore*. The least scratch on the skin,
the puncture of a lancet, the blistered part, but
especially scalds and burns, degenerated into this
ulceration, with a rapidity not to be conceived*
Large loss of muscular flesh from sloughs, and
caries of bone, were the consequence. A long
history of this epidemic ulcer, is given in the
second and third volume of Medicina Nautica.
From a fair and extensive view of all the facts
connected with its production, I have referred
the cause to the inordinate use of spirituous liquors*
An unusual fostor attended this sore, beyond
it even large sloughs occasion*

Madness and Ideotism*

iC Reputation ! Reputation ! Reputation ! O !

; I have lost my reputation ! I have lost the im-

>c mortal part, Sir, of myself: and what remains

* ^though I have admitted that this ulcer was much owing to
spirituous liquors, afid, like scurvy, was aggravated oy them; yet
there was this difference, that the sore was considered as a dis-
ease of the port, when the crew lived on fresh meat; while the
.scurvy was owing to privation of vegetables, and chiefly occurred
ct tea.

128
' is bestial. — Drunk? and speak parrot? and
' squabble? swagger? swear? and discourse,
1 fustian with one's own shadow ? O, thou in-
' visible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to
' be known by, let us call thee — Devil !-^-I re-
' member a mass of things, but nothing dis-
6 tinctly : a quarrel, but nothing wherefore.— O!
' that men should put an enemy in their mouths,
' to steal away their brains ! that we should with
' joy, revel, pleasure, and applause, transform
4 ourselves into beasts ! — I will ask him for my
c place again : he shall tell me I am a drunkard !
6 Had I as many mouths as Hydra, such an
' answer would stop them all. To be now a
c sensible man, by and by a fool, and pre-
1 sently a beast ! O strange ! Every inordi-
c nate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient is a
< Devil*."

Drunkenness itself, is a temporary madness*
But in constitutions where there is a predisposi-
tion to insanity and idealism, these diseases are
apt to succeed the paroxysm, and will often last
weeks and months after it. Wounds and contu-
sions of the brain and cranium, with other or-
ganic lesions, have a similar effect. I have
known numberless instances of these kinds of

* Shakspeare, Othello

129
Ma nd Amentia^. In courts of just

often hear of men, who are convicted of im-
proper conduct, pleading for mitigation of
punishment, from acting under temporary in-
sanity. A small quantity of liquor is apt to de-
range these people : in such subjects the blood
would appear to be over accumulated in the
head, or circulates unequally there, and thus
causes delirium. Seamen, who are so much ex-
posed to blows and wounds of the head, from
the nature of their duty, are very liable to affec-
tions of this kind.

But independent of constitutional predispo-
sition, or lesions of the brain, the habit of drunk-
enness will bring on madness and ideotism.
They sometimes follow a stroke of apoplexy. It
is indeed certain, when this habit has been long
indulged, that the structure of the brain becomes
more or less injured. Morgagni, in his cele-
brated work, De Causis et Sedibus morhoritm, has
furnished us with many instances of the substance
of the brain being much altered, as appeared by
his dissections of drunkards. These instances
exhibited the same changes from the healthy
structure, which are to be found in the brains of

* ParaphiMsyne Temultnta Sauv; Sp. 1.
f Amentia a Tenuilentia Sauv. Sp

130
maniacs and ideots. In some it was found of a
much firmer consistence than usual ; and in
others more flaccid*: the cerebrum and cert hel-
ium more softf : the cerebrum cerebellum, and
nerves, were all extremly soft J ; the substance
of the brain was yellow and soft, seemed cor-
rupted § : a boney substance, and very hard
gypseous concretions were found, in opposito
nervorum thalamd\\: the trunks of the arteries in
the meninges, and even their branches, which
extend to the plexus choroides, much thicker,
and harder than natural; and, when drieo, dis-
covered a boney disposition in different
places^".

* Tarnen ea firmitudine cerebrum fuit, ut durius ad id tempus a

me dissectum esse non meminissem. Lib. i. Epist. viii 6.

Portio cerebelli fiaceida erat. &p. Lib, i. Epist. ii. 22.

f Cerebrum et cerebellum moliora, Sec. Lib. i Epist. iii. 6 — 16.

$ Cerebrum, cerebellum, et nervi, summa erant flacciditate, &c.

Lib. i. Epist. v. 11.

€ Substantia cerebri fiava ac fiaceida quae corrupta videbatur, &c.

Lib. i. Epist. xi. 6.

il Ossiculum, vel concretum g-ypseum durissimum, in opposite
nervorum thalamo, &c. Epist. xi. 7>

5[ Sed in tenui meningi arteriarum, trunci omnes, omnesque item
earum rami, iique presertim, qui versus plexum choroidem con-
ten dun 1 , multo erant crassiores aequo, et duriores, exsiccatique os-
seam piuribus in locis naturam astenderunt Lib. ii. Epist. xxvii 28.

131
If the source of sense and motion is thus
liable to be affected by spirituous potation, we
need the less wonder at the loss of the mental
faculties. How justly, then, may we exclaim,
in the emphatic language o< Shakspeare, " Every
inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient is
a devil /"

Melancholy.

V

What I have before said on dyspepsia will su-
persede many remarks that might have been
made under this disease. The melancholy of
drunkards, I fancy, is seldom cr never found
without dyspeptic symptoms. Indeed dyspepsia;
hypochondriasis, and melancholia; would only
appear to be different degrees of the same com-
plaint. Thus indigestion, proceeding from a
debilitated condition of the chylopoetic viscera,
without nervous affections, may be called simply
Dyspepsia. But when apprehensions of danger,
ill-grounded fears, and low spirits, accompany
impaired digestion, the disease may then be
named hypochondriasis. And when both these
affections are present, while at the same time the
mental disquietudes arise to derangement of in-
tellect, or delirium, then only would I call the

132

disease Melancholy. The morning hours of a
drunkard, when the bottle has been long with-
held, often exhibit the last degree of dejected
spirits, which are apt to bring on hallucination of
d. The habit of ebriety feeds itself. In the
absence of simulus, the ideas have all a gloomy
cast, and every feeling is unpleasant : there is an
aching void that nothing can fill up but a renewal
of the cup ; which is • no sooner quaffed than
another is disired : thus by degrees the brain is
injured in its structure by violent actions and
every species of delirium is the consequence.

Impotency, and Abolition of the Sexual Appetite.

There is scarcely an organ of the human body
that does not, in its turn, receive some depravity
from habitual temulency. Impotency may be
occasioned here by a paralysis of those muscles
which are employed in the sexual intercourse ;
but the appetite itself is certainly destroy td in
time : the sot loses all feelings of iove. The
fair sex ought at all times to show their utter
aversion to a drunkard, and to consider it an in-
sult when he dares to approach them. This de-
portment in the female part of society, would be
the strongest preventive against the vice that

133
could be found ; for it annihilates all virtuous at-
tachment among the sexes, and is the greatest foe
to sentimental love.

With equal justice, the habit of temulency
has been said to debilitate the offspring, and pro-
duce a puny race. It is a known law in the an-
imal economy, that all secreted fluids partake of
the vices of the secerning organ. A healthy ac-
tion is required in every gland, that it may secrete
healthy juices. We have seen that the mental
functions become deranged, when the brain is
injured in its structure. And if this fttppens,
can it be too gross to suppose, that the organs of
generation must equally suffer in both sexes,
from frequent intoxication ; and if offspring
should unfortunately be derived from such a pa-
rentage, can we doubt> that it must be diseased
and puny in its corporeal parts ; and beneath
the standard of a rational being in its intellec-
tual faculties ? — The best antidote against evils
of this description in society is early marriage :
which, by preserving the body healthful, and the
mind pure, gives the best chance of transmitting
these qualities to the progeny. — The sum total
of all the diseases which flow from habitual
drunkenness, is

M

134

Premature Old Age.

The wrinkled and dejected visage, the bloat-
ed and sallow countenance, the dim eye, the
quivering lip, the faultering tongue, sans teeth,
the trembling hand, and tottering gait, are so
many external signs of bodily infirmity : while
weak judgment, timidity, irresolution, low spirits,
trifling disposition, and puerile amusements, dis-
cover a mind poisoned by the bowl of excess,
not broken by the hand of time !

Diseases of Infants during Lactation*

If diseases of so serious a nature appear in
adults, from the inordinate use of vinous spirit,
how much more liable must feeble infancy be
to suffer from the same. J am afraid that this is
no uncommon observation. It is well known
that nurses, if they can deserve such a name, are
in the practice of giving spirits in the form of
punch to young children to make them sleep.
The effect cannot fail to be hurtful : such chil-
dren are known to be dull, drowsy, and stupid ;

135
floated in the* countenance, eyes inflamed, sub-
ject to sickness at stomach, costive, and pot-
bellied. The body is often covered with erup-
tions, and slight scratches are disposed to ulce-
rate. To these, bowel complaints may be
added.

Again, the food of women who suckle their
own children is often very improperly selected.
The quantity of the milk, not the quality of it,
is studied. It is a well known fact that this se-
cretion partakes very much of the nature of the
diet that is used ; that is to say, certain articles
pass through the breast unassimilated : vegeta-
bles give a more ascescent milk than animal
food ; but all drinks, containing ardent spirit^
such as wine, punch, caudle, ale, and porter,
must impregnate the milk ; and thus, the di-
gestive organs of the babe must be quickly in-
jured. These must suffer in proportion to the
delicacy of their texture ; and the diseases which
flow from this source are certainly not uncom-
mon. Physicians who have prescribed a diet
and regimen for nursing mothers, have not suffi-
ciently attended to the hurtful effects of wine and
malt liquors. Porter is generally permitted in
large quantities on these occasions ; a beverage,
if there is any truth in our remarks, highly im-

136

proper and dangerous. It would be foreign
from the nature of this work, to extend the sub-
ject farther ; but it seemed necessary to intro-
duce it, in a book that professedly treats of the
effects of ardent spirits, on the living body.

137

CHAR V,

The Method of correcting the Habit of in-
toxication, and of treating the drunken Par-
oxysm.

We curse not wine : the Tile excess we blame.

Armstrong,

FROM what has been said in the preceeding
pages, the importance of this part of my subject
will be readily admitted, A train of complaints of
the most dangerous nature, at once destroying
the body, and depraving the mind, are the certain
followers of habitual ebriety. Amidst ail the e-
viis of human life, no cause of disease has so wide
range, or so large a share, as the use of spirituous
liquors. When we see dropsies, apoplexies^
palsies, Sec. multiplying in the bills of mortality,
we must look to hard drinking as the principal
agent in bringing on these maladies. More than
one half of ail the sudden deaths which happen,

M2

138
are in a fit of intoxication ; softened miu some
milder name, not to ruffle the feelings of relations,
in laying them before the public.

This vice must have prevailed early among
mankind ; and all good legislators have endea-
voured to oppose its progress in society. Among
the Athenians, by a law of Solon, the magistrate
who became drunk was put to death ; inferior
degrees of punishment fell upon other orders.
Drunkenness was proscribed at JLasaemon by the
laws of Lycurgus ; and, to excite horror among
the children, against a vice so brutal and degrad-
ing, the drunken slaves were exposed before
them*. The ancient Saracens and Carthaginians
drank no wine. The Nervii used no vinous li-
quor, because it made them lazy and effemi-
nate f . Among the Romans the vice was odious:
the whole history of this republic does not men-
tion such a phrase, as a habit of intoxication.
The women were punished capitally if guilty of
it : and the custom of saluting women is said to
have been introduced, to discover whether they
drank spirituous liquors. Ebriety is at all times

« Plutarch.

t Caesar 4e Bello Gallico. Lib. ii. car. viii,

139

degrading in men ; but in women it is disgust-
ing and abominable. The Koran of Mahomet
expressly denies wine to the Mussulman. The
Cherokees, a tribe of Indians in North America,
have forbid, under the most severe penalties,
the use of spirituous liquors, among their coun-
trymen, from having seen some of the neighbour-
ing nations nearly extirpated by their use. —
What can Christian Britain offer against these
authorities ?

Drunkenness prevails more in cold climates
than in warm : physical causes may, in a great
measure, explain this. Heat is one of the
great supports of animal life : it bestows on
the mental faculties cheerfulness and vivacity ;
and the inhabitants of hot countries are observ-
ed to be more gay and volatile than those of the
northern regions. As heat supplies abundant
stimulus, the constitution, therefore, needs less
excitement from diet. But the shivering native
of Lapland or Labrador, whose temperature of
climate, for a great part of the year, descends
beneath the freezing point, feels an unusual
glow and animation from spirituous potation,
which he cannot obtain from his wintry skies,
His atmosphere thus conspires to make him a
drunkard : because, when he first tastes a bever-

140
age that imparts cheerfulness and strength ; he
is not aware that it is the first step to a course
of indulgence, that must ultimately impair his
health, and abridge his understanding*. Dr.
Falconer, in his Essay on Climate, says, " If
" we go from the Equator to the North Pole,
" we shall find this vice increasing, together
" with the degree of latitude. If we go from
" the Equator again to the South Pole, we
" shall find drunkenness travelling south, ex-
M actly in the same proportion to the decrease of
" heat."

When ebriety is frequently repeated it be-
comes hurtful in proportion to the heat of the
atmosphere. The feverish heat which it creates,
joined to that of a tropical climate, must the
sooner bring on some fatal disease ; or more
speedily exhaust the strength of the body by ex-
cessive stimulation. This fact is daily exem-
plified among European soldiers and seamen, as
well as new-comers, in the West India islands,
who, after getting drunk on cheap new rum, ex-
pose themselves m the sun, or in the night sleep
while the heavy dews are falling ; and thus be-
come liable to those acute diseases that carry

f Vide RajnaPs Hist, of America.

141

them off in a few days, in despite of all medicine.
The French soldiers and seamen, by being more
temperate in living than Englishmen, suffered
less from the fevers of these regions, in former
Avars. But this does not appear to be the case
at present in San Domingo, where Frenchmen
have died in greater proportion than even our
troops, while we possessed that unwholesome
island. It is well known that the modern
armies of France are much addicted to drink-
ing spirits ; and many of their greatest victo-
ries are said to have been obtained under the
fury inspired by dram-drinking ; the spirits
being supplied to the soldiers while engaged,
by women who attended them for that service,
This is a species of prowess which our tars call
Dutch courage ; and which, I hope, wiil never
be resorted to by Britons in the present contest
with France.

This vile habit, it appears, was less known
in Britain three hundred years ago than it is at
this time. Mr. Cambden, in his Annals, under
the year 1581, has made this remarkable obser-,
vation : — " The English, who hitherto had, of
%\ all the northern nations, shewn themselves
" least addicted to immoderate drinking, and
" been commended for their sobriety, first lean*.

142

* ed, in these wars in the Netherlands, to swal-
" low large quantities of intoxicating liquors ;
M and to destroy their own health by drinking
u that of others." I am much afraid that some
later wars in the same countries have not greatly
encouraged sobriety*. The Roman armies were
allowed only vinegar and water in all their expe-
ditions ; yet with this simple beverage they con-
quered the world !

It cannot be doubted that the convivial dis-
position of the inhabitants of Great Britain
and Ireland, has a strong tendency to extend
the habit of ebriety. There is no business of mo-
ment transacted in these islands without a libation
toBacehus. Itprcvailsamongthe Peers of the realm
and down to the parish committee* These convi-
vial parties are a luxuriant scyon of a free country;
where all ranks and degrees of society meet to en-
joy friendly intercourse, without the dread of in-
terruption from a jealous Inquisition, or the domi-
ciliary visits of a tyrant's spies. But they have
often the bad effect of mixing the profligate with

* A certain general gave it out in public orders, that no officer3
who dined at his table, should exeeed two bottles of wine !!! — Let
it be recorded to the honour of our triumphant navy, that our
commanders in chief never allow more at their tables than half $
Bottle *

143

the good, and debauching the sober citizen : a
certain number of bumper-toasts are to be gulped
down on these occasions, without discriminating
the weak head and sickly stomach from the con-
stant wine-bibber. As the wine sparkles the
spirits mount, and the heart dilates : man is an
imitative animal, and quickly assimilates with his
associates. The resolutions that were formed in
the cool part of the morning, soon dissolve before
the warming influence of a new toast and a fresh
bowl. Thus clubs are formed ; one party begets
another ; dinner succeeds to dinner ; till the
man who startled once, at a half-pint, now stag-
gers home under the load of one bottle more !
Evoe Bacche ! The man who was social at first
In his cups, soon becomes convivial, and ends his
career as a sot.

It is no uncommon practice with certain weak-
minded persons in this country, on particular oc-
casions, to allow merry meetings to workmen ;
when drunkenness, with all its evils, is a frequent
consequence. These sorts of people have much
pleasure in having their healths drank by great
crowds, and delight in the revelry and noise
which are occasioned. Surely a better plan
would be, to give them a little food to carry home
to their families. There is a dreadful account of

144
a meeting of this kind in Russia, which happened
in 1779 " One of the farmers of the brandy
" duty, who had made an immense fortune by
" his contract, proposed to give a feast to the in-
" habitants of the city, (Petersburg!!,) in testi-
" mony of his gratitude to those who had enrich-
" edhim. The victuals, the beer, and the bran-
" dy, which he caused to be served, cost him
" 20,000 rubles ! The populace flocked in
" crowds to the place, adjoining to the summer
u gardens, where he gdve this enormous repast ;
" and in spite oi the precautions that had been
" taken, disturbances soon arose, among this
u motley throng of guests. The contentions
" first began about the places, and the better
" kind of provisions spread upon the board :
" from struggles and noise they proceeded to
" blows. Several persons were killed : others
" became so intoxicated that they fell asleep in
" the streets and perished from the severity of
" the weather. The number of people, who
" lost their lives, amounted in all, to at least
" 500 !*" What a crime it was for this
purse-proud wretch to bring a multitude to-
gether to poison them ! Let those who are

* Life of the Empress Catherine II* vol. ii.

145

fond of such treats to the people, think of this
example.

It has been asserted, that one of the best an-
tidotes against intoxication is, for the sober man
to witness the actions of the drunkard. With a
mind as yet pure and unsullied with debauch,
such a sight must be highly disgusting, and
amidst the rigid manners of a Spartan education
it might have great weight. But evil commu-
nications corrupt good manners : vice by being
often seen, loses its deformity ; and the best of
young men have become sots from the contagion
of example. A drunkard reeling to and fro in
the streets, seldom escapes the insults and mock-
ery of schoolboys. But the same boys, when
grown up to men, do not always preserve the
same hatred and contempt foF the practice. The
babling sot may, for a time, be their sport and
derisioa ; but a frequent view of the object wears
off the sensibility of the eyes; and what they
once beheld with dislike, becomes now their
friend and associate.

The custom of introducing a drunken man on
the stage, is one of the meanest expedients of an
author, to raise a laugh. Some of the wretched
comedies of the present day, are particularly dis-
gusting on this account. An audience should

N

146

never be taught to countenance a vice that de-
forms our nature, by applauding the jests and I
wit of an inebriate. It serves to loosen the bonds
of virtue, and familiarizes the young beholder to
a practice that may terminate in his ruin. Procul
esto, prof ani !

The allegory of the companions of Ulysses
being transformed into swine, is a fine emblem of
this degrading habit. The product of the vi-
nous fermentation is not inaptly typified in the
following lines of Ovid :

-misceri tosti jubet hordea grani,

Mellaque, yimque meri, cum lacte coagula passo,
Quique sub hac lateant furtim dulcedine, succos
Adjicit.

A modern London porter-brewer, who mixes
opium and coculus Indicus with his liquor, may
be justly campared to the sorceress Circe, in
thus compounding her charms and hog-trans-
forming cup :

Quae simul arenti sitientibus hausimus ore,
(Et pudet et referam,) setis horrescere cccpi,
Nee jam posse loqui ; pro verbis edere raucum
Murmur; et in terram toto procumbere vultu :
Osque meum sensi pando occalescere rostro ;
Colla tumere toris, et qua modo pocula parte,
■Sumpta mihi fuerant, ilia vestigia feci.
Ciaudor hara. Ovid. Met. Lib. xiv. Fab, v. vi

147

Man, the lord of creation, when by excess and
bebauch he has lost the faculty of reason, is not
only levelled with the brutes, but seems to lose
the respect of inferior animals. The generous
horse, when mounted by a drunkard, forgets his
wonted spirit and dignity of mien, as if ashamed
of his burthen. The dog, at all other times
faithful to man, feels his attachment insulted
when he follows a staggering master. There
must indeed be something striking in the man-
ner and countenance, between sobriety and
drunkenness ; and why should they not be per-
ceived by these sagacious domestic animals?
Facts are not wanting to prove this, which have
come under my own knowledge. A man, re-
turning home at night when beastly drunk, wTas
attacked by his own house-dog, that had observ-
ed such a change in his master's voice and ap-
pearance, that he probably took him for a hog or
a thief. The noise waked the household, who
were too late to save the fleshy part of the leg
from being miserably torn. — A gentleman, after
getting very drunk in his own house with some
jolly companions, went to take the air in his gar-
den, where he was observed by some favourite
pointers : but, instead of their usual caresses,
they set upon him with great fury ; and, Acteon*

14S

like, he was hunted round his own walks by his
own pack. The consequences might have been
fatal, had not his screams brought his servants to

his assistance.

Hie fugit, per qu?c fuerat loea saepe secutus, *
lieu famulos fugit ipse suos: ciamare libebat,
Actseon ego sum, dominum cognoscitevestrum.

Ovid.

The reception which the King of Ithaca met
with, after a long absence, from his dog Argo,
was verv different from that of the two inebriates.
Yet Ulysses was poor, and in rags, at his return :
but his countenance was not altered by debauch,
or his face and eyes flushed with wine. From his
travels he had acquired much useful konwledge,
mores rnultorum vidit et urbes : for these acquisi-
tions the faithful dog seemed to feel a respect,
and expired with joy at his feet. Had the King
returned intoxicated with the cups of Circe
that wrere drank by his companions, it is proba-
ble this friendly animal might have denied his
lord and master.

But if the habit of intoxication is obnoxious
in all men; in the character of the Judge, the
Counsellor, and the Physician, it is peculiarly
criminal. The man that is daily muddled with

149

wine can possess no lucid interval, or power of
discernment; he cannot discriminate between thf
evidence of right and wrong ; and thus he is
equally liable to condemn the innocent with the
guilty. Solon, in framing the Athenian code,
seems to have been aware of this ; and another
wise man has said, " It is not for kings to drink
" wine ; nor for princes strong drink : lest they
" drink, and forget the law ; and pre vert the
" judgment of any of the afflicted*." The
same maxims apply to the duty of the lawyer ; if
not, the peace of society can never be secure
against evil advisers. But in the physician the
habit is still more dangerous. Other counsellors
of mankind have stated portions of their time for
business, but the accessions of disease are uncer-
tain, and the physician may be wanted at the
moment when his reason is overwhelmed with
wine. If there is one profession more than an-
other, that requires acuteness of apprehension,
serious reflection, or calm contemplation, it is
that of the physician ; for every case introduces
him to something he never saw before. Tiie
world has, at all times, been little fit to judge of
the medical character : because medical knowl-

* Proverbs, chap, xxxi rer. 4, 5.

N2

150

edge is almost insulated from the common obser-
vation of mankind. But when you hear it asser-
ted, that such a doctor can prescribe as well drunk
as sober, you must pity the weak mind that
eould form the idea ; or consider such language
as blasphemy in the face of reason :— A drunken
physician is not worthy to approach the sick bed
of a Hottentot. I mean not to debar the profes-
sion from the festive board; for, I think, of all men
they stand most in need of relaxation, from the
fatigues of business. Theirs is a continued
round among scenes of pain, sorrow, and death :
the man that employs a large part of the day in
the gloom of a sick chamber is entitled to all the
comforts that are derived from the society of the
virtuous and good in the domestic circle ; and
ought to have his share of amusements in the com-
pany of the elegant and polite.

The seeds of this disease, (the habit of ebrie-
ty,) I suspect, like many other, are often sown in
infancy. I do not merely allude to the moral
education. In tRe present stage of society, hu-
man kind are almost taken out of the hands of
Nature : and a custom called fashion, a word
which ought to have nothing to do with nursing,
now rules every thing. The early stages of our
existence require a mild bland nourishment, that*

151

is suited to the delicate excitability of a tender
subject. But it too often happens that the infant
is deprived of the breast, long before the growth
of the body has fitted the stomach for the recep-
tion of more stimulant food. Instead, therefore,
of its mother's milk, the infant is fed on hot
broth, spiced pudding, and, perhaps also, that
enervating beverage tea. The taste is thus early
vitiated, the stomach and bowels frequently dis-
ordered ; and, to add to the mishief, the helpless
child is forced to gulp down many a nauseous
draught of medicine, or bitter potion, that
its unnatural mother may acquit her con-
science of having done every thing in her power
to recover its health. Dyspeptic affections are
in this manner quickly induced : a constant re-
course to medicine, wine, cordials, and spirits,
must be the consequence ; and the child of the
fashionable lady becomes a certain annuity to
physic ; a drunkard at twenty, and an old man
at thirty years of age. Parents and guardians
would do well to calculate the effects of an ap-
petite, early accustomed to stimulating food ;
and endeavour to prevent future bad habits,
by suiting the nourishment to the period of
life.

152

It may now be asked, at what age ought a
child to begin the use of wine ? To this I must
reply, that spirits, wine, and fermented liquors of
all kinds ought to be excluded from the diet of
infancy, childhood, and youth. Natural appe-
tite requires no such stimulants. Human blood,
and healthful chyle, do not acknowledge alkohol
to be an ingredient in their composition. The
use of these liquors is hurtful in proportion
to the lender age in which it is begun. The
laborious rustic, whose chief beverage is water,
or milk, toils through the seasons, is never
troubled with dyspeptic complaints ; and never
suffers from low spirits or hypochondriacal ap-
prehensions. Why, then, will the better orders
of life, lay the foundation in infancy, for what are
to be constant troubles to their children while
they live ?

When wine was first introduced into Great
Britain, in the thirteenth century, it was con-
fined to the shop of the apothecary : it would
have been well had it been still confined there :
but spirituous liquors are not mentioned at that
period of our history. They were probably un-
known till our army went to assist the Dutch in
obtaining their independence. As an article of
medicine the virtues of wine are sovereign m

JLJO

their kind ; there are some diseases for which it
is the best remedy, witness typhus fever* But
the mind that leans upon it for support under
afflictions, trusts to a broken reed, a false friend,
a deception that lulls it into fatal security. The

ils and misfortunes of human life must be
borne with fortitude of a different kind, and op-
posed with religious and moral sentiments.
These opiates of the soul do not terminate their
operation by increasing the gloom, and inducing
a severer paroxysm at its next recurrence. A
man who gets drunk to forget care, should be
reminded of the horror that will inevitably
follow intoxication, on the first return of so-
briety.

I am of opinion, that no man in health can
need wine till he arrives at forty. He may then
begin with two glasses in the day : at fifty he
may add two more ; and at sixty he may go the
length of six glasses per diem, but not to exceed
that quantity even though he should live to an
hundred*. Lewis Cornaro, the Venetian noble-
man who lived upwards of a hundred, used four-
teen ounces of wine in the day. The stimulus

* Let it be remembered that I only apply this quantity to the
abstemious man who has never indulged in wine.

154

of wine is favourable to advanced age. The cir-
culating system, after we pass the meridian of
life, becomes less vigorous : and the passions
that formerly added force and strength to the
bodily movements, decline, and are less exciting.
As the feelings and sensibility, therefore, grow
blunt and dull, we can bear, not only with impu-
nity, but with advantage, those excitors that
would have done harm before. Wine, and all fer-
mented liquors, by quickening the circulation of
the blood, generate heat; and it is well known
that increase of temperature is favourable to old
age : heat stimulates the withered limb to motion,
softens the rigid fibre, and opens the dry skin by
augmenting the perspirable fluid. Thus aged
people feel additional comfort in warm seasons
and climates ; and generally die in some of the
winter months. For these reasons, wine has
been aptly called the " milk of old age"

O ! seldom may the stated hours return
Of drinking deep ! I would not daily taste,
Except when life declines, even sober cups,
Weak withering age no rigid law forbids,
With frugal nectar, smooth and slow with balm,
The sapless habit daily to bedew,
And give the hesitating wheels of life
Gliblier to play. But youth has better joys :
And is it wise, when youth with pleasure flows,
To squander the reliefs of age and pain ?

Armstrong. Art of Preserving Health.

In those families where gout and dyspetic
complaints are hereditary, the use of wine, and
all other fermented liquors, ought to be cautious-
ly guarded against in childhood and youth. The
parent who offers them to the infant, whatever
may be the motives of tenderness, ought to weigh
the consequences. If the babe were left to the
instincts of nature these articles wrould be the ve-
ry last it would fix upon. Their qualities are so
diametrically opposite to the mother's milk.
The pleasure which they afford is momentary ;
and every time they are resorted to, there is dan-
ger of the quantity being increased : of the evils
which result from this practice there is no end.The
child that is born of gouty and dyspeptic parents
ought from its birth to be confined to the mildest
food ; it ought to subsist on milk alone as long
as possible : it must never taste wine, even dilu-
ted to the utmost, or beer of the weakest kind.
Animal food, and broth made from that, light
puddings, and different articles of cookery where
milk forms the chief ingredient, will extend the
diet as the child grows up ; and thus will be laid
the foundation of a healthy constitution, and a
temperate life. It is a contrary treatment that
ensures the approach of these maladies ; and ear-
ly gout is often fixed before the man arrives at

156
thirty. Such are the baneful effects of early bad
customs ; for when the taste is once confirmed,
whether for hot or cold articles ; substances
sweet or sour, mild or acrid, they become so in-
terwoven with habit, that we strive in vain to
correct them. The late Dr. Cullen, in his Lec-
tures, used to mention a family, all of whom
were in the habit of taking a dram at a certain
hour before dinner, about one o'clock. When
the Doctor expressed his wonder at the practice,
it was acknowledged by all, that if the time pas-
sed, or if they were from home, and did not get
the usual dram, it was attended with a considera-
ble sense qfconciousness* In plain English, they
had got into a very bad habit, and found them-
selves low-spirited for want of their cordial.
This morning dram was probably inculcated by
the example of some dyspeptic mother, or an ar-
thritic father. The venerable Professor did not
inform us of the future history of this odd family;
but I could almost venture to pledge myself, that
the whole of them turned out to be drunkards.
Indeed where the members of a family were so
early initiated into pernicious customs by both
precept and example, parents have no right to
look for a regular lile among their children. In
this habit, as in all others, imitation has its pow-

157

erful eftects ; and the man is spoiled in the arms
of his nurse, while yet an infant.

Some intemperate men, it may have been re-
marked, have lived to a great age. That some
drunkards have numbered eighty years and up-
wards, there can be no doubt. But what kind of
life has that been ? half the time must have been
spent under the impression of deranged intellect;
and their sober moments, if they had any, must
have been a continued repetition of mental dis-
quietudes, dejected spirits, and gloomy appre-
hensions. If, however, we admit that one
drunkard now and then may exceed three score
years and ten, the balance is much on the other
side, when many thousands fall victims to the
bottle before they arrive at thirty. Let the man
of reflection oniy look round him in society ; and
as he sees his acquaintance fall off by the dis-
eases, mentioned in our catalogue ; if he has
been conversant with the modes of living among
these persons, he will find that intemperance in
drinking has had a large share in bringing them
to the grave.

But it is not drinking spirituous liquors to
the length of intoxication only that constitutes
intemperance. A man may drink a great deal,
pass a large portion of his time at the bottle, and

O

158

yet be able to fill most of the avocations of life.
There are certainly many men of this descrip-
tion, who have never been so transformed with
liquor as to be unknown to their own house-dog,
or so foolish in their appearance, as to be hooted
by school-boys, that are yet to be considered as
intemperate livers. These sober drunkards, if I
may be allowed the expression, cfeceive them-
selves as well as others ; and though they pace
slowly along the road to ruin, their journey ter-
minates at the same goal, bad health. They are
commonly men of easy dispositions, and an in-
dolent turn of mind ; like the man whom Horace
describes,

■ ■ ■ qui nee veteris pocula Massici,
Nee partem solido demere de die
Spernit.

Of the quantity of liquor which some in-
ebriates are capable of consuming, we have no
accurate accounts. To a certain length, habit
may enable a man to devour an enormous load :
but we even see habitual drunkards in their de-
cline, unequal to their former quantity. Their
stomachs may still be able to retain it, but the
head grows too weak to carry it. The organiza-
tion of the brain has been injured. The blood-

159
vessels there become straitened in their capacity
to receive blood ; some are obliterated ; while
others are uncommonly dilated and distended :
the substance of the brain also undergoes
changes, becomes dry and harder ; or soft and
more flaccid than natural. To these may be
added, bony, or stony concretions in different
places of that organ ; effusions under the cra-
nium, and water in the ventricles. These lesions
of the organic structure would seem to assist a
smaller quantity of liquor in raising delirium,
and for obvious reasons I have heard it assert-
ed that some coal-heavers and porters in London.,
will consume four gallons of ale or porter in the
twenty-four hours. This quantity could not be
long continued. I knew a marine, in a king's
ship, who usually drank four gallons of beer in
the day ; but he soon grew bloated and stupid^
and died of apoplexy. Among the numerous
deaths from intoxication which have come under
my own observation, or reported to me by sur-
geons, no seaman ever exceeded the bottle of
spirit ; whether rum of the common strength, or
malt spirit, made in England, the most fiery of
the whole. An officer of the hospital ship of the
fleet, besides his allowance of wine, at the mess-
table, usually drank a bottle and a half of gin in

160

.rwenty-four hours. His face, at times, was
equal to Bardolph's, with bloodshot eyes, fetid
breath, &c. He died of apoplexy and diseased
liver. A midshipman of my acquaintance, only
sixteen years old, drank in the West Indies,
three gallons of punch daily. The ship did not
remain long in the country: but he became a
professed drunkard, and died lately in the Medi-
terranean. The following narrative may serve
as an example of what is frequently done by a
labouring man in an American town, who passes
for a sober citizen. The daily quantity of spirits
(bad rum) consumed by one of these persons, is
as follows :

Before breakfast 2 gills.

Before dinner 3

By the time the day's
work is done 5

Total 8 gills, or 1 quart \
resides what he drinks in porter houses, clubs,
and other meetings in the evening. The re-
porter admits that this practice proves fatal, but
he does not say in what length of time, or what
diseases are the sequel. If a sober American la-
bourer can devour this quantity of spirit, what
portion constitutes a drunkard in that country ?

161

It is well that America receives her population
from the old continent, otherwise her peasantry
must soon die out. This account is taken from
the Medical Repository of New York : it fur-
nishes a shocking specimen of the morals of the
lower orders of society in the northern provinces
of the new world.

How far the rapturous effusions of poets, in the
praise of wine, have tended to meliorate or de-
prave the moral character, may not be the province
of a physician to discuss. I am ignorant of what
stupendous works o genius have been planned
by fancy , u in a fine frenzy rolling^ ever the
fumes of wine. I rather suspect that such build-
ings may be compared to castles in the air,
Thus a great name of the present day, whom
this country looks up to, spoke of the deliverance
of Europe from the horrors of the French Revo-
lution with all the confidence of a prophet, who
could look into the womb of time. He is styled
by way of eminence, "a -three-bottle man.5' But
if it was under the influence of that quantity that
he planned so many unsuccessful expeditions
against the enemy, as a lover of my native land, I
cannot help wishing that this great drinker hacj
been confined to three bottles of water till he had
fulfilled his promises to his countrymen.

0 2

162

When Philip king of Macedon invited Die-
nysius the younger, to dine with him at Corinth,
he felt an inclination to deride the father of his
royal guest, because he had blended the charac-
ters of the Prince and Poet ; and had employed
his leisure in writing tragedies. " How could
" the king find leisure,55 said Philip, to write
" these trifles?55 — " In those hours55 answered
Dionysius, " which yeu and I spend in' drunk-
" enness and debauchery*.55 This is an advice
that I can safely recommend to princes, and all
great men to whom the fate of empires may be
consigned ; as it is a more amiable employment
to be a poet than a drunkard ; and more honour-
able to write tragadies then to act them on the
theatre of human life, among surrounding nations,
as was done by Philip and Alexander.

Anacreon and Horace, who detail with so
much pleasantry their convival hours, have shewn
us but one side of the picture: the schirrous liver
and the palsied limb, with all the nameless ills
which the body suffers, before these mortal dis-
tempers appear, are thrown into the back ground.
Y- t the authority of some physicians may be
quoted in support of the lively sallies of these

* Zimmerman on Solitude.

163
poets. Dr. Haller, a man alike famous for his*
piety and learning, says, " Ingenium quod exci-
" tat vinum, ex eo clarissime inielligitur, quod ad
" poesin, quae res ingenii est, mirifice disponat.
11 Perpetuo ab antiquitate creditum est,et ipsa res
cl docet, vini calorem, poetarum furorem, etim-
" petum excitare : et Bacchi et Apollinis furo-
" rem unum esseeundemque: quamobrem Ovi-
* dius vino carens, in exilio de se conqueritur ;

" Impetus ille sacer, qui vatum pectora nutrit,
M Qui in nobis esse solebat, abest %39

Hoffman expresses himself much to the same
purpose : " Tarn observamus omnes hos popu-
" los qui vino utuntur, ionge ingeniosiores esse
" reliquis hominibus. Nullibi enim artes libe-
" rales, et disciplinarum studia melius floruerunt
M ac florentf quam dictis in locis : vina enim
u fovent vires, pituitam attenuant, mordaces
" euras humanis mentibus infestas abstergunt,
" vim animo reddunt, spirituascentiam sanguinis
" promovent, ingeniumque accuunt : unde non
u inepte vinum poetarum equus dictum estf."

* Physiol, lib, xxii. sect. 1 — 13.
f Hoffm. De Temperamento.

164

The language contained in these quotations,
my opinion, is more becoming the poet than
physician. Poetry, the first of the fine arts, took
its rise among shepherds in the early ages of
society, when the manners of mankind, as well
as their diet, were simple ; when the fermenta-
tion of the juice of the grape was unknown, and
■when the vine itself, either sprung up spontane-
ously, or was only cultivated as a fruit-tree.
Sentiments of the kind, with these physicians, we
imbibe with our classical education ; and we pre-
serve them through life on account of the elegant
taste and language in which they are written.
But when we come to engraft them on the use-
ful affairs of the wTorld, they elevate the mind
above the realities around it. and give a dan-
gerous bias to the moral character. Our
Milton has a beautiful Latin ode in praise of
wine.

A modern British physician of great emi-
nence, himself a poet, far above mediocrity,
both in his medical and metrical works,-has held
a language very -different from both Haller and
Hoffman. He probably carries his antipathy to
vinous potation too far ; and attributes effects to
it that are generally overcharged, if not incor*

165
rect*. He was no wine-bibber, and died lately
about the age of seventy. But I have been told
by a lady of great literary and scientific accom-
plishments, who had lived for weeks in the fami-
ly, that he was rather a gross eater, and made
amends for the want of vinous stimulus, by con-
sinning large quantities of animal food. The
muse of Darwin therefore received no inspira-
tion from Bacchus, in singing the "tiny graces'5
of the plants,

To woo and win their vegetable loves. Eot. Garde);.

As far as my own experience goes in resort-
ing to wine agathst the fatigues of business, I
think, if circumstances were fairly weighed, they
do not much support the practice. I have al-
ways had more inclination than opportunities for
study. In the practical duties of medicine I
have, without prejudice, formed my observations
at the sick-bed ; and no physician ever encoun-
tered more anxiety for the fate of his prescrip-
tion, or felt more sincerely for the recovery of
his patient. My labours in some periods of the
naval service, in point of mental and bodily ex-
ertion, have not been surpassed by any member

* £ocmoiaia.

166

of the profession ; nor has the least of these t>eeyt
my endeavours to rouse the apathy and torpid in-
difference to the subject of health in the navy,
that pervades the public officers in this country.
A great part of my life has been spent among
men who are, from situation, said to be much
addicted to ebriety : but in the present day, in
this respect, naval officers, for sober living, are
equal to any other description of persons. My
whole experience assures me, that wine is no
friend to vigour or activity of mind : it whirls
the fancy beyond the judgment, and leaves body
and sou! in a state of listless indolence and sloth.
This is confirmed by what I have observed of
the habits of life among some great men whom I
liave had the honour to number as friends. The
man that, on arduous occasions, is to trust to his
own judgment must preserve an equilibrium of
mind, alike proof against contingencies as internal
passions. Even the physician requires this for-
titude as much as any individual. He must be
prompt in his decisions ; bold in enterprise.;
fruitful in resources ; patient under expectation ;
not elated with success, or depressed with disap-
pointment. But if his spirits are of that stan-
dard as to need a fillip from wine, he will never
conceive or execute any thing magnanimous or

167
grand In a survey of my whole acquaintance
and friends, I find that the water-drinkers possess
the most equal temper and cheerful dispositions.
But this does not exclude the temperate use of
wine, which certainly is less in quantity than peo-
ple commonly imagine*.

With respect to labour of body the same argu-
ments apply. Vinous liquors for a while encrease
muscular strength ; but to a certainty bring on
premature weariness and fatigue, with more in-
clination to sleep. Spirits have the same effects
in a greater degree, and cause a greater consump-
tion of pure air. In a warm season or climate,
the best articles to use under severe corporeal
hardships are the acid fruits, such as the lemon and
and orange, apple, &c. ; or in lieu of them, vin-
egar and water, as practised by the Roman sol-
diers. In winter, plain diet, with a due admix-
ture of animal food, and moderate exercise, are
the sure security of preserveing warmth of body*
Spirituous liquors, though generally practised,
give but a temporary glow, and in the end
render the effects of cold more speedily hurt-
ful.

* Yet I know some men who are only temperate from the dread
of exciting furious passions bv the use of wine; their deposition5
being naturally bad, they are afraid to drink,

168

A custom has long prevailed in this country
of drinking wine while at dinner : this is down-
right pampering, and vitiates taste and healthful
appetite. But if there is a guest at table who
loves his bottle, it affords him an opportunity of
getting drunk before the cloth is taken off, to the
great annoyance of the company. This custom
ought to be proscribed : " Thracum est"

A nobleman of my acquaintance, a flag-officer,
a man of the most equal temper, who excelled in
the mathematical sciences, was subject to heredi-
tary gout ; which, by a temperate regimen, and
the spare use of wine, he kept under till he was
nearly sixty. After this he was seldom without
an annual attack ; but which did not impair his
general health, or deprive him of exercise. Du-
ring a tremendous gale of wind in the month of
February, while he suffered great anxiety for the
safety of his fleet, he was much exposed to cold
and was seized with a severe gouty paroxysm,
which lasted many weeks, and left considerable
lamenesss behind, as well as general .debility.
From habitual costiveness he had taken Glauber's
salts as a laxative for twenty years ; and his wine,
a glass or two, always largely diluted. My opin-
ion was, that a mere stimulating plan was neces-
sary ; that the cold purgative should be changed;

169

and generous wine freely indulged. My advice was
overruled by those who had long attended him,
who said that it was impracticable to alter such
long habits ; and he declined from that moment*
In this case, wine, that was wisely withheld du-
ring the vigour of youth, would now, in old age,
and under increasing debility, have been a certain
remedy. A life so valuable ought to have been
spun to its last thread ! Frail indeed is that art
whose professors are jealous to have their merits
tried by the laws of common sense.

There can be no doubt that many persons have
to date their first propensity to drinking to the
too frequent use of spirituous tinctures as medi-
cines, rashly prescribed for hysterical and hypo-
chondriacal complaints. There are patients who
are continually craving after medical novelties,
and are in the practice of taking every article that
is warming and cordial. People accustomed to
drink very strong tea, particularly those who in-
dulge in the finest greens, run great hazard of
falling into the same evil habit. Tea, in the
present day, has a large share in the production
of stomach complaints, and those affections
usually called nervous. It powerfully stimulates
the digestive organs for a while, and exhilarates
the spirits ; but a proportional debility and de*

P

170
jection of mind succeed, till, like the dram, it-
must be made stronger and stronger, and is then
Followed by a train of dyspeptic symptoms, such
as gastrodynia, acidity, flatulence, hysterics, bar-
renness, and all the evils which flow from a de-
ranged nervous system. Souchong tea, used
once-a-day, not made too strong, with a due ad-
mixture of cream and sugar, is a harmless and
agreeable beverage. But hyson, and all the
greens, are powerful narcotics, that destroy the
stomach ; and when a train of stomach com-
plaints is once fixed, and continued, by the use of
tea, there is no person proof against the tempora-
ry ease which is obtained by spirituous potation,
but whose permanent effects are disease, pain,
derangement of intellect, a miserable existence,
or premature death. There are certainly many
well-meaning people who take frequent drams to
relieve uneasiness of stomach, without at all sus-
pecting that they are doing any thing wrong.
When complaints arise from this habit, they very
little consider their daily cordial as the cause of
the mischief, and too often continue it till the
breach in their health is irreparable.

There is another custom not uncommon in
some families, but particularly at feasts and en-
tertainments, the ceremony of handing cordials

171
found in the time of dinner, which is against all
rules of temperance. It is deceiving the un-
wary : for I am sure there are many who drink
of the liqueurs that would blush to taste brandy.
Yet they arc nothing more than brandy disguis-
ed. Many of these cordials arc impregnated
with narcotic substances, which add to the
noxious qualities of the spirit. We were told by
Dr. Mortimer, in the Philosophical Transactions
that a man and his wife died paralytic, who drank
daily a dram or two of brandy in which laurel-
berries were infused*. The liqueur called Noyau>
which is imponed in greatest perfection from
Martinique, is ntarly allied to this, having all the
flavour of the laurel- bitter, and may be readily
imitated by bitter almonds. As the habit of
ebriety is so difficult to be overcome, from what-
ever causes it began, so the best maxim is, " ob^
" stare principiis f."

* Reid and Gray's Abridgement, vol. vi. p. 270-

fThe kernels of the drupacious fruits hare a flavour c;
resembling the laurel-bitter, which is obtained from the leaves
of the cherry laurel ; Prkmts lauro-cevasus of Linnaeus. The
flowers and leaves of this tree are sometimes employed to season
dishes and sweetmeats. About the year 1^28, they were first dis-
covered to be poisonous, as narrated by Dr. Madden of Dublin in
Ac Philosophical Transactions, Experiments have since been made

172
However seducing the love of inordinate drink-
ing may be, like other bad habits, mankind sel-
dom get into it once. There is a gradation in the
vice. When the drunkard feels himself falling
as it were in the scale of being, he forsakes his
former friends, seems to shun his honourable ac-
quaintance, and slides by degrees into the com-
pany of men whom he lately despised. Some
struggles of sensibility, some compunctious visit-
ing, cannot fail to attend such a transition. A
few years ago I met an old and once valued friend
m a public walk : being short-sighted I did
not perceive him for some time, and he made no
advances to speak to me. I observed him more
slovenly in his dress than usual, and his face ra-
ther bloated : I requested the favour of his com-
pany to dinner, which he accepted in an embar-
rassed manner, and came. But alas ! quantum
mutatus ab Mo ! At dinner his conversation was
all in broken sentences ; his fine literary taste
was gone : and the feast of reason and the flow
of soul had no share in our entertainment. He

on the subject by different physicians and naturalists, particularly
the Abbe Fontana. In the year 1780, Captain Donellan was tried and
condemned for the murder of Sir Theodosius Boughton his broth-
er-in-law, by putting laurel-water into vials that were supposed
to contain medicine, whish were swallowed, and proved fatal,

173
drank incessantly of sherry, as if insensible vvhv
he did it, and filled bumpers every time. I was
called out of the room on duty, but before I re-
turned he had finished another bottle of wine.—
It is painful to add, in a few weeks he was con-
fined in a mad house ! I could trace no cause for
the pernicious habit in this accomplished young
man but the effect of a proud spirit broken by
disapointments in his profession.

When ebriety has become so far habitual that
some disease appears in consequence, the phy-
sician is for the first time called in, and a task the
most ungreatful devolves upon him. If friends
and relations had taken the alarm before to save
the constitution of the patient, it will at once be
found that their attempts proved unsuccessful*
Whatever this disease may be, whether stomach
complaints, with low spirits, permature gout,
epilepsys jaundice, or any other of the catalogue,
it is in vain to prescribe for it till the evil genius
of the habit has been subdued. On such an oc
casion it is difficult to lay down rules. The
physician must be guided by his own discretion:
he must scrutinize the character of his patient,
his pursuits, his modes of living, his very passions
and private affairs. He must consult his own
experience of human nature, and what he has

P2

174

learned in the school of the world. The arreat
point to be obtained is the confidence of the sick
man; but this is not to be accomplished at a first
visit, It is to be remembered that a bodily in-
firmity is not the only thing to be corrected.
^ The habit of drunkennese it4a disease of the mind.
The soul itself has received impressions that are
incompatible with its reasoning powers. The
subject, in all respects, requires great address ;
and you must beware how you inveigh against
the propensity ; for the cravings of appetite for the
poisonous draught are to the intemperate drink-
er as much the inclinations. of nature, for the time,
as a draught of cold water to a traveller panting
with thirst in a desart. Much vigilence will of-
ten be required in watching these cravings; for
they are sometimes attended with modes of decep-
tion, and a degree of cunning, not to be equalled.
I have known them employ force in the rudest
manner in order to gratify their longing after
spirituous liquors. I firmly believe that the in-
judicious and ill-timed chastisement of officious
friends have driven many unfortunate inebriate
to ruin, that might have been reclaimed by a dif-
ferent treatment. Nay, if such corrections are
applied when the mind is ruffled with nervous
and hypochondrical feelings, and depressed with

175
low spirits, which so frequently follow a i
night's debauch, the consequences may be fatal ;
and it is well known that suicide has sometimes
been first resolved upon after these ghostly ad-
monitions,

When the physician has once gained the full
confidence of his patient, he will find little diffi-
culty in begining his plan of cure. I have on
several occasions wrought myself so much into
the good graces of them, that nothing gave them-
so much alarm or uneasiness as the dread of de-
clining my visits after they had been argued out
of the pernicious practice. This confidence may
sometimes be employed to great advantage when
your regimen is in danger of being transgressed,
for frequent relapses, and promises repeatedly bro-
ken, will, in such situations, render the physi-
cian's visits a work of great trial to his patience.
This disease, I mean the habit of drunkenness, is
like some other mental derangements ; there is an
ascendancy to be gained over the person com-
mitted to our care, which, when accomplished,
brings him entirely under our control. Particu-
lar opportunities are therefore to be taken, to
hold up a miror as it were, that he may see the
deformity of his conduct, and represent the in-
surable maladies which flow from perseverance

176

in a course of intemperance. There are times
when a picture of this kind will make a strong-
impression on the mind ; but at the conclusion
of every visit, something consolatory must be
left for amusement, and as food for his reflec-
tions.

It has been a doubt with some physicians,
whether even, if the patient were willing, it is
proper all at once to leave off wine or spirits*
The body being long accustomed to this stimu-
lus cannot be deprived of it, without sustaining
manifest injury. This mode of reasoning is
founded on the observation that habit has a pow-
erful influence over many of the actions of the an-
imal economy ; it becomes a part of our nature,
and some important operations of living system
are entirely governed by it. The general fact
being admitted, it does not follow that such long
continued stimili as have a tendency to destroy
the functions of the body, should not, all at oncey
be laid aside. Let us suppose a person for years
living in a dungeon, unwholesome and unventi-
latcd, till diseases appear from these causes, would
any rational being hesitate a moment to bring
forth the squalid sufferer into the light of day,
that he might have the full benefit of pure atmos-
phere ? The case is exactly in point ; the confined

177

person has been breathing poison, and the drum'
ard has been swallowing it ; he has drank poison-
ous spirit till it has Drought him ;o the verge of
the grave, and yet it is held dangerous to take it
away. The practice of physic is sometimes so
tightly iaced in its technical habiliments that it is
incapable of turning round ! But it does not ap-
pear that ever the living body could accustom
itself, strictly speaking, to the use of alkohol.
The habit of intoxication belongs to the mind.
The nature of the human stomach cannot accom-
modate itself to ardent spirit, and dyspeptic symp-
toms are the early signs of its being hurtful.
The nervous, villous, and muscular coats, the
gastric and mucous foliicles of the stomach, in-
stead of feeling it necessary for their functions,
by every repetition of the draught, resist it the
more till at last digestion is overcome, a fixed
disease takes place in these organs, and the fibres
become hard and insensible. It is true, that du-
ring all these corporeal ailments the mind is grad-
ually forming a bad habit ; it receives pleasure
from the first, but the body nothing but disease
and pain. We daily see in all parts of the
world, men, who by profligacy and hard drink-
ing, have brought themselves to a jail ; yet if we
consult the register of the prison, it does not ap-

v 178

pear that any of these habitual drunkards die by
being forced to lead sober lives. If at any time
an inebriate dies after he has been compelled to
temperance, his death is not to be attributed to
the want of spirituous potation, but to the too
long continuance of it, which rendered his disease
incurable. The whole of these arguments tend
to prove that vinous stimulus may be safely re-
linquished at once; the debility of the body, if
any exists, is then to be cured by whatever may
restore the weakened organs. In most cases na-
ture will effect this, as these organs have only
been exhausted by unnatural means.

But, in attempting to subtract the vinous pota-
tion by little and little, a difficnlty arises which
^every one conversant with the subject must have
observed. As soon as the limited portion of li-
quor is swallowed, an agreeable glow is experi-
enced ; and by it so grateful a feeling is conveyed
to the mind, which in an instant connects the
chain of habit, that is our duty to break. This
glow and feeling are associated in the patient's
mind with all those pleasurable sensations he has
been accustomed to receive from his former bum-
per. He therefore reasons with himself that he
finds much relief ; and as he is aware that the ef-
fect of the present dose will only be of short du.

179
nation, he must take another to prolong his reverie,
and ward off some intruding care. With a
second glass he finds more pleasing objects pre-
sented to his imagination, and then he is urged to
try a third. His depressed spirits, fears, and ap-
prehensions have now vanished : he is so happy
within himself that he despises fortune, and views
the world with contempt ; thus he goes on, liba-
tion after libation, till he sinks into a drunken
slumber.

The happiest he of all that e'er were mad,
Or are or shall lie, could this folly last.

The morning visit of his physician will be in
troduced with the inquiry about the quantity
of wine drank yesterday, and how he slept in the
night ? He will probably tell his physician frank-
ly that he rather exceeded his allowance, but slept
well. But the morning account ; ate no break-
fast, pain about the region of the liver worse, great
flatulence, cardialgia, thirst, headach, &c. Such
is the tenor of these consultations, repeated day
after day ; the patient must be treated secundum
artem, and nature is drove out of the house. Dr.
Lettsom, in his little work on Drunkenness, tells
us of a man that dropped a bit of sealing wax
into his dram-glass every time he drank, till he

180
-filled it, and by this means gradually got the
better of his habit. Whatever truth may be in
this narrative, surely neither Br, Lettsom or any
other physician could be childish enough, to
imitate it ; for there could be no danger in filling
the glass at once, if the cure of the patient de-
pended on that.

Again, are not habits of drunkenness more
often produced by mental affections than corpo-
real diseases ? I apprehend few people will doubt
the truth of this. Does not the inebriate return
to his potation rather to raise his spirits, and ex-
hilarate the mind, than to support and strengthen
the body ? The diseases of body, if unattended
with dejection^ have no need of vinous stimulus;
and three-fourths of the human race recover dai-
ly from all the stages of debility without ever hav-
ing recourse to it. With drunkards therefore my
opinion is, and confirmed by much experience,
that wine, malt liquor , and spirits, in every form,
ought at once to be taken from them.

As far as my experience of mankind enables
me to decide, I must give it as my opinion, that
there is no safety in trusting the habitual in-
ebriate with any limited portion of liquor.
Wherever I have known the drunkard effectually
reformed, he has at once abandoned his potation

181

That dangerous degree of debility winch ha^
been said to follow the subtraction of vinous
stimulus, I have never met with, however uni-
versal the cry has been in its favour ; it is the
war-whoop of alarmists ; the idle cant of arch
theorists.

I have mentioned, above, the necessity of i
studying the patient's temper and character, that
we may acquire his confidence. These will lead us
to the particular cause, time and place of his love
of the bottle. The danger of continuing his ca-
reer may be then calmly argued with him, and
something proposed that will effectually wean his
affections from it, and strenuously engage his at-
tention. This may be varied according to cir-
cumstances, and must be left to the discretion of
the physician. " Mutatio loci, si ex doloribus
11 cordis, vel adversis fortunae aut amoris malum
44 increvit, plurimum proderit. Hunc castra et
ci arma ; hunc musae omnes \ hunc artes ele-
"gantes; hunc rus amssnum ; ilium venatio et
" variae excrcitationes suaviter occupabunt ;
u hunc negotia magis seria non male detinebunt.
" Et breviter cupiditas vini iisdem modis vin-
" cenda, distantia et absentia, quibus amator im-
u mitem dominam e pectore suo pellit*."

♦ Dissertatio de Ebrietate, &c. p. 38. Edin. 17&8.

Q

—

182

In order to strengthen the body if debilitated,
general remedies, as commonly employed, may
be resorted to ; such as the cold bath, chalybeate
waters, exercise in the open air, condiments,
vigorous diet, &c.

The waters of Bath are in considerable repute
for their efficacy in recruiting the worn-down
constitution of inebriates. But this means of
relief can only be obtained by the wealthy : the
greater part of our patients must be content with
cheaper remedies at home. To those who can
afford a journey to Bath, for the purpose of using
its waters, I can have no objection to the trial.
These waters are now found, by the superior
chemical analysis of Dr. Gibbes, to contain iron
in a very diffused state ; from which it ;s fair to
suppose their medical qualities chiefly arise.
This city also affords many elegant amusements,
that may be consoling to a man who has just for-
saken an unkind attachment. That species of
etiquette which one is forced to go through in
fashionable circles, and among trifling entertain-
ments, may, on particular people, have a power-
ful influence in introducing new trains of think-
ing. The hours are there well adapted to the
comfort of invalids, I would recommend people
who visit this gay watering-place to keep a diary

183

the pleasures and acquaintance, such as, the
number of fine women ; a list of widows and
amount of their jointures ; a catalogue of the
fortune-hunters ; what ladies are most amiable
for accomplishments; which dances best, and
which is given to scandal, &c. They will find
there a great variety of medical characters, pro-
bably the whole that are mentioned in the
latro/ogia of Dr. Beddoes. But it is to be re-
membered that all this regimen will be in vain
without a firm resolution to persevere in the
chastest temperance. It is surprising what na-
ture will effect in the cure of those violent dys-
peptic and hepatic affections which have been in-
duced by intoxication^ when the inordinate use of
wine has ceased. Nay, those diseases, when
pronounced inclinable, have sometimes yielded
in a few months to a plain diet and water beve-
rage : Nothing, therefore, can be more en-
couraging to persons who resolve firmly to lead a
regular and sober life.

The chief complaints which require medicine
are of the dyspeptic kind. The pain and tin-
easiness which they create is almost constant ; and
if accompanied with a hypochondriacal disposi-
tion, nothing can be more harassing. It is al-
ways necessary in such cases to correct the acid

184

prevailing in the stomach and bowels; whk-
may be done by Pulv. chel. comp. Pulv. cretae
comp. Mag. ust. Aq. calcis, &c. Acidity with
flatulence often produces spasmodic pains and
twitches, as they are called, as well as that irre-
gular and tumultuous motion of the intestines
called borborrygmi. Bitters are readily com-
bined with these anti-acids, such as Colombo,
quassia,, characemelum, &x. ; they likewise im-
pede fermentation in the stomach, and also cor-
rect acidity. Iron, in its most suitable state, (for
the form ought to be studied) given in small
quantity, and continued long, is justly celebrated
in these cases. I would have the belly preserv-
ed in a soluble condition by gentle laxatives; but
lt , . __ " * *■ * •*

an me narsher purgatives must De avoided : it
the diet can be so conducted as to supersede the
use of medicine in regulating this discharge, so
much the better. The cramps and spasms which
so often attend the weakened stomach are readily
relieved by aether, vitr. and opium, with other
stimulants ; but these generally yield when the
acidity is overcome. The physician, in direct-
ing his formula^ will cautiously avoid every pre-
paration that has ardent spirit in its composition.
I have seen and known many instances where the
most nauseous and fetid tinctures were deyoureri

1*85
with an avidity not to be conceived, when it was
found that they were compounded of brandy.
The taste of the mouth on such occasions has
little to do in exciting the desirestof the patient ;
there is a vacuum in sensation, if I may so term
it, that can be supplied with nothing but the vi-
nous stimulus while the habit remains, and the
mind not earnestly in pursuit of something that
can engage it.

The dyspnoea, or shortness of breath of drunk-
ards, is of two kinds. The one is sympathetic
with affections of the stomach, liver, heart, &c. ;
the other usually preceeds and attends hydrothor-
ax, and a general disposition to dropsy. It is
a most distressing symptom, as the, maladies
which it accompanies are seldom curable ; opiates
and aether, vit. give temporary ease. Some yeans
ago I attended an old gentleman of seventy-two,
who laboured under a severe dyspnoea and gen-
eral dropsy. They were induced by tippling gin
and water, a phrase very well applied to that fre-
quent recourse to spirit and water which some
people practice without getting drunk. This
gentleman had a remarkable recovery, from the
exhibition of squills, prepared as directed in the
3d vol. of Medicina Nautica, article Phthisis*

the space of a year he had a relapse, and was
Q2

186
cured in the same manner, but he never gavt
up his grog. He lived to eighty-four.

In those visceral obstructions, such as the tub-
ercular or schirrous liver, I am averse to all se-
vere mercurial courses. Indeed mercury in any
form has seldom appeared to me to be of any
service beyond its action in keeping the bowels
open, where costiveness was to be guarded against
I conceive the frame of an habitual drunkard to
have been so much exhausted by inordinate and
unnatural stimuli^ that it lias long been my prac-
tice to commit him to the regimen of children,
such as diet of milk, and other kinds of nourish-
ment of the mildest quality. In short, instead
of withdrawing the bottle by those slow degrees
which have been long recommended by physi-
cians, my plan of cure is at once to take from him
every thing that is highly stimulating ; to put him
on food in direct opposition to his former modes
of living, and consign him to the lap of nature as
if his existence were to pass through a second
infancy. Indeed the reformed drunkard must
be considered as a regenerated being.

I have attended two cases of diseased liver
within these few months from- frequent spirituous
potation, although neither of them were deemed
intemperate drinkers. They both proved fatalr

187
and were in the last stage of debility before I Wu.
consulted. One of them more liable to dyspep-
sia, laboured under jaundice, and the hue of the
skin before death, as well as the urine, was nearly
black. The other suffered from hydrothorax,
though both Irad dropsy*. Inebriates who have
been corpulent, I think are more than others, li-
able to hydrops pectoris. Obesity by distending
the cellular substance, and when the adipose cells
come to be empty afterwards, may pave the way
to a greater exhalation ; and deminished absorp-
tion at the same time, may take place from the
pressure being removed.

In the cases just mentioned, the disease of the
liver had been very slow in its progress, and
without giving much pain. Indeed this viscus>
notwithstanding its important office in digestion
and sanguification, appears to be endued with
little sensibility. When calculi are lodged in
the ducts, acute pain is sometimes felt, but all
its other diseases create little uneasiness. In
icterus when the bile is carried in considerable
quantity into the circulation, there is an unusual
torpor of feeling and sluggishness of motion

* I am sorry to observe that numerous cases of the same kind
£ave since that time come under my notice,

166
throughout the body. Can the bile affect the
oxygenation of the blood when absorbed in thi&
manner ? Might not this diminished sensibility
be owing to the abstraction of oxygene ? Are he-
patic obstructions induced by vinous potation,
similar in appearance to those produced by he-
patitis in tropical climates ? Mercury so success-
fully exhibited by Bontius, and others since his
time, in the disease of the East Indies, has not,
to my knowledge, ever relieved the tubercular
^Section from hard drinking.

The constipation of bowels which follows in-
toxication, for a single paroxysm may be owing'
:o increased absorption from vinous stimulus ;
>;nd diarrhoea may be caused by the inverted
.notion of the iacteals, by the increased action of
exJhalants and mucous glands, and also by the
increased peristaltic motion of the intestines that
hurries on their contents. The constipation
which attends habitual ebriety may arise from a
weaker peristaltic motion, or deficiency of bile^
the diarrhoea from diminishing absorption, by
the Iacteals becoming torpid ; the cure therefore
<:an only be effected by removing the primary
cause of the mischief.

Having always directed my curative indica-
tions of habitual tenxulency chiefly to the stat'

189

patient's mind, much may be frequently done
by rousing particular passions, such as a parent's
love for his children, the jealousy attached to
character, the desire of fame, the pride of repu-
tation, family pride, &c. I have seen a lovely in-
ftmt force tears from a drunken father, when
nothing else could affect him, though he was
afterwards reclaimed. The good sense and
management of an amiable wife, we know, will
often accomplish wonders. The practice I would
wish to inculcate, in taking advantage of the pa-
tient's temper and feelings, is nicely illustrated
by the following fact : A friend of mine an emi-
nent physician, in the north, was consulted by a
gentleman on the subject of correcting an un-

1 " -~~* *^ *V bottle, in the wife of
fortunate atuuuimviiv %*> v -, —

his bosom. They formally sat down to de-
liberate, and the doctor listened with much pa-
tience to all the ways and means that bad been
devised by the distressed and affectionate hus-
band to reclaim his cava sposa. So much had
been done, and so many expedients tried in vain,
that the physician declared, nothing further could
be attempted, but to place a hogshead oi brandy
before her, and let her drink till she gave up the
ghost ! The last part of the sentence was pro-
nounced with considerable emphasis. It so hap-

199
pened that the lady suspecting the subject oi
consultation to be herseit, was concealed in an
adjoining room, and overheard every word. The
words of the physician strongly affected her; her
pride was wounded, and her resentment roused
to the highest pitch imaginable. In the whirl-
wind of passion the chain of habit was broke in
an instant ; female delicacy resumed its ascen-
dency over her actions ; and from that moment
she abjured the intoxicating charm. I am sorry
to add my honest friend was never after be-
held with complaisance by the fair convert,
though he had proved to be her best bene-
factor.

In May last I was requested to visit a respecta-
ble tradesman, whom I f<-;^ ^uu?ing under
severe dyspeptic complaints, depression of spirits,
great apprehension, and, at times, alienation of
mind. For my two or three first visits I was un-
able to divine the cause of such extraordinary
symptoms. But in the course of attendance it
at last came out that he had lately been much
addicted to the bottle. I could now take my
ground to advantage ; and in a long conversation
with him, he told me that something lay heavy
on his mind. He then related what it was : he
Ivad some months before been in a company

191
where one of his particular friends, in an unbe-
coming manner, traduced the character of ano-
ther, and which strongly affected him. This
circumstance preyed upon his memory ; he
could neither sleep or rest for it ; and he had
recourse to drinking to quiet the tumult of his
spirits, and agitation of mind. Being now in-
formed of all the particulars of this curious hal-
lucination, with much difficulty I at last per-
suaded him to relinquish his liquor. He kept
his resolution for some days9 when he relapsed,
drank a considerable quantity, and next morn-
ing early all his horrors returned. About nine
o'clock I found him quite frantic ; and he even
spoke of destroying himself. He had now all
the symptoms of phrenitic delirium, or brain
fever. Being a strong hale man I ordered venae-
section ; and blood to the amount of twenty-four
ounces was taken from him. He became quiet
immediately ; slept sound the succeeding night,
and only complained of weakness in the morn-
ing. I now reasoned with him at my visits in-
stead of plying him with medicine : he listened
to my admonitions with great attention ; thanked
me, even to tears, for the signal change which
my arguments had made upon him, and happily
regained his usual serenity of mind. — I was

192

much pleased with the successful issue of fliis
case ; for at. first none ever appeared more likely
to terminate in permanent madness.

Having now finished my method of treating
and correcting the habit of intoxication, as fa& as
my own experience has warranted me, I shall
deliver my sentiments on what appears to me
the bast method of treating the drunken Par-

As the Meteria Medica does not supply any
thing as yet known for correcting the inebriating
power of alkohol, the cure of the paroxysm will
turn very much in evacuating it from the stomach;
which must be best done by throwing in quanti-
ties of lukewarm water, and provoking vomiting.
Acids, it is true, have been said to prove very
efficacious in destroying the stimulant power of
ardent spirit by chemical union, thereby altering
its nature. It has been a common practice to
exhibit acids to obviate the effect of large doses
of opium : but it is doubtful whether ever much
good was done by their assistance. If this is at
all a chemical question, it will not be easy to ex-
plain the mode of action of these substances with
opium* I would therefore, at all times, prefer
the method of dilution, and provoking vomiting,
if possible. It is remarked in a former part of

193
this essay that death is sometimes so sudden
after the deglutition of a large quantity of raw oi
undiluted spirit, that no time is given to call-in
medical assistance. Nevertheless this practice is
so simple as to be easily carried into effect by any
person present : but I am ignorant whether any
rules on the subject have been published by the
Humane Society.

Should the drunken man have so far lost the
power of sense and motion as to be unable to
help himself, he ought to be placed either in an
armed chair, where he cannot fall, or laid in a
bed with the head erect, inclining a little to the
one side, for the purpose of facilitating vomit-
ing. The neckcloth ought to be taken off, and
the collar of the shirt unbuttoned. The doors
and windows of the room ought to be thrown
open, for a free ventilation ; all visitors beyond
assistants must be excluded, and whatever may
add to the heat of the body is to be carefully
avoided.

If his face is much swoln, and unusually
flushed or bloated; if his breathing is sterte-
rous, with the eyes fixed and vessels turgid, there
is danger of an instant fit of apoplexy. How far
bleeding with the lancet, cupping the temples, or
applying leeches, for the purpose of relieving the

R

194
brain, are to be depended upon, I cannot well
determine. I have tried bleeding, and the pa-
tient has recovered that fit ; but in a few hours
another one has carried him off. If, however,
these means should be attempted, attention must
be paid to the strength and age of the patient,
and to the degree of comatose symptoms, so as
to regulate the quantity of blood necessary to be
taken away. Which being done the stomach is
to be quickly unloaded ; and as the delay in ex-
hibiting emetics might be fatal, the best means of
accomplishing this is by introducing a feather or
any suitable substance into the mouth, and tick-
ling the faucers, till the contents of that viscus
are all evacuated*.

I am well aware that there are physicians who
may hesitate to direct vomiting in, the manner
which I have proposed. Vomiting, under an
impending apoplexy, has been considered a dan-
gerous practice ; as during the inverted action of
the stomach, and the collapsed state of the lungs,

* Si ebrius quispiam repente aphonias fiat, eonvulsus moritur,
nisi febre corripiatur, aut ubi, ad horara pervenerit, qua crapulge
solvuntur vocem recuperit. Hip. Aphor. v. sect. 5.

Qui ebrius obmutuit, is fere nervorum distentione consumitur,
nisi aut febris accessit, aut eo tempore, quo ebrietas solvi debet,
loqui ccepit. Oel. De Med. 1. iL c. 6.

195

by a long inspiration, the blood is accumulated in
the blood-vessels of the brain, and thus a greater
hazard of their distention, rupture and effusion
from them take place. That such things might
happen during the effort of vomiting I do not
mean to dispute : but I have long made the ob-
servation that spontaneous vomiting is a certain
relief here, when there is every sign of instant
apoplexy. I therefore conceive it fair to imitnte
that effort by art. Indeed those gentlemen who
have cavilled most at this practice have produced
no fact to controvert it : their dislike to it rests
solely on theoretical opinions. To these opinions,
fortunately, the operations of nature are not
obliged to bend : for if we are to suppose it
dangerous to evacuate the loaded stomach of the
inebriate, vomiting, at any time, must be con-
sidered as an operation not only inexpedient but
to a certainty hurtful.

The means of exciting vomiting, I have said
above, are so simple, that any person might ac-
complish it, as in the following instance. A gen-
tleman returning home on a dark night stumbled
over something soft in the street, which induced
him to examine what it was, when it proved to
be a man most insensibly drunk. Not wishing
to leave him to the hazard of being trod upon by

a horse qv carriage, he waited for the next pas-
senger, who kindly took him on his back. They
earned hirn to the first light which they saw,
which proved to be his own house, and where
his mother was anxiously waiting his return from
a corporation feast. The man was to all appear-
ance dying: but one of the gentleman having
perused my thesis, thought, if any thing could
save him, it was by unloading the stomach, which
was effected by forcing down warm water. This
timely expedient brought him quickly to his
senses and he was snatched from the jaws of death.
I firmly believe that many human beings might
be saved were equal humanity exercised for the
recovery of drunkards in similar conditions.

I would also recommend the bowels to be im-
mediately emptied by Clysters. Common salt,
to the amount of two table-spoonfuls dissolved
in a pint of water, blood-warm, can be easily
procured, and will act quickly.

Throughout the whole paroxysm the applica-
tion of cold water, rectified spirit of wine, or
aether, to the head and temples, is proper. Al-
though it may be difficult to explain the modus
operandi of these articles, I am well convinced of
their utility : but the cold produced by their eva-
poration from the head may in a great measure

197

account for their good effects. The affusion of
cold water, or the shower-bath, when it can be
procured, might be still more beneficial.

u Senatorcm Britannicum celeberrimum, (non
u magis spectabilem elegantia orationis, quam
u frequentia ebrietatis,) fertur, gravem vino,
u mantile aqua frigida bene madefactum circum
" caput constringere, in lectulum se recipere ; et
" mane expergefactum ad curiam pergere, mira-
*c bile dictu ! sine capitis do! ore, vel Ian gu ore*
u vel lassitudine aut animi aut corporis, ad di-
u cendum semper paratum*."

Analogous to the use of the wet kerchief
bound about the head, is the clay cap., sometimes
tried in maniacal cases. Whatever moderates
the heat and velocity of the circulation of the
brain, would seem to be beneficial in both dis-
eases.

Sudden immersion of the body in cold water
has often brought a drunkard to his senses. I
have frequently known this happen in h<s Ma-
jesty's ships, where seamen, in a state of stupid
intoxication, have fallen overboard ; they are
generally sober when picked up. The case of
the miller mentioned in a former part of this Es-

* D'.ssut. IK Ebrietate, p. 41,

R2

it

198
say, supports the opinion. Buflbn says, "Apmm
" the savages in the Isthmus of America, the
" women throw their drunk husbands into the
rivers, in order the more speedily to remove
" the effects of intoxication*. " This practice
among these savages was probably tried at first
as a punishment, but having observed its good
effects it was continued as a remedy. The cus-
tom of ducking a drunken husband, common
enough in different parts of this island, had most
likely a similar origin. It is much to be lament,
ed that our fair country-women do not exercise
their privilege much oftener. But it is to be re-
membered, that there are limits to the practice of
cold immersion, whether local or general. The
paroxysm of ebriety is to be distinguished by
two stages, each exhibiting very different symp-
toms. The first stage comprehends that train of
symptoms which subsists during the stimulant
power of the wine, such as heat of body, full
pulse, flushed countenance, ike. The second
stage includes those signs of debility
which succeed ; the body is cold, the pulse
weak, and the countenance pale. To the first
stage, the cool regimen and evacuating plan are

* Chap, on Infancy, vol, \\

199
chiefly to be confined ; nay, it is likely the«
would do much harm when the debility com-
mences, for exposure to cold, and sleeping on
damp ground after intoxication, have brought on
many mortal diseases. It is under these cir-
cumstances, I think, that the inflammatory affec-
tions are produced ; the body being first weaken-
ed and chilled, and then improperly brought near
great fires, or into warm rooms, is all at once plied
with every thing heating.

An officer of my own acquaintance having
often heard that cooling the head would relieve
ebriety, when in the second stage of the par-
oxysm, plunged his head into a bucket of cold
water, as being the most effectual way, was soon
after seized with phrenitis, or brain fever as it is
vulgarly called, of which he died in a few days.
Cold water applied to the head is not therefore a
safe remedy at all times for the head- ache of
drunkards.

Persons addicted to ebriety are often found in
the streets and highways, and sometimes in these
situations exposed to the most inclement weather.
Were they to remain long in that condition in se-
vere frosts they must run great hazard of perish-
ing ; for as soon as the second stage of the par-
oxysm commences, the body becomes feeble.

200

the circulation of the biood languid, and the vital
powers so exhausted that no great time would be
required for the complete extinction of the living
principle. It is to be suspected that most of the
travellers who perish among snow, are of this
description ; fool-hardy, under the false courage
of dram-drinking, they sally out in the durk to
explore their way, and quickly lose the road,
from the change of objects, which falling snow,
or snow already fallen, occasions. The dram in
this situation of distress only helps to accelerate
death, it assists in bringing on drowsiness and
sleep, which leaves the body to be sooner weak-
ened bv the cold, and the benighted traveller
never wakes asain!

If, however, signs of life appear when the per-
son is found, great caution is necessary, lest, by
attempting to recover him by strong spirits and
carrying him too near a fire, you extinguish the
smalt remains of the vital principle. Here all the
means ;uid the precaution usually taken for the
recovery of frost-bitten limbs will be necessary.
The hands, arms, feet, and legs, may at first be
rubbed with snow, or washed with cold water,
then wiped dry, and the patient put to bed. The
first thing to be given by the mouth, may be a
little warm milk, and as the heat of the bodv .in-

mi

ggjeftscg, something more stimulant may be added.
The great object to be attended to, is to cherish
the slender remains of life by the gentlest stimuli,
for the stronger would tend to destroy them. The
future strength of the body is to be recruited by
measures suited to the condition of the system,
which need not to be detailed here.

It might perhaps he considered by some as
too great a compliment to instruct the drunkard
how to correct morning head-ach and sick stom-
ach. I have quoted before the lines of Horace which
apply to this subject. Something relishing is usu-
ally served up on this occasion, such as salted
fish, . ham, salted, or smoke-dried meat, &c.
Kitchen salt is a very grateful stimulus to a stom-
ach weakened by excess. Dr. Cullen, in his
Lectures on Dyspepsia, used to say, that he had
found it prove anti-emetic when every thing else
failed,

u Si nocture* tibi noceat potatio vini,

ki Em eodeir* mane bibas, Tnedicinafuerit."

Samc-i or-

Acidity, gastrodynia, &c. are to be relieved
by anti-acids and stimulants. Dr. Home says,
Jt Calor lecti, equitatio et elixir vitrioli, nau-
■* seam hesterni Bacclii abigunt*." There arc.

2G2

perhaps; some who will prefer a morning ride, or
other kinds of exercise in the open air or the cold
bath, to all kinds of medicine.

I have certainly known and heapd of instances
of ebriety being quickly changed into sobriety
by fear, danger, excessive joy or grief, acute pain
and probably by whatever means sudden impres-
sions are made on our sentient system. But as
these means cannot easily be imitated by our art,
it would tend to no useful purpose to offer any
speculations on the mode of action.

As a fit of ebriety leaves the body dull, languid
weak, and prone to numerous diseases, great
caution ought to be taken in exposing it in that
state to marsh effluvium, to humidity, cold, or
any kind of contagion, whether of fever or
others.

I shall now conclude this Essay with the fol-
lowing admonition : Let all those persons, whose
constitutions have any predisposition to the dis-
eases mentioned in the catalogue, beware how
they get drunk, or fall into the habit of intoxica-

203

tion. For this predisposition wilL hasten the ap
proach of that disease, that must in the end ter-
minate their existence. Such persons as Celsus
finely advises, " Suspecta habere sua bona
11 debere."

—Not poppy normandragora,

Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,

Shall ever med'eine thee to that sweet sleep

Which thou ow'dst yesterday, Shakspeam:-.

THE END

A. FINLE\,

South East Corner of Chesnut and Fourth Streets,
PHILADELPHIA.

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