Temperance and teetotalism : an inquiry into the effects of alcoholic drinks on the human system in health and disease.

William Benjamin Carpenter

Date:: 1848

Credit: Temperance and teetotalism : an inquiry into the effects of alcoholic drinks on the human system in health and disease. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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$oflers an additional impediment to the re- storation of the circulation, the freer appli- cation of external warmth, especially by means of the hot-air bath, is likely to prove a most useful adjunct to the stimulants ex- hibited mternally. The class of cases in which the habitual use of alcoholic stimulants is most com- monly, and in our opinion most perni- ciously, recommended by practitioners of medicme, is that in which there is chronic disorder of the digestive apparatus, with its multiform conseiiuences. This disorder, in at least nine cases out of ten, has its origin in inattention to the laws of health, as re- gards diet, regimen, exercise, physical or mental exertion, and the like; and we cannot reasonably look for its cure by the use of stimulants. For the action of these in such states of the system, is precisely iike the application of the whip or spur to the horse already tired, which produces a temporary improvement in his pace, and prompts him to get through his work the quicker, but which leaves him. when he has done it, more fatigued than if he had aken his own time. We do not in the least deny that by men who are undergo- ing the excessive ' wear and tear' of in- cessant and anxious mental exertion the work IS accomplished with more feeling of ease at the time, and even with less im- media. ely consequent fatigue, when alco- ^ hohc stimulants are moderately employed I And upon such a system we find mei gointr on month after month, and even year after year, witlioutany obvious injury. But the time a most inevitably comes, when the overtasked system gives way; and long and r °f restoration man wplf T^''^ ^t^'' ^^^^^ ^dical t^M T^'- ^■^ are confident that when the exertion of the nervous sys- tem IS greater than can be borne witho^ut the assistance of alcohol, provided due at- tention be given to diet, fresh air, out-door exercise, and sleep, the excess produces a positive injury which is sure ti: mt. Lt Itself at some time or other; the use of alcohol only warding it of!' for a time and Feve„t,„g it f,.^^ ^.^^ JJ'n^e, and cour,/!?^''^' 'y'^ •■'ft^r S''!' a TZt\rr°f'T''^ ill-treatment, that mH„^7 ■ , ^'^'al. We may keep our pti Tndi --'.--p^'iors his otnm, 1 °' experiments upon leanchnn, ' '■^'rr'''' bacon^r lean chops, pre.cribe blue-pill and senna- draught, or quinine and calumbo, andrine the changes upon all the wines and malt liquors which the cellar can furnish in search of one that shall be free from di- rectly injurious consequences; but we shall not eflect a twentieth part of the benefit which our patient will derive from givine himself a complete holiday, betaking him- se^to some agreeable spot where there is suflicient to interest him, but nothing to excite; promoting a copious action of his skin by e.xercise, sweating, and free ablu- tion ; washing out his inside with occa- sional (but not excessive) draughts of cold water, and trusting to the natural call of appetite alone, in preference to artificial provocatives. Let those who decry hydro- pathy witness the results of this method jas we have done, in but a few cases, and Y^fy musl come to the conclusion, unless Winded by prejudice or interest, that water IS better than wine, and that a hearty mis- cellaneous meal, swallowed with a vigorous natural appetite, is more invigorating thau the caretully-selected and delicately-Pre- pared viands to which the dyspeptic sub- ject IS compelled to restrict himself, and winch he can only digest with the aid of a glass of sherry, or a tumbler of bitter ale 1 he insensibility to the effects of various morbific causes, which the use of alcoholic stimulants induces, and the toleration of tliem which It thus permits, is one of the most fertile sources of subsequent disease As m the cases just adverted to, if we are prevented from feeling the immediate con- sequences of our improper course, we latter ourselves that we are uninfluenced I'y them, and we give to our wine, our spirits, or our beer the credit of the escape. Jiut this IS far from being the case The enemy is only baffled, not dispersed ; and although he lies concealed for a time, he only wai ts until his onslaught can be more effectually made. Bad air, insufBcient ana unwholesome food, impure water, foul- ness of the skin and garments, and similar departures from the strict laws of health mtist exert their influence on the system^ alf the alcohol in the world notwithstand- ing ; and it is ono of the greatest benefits ot abstinence that, by making these evils less endurable, it prompts the sulibrer to seek a remedy. Let our readers refer to the account of the former condition of the groat tailor's workshops in London, (Sani- tary Report, 1842, pp. 90 et soq.), where the heat and olosonesa were such that on the coldest nights of winter large thick$

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