LIQUORS NOT ALWAYS HURTFUL.
Though drunkenness is always injurious, it does not follow that a
moderate and proper use of those agents which produce it is so. These
facts have been so fully illustrated that it is unnecessary to dwell
longer upon them; and I only allude to them at present for the purpose
of showing more fully a few circumstances in which all kinds of liquors
may be indulged in, not only without injury, but with absolute benefit.
It is impossible to deny that in particular situations, as in those
of hard-wrought sailors and soldiers, a moderate allowance is proper.
The body, in such cases, would often sink under the accumulation of
fatigue and cold, if not recruited by some artificial excitement. In
both the naval and mercantile service the men are allowed a certain
quantity of grog, experience having shown the necessity of this stimulus
in such situations. When Captain Bligh and his unfortunate companions
were exposed to those dreadful privations consequent to their being set
adrift, in an open boat, by the mutineers of the Bounty, the few drops
of rum which were occasionally doled out to each individual, proved of
such incalculable service, that, without this providential aid, every one
must have perished of absolute cold and exhaustion.[51] The utility of
spirits in enabling the frame to resist severe cold, I can still farther
illustrate by a circumstance personal to myself; and there can be no
doubt that the experience of every one must have furnished him with
similar examples. I was travelling on the top of the Caledonian coach,
during an intensely cold day, towards the end of November, 1821. We left
Inverness at five in the morning, when it was nearly pitch dark, and
when the thermometer probably stood at 18° of Fahr. I was disappointed
of an inside seat, and was obliged to take one on the top, where there
were nine outside passengers besides myself, mostly sportsmen returning
from their campaigns in the moors. From being obliged to get up so early,
and without having taken any refreshment, the cold was truly dreadful,
and set fear-noughts, fur caps, and hosiery, alike at defiance. So
situated, and whirling along at the rate of nearly nine miles an hour,
with a keen east wind blowing upon us from the snow-covered hills, I do
not exaggerate when I say, that some of us at least owed our lives to
ardent spirits. The cold was so insufferable, that, on arriving at the
first stage, we were nearly frozen to death. Our feet were perfectly
benumbed, and our hands, fortified as they were with warm gloves, little
better. Under such circumstances, we all instinctively called for
spirits, and took a glass each of raw whisky, and a little bread. The
effect was perfectly magical: heat diffused itself over the system, and
we continued comparatively warm and comfortable till our arrival at
Aviemore Inn, where we breakfasted. This practice was repeated several
times during the journey, and always with the same good effect. When at
any time the cold became excessive, we had recourse to our dram, which
ensured us warmth and comfort for the next twelve or fourteen miles,
without, on any occasion producing the slightest feeling of intoxication.
Nor had the spirits which we took any bad effects either upon the other
passengers or myself. On the contrary, we were all, so far as I could
learn, much the better of it; nor can there be a doubt, that without
spirits, or some other stimulating liquor, the consequences of such
severe weather would have been highly prejudicial to most of us. Some
persons deny that spirits possess the property of enabling the body to
resist cold, but, in the face of such evidence, I can never agree with
them. That, under these circumstances, they steel the system, at least
for a considerable time, against the effects of a low temperature, I
am perfectly satisfied. Analogy is in favour of this assertion, and
the experience of every man must prove its accuracy. At the same time,
I do not mean to deny that wine or ale might have done the same thing
equally well, and perhaps with less risk of ulterior consequences. We
had no opportunity of trying their efficacy in these respects, and were
compelled, in self-defence, to have recourse to what, in common cases
ought to be shunned, _viz._, raw spirits. The case was an extreme one,
and required an extreme remedy; such, however, as I would advise no one
to have recourse to without a similar plea of strong necessity to go upon.
It follows, then, that if spirits are often perverted to the worst
purposes, and capable of producing the greatest calamities, they are
also, on particular occasions, of unquestionable benefit. In many
affections, both they and wine are of more use than any medicine
the physician can administer. Wine is indicated in various diseases
of debility. Whenever there is a deficiency of the vital powers, as
in the low stages of typhus fever, in gangrene, putrid sore throat,
and, generally speaking, whenever weakness, unaccompanied by acute
inflammation, prevails, it is capable of rendering the most important
services. Used in moderation, it enables the system to resist the attack
of malignant and intermittent fevers. It is a promoter of digestion,
but sometimes produces acidity, in which case, spirits are preferable.
To assist the digestive process in weak stomachs, I sometimes prescribe
a tumbler of negus or toddy to be taken after dinner, especially if
the person be of a studious habit, or otherwise employed in a sedentary
occupation. Such individuals are often benefited by the stimulus
communicated to the frame by these cordials. In diarrhœa, dysentery,
cholera, cramps, tremors, and many other diseases, both spirits and wine
often tell with admirable effect, while they are contra-indicated in all
inflammatory affections. Malt liquors also, when used in moderation, are
often beneficial. Though the drunkenness produced by their excessive
use is of the most stupifying and disgusting kind, yet, when under
temperate management, and accompanied by sufficient exercise, they are
more wholesome than either spirits or wine. They abound in nourishment,
and are well adapted to the labouring man, whose food is usually not of
a very nutritive character. The only regret is, that they are so much
adulterated by narcotics. This renders them peculiarly improper for
persons of a plethoric habit, and also prevents them from being employed
in other cases where they might be useful. Persons of a spare habit of
body, are those likely to derive most benefit from malt liquors. I often
recommend them to delicate youths and young girls who are just shooting
into maturity, and often with the best effect. Lusty, full-bodied,
plethoric people, should abstain from them, at least from porter and
strong ale, which are much too fattening and nutritious for persons
of this description. They are also, generally speaking, injurious in
indigestion and bowel complaints, owing to their tendency to produce
flatulence. In such cases, they yield the palm to wine and spirits. It is
to be regretted that the system of making home-brewed ale, common among
the English, has made so little progress in Scotland. This excellent
beverage is free from those dangerous combinations employed by the
brewers, and to the labouring classes in particular, is a most nourishing
and salubrious drink. I fully agree with Sir John Sinclair in thinking,
that in no respect is the alteration in diet more injurious than in
substituting ardent spirits for ale—the ancient drink of the common
people. Though an occasional and moderate allowance of spirits will
often benefit a working man, still the tendency of people to drink these
fluids to excess renders even their moderate indulgence often hazardous;
and hence, in one respect, the superiority possessed over them by malt
liquors.
In higher circles, where there is good living and little work, liquors of
any kind are far less necessary; and, till a man gets into the decline of
life, they are, except under such circumstances as have been detailed,
absolutely useless. When he attains that age, he will be the better of a
moderate allowance to recruit the vigour which approaching years steal
from the frame. For young and middle-aged men, in good circumstances
and vigorous health, water is the best drink; the food they eat being
sufficiently nutritious and stimulating without any assistance from
liquor. For young people, in particular, liquors of all kinds are, under
common circumstances, not only unnecessary in health, but exceedingly
pernicious, even in what the world denominate _moderate_ quantities.
This is especially the case when the habit is daily indulged in. One
of the first physicians in Ireland has published his conviction on the
result of twenty years’ observation—“That were ten young men on their
twenty-first birth day, to begin to drink one glass (equal to two ounces)
of ardent spirits, or a pint of Port wine or Sherry, and were they to
drink this _supposed moderate quantity_ of strong liquor daily, the lives
of eight out of the ten would be abridged by twelve or fifteen years.”
“An American clergyman,” says Professor Edgar, “lately told me that one
of his parishioners was in the habit of sending to his son at school a
daily allowance of brandy and water, before the boy was twelve years
of age. The consequence was, that his son, before the age of seventeen,
was a confirmed drunkard, and he is now confined in a public hospital.”
The force of this anecdote must come home to every one. Nothing is more
common, even in the best society, than the practice of administering
wine, punch, &c., even to children—thus not only injuring their health,
and predisposing them to disease, but laying the foundation for
intemperance in their maturer years.
Having stated thus much, it is not to be inferred that I advocate
the banishment of liquors of any kind from society. Though I believe
mankind would be benefited upon the whole, were such stimulants to be
utterly proscribed, yet, in the present state of things, and knowing
the fruitlessness of any such recommendation, I do not go the length of
urging their total disuse. I only would wish to inculcate moderation, and
that in its proper meaning, and not in the sense too often applied to it;
for, in the practice of many, moderation (so called) is intemperance,
and perhaps of the most dangerous species, in so far as it becomes a
daily practice, and insinuates itself under a false character, into the
habits of life. Men thus indulge habitually, day by day, not perhaps
to the extent of producing any evident effect either upon the body or
mind at the time, and fancy themselves all the while strictly temperate,
while they are, in reality, undermining their constitution by slow
degrees—killing themselves by inches, and shortening their existence
several years. The quantity such persons take at a time, is perhaps
moderate and beneficial, if only occasionally indulged in, but, being
habitually taken, it injures the health, and thus amounts to actual
intemperance. “It is,” says Dr. Beecher, and I fully concur with him,
“a matter of unwonted certainty, that habitual tippling is worse than
periodical drunkenness. The poor Indian who once a-month drinks himself
_dead_, all but simple breathing, will outlive for years the man who
drinks little and often, and is not perhaps suspected of intemperance.
The use of ardent spirits _daily_, as ministering to cheerfulness or
bodily vigour, ought to be regarded as intemperance. No person probably,
ever did or ever will receive ardent spirits into his system once a-day
and fortify his constitution against its deleterious effects, or exercise
such discretion and self-government, as that the quantity will not be
increased, and bodily infirmities and mental imbecility be the result;
and, in more than half the instances, inebriation. Nature may hold out
long against this sapping and mining of the constitution, which daily
tippling is carrying on, but, first or last, this foe of life will bring
to the assault enemies of its own formation, before whose power the
feeble and the mighty will be alike unable to stand.”
Let those, therefore, who will not abandon liquors, use them in
moderation, and not _habitually_, or _day by day_, unless the health
should require it, for cases of this kind we sometimes do meet with,
though by no means so often as many would believe. Abstractly considered,
liquors are not injurious. It is their abuse that makes them so, in the
same manner as the most wholesome food becomes pernicious when taken to
an improper excess.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
_Excerpt from Paris’ Pharmacologia._
“The characteristic ingredient of all wines is _alcohol_, and the
quantity of this, and the condition or state of combination in which
it exists, are the circumstances that include all the interesting and
disputed points of medical inquiry. Daily experience convinces us that
the same quantity of alcohol, applied to the stomach under the form of
natural wine, and in a state of mixture with water, will produce very
different effects upon the body, and to an extent which it is difficult
to comprehend: it has, for instance, been demonstrated that Port,
Madeira, and Sherry contain from one-fourth to one-fifth of their bulk of
alcohol, so that a person who takes a bottle of either of them, will thus
take nearly half a pint of alcohol, or almost a pint of pure brandy! and
moreover, that different wines, although of the same specific gravity,
and consequently containing the same absolute proportion of spirit, will
be found to vary very considerably in their intoxicating powers; no
wonder, then, that such results should stagger the philosopher, who is
naturally unwilling to accept any tests of difference from the nervous
system, which elude the ordinary resources of analytical chemistry; the
conclusion was therefore drawn, that alcohol must necessarily exist
in wine, in a far different condition from that in which we know it
in a separate state, or, in other words, that its elements only could
exist in the vinous liquor, and that their union was determined, and,
consequently, alcohol produced by the action of distillation. That it
was _product_ and not the _educt_ of distillation, was an opinion which
originated with Rouelle, who asserted that alcohol was not completely
formed until the temperature was raised to the point of distillation:
more lately, the same doctrine was revived and promulgated by Fabbronni,
in the memoirs of the Florentine Academy. Gay-Lussac has, however,
silenced the clamorous partisans of this theory, by separating the
alcohol by distillation at the temperature of 66° Fah., and by the aid
of a vacuum, it has since been effected at 56°; besides, it has been
shown that by precipitating the colouring matter, and some of the other
elements of the wine, by _sub-acetate_ of _lead_, and then saturating
the clear liquor with _sub-carbonate_ of _potass_, the alcohol may
be completely separated without any elevation of temperature; and by
this ingenious expedient, Mr. Brande has been enabled to construct a
table, exhibiting the proportions of combined alcohol which exist in
the several kinds of wine: no doubt, therefore, can remain upon this
subject, and the fact of the difference of the effect, produced by the
same bulk of alcohol, when presented to the stomach in different states
of combination, adds another striking and instructive illustration to
those already enumerated in the course of this work, of the extraordinary
powers of chemical combination in modifying the activity of substances
upon the living system. In the present instance, the alcohol is so
combined with the extractive matter of the wine, that it is probably
incapable of exerting its full specific effects upon the stomach, before
it becomes altered in its properties, or, in other words, _digested_; and
this view of the subject may be fairly urged in explanation of the reason
why the intoxicating effects of the same wine are so liable to vary, in
degree, in the same individual, from the peculiar state of his digestive
organs at the time of his potation. Hitherto we have only spoken of
pure wine, but it is essential to state, that the stronger, wines of
Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, are rendered remarkable in this country
by the addition of brandy, and must consequently contain _uncombined_
alcohol, the proportion of which, however, will not necessarily bear a
ratio to the quantity added, because, at the period of its admixture, a
renewed fermentation is produced by the scientific vintner, which will
assimilate and combine a certain portion of the foreign spirit with the
wine: this manipulation, in technical language, is called _fretting-in_.
The free alcohol may, according to the experiments of Fabbronni, be
immediately separated by saturating the vinous fluid with _sub-carbonate_
of _potass_, while the combined portion will remain undisturbed: in
ascertaining the fabrication and salubrity of a wine, this circumstance
ought always to constitute a leading feature in the inquiry; and the
tables of Mr. Brande would have been greatly enhanced in practical value,
had the relative proportions of _uncombined_ spirit been appreciated in
his experiments, since it is to this, and not to the _combined_ alcohol
that the injurious effects of wine are to be attributed. ‘It is well
known,’ observes Dr. Macculloch, ‘that diseases of the liver are the
most common, and the most formidable of those produced by the use of
_ardent_ spirits; it is equally certain that no such disorders follow
the intemperate use of _pure_ wine, however long indulged in: to the
concealed and unwitting consumption of spirit, therefore, as contained
in the wines commonly drunk in this country, is to be attributed the
excessive prevalence of those hepatic affections, which are comparatively
little known to our continental neighbours.’ Thus much is certain, that
their ordinary wines contain no alcohol but what is disarmed of its
virulence by the prophylactic energies of combination.”
No. II.
_Mr. Brande’s Table of the Alcoholic strength of Liquors._
Proportion of pure Spirit
per Cent. by Measure.
1. Lissa, 26·47
Ditto, 24·35
Average, 25·41
2. Raisin wine, 26·40
Ditto, 25·77
Ditto, 23·20
Average, 25·12
3. Marsala, 26·03
Ditto, 25·05
Average, 25·09
4. Madeira, 24·42
Ditto, 23·93
Ditto (Sircial), 21·40
Ditto, 19·41
Average, 22·27
5. Currant wine, 20·55
6. Sherry, 19·81
Ditto, 19·83
Ditto, 18·79
Ditto, 18·25
Average, 19·17
7. Teneriffe, 19·79
8. Colares, 19·75
9. Lachryma Christi, 19·70
10. Constantia (white), 19·75
11. Ditto (red), 18·92
12. Lisbon, 18·94
13. Malaga (1666), 18·94
14. Bucellas, 18·49
15. Red Madeira, 22·30
Ditto, 18·40
Average, 20·35
16. Cape Muschat, 18·25
17. Cape Madeira, 22·94
Ditto, 20·50
Ditto, 18·11
Average, 20·51
18. Grape wine, 18·11
19. Calcavella, 19·20
Ditto, 18·10
Average, 18·65
20. Vidonia, 19·25
21. Alba Flora, 17·26
22. Malaga, 17·26
23. White Hermitage, 17·43
24. Rousillon, 19·00
Ditto, 17·26
Average, 18·13
25. Claret, 17·11
Ditto, 16·32
Ditto, 14·08
Ditto, 12·91
Average, 15·10
26. Malmsey Madeira, 16·40
27. Lunal, 15·52
28. Shiraz, 15·52
29. Syracuse, 15·28
30. Sauterne, 14·22
31. Burgundy, 16·60
Ditto, 15·22
Ditto, 14·53
Ditto, 11·95
Average, 14·57
32. Hock, 14·37
Ditto, 13·00
Ditto (old in cask), 8·88
Average, 12·08
33. Nice, 14·63
34. Barsac, 13·86
35. Tent, 13·30
36. Champaign (still), 13·80
Ditto (sparkling), 12·80
Ditto (red), 12·56
Ditto (ditto), 11·30
Average, 12·61
37. Red Hermitage, 12·32
38. Vin de Grave, 13·94
Ditto, 12·80
Average, 13·37
39. Frontignac, 12·79
40. Cote Rotie, 12·32
41. Gooseberry wine, 11·84
42. Orange wine,—average of six
samples made by a London
Manufacturer, 11·26
43. Tokay, 9·88
44. Elder Wine, 9·87
45. Cider, highest average, 9·87
Ditto, lowest average, 5·21
46. Perry, average of four
samples, 7·26
47. Mead, 7·32
48. Ale (Burton), 8·88
Ditto (Edinburgh), 6·20
Ditto (Dorchester), 5·56
Average, 6·87
49. Brown Stout, 6·80
50. London Porter, average, 4·20
51. London Small Beer, average, 1·28
52. Brandy, 53·39
53. Rum, 53·68
54. Gin, 51·60
55. Scotch Whisky, 54·32
56. Irish ditto, 53·90
FOOTNOTES
[1] In making this observation, I have only in view the countries north
of the equator; for as we proceed to the south of that line, the vice
increases precisely in the same manner as in the opposite direction. To
use the words of Montesquieu; “Go from the equator to our pole, and you
will find drunkenness increasing together with the degree of latitude. Go
from the same equator to the opposite pole, and you will find drunkenness
travelling south, as on this side it travels towards the north.”
[2] Good’s Study of Medicine, vol. i., p. 113; Second Edition.
[3] The quantity of wine raised in France alone is almost incredible.
The vineyards in that country are said to occupy five millions of acres,
or a twenty-sixth part of the whole territory. Paris alone consumes more
than three times the quantity of wine consumed in the British Isles. It
is true that much of the wine drunk in the French capital is of a weak
quality, being used as a substitute for small beer. But after every
allowance is made, enough remains to show clearly, if other proofs were
wanting, how much the use of wine here is restricted by our exorbitant
duties. It would be well for the morals of this country if the people
abandoned the use of ardent spirits, and were enabled to resort to such
wines as the French are in the habit of drinking.
[4] See Accum’s Treatise on the adulteration of Food; Child on Brewing
Porter; and Shannon on Brewing and Distillation.
[5] See Appendix.
[6] Liqueurs often contain narcotic principles; therefore their use is
doubly improper.
[7] Thackrah on the Effects of the Principal Arts, Trades, and
Professions, p. 83.
[8] Botanic Garden.
[9] Rede’s Memoir of the Right Hon. George Canning.
[10] The old gentleman who is represented as speaking, in Bunbury’s
admirable caricature of the “Long Story,” furnishes one of the best
illustrations I have ever seen of this variety. It is worth consulting,
both on account of the story-teller, and the effect his tedious garrulity
produces upon the company.
[11] Alcohol appears to exist in wines, in a very peculiar state of
combination. In the Appendix, I have availed myself of Dr. Paris’s
valuable remarks on this subject.
[12] There is reason to believe that the Sack of Shakspeare was
Sherry.—“_Falstaff_. You rogue! here’s _lime_ in this Sack too. There is
nothing but roguery to be found in villanous man. Yet a coward is worse
than a cup of Sack with lime in it.”—Lime, it is well known, is added to
the grapes in the manufacture of Sherry. This not only gives the wine
what is called its dry quality, but probably acts by neutralizing a
portion of the malic or tartaric acid.
[13] “It is recorded of a Welsh squire, William Lewis, who died in 1793,
that he drank _eight gallons_ of ale _per diem_, and weighed forty
stones.”—_Wadd’s Comments on Corpulency._
[14] “The law of Mahomet, which prohibits the drinking of wine,
is a law fitted to the climate of Arabia; and, indeed, before
Mahomet’s time, water was the common drink of the Arabs. The law
which forbade the Carthagenians to drink wine, was also a law of the
climate.”—_Montesquieu_, Book xiv., Chap. x.
[15] The following description, by a modern traveller, of a scene
witnessed by him in the East, gives a lively picture of the effects of
this drug:—
“There is a decoction of the head and seeds of the poppy, which they
call Coquenar, for the sale of which there are taverns in every quarter
of the town, similar to our coffee-houses. It is extremely amusing to
visit these houses, and to observe carefully those who resort there for
the purpose of drinking it, both before they have taken the dose, before
it begins to operate, and while it is operating. On entering the tavern,
they are dejected and languishing: soon after they have taken two or
three cups of this beverage, they are peevish, and as it were, enraged;
every thing displeases them. They find fault with every thing, and
quarrel with one another, but in the course of its operation they make it
up again;—and, each one giving himself up to his predominant passion, the
lover speaks sweet things to his idol—another, half asleep, laughs in his
sleeve—a third talks big and blusters—a fourth tells ridiculous stories.
In a word, a person would believe himself to be really in a mad-house.
A kind of lethargy and stupidity succeed to this disorderly gaiety; but
the Persians, far from treating it as it deserves, call it an ecstasy,
and maintain that there is something exquisite and heavenly in this
state.”—_Chardin._
[16] Equal to nearly three thousand drops of laudanum.
[17] “Tobacco,” King James farther observes, “is the lively image and
pattern of hell, for it hath, by allusion, in it all the parts and vices
of the world, whereby hell may be gained; to wit, first, it is a smoke;
so are all the vanities of this world. Secondly, it delighteth them that
take it; so do all the pleasures of the world delight the men of the
world. Thirdly, it maketh men _drunken_ and light in the head; so do
all the vanities of the world, men are drunken therewith. Fourthly, he
that taketh tobacco cannot leave it; it doth bewitch him; even so the
pleasures of the world make men loath to leave them; they are, for the
most part, enchanted with them. And, farther, besides all this, it is
like hell in the very substance of it, for it is a stinking loathsome
thing, and so is hell.” And, moreover, his majesty declares, that “were
he to invite the devil to a dinner, he should have three dishes; first,
a pig; second, a poll of ling and mustard; and, third, a pipe of tobacco
for digestion.”
[18] It appears from Mr. Brodie’s experiments, that the essential oil
of tobacco operates very differently from the infusion. The former acts
instantly on the heart, suspending its action, even while the animal
continues to inspire, and destroying life by producing syncope. The
latter appears to operate solely on the brain, leaving the circulation
unaffected.
[19] The doses in these experiments, were from five to seven quarts.
[20] Journal Générale de Médicine, lix. xxiv. p. 224.
[21] Gazette de Santé, 11 Thermidor, an xv. p. 508.
[22] Von Hammer’s Hist. of the Assassins.
[23] Toxicologie Générale.
[24] The following are the grounds on which he supports his doctrine:—“1.
In experiments where animals have been killed by the injection of
spirits into the stomach, I have found this organ to bear the marks of
great inflammation, but never any preternatural appearances whatever
in the brain. 2. The effects of spirits taken into the stomach, in the
last experiment, were so instantaneous, that it appears impossible that
absorption should have taken place before they were produced. 3. A person
who is intoxicated frequently becomes suddenly sober after vomiting. 4.
In the experiments which I have just related, I mixed tincture of rhubarb
with the spirits, knowing, from the experiments of Mr. Home and Mr.
William Brande, that this (_rhubarb_) when absorbed into the circulation,
was readily separated from the blood by the kidneys, and that very small
quantities might be detected in the urine by the addition of potash; but
though I never failed to find urine in the bladder, I never detected
rhubarb in it.”—_Phil. Trans. of the Roy. Soc. of Lond._ 1811. Part I.,
p. 178.
[25] Essay on Drunkenness.
[26] Zoonomia.
[27] In speaking of the treatment, it is necessary to guard against
confounding other affections with drunkenness:—“There is a species
of delirium that often attends the accession of _typhus fever_,
from contagion, that I have known to be mistaken for ebriety. Among
seamen and soldiers, whose habits of intoxication are common, it will
sometimes require nice discernment to decide; for the vacant stare in
the countenance, the look of idiotism, incoherent speech, faltering
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 punishment, under these suspicious appearances. Nay, the
circumstance 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.”—_Trotter._
[28] “They have a custom of fostering a liver complaint in their geese,
which encourages its growth to the enormous weight of some _pounds_; and
this diseased viscus is considered a great delicacy.”—_Matthew’s Diary of
an Invalid._
[29] Vide Appendix No. I.
[30] The Portland Powder consisted of equal parts of the roots of round
birthwort and gentian, of the leaves of germander and ground pine, and
of the tops of the lesser centaury, all dried. Drs. Cullen, Darwin, and
Murray of Göttingen, with many other eminent physicians, bear testimony
to the pernicious effects of this compound.
[31] “_Falstaff._ Thou art our admiral: thou bearest the lanthorn in the
poop; but ’tis in the _nose_ of thee: thou art the knight of the burning
lamp.
“_Bardolph._ Why, Sir John, my face does you no harm.
“_Falstaff._ No, I’ll be sworn! I make as good use of it as many a man
doth of a death’s head or a _memento mori_. I never see thy face but I
think of hell-fire.”—“When thou rann’st up Gads-hill in the night to
catch my horse, if I did not think thou hadst been an _ignis fatuus_, or
a ball of wildfire, there’s no purchase in money. O! thou art a perpetual
triumph—an everlasting bonfire light: thou hast saved me a thousand marks
in links and torches, walking with me in the night betwixt tavern and
tavern; but the Sack thou hast drunk me would have bought me lights as
good cheap, at the dearest chandler’s in Europe. I have maintained that
salamander of yours with fire any time this two and thirty years—heaven
reward me for it!”
[32] This circumstance has not escaped the observation of
Shakspeare—“_Chief Justice._ Do you set down your name in the scroll
of youth, that are written down old, with all the characters of age?
Have you not a moist eye, a dry hand, a yellow cheek, a white beard, a
_decreasing_ leg, an increasing belly? Is not your voice broken, your
wind short, your chin double, your wit single, and every part about you
blasted with antiquity; and will you yet call yourself young? Fie, fie,
fie, Sir John!”
[33] “Let nobody tell me that there are numbers who, though they live
most irregularly, attain, in health and spirits, those remote periods of
life attained by the most sober; for this argument being grounded on a
case full of uncertainty and hazard, and which, besides, so seldom occurs
as to look more like a miracle than the work of nature, men should not
suffer themselves to be thereby persuaded to live irregularly, nature
having been too liberal to those who did so without suffering by it; a
favour which very few have any right to expect.”—_Carnaro on Health._
[34] “The workmen in provision stores have large allowances of whisky
bound to them in their engagements. These are served out to them daily
_by their employers_, for the purpose of urging them, by excitement,
to extraordinary exertion. And what is the effect of this murderous
system? The men are ruined, scarcely one of them being capable of work
beyond fifty years of age, though none but the most able-bodied men can
enter such employment.”—_Beecher’s Sermons on Intemperance, with an
Introductory Essay by John Edgar._ This is an excellent little work,
which I cordially recommend to the perusal of the reader.
[35] It has been considered unnecessary to enter into any detail of
the nature and treatment of the foregoing diseases, because they may
originate from many other causes besides drunkenness; and when they do
arise from this source, they acquire no peculiarity of character. Their
treatment is also precisely the same as in ordinary cases—it being always
understood, that the bad habit which brought them on must be abandoned
before any good can result from medicine. The disease, however, which
follows is different, and requires particular consideration.
[36] “At a period when criminals were condemned to expiate their crimes
in the flames, it is well known what a large quantity of combustible
materials was required for burning their bodies. A baker’s boy named
Renaud being several years ago condemned to be burned at Caen, two large
cartloads of fagots were required to consume the body; and at the end of
more than ten hours some remains were still visible. In this country, the
extreme incombustibility of the human body was exemplified in the case
of Mrs. King, who, having been murdered by a foreigner, was afterwards
burned by him; but in the execution of this plan he was engaged for
several weeks, and, after all, did not succeed in its completion.”—_Paris
and Fonblanque’s Medical Jurisprudence._
[37] Beck on Medical Jurisprudence.
[38] Ibid.
[39] Collinson on Lunacy.
“The laws against intoxication are enforced with great rigour in Sweden.
Whoever is seen drunk, is fined, for the first offence, three dollars;
for the second, six; for the third and fourth, a still larger sum, and
is also deprived of the right of voting at elections, and of being
appointed a representative. He is, besides, publicly exposed in the
parish church on the following Sunday. If the same individual is found
committing the same offence a fifth time, he is shut up in a house of
correction, and condemned to six months’ hard labour; and if he is again
guilty, of a twelvemonth’s punishment of a similar description. If the
offence has been committed in public, such as at a fair, an auction,
&c., the fine is doubled; and if the offender has made his appearance in
a church, the punishment is still more severe. Whoever is convicted of
having induced another to intoxicate himself, is fined three dollars,
which sum is doubled if the person is a minor. An ecclesiastic who falls
into this offence loses his benefice: if it is a layman who occupies
any considerable post, his functions are suspended, and perhaps he is
dismissed. Drunkenness is never admitted as an excuse for any crime; and
whoever dies when drunk is buried ignominiously, and deprived of the
prayers of the church. It is forbidden to give, and more explicitly to
sell, any spirituous liquors to students, workmen, servants, apprentices,
and private soldiers. Whoever is observed drunk in the streets, or making
a noise in a tavern, is sure to be taken to prison and detained till
sober, without, however, being on that account exempted from the fines.
Half of these fines goes to the informers, (who are generally police
officers,) the other half to the poor. If the delinquent has no money, he
is kept in prison until some one pays for him, or until he has worked out
his enlargement. Twice a-year these ordinances are read aloud from the
pulpit by the clergy; and every tavern-keeper is bound, under the penalty
of a heavy fine, to have a copy of them hung up in the principal rooms of
his house.”—_Schubert’s Travels in Sweden._
[40] View of the Elementary Principles of Education.
[41] American Journal of the Medical Sciences, No. IV.
[42] See Transylvania Journal of Medicine and the Associate Sciences, for
July, August, and September, 1832.
[43] “In warm countries, the aqueous part of the blood loses itself
greatly by perspiration; it must therefore be supplied by a like liquid.
Water is there of admirable use; strong liquors would coagulate the
globules of blood that remain after the transuding of the aqueous
humour.”—_Montesquieu_, Book xiv. Chap. x.
[44] Tropical Diseases.
[45] Glasgow Medical Journal, No. XV.
[46] Glasgow Medical Journal, No. XV.
[47] The following account of Temperance Societies is by Professor Edgar,
one of their most enthusiastic advocates:—
“Temperance Societies direct their chief exertions against the use of
distilled spirits, conceiving them to be the great bane of the community;
but they do not exclude these to introduce other intoxicating liquors
in their room. Their object is to disabuse the public mind respecting
the erroneous opinions and evil practices which produce and perpetuate
intemperance; and though they do not hold it to be sinful to drink
wine, yet they are cheerfully willing to accord with the sentiment of
inspiration—‘It is good neither to drink wine nor any thing whereby thy
brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.’ Were the wine spoken
of in Scripture alone used in these countries, they do not believe that
there would be a necessity for Temperance Societies; yet even from such
wine, so different from that commonly in use, the Scriptures gave them
the fullest liberty to refrain. Avoiding, however, all appearance of
rigorous abstinence, they leave to every man’s judgment and conscience,
how far he shall feel himself warranted in the use of fermented liquors,
and only insist, as their fundamental principle, on an abstinence from
distilled spirits, and a discountenancing of the causes and practices
of intemperance. Their regulations respect persons in health alone;
with the prescriptions of physicians they do not interfere. Even the
moderate use of distilled spirits they consider to be injurious; and
they call upon their brethren, for their own sake, to renounce it. The
great mass of excellences attributed to intoxicating liquors, they
believe to be fictitious; and though all the virtues attributed to them
were real, they are cheerfully willing to sacrifice them, while they
have the remotest hope of thus cutting off even one of the sources of
drunkenness, or arresting one friend or neighbour on the road to ruin.
They do not look on the use of intoxicating liquors as necessary either
to their health or happiness; they do not love them, and therefore,
they do not wish to represent an abstinence from them as, on their
part, a great sacrifice; and they trust that they only require to be
convinced that the good of their brother demands it, to induce them to
do much more than they have yet done. They know that the only prospect
of reformation for the intemperate is immediate and complete abstinence,
and they joyfully contribute their influence and example to save him.
They know that the present customs and practices of the temperate, are
now preparing a generation for occupying the room of those who shall soon
sleep in drunkards’ graves, and it is their earnest wish to exercise
such a redeeming influence on the public mind, that, should the present
race of drunkards refuse to be saved, there may be none to fill their
place when they are no more. The abstinence of the temperate, they are
convinced, will accomplish this, and that abstinence it is their business
to promote by those means with which the God of truth has furnished them.
They believe that such abstinence, instead of being productive of any
injury to the community will greatly benefit it; and already there are
the fairest prospects of the great objects of such voluntary abstinence
being effected, by associations sustaining one another in new habits,
to make them reputable and common. They require no oaths, no vows;
their bond of obligation is a sense of duty, and subscription to their
fundamental principle, is merely an expression of present conviction
and determination. The law of Temperance Societies, like the Gospel, is
the law of liberty—the law which binds to do that which is considered
a delight and a privilege. They look forward to the time as not far
distant, when the temperate having withdrawn their support from the trade
in ardent spirits, it shall be deserted by all respectable men, and shall
gradually die away, as premature death thins the ranks of drunkards: they
trust that the falsehoods by which temperate men have been cheated into
the ordinary use of ardent spirits, will soon be completely exposed;
and that full information and proper feeling being extended, respecting
the nature and effects of intoxicating liquors, they will occupy their
proper place, and the unnumbered blessings of temperance on individuals
and families, and the whole community, will universally prevail. Not only
will Temperance Societies cut off the resources of drunkenness, but to
the reformed drunkard, they will open a refuge from the tyranny of evil
customs, and they will support and encourage him in his new habits. To
promote these invaluable objects, they call for the united efforts of all
temperate men; they earnestly solicit the assistance of physicians, of
clergymen, of the conductors of public journals, of all men possessing
authority and influence; and by every thing sacred and good, they beseech
drunkards to turn from the wickedness of their ways and live.”
[48] The origin of the term “grog” is curious. Before the time of Admiral
Vernon, rum was given in its raw state to the seamen; but he ordered it
to be diluted, previous to delivery, with a certain quantity of water.
So incensed were the tars at this watering of their favourite liquor,
that they nicknamed the Admiral _Old Grog_, in allusion to a grogram coat
which he was in the habit of wearing: hence the name.
[49] Catharine I. of Russia was intemperately addicted to the use of
Tokay. She died of dropsy, which complaint was probably brought on by
such indulgence.
[50] Practical Observations on the Convulsions of Infants.
[51] “At day-break,” says Captain Bligh, “I served to every person a
tea-spoonful of rum, our limbs being so much cramped that we could
scarcely move them.”
“Being unusually wet and cold, I served to the people a tea-spoonful of
rum each, to enable them to bear with their distressing situation.”
“Our situation was miserable: always wet, and suffering extreme cold in
the night, without the least shelter from the weather. The little rum
we had was of the _greatest service_; when our nights were particularly
distressing, I generally served a tea-spoonful or two to each person, and
it was always joyful tidings when they heard of my intention.”—_Family
Library_, vol. xxv. _Mutiny of the Bounty_.
INDEX.
Abbas the Great, his edict, 200
Alcohol the intoxicating principle of all liquors, 61
its action differs from that of opium, 106
Alexander the Great died of drunkenness, 22
Amurath IV. made smoking a capital offence, 81
Ardent Spirits, drunkenness modified by, 61
varieties of, 26, 63
Armstrong, Dr., his remarks on the disease of the brain, 141
Arrack a spirituous liquor long known in the East, 20
Balfour, Mr. Alexander, case communicated by, 214
Bangue possesses intoxicating properties, 98
Bardolph, his nose, 144
Barrow, Mr., his remarks on tobacco, 83
Beckon Medical Jurisprudence, extracts from, 194, 195
Beecher, Dr., his Sermons on Intemperance, 156, 255
Beer known to the Egyptians, 19
in the interior of Africa, 19
Belladonna, 100
Bitters often dangerous remedies, 139
Bladder, state of, 142
Bligh, Captain, his privations, 247
Blood and breath, state of, 142
Bonosus, hanged himself in a fit of despair, 23
Brain, state of, 140
Brande, Mr., his Table, 260
Brandy, 20, 26, 63
Brodie, Mr., his experiments on tobacco, 83
opinion regarding the absorption of Alcohol, 108
Broomley, Mr., his remedy for drunkenness, 123
Bunbury, his caricature of the “Long Story,” 57
Caldwell, Dr., on the cure of drunkenness, 218
Camphor possesses intoxicating properties, 103
Carbonic acid possesses intoxicating properties, 104
Cardinal Santa Crocé introduced tobacco into Italy, 80
Carnaro, extract from, 155
Catherine de Medicis the inventor of Snuff, 80
Catherine I. addicted to the use of tokay, 239
Chardin, extract from his Travels, 75
Chewing, 88
Children, effects of liquors on, 150, 243
Claret, the most wholesome of wines, 239
Clery, 104
Clutterbuck, Dr., his opinion of delirium tremens, 166
Cocculus Indicus, 99
Coffee useful in poisoning from opium, 129
Coke, Sir Edward, his judicial opinion, 190
Cold, effects of intense, 105
Coleridge, Mr., his case, 93
Collinson on Lunacy, extract from, 195
Combustion, spontaneous, 175
Commercial travellers addicted to intemperance, 31
Congee the drink of the natives of India, 220
Corpulency, 152
Darnel, 104
Darwin, Dr., averse to blooding in drunkenness, 121
his account of _psora ebriorum_, 146
opposes the sudden discontinuance of liquors, 198
Delirium tremens, 159
Demosthenes used cold water as a stimulus, 34
Desgenettes, observation by, 221
Digitalis, 99
Don Gio Maria Bertholi, case of, 181
Double vision, cause of, 114
Dreams, 171
Drunkard, choleric, 57
melancholy, 54
nervous, 57
periodical, 58
phlegmatic, 55
sanguineous, 52
surly, 55
Drunkards, sleep of, 170
spontaneous combustion of, 175
advice to inveterate, 236
Drunkenness, causes of, 28
modified by temperament, 52
modified by the inebriating agent, 61
physiology of, 111
method of curing the fit of, 120
pathology of, 132
judicially considered, 190
method of curing the habit of, 197
Dupuy, M., experiment by, 123
Ears, ringing in the, cause of, 116
Eason, Rebecca, inquest on her body, 79
Edgar, Professor, his account of Temperance Societies, 233
anecdote by, 253
Edgeworth, Mr., his case, 93
Eldon, Lord, case cited by, 195
Elevation of spirits, cause of, 116
Emaciation, 151
English regiment, anecdote of, 125
Epilepsy, 150
Ethers possess intoxicating properties, 104
Eyes, state of, 143
Flushing, cause of, 116
Fontenelle used coffee as a stimulus, 34
Gin, 25, 63
Good, Dr. Mason, a believer in spontaneous combustion, 186
Gordon, Duchess of, used opium, 72
Gout, 147
Grace Pitt, case of, 180
Grog, origin of the term, 238
Hair, state of, 146
Hales, Judge, his remarks on drunkenness, 167
rejects the plea of drunkenness, 191
Haller used cold water as a stimulus, 34
Hammer, Von, extract from his history of the Assassins, 101
Hannibal’s army ruined by intemperance, 22
Heart, palpitation of, 149
Heat and flushing, cause of, 116
Hemlock, 98
Hernandez de Toledo introduced tobacco into Europe, 80
Hibiscus Saldarissa, 27
Hislop, Sir Thomas, fact stated by, 220
Hobbes used tobacco as a stimulus, 34
Hop, 99
Hunter, Dr., experiments by, 243
Hyoscyamus, 101
Hysteria, 149
Inflammations, 147
Innocent, Pope, renewed Pope Urban’s bull, 81
James I., his “Counterblaste to Tobacco,” 82
Johnson, Dr., used tea as a stimulus, 34
Kain, Dr., recommends tartar emetic for the cure of habitual
drunkenness, 216
Kaimes, Lord, fact related by, 71
Kidneys, state of, 141
Kinglake, Dr., his case, 95
Kinninmouth, Patrick, tried for blasphemy and adultery, 193
Langsberg, Matthew, his saying, 23
Leopard’s-bane, 98
Lewis, William, a great ale drinker, 69
Liquors, method of curing drunkenness from, 120
cannot always be suddenly discontinued with safety, 198
not always hurtful, 246
Liver, state of, 133
M’Donough, William, tried for murder, 194
Mackenzie, Sir George, says that the plea of drunkenness is never
received in extenuation of crime, 191
Madame Millet, case of, 184
Madness, 157
Mahomet forbade wine to his followers, 20
Malt liquors, drunkenness modified by, 66
Mary Clues, case of, 177
Masurer, M., discovered the virtues of acetate of ammonia in
drunkenness, 122
Mead the favourite drink of the Saxons, 19
Melancholy, 156
Mithridates, his body powerfully resisted poisons, 78
Montesquieu, quotations from, 16, 70, 221
Mosley, Dr., his observations on the effect of drinking cold water in
the tropics, 222
Nepenthes, 27
Nervii refused to drink wine, 22
Newton used tobacco as a stimulus, 34
Nightmare, 172
Nitrous oxide, 131
drunkenness modified by, 89
North, Dr., his remarks on convulsions of children, 242
Nurses and children, effects of intoxicating agents on, 241
Odoherty, Morgan, his advice to drunkards, 240
Old age, premature, 154
Opium, drunkenness modified by, 70
used by the late Duchess of Gordon, 72
its action differs from that of alcohol, 106
method of curing drunkenness from, 126
Opium-Eater, English, his “Confessions,” 70, 76
Orfila, M., his experiments, 106, 129
Palm wine, 103
Paris and Fonblanque, extract from their Medical Jurisprudence, 176
Paris, Dr., excerpt from his Pharmacologia, 257
Peganum Harmala, 27
Perspiration, state of, 143
Pitcairn, Dr., and the highland chieftain, 213
Plugging, 88
Porter, 26, 67
Portland powder, 140
Psora ebriorum, 146
Punch, 237
Quakers, longevity of, 151, 155
Raleigh, Sir Walter, introduced tobacco into England, 81
Rollo, Dr., fact stated by, 220
Rum, 26, 63
Ryan, Dr., his opinion of delirium tremens, 166
Sack of Shakspeare supposed to have been sherry, 66
Saffron, 104
Schubert, extract from his Travels in Sweden, 195
Shakspeare, extracts from, 144, 153
Sinclair, Sir John, his remark on ale, 252
Skin, state of, 145
Sleep of Drunkards, 170
Sleep-walking, 17
Sleep-talking, 173
Smith, Dr. Gordon, a believer in spontaneous combustion, 187
Smoking, 86
Snuffing, 84
Spartans held ebriety in abhorrence, 22
Spirits, their adulteration, 24
their varieties, 25, 63
Spurzheim’s opinion of the sudden discontinuance of liquors, 198
Staggering and stammering, causes of, 115
Stanhope, Lord, his remarks on Snuffing, 84
Sterility, 150
Stomach, state of, 136
Tartar Emetic, use of, 216
Temperament, drunkenness modified by, 52
Temperance Societies, 223
Thackrah, his remarks on the intemperate habits of commercial
travellers, 32
Tobacco, drunkenness modified by, 80
Tobacco, method of curing drunkenness from, 129
Toddy, 237
Tremors, 148
Trotter, Dr., averse to blooding in drunkenness, 121
his advice called in question, 198
Typhus fever, delirium of, sometimes mistaken for drunkenness, 126
Ulcers, 156
Urban VIII. excommunicated snuffers, 81
Vertigo, cause of, 112
Vinegar, its properties, 125, 128
Voltaire used coffee as a stimulus, 34
Walcheren fever, effects of spirits and smoking on, 225
Whisky, 26, 63
Wines, their adulteration, 24
drunkenness modified by, 65
Wolf’s-bane, 99
THE END.
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containing a Lithographic Sketch of every Animal in the relative
proportion that one stands in point of size to another.
XV.
In Foolscap 8vo., price 5s.
The Book of Aphorisms;
By a MODERN PYTHAGOREAN.
“The Book of Aphorisms is certainly the most amusing of all Mr. M’Nish’s
books.”—_Kilmarnock Journal._
“There is no subject, however various, upon which we have not an aphorism
strictly original.”—_Caledonian Mercury._
XVI.
Now complete, Vols. I. and II., price 7s. each, bound in cloth,
The Church of Scotland Magazine.
The Publisher of this Work begs to call the attention of the Friends of
the Institutions of the Country, both in Scotland and England, to the
contents of the Volumes now completed. He has no hesitation in expressing
his perfect confidence, that, on the great leading question of the
day, so essentially affecting the Religious and Civil welfare of the
Empire—viz., the question of
CHURCH ESTABLISHMENTS.
They will find an extent and variety of information not to be equalled in
_any work_ of the same compass in the English language.
It has received, and continues to receive, the contributions and support
of the most eminent and talented Clergy of the Church of Scotland, and of
the sound and well-affected portion of the Seceding Ministers, as well as
the right-minded Laity in the Church and among Dissenters. It originated
at a period of the most violent hostility to the settled institutions
both of Church and State. It entered on the defence with the boldness,
decision, and energy of truth, and continues to be carried on with a
nerve and vigour worthy of the noble cause in which it is embarked.
THE FRIENDS OF THE CONNEXION OF CHURCH AND STATE will find in it every
variety of argument drawn from Scripture and reason—from history and
experience—from the nature of man, and the necessities of human society,
in proof of the duty and expediency of maintaining that connexion. They
will obtain ample and minute statistical information on all the great
facts of the question, both as relating to the Church and Dissenters
in Scotland—the revenues and numbers of the Church and Dissenters in
England—the past and present state of the Church in Ireland—its property
and numbers—and the present condition of Popery and Presbyterianism in
that country. The numerous able papers of the Rev. Mr. Lorimer which
it contains on the state of the question, in America, it is confessed,
on all hands, are _unequalled and unanswerable_. The able series of
papers by Captain Gordon have been generally admired; while the not less
talented and vigorous contributions from the pen of the Editor have
called forth universal commendation, extending even to those hostile to
the cause.
The Publisher again repeats his unhesitating conviction, that, in no
other work of the same compass, will the Churchman find so complete an
armour for the sound defence of Church Establishments.
“Two volumes are now completed, by looking at the index of which it will
be at once seen that every one wishing well to Church Establishments
_ought to be in possession of the work_.”—_Aberdeen Advertiser._
XVII.
Twelfth Edition, Price One Shilling,
A Catechism of Phrenology,
Illustrative of the Principles of that Science. By a Member of the
Phrenological Society of Edinburgh.
“Since the publication of the first edition of this Catechism, in 1831,
the science of Phrenology has taken an astonishing hold upon the public
mind. This is attributable, no doubt, chiefly to the intrinsic value of
the science itself; but it is also partly owing to the means that have
been adopted to render the science known to the mass of society. This
Catechism, from its comprehensiveness, admitted accuracy, cheapness
and portability, has been in no slight degree conducive to this end.
Both Author and Publisher have reason to be proud of the success of the
book. Within the last six years 12,000 copies have been sold; and the
_increasing sale_ of the work not only indicate the high estimation
in which it is held, but also the ardent longing of the public for
phrenological knowledge. In this edition the Author and Publisher have
made some alterations and additions, both in the getting up and matter
of the book, which they hope will render it still more worthy of public
patronage.”—_Preface to the Twelfth Edition._
“The utility of this manual is unquestionable, for whatever progress
the science it is intended to illustrate may be making, it is evident
that, its study should not be entirely omitted even in the most general
education. The arrangement of the work is admirable. The utmost
perspicuity prevails in every page. The public may be assured of its high
claims to their attention, from the facility with which the principles of
the science are unfolded before them; from the philosophic tone in which
the subject is treated, and from the unassuming, modest manner in which
its appeals are made.”—_Alexander’s East India Magazine._
XVIII.
One Volume 8vo., price 2s. 6d. bound in cloth,
Church Establishments Defended,
Being a Review of the Speeches delivered in Dr. Beattie’s Chapel, by the
leading men of the Voluntary Church Association,
By the Rev. J. G. LORIMER, of St. David’s Church, Glasgow.
“For a more particular refutation,” says Dr. Patrick M’Farlane, in a note
to his speech, “of the argument of the Voluntaries from America, let the
reader peruse that _unanswerable_ work, entitled ‘a Defence.’”
XIX.
Treatise on Baptism.
A Practical Treatise on the Spiritual Import of Baptism, and the Duties
connected with the Observance of the Ordinance. By the Rev. JOHN THOMSON,
Minister of Shettleston.
“This is a work which will, and ought to make its way, where many
more ponderous and learned treatises on the subject will be refused
admittance. The truths regarding the nature and practical bearing of the
ordinance of baptism are correctly and clearly stated; and the duties
binding both upon parents and children, in connexion with the solemn
ordinances, are enforced in some instances with a natural eloquence which
cannot fail to reach the heart, because every reader will feel that the
sentiments come from the heart.”—_Presbyterian Review._
Price 1s. 6d. in boards.
XX.
The SIXTH EDITION, in Foolscap 8vo. Price 6s. boards, of
The Anatomy of Drunkenness;
By ROBERT MACNISH, Member of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of
Glasgow.
CONTENTS:—Chap. 1. Preliminary Observations. 2. Causes of Drunkenness.
3. Phenomena of Drunkenness. 4. Drunkenness modified by Temperament.
5. Drunkenness modified by the inebriating agent. 6. Enumeration of
the less common intoxicating agents. 7. Differences in the Action of
Opium and Alcohol. 8. Physiology of Drunkenness. 9. Method of Curing
the Fit of Drunkenness. 10. Pathology of Drunkenness. 11. Sleep of
Drunkards. 12. Spontaneous Combustion of Drunkards. 13. Drunkenness
Judicially considered. 14. Method of Curing the Habit of Drunkenness. 15.
Temperance Societies. 16. Advice to Inveterate Drunkards. 17. Effects
of Intoxicating Agents on Nurses and Children. 18. Liquors not always
hurtful.
“We are happy to announce a fifth edition of this most useful and
intelligent work. The author, Mr. Robert Macnish, has done more service
to the cause of sobriety, by describing in this book the lamentable
results of immoderate indulgence in intoxicating fluids, than all
the Temperance Societies in England. In fact, if Mr. Buckingham and
his fellow-twaddlers of the celebrated drunken committee, instead of
recommending absurd and impracticable legal enactments for the prevention
of drunkenness, had prevailed on parliament to grant a sum of money for
the dissemination of Macnish’s ‘Anatomy,’ they would have taken the most
effectual means to check an evil which is really of a sad and devastating
character. We remember once hearing a worthy gentleman advise an unhappy
infidel to read Bishop Watson’s reply to Tom Paine’s Age of Reason,
remarking, ‘if you study that book, Sir, you cannot be an unbeliever.’
Without seeking to weaken the force of the good Christian’s injunction,
_we_ say to all who are in danger of contracting the truly horrible habit
of intoxication, read Macnish on Drunkenness.”—_London Weekly Despatch._
XXI.
M’Phun’s Catechisms of Useful Knowledge.
Seventh Edition, price Sixpence, sewed; One Shilling, bound in Red
Leather, Gilt Edges,
No. I. MISCELLANEOUS ELEMENTARY KNOWLEDGE.
“This little Catechism contains a very great quantity of information
upon subjects of which nobody ought to be ignorant, and arranged in such
a manner that it may be taught with advantage to, and learned with ease
by, children at a very early period. The simpler questions are left
without any answer, so that the children may exercise their own ingenuity
in solving them. This we think a decided improvement. We are glad also
to see so considerable a portion of it devoted to an account of the
Books of Scripture, and to an explanation of some of the most important
words which frequently occur in them. We are quite sure that this will
be found extremely useful ‘in fixing the outline of Scripture History
in the youthful mind, and in exciting the desire of a more extensive
acquaintance with the Inspired Records.’ While we can very strongly
recommend this Catechism to schools for the use of children, we may add,
that there are many who are children no longer who might read it over
with no small advantage.”—_Edinburgh Christian Instructor._
XXII.
Price Sixpence,
No. II. THE SHORTER CATECHISM,
With NOTES; CATECHISMS for CHILDREN, by ISAAC WATTS, D. D.; and a
Collection of HYMNS, by various Authors.
XXIII.
FOR THE USE OF ITALIAN STUDENTS.
Second Edition, price 2s. 6d.
Economy of Human Life—in Italian.
L’ECONOMIA DELLA VITA UMANA DI DODSLEY.
Tradotta Da B. Aloisi.
“This is one of those useful initiatory works which tend to facilitate so
much the progress of the Student, while it renders his path smoother and
more easy. We recommend it to the attention of both master and scholar.
The private student will, in particular, derive benefit from its perusal.
We know of no book better fitted to put into the hands of those willing
to learn Italian than this is.”—_Edinburgh Literary Gazette._