system which it has induced. That this manifests itself sometimes in a congenital idiocy, sometimes in a predisposition to insanity which requires but a very slight exciting cause to develop it, and sometimes in a strong craving for alcoholic drinks, which the unhappy victim strives in vain to resist, is the concurrent testimony of all who have directed their attention to the inquiry."

It is true, though, that the manifestation of that morbid instinct always requires an external provocative. Naturally, every child, of whatever parentage, is endowed with a protective instinct begetting a distinct aversion to noxious substances, and protesting against the nauseous taste of alcohol as strongly as against the bitterness of strychnine or the acridity of verdigris. The reformed drunkard can reacquire that instinct, and, after ten years of abstinence, may come to loathe the smell of the liquor-shop. But the taste of that liquor is very apt to rekindle the healthdestroying fire of his passion; and, in a similar way, a few glasses of rum forced upon the reluctant child of an habitual toper may awaken a dormant propensity of which the victim himself perhaps did not suspect the existence. The children of drunkards are characterized by a sort of chronic despondency, sometimes taking the form of suicidal reveries; and that despondence the barrier of instinct once removed— is very apt to seek relief in artificial stimulants. Dr. Bock's observation that the sons of intemperate parents are frequently given to sexual excesses, admits, perhaps, of the same explanation.

Dr. Norman Kerr, in an address read before the

International Congress at Brussels (August, 1880), mentions the case of "a gentleman of position, sixtyfour years old, who is an habitual drunkard. One of his sisters (unmarried) is an imbecile through drinking, and has often tried to commit suicide when drunk, by hanging, by poison, by jumping from a window. Her insanity has so suicidal a tendency that she can not be left for a moment alone. She will do anything for drink; will beg, borrow, steal, pawn everything she can lay her hands on. Another sister (married) is also a habitual drunkard, who has fits of ungovernable fury when in drink, and, being dangerous to herself and others, is under restraint. Thus, all the family are dipsomaniacs. The fatal legacy in his case was from both parents. The father shot himself while laboring under alcoholic mania, and the mother was an inveterate drunkard. The grandfather was also a confirmed drunkard."

"There is no single habit in this country," says Sir Henry Thompson, "which so much tends to deteriorate the qualities of the race, and so much disqualifies it for endurance in that competition which, in the nature of things, must exist, and in which struggle the prize of superiority must fall to the best and the strongest."

Dr. Nathan Allen, in a memorial read before the Massachusetts Board of State Charities, calls attention to many striking proofs that the most "prolific cause of human degeneration is the common habit of taking alcohol into the system, usually as the basis of spirits, wine, or beer. The effects of alcohol upon the senses, and even upon the bodily functions, vary according

to the medium in which it is conveyed; but, the basis being the same in all, the constitutional effects are about the same. It is well known, however, that alcohol acts unequally upon man's nature; that it stimulates the lower propensities and weakens the higher faculties."... "If this process is often repeated, the lower propensities are strengthened until, by and by, they come to act automatically, while the restraining power, or the will, weakened by disuse, are practically nullified. The man is no longer under control of his voluntary powers, but has come under the dominion of automatic functions which are almost as much beyond his control as the beating of his heart. And the stimulus of the brain by alcoholized blood, in ever so small doses, must produce the same kind of results, only in a lesser degree." . . . "The facts and considerations just named make clear the sad truth, that the children of parents whose systems were tainted by alcoholic poison do start in life under great disadvantages. While they inherit strong animal propensities and morbid appetites, constantly craving indulgence, they have weak restraining faculties. Their temptation is greater and their power of resistance is less than in children of purer stock. They are, therefore, more likely to fall into the pauper or criminal class."

The brain-stimulating effect of alcohol decreases with every repetition of the dose, and Dr. Theodore Chambers warns us that "however long the evil results of such habitual overtasking may be postponed, they are sure to manifest themselves at last in that general breakdown which is the necessary sequence

of a long-continued excess of expenditure over income."

Besides, even the temporary results would not justify that expenditure. "Brain-workers should confine themselves to metaphysical tonics," says Dr. Bouchardat. "Alcoholic drinks, at any rate, are unavailable for that purpose. Even after a single glass of champagne I have found that the slight mental exaltation is accompanied by a slight obfuscation. The mind soars, but it soars into the clouds." "Wine stirs the brain," says the poet Chamisso, "but not its higher faculties as much as the sediments that muddle it."

The Arabs have a tradition that soon after the flood, when Nunus (the Arabian Noah) had resumed his agricultural pursuits, a Ghin, or spirit, appeared to him and taught him the art of manufacturing wine from grape-juice. "This beverage, O son of an earthly father," said the Ghin, "is a liquid of peculiar properties. The first bumperful will make you as tame as a sheep. If you repeat the experiment you will become as fierce as a rampant lion. After the third dose you will roll in the mud like a hog." If the Ghin had been a spirit of epigrammatic abilities he might have summarized his remarks: "The effects of this liquid, O Nunus, vary, of course, with the amount of the dose; but if you drink it, you will infallibly make a beast of yourself."

In the long list of artificial stimulants, with all their modifications and compounds, there is no such thing as a harmless tonic. Alcohol especially is, in all its disguises, the most implacable enemy of the

human organism. In large quantities it is a lethal poison; in smaller doses its effects are less deadly, but not less certainly injurious, and the advocates of moderate drinking might as well recommend moderate perjury. Our lager-beer enthusiasts might just as well advise us to introduce a milder brand of rattlesnakes. The alcohol-habit, in all its forms and in every stage of its development, is a degrading vice.