keep, &c., of the four prisoners for five years in gaol, and then the widow and children in the workhouse, altogether making a serious sum; and yet, as the law at present stands, the same sort of thing may be repeated again and again. Surely we may say that with a fact such as this (which alas, occurs almost every day), the ratepayers ought to have the "Permissive Bill," to veto the common sale of such drinks; and we feel sure that if such a power was placed in their hands, it would not be long before they would say that one at all was one too much, and proceed to put it down, and thus stop the foe from committing any further mischief. Will you aid in getting this great boon? If so, then join with those who are banded together, determined, by God's help, never to cease the fight until the "Liquor Traffic," with all its body and soul-destroying influence, is for ever banished from our land. Meantime learn the lesson, "MIND HOW YOU KEEP YOUR HOLIDAYS!"

What Brought the Rain?

WHAT time the flowers their petals furled
With snowy wings outspread,

The Guardian Angel of the world
To earth from heaven sped.
It was a glorious harvest night,

The spheres were all in tune,

The stars were out, and shining bright
About the Lady Moon.

The flowers had closed their eyes and slept
A pure, untroubled sleep;
The world, above their slumbers, kept
A silence calm and deep.

The Angel kissed the sleeping flowers,
And bade them all "good night,"
Then fluttered through the forest bowers
With swift and noiseless flight.

The stream had chos'n a song, and sang
Upon its quiet bed,

And through the trees the music rang

That whispered overhead.

The Angel left the forest shade,
He left the purling stream,

To murmur to the listening glade
The wonders of its dream.

He stood upon a breezy hill,

And saw the moon-lit plain Like a great ocean shining still

With waving, golden grain. "And, oh! to think," the Angel sighed, "That this should be the source

Of blood the earth can never hide-
The blessing prove a curse!"

"And, oh! how soon to be disgraced,
This precious gift of heaven;
The world will waste it with a waste
For which it was not given!

And, oh! how men will choose the cup
That maddens them and kills,
When the very earth is bubbling up

With springs, and founts, and rills!"
He looked across the silvered plain,
"Ye streams that men despise,
Your waters shall return again

Unto their kindred skies!"
Then fell a shade upon the moon,

The stars burnt wan and dim,
The streamlet hushed its merry tune,
And sang a parting hymn.

And up, and up, its waters rise,

Up through the misty air;

Thick mist had covered earth and skiesThe mist was everywhere.

There was no stream in all the land,

No river, fount, nor lake,

But did, amid a misty band,

A misty journey take.

Then murk and threat'ning grew the skies; Then fell such blinding showers,

Forever closed the gentle eyes

Of all the slumbering flowers.

Wilder, more fierce, the torrents pour,

The snow, the hail, the rain,
Such floods were never seen before-

May they ne'er be again!

There was no reaper's gladsome song
Among the sheaves that year,
And as the winter rolled along,

Full many a home looked drear;
Empty was many a barn and stall,

And rotting lay the sheaves
In the bleak fields; the farmer's all

Lay strewn like withered leaves.

Yet bright grew many a tear-dimmed eye Ev'n in that mournful time,

For the tavern fount alone was dry

That fount of grief and crime;
And the drunkard fled his former haunt,

And from the purling stream
Drank to the memory of the want

That woke him from his dream.

MABEL DRAKE.

Alcohol in Relation to the Nutritive Functions.

BY J. W. BEAUMONT, M.D.

7

8

beaten in the fair strife of argument and reasoning. Alcohol in its divers forms has always been considered hitherto as a tonic and a nutrient-as heat-producing, and, therefore, an indispensable "element of respira tion." Some medical authorities of high standing have maintained this, among whom may be mentioned the learned Dr. Carpenter and Professor Miller. These gentlemen have contributed to the medical literature of the Temperance movement-its very pith and substance; and, as physiologists and physicians, have done more to aid the Temperance cause by their advocacy of it on medical grounds than perhaps any two men in the profession in this country. How, then, have they been misled; and to what cause are we to look for an error in the opinion of two men so accustomed to accuracy of observation, and so remarkable for the general correctness of their views ? We may trace it, I think, to a twofold source-namely, to education, and to the want of sufficient light in reference to the action of alcohol on the human organism. Medical men educated in a certain mode of practice, retain a preference for it until it can be shown to them to be erroneous. Bleeding, mercury, and wine were the tripod of the medical practice of our fathers in the profession: they were the threefold power by which disease was to be overcome, and the patients supported; and without which it was thought impossible to work a cure. The two former--namely, bleeding and mercury, have been superseded, and proved beyond a doubt to be mischievous; and the time is now drawing on when wine and other alcoholics will deservedly receive a similar condemnation. We must expect, however, that medical practitioners will retain some leaning ever through life to the principles of practice in which they were educated. To this cause, then, we must attribute much of the show of defence still made by certain learned Temperance physicians in favour of using alcholics in different forms, under what they are pleased to call "special circumstances"-those circumstances being far too general to be properly within the designation of 'special."

In the second place, it is confessedly true that our knowledge of the action of alcohol on the body has been limited and imperfect-that, in fact, we have been altogether in the dark. Much has been done within the last few years; and bright are the gleams of light that have broken through the clouds in reference to the work of alcohol when taken into the human system. That light shows us more vividly than ever the mischievous action of this deadly drug; shows us more clearly than ever that, so far from being beneficial, it is baneful in the worst sense of the word. The mischief is directly proportioned to the quantity taken, so that even a small measure cannot be imbibed without producing an equal measure of diseased action. This is worthy the consideration, not of drunkards only, but of moderate drinkers too.

While, then, we attribute the general custom of practitioners in ordering alcoholic beverages, in part to educational prejudices, and in part to the notion that they are nutritive and beneficial, we rejoice that further acquaintance with the question has given us advantages in regard to the knowledge of the physiology of alcohol, which our fathers did not possessa knowledge which, indeed, was still hidden from the world when even the works of Carpenter and Miller issued from the press.

Malt liquors are considered by all to be nutritive, and their qualities in this direction are attributed to the alcohol. Brewers' men, who almost subsist on these liquors, are remarkable for their fatness. This is conceded. But their stoutness does not arise from the alcohol. Physiologists have affirmed very

positively to the contrary, and have accounted for it by saying that the alcohol being combustible is resolved into its elementary constituents, and that its carbon combines with the oxygen of the air, forming carbonic acid and giving out heat; and that the hydrogen is also burnt in the same way, combining with oxygen and forming watery vapour. This we altogether deny. Where obesity results from drinking malt liquors, it is from the nutriment contained in the saccharine portion of the constituents of the beverage, and not from the alcohol. Saccharine substances are very closely allied to the oily and fatty compounds, and, passing into these, are deposited in the tissues of the human body to be consumed in the respiratory process, as occasion calls for. In support of this view we have two great arguments, one of which is of a positive, the other of a negative character. It must be remembered, too, that the bitter principle in malt liquors-the hop, the quassia, and other similar ingredients-put the absorbent system of vessels into a condition rendering them capable of taking up more nutrimental matter available for the purposes of repairing the system. In this fact consists the great value of the bitter tonics. The one argument is derived from the fact that those beverages which contain the largest proportion of alcohol and the smallest amount of saccharine matters do not afford in a visible degree any nutriment to those who take them. Spirit drinkers are never stout in conse. quence of their potations. On the contrary, they are often extremely spare, ill-thriven, and shrivelled; while the same persons on becoming Total Abstainers have gained flesh and visibly improved in their physical appearance. We should naturally and logi cally expect, if alcohol were nutritive, that spirit drinkers would have the advantage, or, at any rate, be equal in point of stoutness to the consumers of malt liquors; but such is far from being the case. They ought, indeed to present a better aspect, if the supposed good they get were attributable to the alcohol. But it would not be difficult to show that alcohol even obstructs and hinders the due repair of the system; certainly it diminishes the powers of physical resistance, and indeed interferes with the nutritive functions throughout. There is a second argument against the supposition that alcohol is burnt up in the system, and that it is resolved into carbonic acid and water; or that it affords nutritive elements capable of being, as saccharine matters are, stored up in the form of oily and fatty substances in the tissues. If it could be shown that alcohol passes through the system unchanged, our ground for denying its supposed nutritive properties would be quite established. This we can now do without the possibility of refutation. We can demonstrate, by appropriate tests, the presence of alcohol, after it has been drunk, in the secretions and textures of the body as accurately as we have the presence of sulphuric acid by barytes, or any other substance, by its proper chemical reagent. This achievement is the result of very recent inquiry, and adds the strongest and most forcible argument for temperance practice that has ever been derived from scientific sources. Alcohol has been obtained by many medical men of eminence from the blood, the urine, and the substance and ventricles of the brain, showing that it had passed into the secretions and tissues of the body unchanged. We have here quite sufficient proof that alcohol is not used in the animal economy, and that it is neither nutritive nor available as an element of respiration. The researches of Lallemand and his colleagues show that alcohol can be detected by its chemical test soon after it has been taken, and for a certain length of time after, according to the quantity taken; for if large, it could be demonstrated in the secretions and the

breath for 24 or even 48 hours. But they have fully and beyond any question established the tact-vital in its importance, in a Temperance point of viewthat alcohol invariably passes through the body with. out undergoing the changes which aliments undergo, and that it sets up a morbid action in the system, which is excited to an unnatural degree; and that excitement is the result of an effort of nature to throw off what it feels to be a noxious agent-a positive poison. The effort is precisely the same as is made by the system to get rid of any other deleterious substance. The chloric and sulphuric ethers, which are similar to alcohol, and the compounds allied to them, all exert a poisonous action on the system; and nature, on their being taken in, exerts herself in the same marked manner to free herself from them. Now, no medical man in the world ever argued that the etheral bodies were nutritious! No medical man ever contended that they were anything else than dangerous drugs, which when used, even medicinally, require the most watchful care in their administration. But alcohol, which, however, may be taken in larger quantities without a fatal result, is favoured with an exceptional regard, and is even ordered ad libitum?

As then alcohol is found to be eliminated from the system unchanged in its composition, and incapable, therefore, of affording the elements of nutrition-and since it is known to be productive of mischief in proportion to the quantity imbibed-why is not its use as a beverage at once discarded, and the sale of it repressed by the strong arm of the law? How is it that this fruitful source of crime and social disorder is not at once stopped? We are not taking a chimerical view of the thing, when we say that no agency for the amelioration of our fellow-countrymen and our race can be considered perfect unless it be founded on and begin with temperance. Let thoughtful men daly ponder the question in all its importance. Let them be assured that alcohol is now found to be incapable of affording nutriment to the system; incapable of any good whatever, in a physiological point of view; and capable only of damaging health, setting up disease, shortening life, and effecting the mortal ruin of those who are led captive by its insidious and deadly enchantments.

Health: How to Secure and Retain it.

By S. B. LOUDON, Liverpool.
SECTION 4.-AIR.

WHAT food is to the stomach air is to the lungs; and insufficient or unwholesome food does not engender disease more certainly than does an impure atmosphere. But few persons ever stop to consider what an impure atmosphere is, and they imagine that if they are not inhaling air laden with pestilential gases or poisoned by decaying animal or vegetable matter, they must be breathing the pure air of heaven. Now, it is by no means necessary that atmospheric air should be charged with miasma to render it unfit for the lungs. It cannot be too strongly stated that, by the simple act of respiration, about 8 per cent. of Oxygen (the only part of air which supports life) is destroyed, and carbonic acid takes its place. Hence air, which has been once used, is utterly unfit to be breathed over again, and the effect of sending it to the lungs is to irritate and disease those organs to a greater or lesser extent. It is

9

enormous the quantity of air which is required to sustain life. Every adult individual uses 18,000 cubic feet of it every hour; and as it has been well and forcibly expressed by an eminent writer, "We spoil, vitiate, and destroy about fifty hogsheads of atmospheric air in one day." The Mighty Ruler of the universe, who is praised by "snow, vapours, and stormy wind fulfilling His word," has made ample provision by the simple operation of natural law (for, notwithstanding their apparent mystery to us, all God's laws are natural)-for the purification of the atmosphere so that, type of the Redeemer's grace, the constant drain upon it by the myriads who people the world causes no diminution of its life-giving properties. This fact alone should surely teach us that every moment of our lives we require a continual supply of fresh and pure air. I say continual, for some do vainly teach that to admit air into the house by opening the door or windows is to invite disease to enter, and the most orthodox plan is to "lay in a good stock" of air outside, and then come home and keep both doors and windows hermetically sealed lest the unwelcome intruder should effect an entrance. Does not everybody know that the night air is most destructive of health? Why, there was old Mrs. Wheezer, who had to answer the door one night when the servant was out, and she never recovered the effects of the "cold air." And who has not heard of her near neighbour, Mr. Hobbledehoy, who nearly lost his life by the carelessness of his maid (servants will be careless!) in forgetting to replace the sand-bag after cleaning the window one day.

But, notwithstanding these weighty arguments, and many more which might be advanced, I humbly recommend my many readers to feed their lungs well with the pure air of heaven. Don't be afraid of the night air, if it is dry and not foggy. Keep a little of your window open-the air outside must be very bad, indeed, if it is not more wholesome than what every one in the room is breathing over and over again, and which is being consumed by the fire and the lights as well. Some people ventilate their rooms by leaving the door open. Well, undoubtedly, this kind of ventilation is better than none at all; but surely, as some one observes, "We may allow ourselves the best and purest air within our reach, and choose the open window instead of the tainted air of a house."

The proper ventilation of a bed-room is, if possible, more important still. If people did not halfsuffocate themselves at night in their sleepingrooms, their health and the health of their children would be more vigorous. Not long since I was taken by a friend into his room one night, and what does the reader suppose I found? The windows firmly closed, the Venetian blinds down, the curtains closely drawn, and, to crown all, two gas lamps burning for the purpose of warming the room! And in this comparatively small space two human beings were to spend ten hours, breathing over and over again the same air, already charged with gas!

I shall not have employed my humble pen in vain if I succeed in persuading some of my readers, at least, not to follow such a suicidal course. If the night is cold, warm your room by all means, but do so by a fire; and instead of ex

10

I

cluding the night air, keep your bed-room door shut, and open a little of the window at the top. Of course, you will have your bed put in such a position that you will not be exposed to a draught. Nor must you overdo the ventilating process. do not want you to open a couple of feet of your window, and then go and say that I gave you all manner of colds and chest affections. One inch, or even less, will supply you with more fresh air than you can possibly use without reducing very perceptibly the temperature of your room.

Another "evil which I have seen under the sun" is the bad ventilation of churches. I know that many persons are utterly prevented from engaging with earnestness in the worship of God by the drowsiness which a heavy, loaded atmosphere induces, while, in other places, some are kept at home nursing severe colds caught by the unskilful mode of admitting air.

This whole subject is so wide and so suggestive that I can do no more than offer these few simple hints, but they are sufficient to show its vast importance. A word to the wise is enough, and I think I may reasonably indulge the hope that my readers will carry my suggestions into daily prac

tice.

Before closing, however, let me add a word or two about the inspiration of air. It is surprising how many people persist in breathing through their mouth. Nothing could be more at variance with physical law than this practice. We read that "God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life;" but the majority of people, in defiance of this, refuse to breathe in this natural way. It is obvious from the very formation of the nose that it is the only proper medium for communicating air to the lungs. When cold air is inhaled through the mouth it invariably causes irritation of the lungs, though its injurious effects may not be perceptible immediately. And this habit is, undoubtedly, the cause of nine-tenths of those diseases of the teeth and gums, and numerous bronchial affections by which so many people are afflicted. There is a little apparatus in the nose through which the air must pass before it is fit to be received by the lungs. In its crude state it is no more fit for those delicate organs than uncooked food is fit for the stomach. Those who suffer much from coughs and colds will find in the observance of this simple law a better and more effectual remedy than in anything which medical skill can furnish.

Shane's Castle, Lough Neagh, and
Antrim Castle.

THE magnificent ruins of Shane's Castle are situated a short distance from the town of Antrim. It stands on the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, one of those lovely lakes of which so many are to be found in the "Emerald Isle." Shane's Castle has been for centuries the princely residence of the O'Neill family. In 1816 a fire broke out accidentally, and it was almost entirely burned to the ground. A noble and extensive library, and many very valuable and rare paintings were almost entirely destroyed in this conflagration. Almost the only thing that escaped the devastating element was the greenhouse, or grand conservatory of rare

and beautiful foreign plants. Some turrets and towers still remain, from the tops of which can be obtained a very extensive view, of the varied and interesting scenery which surround these noble ruins. The fort is very boldly situated, and a number of cannon are still mounted on it. It lies on the very margin of the lough, or lake, the water of the latter almost laving the embattled wall. Lough Neagh is an extensive lake, fully twenty miles long, and fifteen broad. It is said to cover a circumference of 95,000 acres, its entire circumference being about eighty miles. Indeed, this lough is said to be nearly as large as the lake of Geneva, and is only exceeded by that lake in Europe, and by the lakes of Ladoga in Russia, and Vener in Sweden. It is bounded by five counties-Antrim on the north and east, Tyrone also on the east, a small portion of Down on the north-east, Armagh on the south, and Londonderry on the north-west. Its height above the sea is about thirty feet. It has always been rendered an object of considerable interest, both from its situation, which resembles an inland sea, and from the celebrity of its very curious petrefactions and pebbles which are constantly found upon its borders. There is a very common tradition among the peasantry that the waters of the lake cover a town which, in ages far back, was buried beneath them. This very remarkable and prevalent belief has been immortalized by the poet Moore, in these beautiful lines,

"On Lough Neagh's banks as the fisherman strays
When the clear cold eve's declining,
He sees the round towers of other days
In the waves beneath him shining."

On Ram's Island, lying above a mile and a half from the shore, where travellers may easily obtain a boat to visit the island, which extends about seven acres, there is a beautiful cottage, elegantly furnished. The ground is entirely laid out in grass-covered walks. Large quantities of beautiful roses, and plants and flowers which are with difficulty reared in our gardens, grow here in great luxuriance. The very sides of the island, though almost perpendicular, are covered with creepers and hardy shrubs, adapted to the situation. Upon the beach, near the rear of the gardens of Shane's Castle, a large basaltic bed runs into the lake.

The picturesque town of Antrim is situated about twelve miles from Belfast, N.W. Its origin, like most of the towns in Ireland, was ecclesiastical. It stands on a beautiful plain, rich and fertile. Close by, the Six-mile Water river flows smoothly over its gravelly bed. About half a mile north of the town is one of the most perfect of the celebrated round towers. It is 93 feet high and above 53 feet in circumference at the base.

The town has few buildings of importance; two or three places of worship, the principle one being the church whose well-proportioned tower and tapering spire present a pleasing object viewed from any position. The Market-house stands in the main street.

The chief events in the history of the town of Antrim are two battles-one that was fought in the reign of Edward III., between the English and Irish, which exercised considerable influence over the after history of the country, and the other in 1798, during the rebellion, on which occasion

Earl O'Neill lost his life while riding through the

street.

Close to the town of Antrim, and contiguous to the grounds of Shane's Castle, is the property of the Lord Massareene, with its spacious and wellbuilt mansion, called Antrim Castle. The exterior of the house is very plain, but in the interior there are many splendid rooms, fitted up with great elegance and taste, while the extensive grounds are beautifully laid out, in the artificial or French style. The park belonging to this castle extends for two miles along the shores of Lough Neagh, from north to south. It is rich in old and noble trees, and, in particular, contains gigantic specimens of silver fir. Antrim Castle was long very much neglected, but about thirty years ago it underwent great improvements, and, with its extensive demesne, was brought into its present well-ordered state. The land about this part of the country is excellent, and though the surrounding country is destitute of many of the natural elements of landscape, it is warmed into pleasantness, and even luxuriousness of aspect, chiefly by the embellishments of extensive pleasure grounds, and in a small degree by the operations of husbandry. The ancient or uncorrupted name of Antrim is Andruim, or Endruim, "The habitations on the waters," a name which probably refers to one locality, whence a designation is diffused over the whole county, yet which has been thought expressive of the county's nearly insulated position. Castle of Antrim stands on the margin of Six-mile Water, one of the principal rivers of the county. Cairns, cromlechs, pillarstones, raths, and earthern mounds, abound along the whole coast of Antrim, and occur somewhat numerously even in the interior.

Repressive Legislation.

The Excise is fatten'd with the rich result Of all this riot; and ten thousand casks, For ever dribbling out their base contents, Touched by the Midas fingers of the State, Bleed gold for ministers to sport away."-Cowper. I AM a working man, and must work very hardthe particular kind of work is of small consequence. As a working man I am in favour of legal repression of the liquor traffic. I am decidedly averse to the present fiscal system, which, for the sake of revenue, as Cowper has described it in his own strong racy English, not only destroys human food-that might pass, although, with hungry children around us, it seems hard it should-but propagates human misery in every form. I am not going to say anything of the fearful evils of drinking. Why should I? Working men know all about them; they have seen, if not felt them. They are generally aware of the folly, I might almost say the guilt, of drinking stimulants at all, because of their baneful consequences; and they are beginning to feel the necessity of crushing the mischief by restraints more powerful than those of moral suasion and personal self-denial.

11

Let us see how the matter stands. The people who drink hardest are not the least convinced. Many of them groan under their slavery-they feel its bitterness-the iron has entered into their souls. They cannot, however, emancipate themselves; emphatically the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Freedom must be given to them, if ever they are to be free; if given to them they would be the first to feel, and ere long to rejoice in its effects.

The able writers who supply leaders for the Times, Telegraph, and other London newspapers, tell us to look to the spread of religion, education, and the thousand wholesome influences of civilization for the necessary improvement. Very good; but how long are we to continue in this expectant mood? We have looked a long while already, and begin to feel the sickness of hope deferred. I have faith, in my own humble way, in these benign influences, as well as these journalists. I believe in a God of love, else I should lay me down and die; but I know greatly more about poor people than they do, and therefore I am driven to the conclusion that a couple of generations must pass away before these influences can have their legitimate and full effect, supposing them speedily to come into vigorous operation. Meantime, I am tired waiting, waiting. I would fain see something done-even failure would be preferable to inaction. There are thousands now in our midst to whom religion, education, and other wholesome influences, are little more than a mere name-masses who will, to a certainty, remain in their present degraded condition, so long as drink is procurable to stupify and imbrute them. They will soon die; there is a hereafter; what of these masses? Moral suasion, selfdenial, in our wynds and alleys-in Bethnal Green, of which the London papers have been telling us recently-in places, we need not indicate particularly, nearer home. No, no. God's grace can do anything; there are true brave hearts in the most unlikely retreats. But if you persist in maintaining social arrangements, defiant of all that we are taught to believe concerning the nature and operations of the divine government, which largely works by human agency, we have no right to talk. It is a mere lazy sentimentalism.

In

My readers will probably remember that Mrs. Pardiggle, in Bleak House, tried reformation after the wordy and very orthodox fashion. Better women than Mrs. Pardiggle have tried it. The thing comes naturally to us. But it does not succeed. One instance is as good as many. one miserable room, we are told, in which there were a woman with a black eye, nursing a poor little gasping baby by the fire, and a man all stained with clay and mud, and looking very dissipated, lying at full length upon the ground smoking a pipe, the lady had recourse to her moral suasion. She had her answer, and if many do not answer after the same fashion, it is not that they think very differently. "I wants a end," says this smoking dissipated man," of these liberties took with my place. I wants a end of being drawed like a badger. Now you're a going to poll pry and question according to custom-I know what you're a going to be up to. Well you haven't got no occasion to be up to it, I'll save you the trouble. Is my daughter a washin'?

64