South-Carolina Temperance Advocate, 1839-09-19

u ir tints that man it enabled to emlure, from year to year, llte toil* and fatigue* of life, Ilia variation of heat ami roUl, ami the vicissitude# of Uie aeaaon ; that lie it enabled to traveiae every region of the glolir ami to live with almost eijuaJ ease umler the i*|u* tor, anti in the frozen regions of the ninth. It i« by this jiowcr that all hia fuuctiona are perfoi tneil, fiotn Ukj commencement to the rlute in life. The |trinri|i!o of excitability exist* in the highest degree in the infant, and diminishes at every succeeding jieriod of life; and if win in not cut down hy disease or violence, he struggles on, and finally dies a natural death ; a death occasioned l>y the exhatlatif.fi of tin; principle of excitability. In order to pi event tin: tin. rapid exhaustion of this prin principle, - ciple, principle, nature baa especially ptovided for its r atoralion by estab i bing a pciiod of sleep. Aftet Iteiug aw uke for sixteen or eightcoti hour*, s sensation of fatigue ensues, and all the functions are net formed with diminished energy and precision. I.ocnmotion liecoinen feeble and tottering, the voice haiah, the in intellert - tellert intellert oUuse and (Miwerb**#, and all the sense* hluutefl. In this state, the individual anx iously retires from the light, ami from the noise and hustle of business, seeks that po aitiou which rr<piiro* tin? least effort to sus sustain - tain sustain it, and abandons himself to rest. '1 he will ceases to act, and he losea in auccesaion all the sensea. The muscles uiiIhuiiI them themselves, - selves, themselves, and |iermit the IiiiiIm to fall into the most easy and nat-u til position. Digestion, respirati.Hi, circuit lion, secretion, ami the other functions, go on with diminished jviwer and activity; ami ronseipieully tho wasted excitability is gradually restored. After a re|MMo of six or eight hours, this principle bmaimes accumulated toils full measure, ami the individual awakes, and finds himself in invigorated - vigorated invigorated and refreshed. His muscular pow- j er is augmented ; his senses are acute uml discriminating; his intellect active and ca^er for labor; and all his functions move on with renewed energy. Hut if the stomach l*> op- ! pressed by food, or the system excited by j Stimulating drinks, sleep, though it may lie profound, is never tramiml ami refreshing. - ! The system being raiser) to a state of feverish excitement, and its healthy balance disturlied, ita exhausted excitability ia not restored. - The individual awakes, lint finds himself fa fatigued - tigued fatigued rather than invigorated. His muscles are relaxed, his senses are obtuse. Ins intellect impaired, and all Ids functions disordered ; and it ia not until lie ia again under the in influence - fluence influence of food and stimulus, that he is fit for the occupations of life. And thus lie loaes the benefits of this wise provision of re|ios«, designed for his preservation. Nothing, pro probably - bably probably teml* more powerfully to produca pro proroatute - roatute proroatute old age, than midnight rrvela or dis disturbed - turbed disturbed and unrefreshing sleep.

- susii nonce only one more class ol the effects of anient spirit ; anil this is ita influ influence - ence influence u|M>n the brain anii nervous system. It is hero that we have exhibited the pbeno pbenomenu - menu pbenomenu of I hut most distressing of diseases, delirium ter incur. The tremblings; the watch watchfulness, - fulness, watchfulness, which o|iiutn itself can scaieely run run'|iier, - the - '|iier, - the run'|iier, - the characteristic delirium, so full of fearful apprehensions, that seem like the cm cmIstdicd - Istdicd cmIstdicd representation of a guilty cuiim ictice, - all are thu result of undue excitement of lie nervous system by anient spit it ; and all united constitute a nituisuru ol distress and unguisli, which is tiono too forcibly expressed by the name given to this disease among the sailors in our naval service, thr horror*. The miserable victim is deprived of his utider utider| - | utider| (.landing lief ue he is aware that ho is sick, | as il to slmw that the drunkaid has outlived Ids probation ; and lie sinks into death with with{ - { with{ out one moment's opportunity to profit by tka I nf Inis dsnjf or. Hut you will say, my reader. This is the 1 disease of the drunkard : why speak of its horrors to me 1 I drink a little, il is trie, |K:rhn|M daily, - sometimes nflcnor, and some sometimes, - times, sometimes, it may lie, not for several days ; surely I am no drunkard ; and why talk to me of delirium frrmrn* l He it so, you are no drunk drunkard - ard drunkard ; are I h conn ger, still you are not so safe as you imagine from this most appalling disease. Some of the worst case# of it that I huve ever seen (ami the nunilier that I have seen is so great that my heart shudders at the reeolluetion of them,) have la-cn of |ier*uus who had rarelv or never lieen known to lie intoxicated. Men have been taken down hy this delirium, who have regarded themselves, anil have lieen re regarded - garded regarded hy tlieir neigldsirs, as temperate men. They were known to drink ncrasionally, in indeed; - deed; indeed; but they would have resented as much as you do, to lie told that they were intempe intemperate. - rate. intemperate. Nor is this the only evil. The ner nervous - vous nervous system is a nicely adjusted structure, which suiienntends the functions of the whole living l»ody, There are many de^reea of de derangement, - rangement, derangement, of which it is susceptible ; all of which are of more or less importance, al though they may not amount to so severe and 1 ire you not in the way to liecome one t -redo that you are sufu fnun this dan danfatal - fatal danfatal a disease as this of which we hove s p: ken. Kvery class of spirit that you drink does some violence to the delicacy of this complicated and lirautifiil system; and every repetition of the glass destroys the harmony of one of those thousand strings of which ] your life is composed.

iM>ue«, arc nfcimtiiH'ii in me same manner. These thing* physician t tell you from no liniulcr views, from no lurking |irimi|ile ol acIfiiiliiicM. For ihfy Moll know that, when distilled and stimulating lupinr* shall lx- ban banished - ished banished from tlio community, the fountain of ono half of all chronic diseases - a fruitful source of their emolument - will I* dried up; that a large prntrotlion of surgical operations will l>e uncalled for; and that the nutnlcr and diminished. When a person unaccustomed to stimu stimulants - lants stimulants is imbued for the first time to lake a glass of spirits, an instantaneous excitement of the Imi.1\ and the mind are hurried ; the eye sparkles; the tongue is unl<M»>ed ; the imagination is exrited ; the whole scene as assumes - sumes assumes <he ap|M'aiatue of vivacity, and glee, ami happiness. Ilut after all, it is unnatural. It is not the glow of health. It is not the vivacity of youth. It is not the buoyancy of innocence. - It is the flush of approaching fever; the excitement of momentary delirium; the hi hilarity - larity hilarity of the incipient maniac ; and it cannot endure. Lassitude, weakness and depres depression - sion depression are its inevitable results. A shock has been given to the constitution ; the laws of health and life have been violated, and the first < bust isi'Uirlit inflicted. SupjMise the warning ro l«e disregarded, ami habits ofduily tippling established. Thu rimy hue of health is ek< lirnged for a deep scat let; the eye loses its intelligence; thn voice lieroriH's husky; blood putts with its florid color; the appetite is impaired; tbu muscles waste ; the luce is hloHted ; and iu rapid succession tire liver, the digestive or organs, - gans, organs, the lungs, and heart, and luain, bate their vital forces, and hut imperfectly (icrforiii their functions ; and sooner or later the con constitution - stitution constitution is broken down, organic disease su supervenes, - pervenes, supervenes, and death close* I tic scene. Since life is extinct, send now ibr a sur surgeon - geon surgeon and let the Ixidy be iiwjiected for the benefit of thn living. Tba *tomacb is enlarged or contracted; often indurated,and always diseased ; the in intestmal - testmal intestmal canal, a mass of disease; the non <hm membrane through its whole extent, irritated ; the herr, shrunk, dense, diseolnred, atnl its vessels nearly obliterated ; the htmft, eh (ur (urged. - ged. (urged. adhering, often tilled with tolMTcles ; the brat* hardened, as if it hail been iniinei.ud fot weeks in alcohol. is produced. The i rpiuiit ; the face is fl The pulse liecnmea more fre frec - c frec is flushed ; and the functions

It appear* from our former remarks, that the I'IimhI, by it* circulation, convey* to every part of the laxly the nutritious mailers of which it is composed, while each organ is en endowed - dowed endowed witli the |x>wer of selecting from the common mass, the material* Ixitli for it* own nourishment, and for the |>crfni mance of it* peculiar functions, and of returning to it the refuse materials which are no longer of use. I he IiIihhI is thus a sort of common carrier, conveying from pail to part whatever is in intrusted - trusted intrusted to it for the common benefit. When Mi/fnl to carry spirit (and it carries it so re reluctantly - luctantly reluctantly that some physicians have doubted I whether spirit ever actually enters the hhxid,) it presents it, as it does its other ronumxliiiea, I to the several organs for their selection : hut, as we have seen, Mey all tinlnr it. The head 1 say*. ''My uarx-mm mj <txsi|hl)i clearer, without it - I lieg to be e a raised;*' the heart says, "My motions arc more tegular, my afTections are purer, without it, - 1 have no occasion for it;" the limlw may, "Our j strength is firmer, our vigor is mure durable, without it, - we need it riot;" all My, "Itran "Itrannot - not "Itrannot nourish us, it cannot sustain us, - wn will none of it;" ami at length, rejected by all, race|it by those organs whose peculiar office it i* to convey out of the bhxxl its refuse and worthless part*, it is taken up by them and thrown nut of thn body. How happy for mankind, did the reason of man conduct Inin to the same practical wisdom, which i* thus given by his Creator to the instinctive excita excitahilitv* - hilitv* excitahilitv* nf hi* animal faculties! Hut, unhap unhappily, - pily, unhappily, these several organs, although they may refuse what is unsuitable to them, cannot es escape - cape escape without suffering. Our carrier, inflamed by hi* burden, though ho receive it at first with reluctance, becomes the insolent pedlar, who insults and abuses the customer* who decline Inn wure*. Tlie office of the Rtomnrh, a* it is well known, ia to digest the food, anti prepare its nutritious parts for alworprion into the blood. This it does chiefly hy means of the juice* which are formed in tla mala, to lie mixed with, ami dissolve the ftxxl. When these juice* are in a healthy condition, the dige-tiou ia well performed ; when they are unhealthy, we have flatulence, oppression, and a host of ills. Now the stomach, in common with the other part* »if the laxly, is preserved in health by a pro|H*r state Ixrth of it* nutrition and id* it* excitability. Whenever it i* excited l»v an unnatural stimulus. - and wo have suffi -

A sudden cold, a pleurisy, a fever, a frac fractured - tured fractured limb, or a slight wound of the skin, is often more than his shattered powers can endure. Even a little excess of exertion, an ex|»Murc to heat 01 cold, a hearty rc|>asC, or a glass of cold water, not utifreqiicntly ex extinguishes - tinguishes extinguishes the small remains of the vital prin principle. - ciple. principle. In the season dial has just closed upon us, "'«> have luid n melancholy exhibition of the eHoct of intemperance in the tragical death of some dozens of our fellow-citizens ; and had the extreme heat which prevailed for several days, continued for as many weeks, we should hsidly have had a continued diunkard left among us. Many of those deaths which came under my not ire, seemed almost spontaneous, and some of them look place it, .eaa than one hour from the brat symptom of indiH|Mjaition. - Some died apparently from a alight excess of fatigue, some from a tow hours' espuaere to the sun, and sumo from a small draught of cold water - causes quite inadequate to lint production of such efforts in temperate per persons." - - sons." - persons." - (l)r. Sr trull't Adrlrut.) "A circular letter, addressed hy the New York City Society, to a number of the moat resjieclahle physicians of that Slate, propo proposing - sing proposing certain interrogatories respecting the ef effect - fect effect of ardent spills iijmhi the liuiiiun laxly, tins lieen snswered hy ut least folly of llmsc to whom it was stmt; anil whose names are giw-ti in the Hejairt of that Society. J''rom those answers it ap|M-ars, 1st, that the use of distilled liquors, hy those in health, is, in no caso whatever, beneficial for the pre preservation - servation preservation of health, or for the endurance of fatigue or hardship. ifd. That disease and death art, the inevita inevitable - ble inevitable result of the continued use of alcut.'ol u|M>n the healthy human system. 3d. That ardent spirit mterr operates aa a prrrm/irr of epidemic or |H.-xtileutial diaeaaea; but is rery grar ratty an exciting cause of such diseases, and altrayt aggravates them. 4th. That, the nine of the nervous system being impaired by the use nf intoxicating li liquors, - quors, liquors, the constitution thus becomes more susceptible to the impression of all noxious audits.

I he ijriunnthiin of the stomach ire mure n nhence - hence nhence it i* thnl when this nr^nn in disordered, " greeter variety and e*|. tit ofsuffering in tin* consequence, than in produced by m equal extent of injury to any other part. NV«. roine next to xpciik of the effect of the une of npirit ii|»hi the liver. The priori prioripal - pal prioripal futirtion of thin organ in to aid in the pro prore«« - re«« prore«« of digestion. An, in the performance of thin function, its aetionn are annor inted with -hone of the nlomach, an many of the effects of dixea-e are ofanimilnr chat ni ter. There are, however, one or two pnrtirulam in which the effect* are no different ax to demand a xep xepurateihoiighconruM-oniixidentimfi. - urateihoiighconruM-oniixidentimfi. xepurateihoiighconruM-oniixidentimfi. TIts liver complaint and lli« jaundice are sufficiently known- to lie the frequent conaerpieacea of intemperance. Hut it aeems Dot to he to well known that a more moderate uae of spirit produce* a strong tendency to the name dis disease. - ease. disease. Thu liver ia easily excited to extraordi extraordinary - nary extraordinary actios, not only l»y what a floe lx the stomach, with which it is an closely associated, hut also by whatever powerfully stimulates the general system, and exrierially by strong emotions of tbc mind. When the excits excitsnmnt - nmnt excitsnmnt is moderate, such as ia produced by a projier diet, or by a ralionnl employment of llio mental faculties, then the effect upon this organ is salutary and healthful. Hut if, from either cauxe, tin; excitement liecomea loo great, it tends to din axe ; and tliu tendency is increased with every repetition. This ex planatiou may show how it is that any quan quantity - tity quantity of ardent spirit, however moderate, has an injurious effect upon lira functions of the livei.

- be whole system lone* it* limn ami jig energy. If ardent spirit, when taken into Hi* system, exhausts the viu4 principle of the nolid*. it destroy* the vital principle of the blood also; aurl il taken in Isr^e quantities, produce* sudden death; in which rase the blood, a* in produced by lightning, by opium, or by violent and long-continued exertion, does not coagulate. 1 he principles laid down are plain, and of easy application to tire rase before in, The inebriate having, by the habitual uae of anient spirits, exhausted, to a greater or leae extent, the principle of excitability in the solids, the power of reaction, ami Hie blood having become incapable of |>erforming iu also, ha ii alike predt*|>o*od to every disease, and rendered liable to the inmads of every invading foe. Hu far, therefore, from protecting tlm system against disease, in intem|ieraii< - tem|ieraii< intem|ieraii< e ever constitutes oue of ito strong strongest - est strongest predisposing causes. Hbipersddsd to this, whenever, disease does lay it* grasp upoa the drunkard, the powers ol life being already enfeebled by the stimu stimulus - lus stimulus of ardent spirit, lie unexpectedly sinks in the contest, and but too frequently to the mortification of his physician, and the sur surprise - prise surprise ami grief of bis friend*. Indeed, ine inebriation - briation inebriation m> enfeebles the power* of life, so modifies the character of disease, and so cliaiiges the iqicnitiun of medical agents, that, mile** the young physician bits atudiud tho tholougbly - lougbly tholougbly the constitution of the drunkard, be bat but partially learned his profession, sad is n«it fit for a practitioner of the present age. '1 hese are tbo true reasons why Uui drunk drunkard - ard drunkard dies so aasily, and from such slight cau -

| I lib. 4 hat Ihn specific cHeits of alcohol are prshicod by a twofold process: - t ir»t by ila direct eflirli upon fh» nervous wstcin ; and aecondly by l«eing absorbed into tun circulation willKiut nndcrgoiag digestion, i Nth. That ardent spin is tint liem-ffcial in cOMfir of dys|M>|my or in chronic debility ; I Hit in wont rases is prejudicial. I 13th. That h ia not safe as a family medi medicine. - cine. medicine. | Nth. Finally, that almut one hundred phy phyi - i phyi siriana have died in the city of New York ; within the last thirty years; of whom forty J were intemperate; but that ,he character of i jl** profession, in that rcsjact, ia now much . improve./. * I To thia testimony may he added, that, ar ar! - ! ar! cording to the accounts published of thn sud sudden - den sudden deaths during the excessive heat of the past summer, it ap|M!nrs, 11,1011 impiiry, that in aiDty instance where the death has heen ascrilmd to the drinking of rob! water, or to the direct effect of the hrnt, the deceased was in the habitual use of ardent spirit; and not ooe instance ia recorded of such a death where the |iemon waa in the habit of entire alisti alistinenco. - nenco. alistinenco. It ia said hy Doctor II<stack, in his late ad address, - dress, address, that it appear* from :hc society of . F riends, that, in cotiscspience of their habitual lem|teranre, one half of the members tif that smiety live to the age of 47; ami that one in ten lives to lie 80; whereas the average of I human life ia 33 yean, ami not more than one | in <°, of tlm general population, lives to lm HO years of age. The amount of humun life, then, gained hy temperance, is more than the difference between 33 and 17 - or an average of II years gained in every life - which is ecptal to 42 per cent." - (JuJitr Cranck't Ad Addm*.) - dm*.) Addm*.)