The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-02 00:00:00

THE SIGNS OF DIIUNRENNESS.

"Every one of the signs of drunkenness is a sign of de-
pression ; first of all, the face becomes unnaturally flushed,
and the movements of the eyes unsteady; that is to say,
that the muscular coats of the blood vessels of the face are
paralysed, and that the muscles of the eyeball are paralysed ;
then the speech becomes thick—that means, that the tongue
is getting palsied. Later, the muscles of the trunk and limbs
get paralysed too, and the drinker cannot walk, nor sit up-
right, but sprawls upon the ground ; and, at last, if the
dose of alcohol have been very large indeed, the muscles
of breathing get paralysed, and death results. The
power of perceiving sensations, to), is uniformly and
progressively lessened from the moment that intoxica-
tion begins, and the effects upon the mind are wholly
of a paralysing kind First of all, the drunkard loses the
power of coherent reasoning; then obliteration of ideas of
time, and space, and locality ensues. A friend of my own tells
rather a good story of two convivial youths,who were return-
ing from a public dinner in a state of slight obfuscatina. One
of them took it into his head that the broad dc,or• step of
one of the houses in Bedford-square was his own bed-room
and invited his companion to take a shake down' with him,, as it was so late. His friend agreed, and the pair proceeded
to divest themselves of some of their garments, and lay
down, each with his head resting on one of the scrapers,
as it might on a pillow. An early policeman found them
sleeping softly, their hats and coats, &c., suspended on the
area railings, their boots arranged, with supernatural accu-
racy and neatness, side by side, upon the edge of the upper
door-step.

The question mooted is whether alcohol is " food,
medicine, or poison ?" and the conclusion the writer
arrives at are—

1. That alcohol in small doses is a pure Ath..lant.
2, That alcohra large dn..o id a purely depressing,
poisonous agent. _

3, That the craving for drink is one not excited by
moderate but only by poisonous doses.
4. That in various diseased conditions the dose of
alcohol which may be borne without producing intoxica-
tion or alcohol poisoning is much increased, and that here,
too, the feeling of craving for a repetition of the dose is not
produced.

Under the head of "The Home of a Naturalist"
we have an interesting description of the grounds
at Walton Hall ; which, during the last fifty years
have been sacred to the enjoyment of all birds and
beasts that have chosen to take up their abode there.
" Mead, hill, and dale have been laid out to suit the
idiosyncrasies of various species ; and trees of dif-
ferent kinds have been planted in clumps, rows, or
in a solitary state, to attract the birds that love
such localities." Some curious results have followed.
One is the perfect tameness of all the inhabitants.
" The shyest birds are so well aware of their
security that they care no more for sFectators than
the London sparrows for passengers;' and, " al-
though a vast number of species congregate within
the domain—enough, according to the ?Tula:. pre-
judices, to devastate the gardens, destroy the crops,
and kill all the game—there are few plates where
crops, fruit, and flowers are so luxuriantly abun-
dant, or where the game is more plentiful" The
article termed " What are oil wells ?" will le read
with interest. Petroleum, it appears, has been mown
for ages ; and in Persia especially a large trade has
been carried on in it. "One of the mest ancient
Greek myths," says the writer, " is believed to lave
been connected with a knowledge of the petroleum
gas. A jealous princess, wishing, without detection,
to destroy another, who was her rival in love,
anointed with petroleum the wreath she was about
to wear upon her head during a sacrifice. On tie
lady's approaching the flame of the altar, the gas
ignited, and, spreading with the rapidity of light-
ning, her whole figure was soon sheathed in fire, an(
reduced to ashes." One effect of this oil in Canada
and America is thus described :

table opposite each chair. Besides those engaged in play,
there were several other persons, whose features and manner
Proclaimed their dissolute character, collected in little knots
in different parts of the room. They were betting together,
making matches for Epsom and Newmarket, or disputing
about the merits of different cock-feeders and trainers.
Amongst these groups, the gayest-looking and most notiee- Share
able comprised Tradescant and Chatteris, with their
fashionable friends, Wilkes, Tom Potter, Sir Francis Dash- —,
wood, and Sir William Stanhope. With them also was 131,
Sir Theodosius Turnbull, a Leicestershire baronet, who s
had been a great foxhunter till he grew too fat and heavy s
for the saddle. He was now in pretty good cue, having 5
drunk three bottles of the delicious Haut Brion, for which 2
Pontac's was renowned. These personages were talking
and betting much in the same style as the rest of the com-
pany."
The glimpse here caught of Tradescant and his
" surroundings" gives the key to the whole of the
present instalment—every chapter of which is
dashed off with the fluent and sparkling pencil
that has already given to its wielder so wide a fame
as a romancist.

The Wild Flowers, Birds, and Insects of the Months.
By H. G. Adams. Hogg and Sons.

This is a pleasant book, issued at a seasonable
time, published at a moderate price, and treating of
interesting subjects. To those young people on
whom the delights of dolls and toys begin to pale it
will be very acceptable.