Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1842-02-12
temperance Lecture.
RY ROF. SlLlIMaH.

BY IRoF slLlIMAH.
The Exchange Saloon was crowded
TO excess to hear the Temperance Lee
ture of Professor SlLLiNAN before the
Washington Society. The learned
Professor gave chemical analysis Of
alcohol. and performed some beautiful
and interesting experiments with some
of its elements. He showed that a!co-
hol was an indispensable agent in sci
ence and the arts, but no more adapted
10 the wants or condition of the human
stomach than most Of the powerful a
cids used in clinical laboratory. The
Professor held in his hand a vial Of
highly concentrated alcohol-some that
he had mad himself, and he said thet if
a man were TO drink about hall Of ii,
(abou, two gills,) he probably would
not be able to get out of the room alive.
a vine glass full Of it, he said, would
probably very soon destroy the life Of
either of the young lads before him.
The Professor related several interest
ling and humorous anecdotes, full of in
struc,ion upon this important topic. He
took also the position that alcohol in
any form Gid not promote digestion;
bu, that it disturbed the process, and
prevented the healthy action Of the s,o-
mach. He said j. provoked appetite,
and caused more food TO be swallowed
than was necessary for nourishlng the
system He then gave brief account
of some Of the wonderful experiments
Of DR.. Beaumont with Alexis ST. Mar
tin, young Canadian, who was woun>
ded by the discharge Of Il musket in
1922. The charge tore away portion
of his left side, decorating the lungs and
perfdratng the stomach. The wound
healed, but the orlfce never became
closed. The perforation into the sto-
mach was two ard half inches in cir
'cumference. Through this orifce
piece of ment tied to a string could be
let down into the stomach and pulled
out again at any time and in this man,
ner the precise length of time required
for the digestion of any kind Of food
could he ascertaihed. The gastric
Juice, which is the great agent of diges-
tion, would pour into the stomach when
any food or other substance was placed
there. This Juice, the Professor stated,
was easily taken from the mans sso-
mach, and he had a bottle Of it now at
The College The liquid was at the
present Time apparently as pure as it
was ten years aeo. 1t had The peculiar
property Of self, representation, or of re-
sis'ihg putlTfaction. 1t would, if war;
med 10 blood heat, dissolve meat in a
wine glass. He said he had never
core 10 any satisfactory conclusions
as To its character from his attempts at
analyzing il; and he had sent portion
of it to one of the most learned and skill
iul chemists of Europe, but he was a.
/ BILE to throw bnt very little hight upon
The subject. This | know, said Prof.
S., that it has no affinity with alcohol,
and that they are in thesr nature and
attributes totally diverse, or possess
counteraciing qualities.
A very little drink Of any liquid is
better for henIrhy digestion than lar
ger oaantlty, as tffe gast7r'c Juice may
be so weakened by dhution as to lose,
for the fine being, much of its power
but no liquid that is taken into the sto,
mach is so perniciouS 10 the natural and
healthy operation Of the gastric juice,
as alcohol
In regard to wines, he said that il
was almost Impossible 10 obtain them
in this conatry in ptre STATE. They
were chiefly made from alcohol or
whiskey, and druesed and colored, and
so mixed with wine, or the lees Of wire,
as to be rnssed off under iase name
for The genuine fruit of The vine.
Prof. Sil'iman gave The brandy doc
tors fair hit; he was glad 10 believe,
however. that ihe medical faculty gen.
orally were growing more and more
opposed to prescribing alcohol in any
form Tor medicine, except in extreme