The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-05-04
DAILY NATIONAL WING.
A PAPER ON TOTAL ABsTlNENCE,

Cincinnati, March TO- lsi3.
Alcohol, or the intoxicating principle, is
not produced or generated by distillation,
bat by fermentation. Sugary or nutritious
substances diluted and submitted to dlstilla-
ton, without previous fermentation, yield no
alcohol. The Intoxicating principle IS, there
fore, evolved BY the process Of vinous Ter
= rnentation, and is only separated from the
/, grosser parts, in the gaseous and liquid forms,
by heat. II is great mistake to suppose,
that alcohol is produced by distllation, or
that by drinking iermented liquor only, we
avoid drinking alcohol. The cause Of in
toxication is the same in wine and in brandy.
II more wine than brandy is required to pro-
luce ntoxica,ion, il is because the alcohol
is more concentrated in the latter, than in
the former This has been chemically de-
monstrated
The nerves Of the human body are divided
into different classes, one of which is called
voluntary nerves, and another involuntary
nerves Voluntary nerves are subject to
the control of the will or voliton. The
nerves which move The muscles Of the arms
and legs are familiar examples Of the first,
and those connected with the motions Of the
heart and lungs, Of the second. All the
nerves Of the organs, on whose motions life
depends, are involuntary The heart con-
tinues to beat and the lungs to respire, while
we sleep The distinction betwixt these
two sets Of nerves and their functions is
taught by the professors Of anatomy and
physiology in all the schools.
The primary and immediate effects Of al
coholic intoxication are in or upon the brain
and the voluntary classes of nerves and the
organs and functions that depend upon them,
The power Of motion and Of sensation may
be suspended by intoxication from alcohol,
and yet the involuntary functions Of life may
continue How could this happen, if these
effects were equal upon both sets Of nerves,
or il they were greater upon the involuntary
ones
Now, there are other intoxicating causes
which act so Immediately upon the involun-
tary functions or upon the heart as to pro-
auce speedy death. Are we not authorised,
then, by these and similar cases, to infer
that alcohol produces specific or peculiar
kind of intoxication Considered as a
poison, il belongs not to the same class as
arsenic. Nor is il as narcotic as opium.
The latter produces death in less quantities
and more speedily. Those who argue about
the poisonous nature or properties OF alcohol,
seem not to take into consideration the spe-
cifc character OF intoxicating poisons and
their effects upon the voluntary and invol-
untary faculties. The operations Of the
vicera are involuntary, and poisons act ia
tally upon them without seriously intoxicating
the brain. In a palsed limb or member Of
the body, all voluntary motion and sense Of
feeling may cease, and yet the action Of the
heart and lungs may continue and support
lite for many years. The nerves, which
constitute the senses, properly SO called, are
not, strictly speaking, voluntary, nor does life
Immediately depend upon them, but there are
voluntary organs, IN certain degree, con-
nected with the senses. The ear, for IN
stance, which is so stationary and SO passive
to sound, may be, in peculiar manner, con-
trolled by the voluntary operation, called
attention. The direction Of the eye can be
voluntarily changed so as to look different
ways, and the motions Of the eyelids are
voluntary.
The will, or that part Of the brain on
which the will depends, and the nerves,
which depend most Immediately upon the
will, and what is called the sensorium or
common centre Of sensation, seem TO be
first and most strongly affected by alco-
holic intoxication Muscular action soon
becomes unsteady, answering TO the dizzy
and swimming sensation and motion Of the
brain, and is witnessed in the staggering ant
rolling motion of drunken man. The
hands partake Of this loss or arrangement Of
voluntary power, and the sense Of touch j,
blunted, The tongue, too, indicates that
volition is disturbed. Alcoholic intoxicatior
may suspend the will and the voluntary
organs to degree called dead drunken
ness, and yet the action Of the heart and
circulation may continue so as not TO endan-
ger life. In the crisis OF this kind Of intoxl.
cation, it is well known, that all the think.
ing faculties become torpid and the memory
wholly fails. We deny not, that deadly dis.
eases are produced by drinking alcohol, mo-
that SO much Of it may be drunk at tim,
as to produce immediate death but our pc
sition is, that the primary and more imme
date effects Of this kind Of intoxication ar,
manifest in the loss Of will and voluntary
power over the voluntary organs and func
tons.
Emotions and actions acquire or lose
moral Character, relatively 10 the kind ant
degree Of volition and moral sense which
direct and qualify them. 1t is the opinion
Of distinguished writer, that there is cir
Gle Of nervous action Connected with tht
voluntary organs, as for instance, that ther,
are motive nerves, under the control of tn,
viii, which move the muscles, aud sensativ,
nerves which convey the feeling Of the &C
fion from the muscle or ornan Of action bael