Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-05-16
From Household Words.
PHYSIOLOGY OF INTEMPER-
ANCE.

3 PHYSIOLOGY OF INTEMPER- Il
ANCE.
One glass more, exclaimed mine host /
Of the Garter. A bumper at parting -
No true knight ever went away without the
stirrup-cup.
Good, cried merry-faced guest but
the Age Of Chiyalry is gone, and that of
and teetotaHers has succeed
ed: Temperance societies have been impor-
ted fron America. and grog nearly thrown
overheard by the British Navy
Very properly SO, observed Clergy
man who sat at the table. The accidents
which occur from drunkenness on board ship
may be so disastrous on the high seas, and
the punishment necessary to suppress this
vice is 50 revolving, that the most expert
enced naval officers have recommended the
allowance Of grog, served both to officers
and men in our Navy, to beredueed one
half. In America, as well as in our ewn
Merchant service, vessels sail out of harbor
on the Temperance principles not parti-
Gle Of spirits is allowed on board and the
men throughout the voyage are reported to
continue healthy and able-bodied. Tea is
an excellent substitute many of our old
seamen prefer it to grog.
That may be- exclaimed the merry
faced guest Horses have been brought
to eat oysters and on the Coromandel coast
Bishop Heber says they got fat when fed
on fish. Sheep have been trained up, du-
ring voyage, to eat animal food, and re-
fused, when put ashore, to crop the dewy
greensward. When honest Jack renounces
his grog, and, after recfng topsaiIs in a gale
4 Of wind, goes below deck to swill down a
i domestic dish Of tea, after the fashion Of DIR.
Samuel johnson at Mrs. Thrale's, great
i ly fear the character Of our British seamen
will degenerate. In the glorious days Of
Lord Nelson, the observation almost passed
5 into proverb, that the man who loved his
) grog always made the best sailor. Besides,
/; in rough and stormy weather. when men
have perhaps been splicing the Inainbraee
and exposed to tie midnight cold and damp
: the stimulus of grog is surely necessary (
, support, if not restore, the vital energy 2
d Notin the least, rejoined the clergyman
a Severe labor, even at sea, is better sus
tanned without alcoholic liquors and th,
$ depressing effects Of exposure to cold AM
wet weather best eounteracted by ho
: mess of cocoa or coffee served with biscui
or the usual allowance Of meat. In fact
], have lately read, with considerable satis
i faction, prize essay by an aceomplishe
h physician, in which he proves that alcohc
e acts as poison on the nervous system, an
E that we can dispense entirely with the US
n Of stimulants'
2, Not exactly SO, observed a physician
y y who was Of the party. Life itself exist
= only BY stimulation the air we breathe
d the food we eat, the desires and emotion
I'd which excite the mind to activity, are all /
ne many forms Of physical and mental stimuli
e If the atmosphere was deprived of its OK,
4 gen, the blood would cease to acquire tho:
5 stimulating properties which excite the a
= ton of the heart, and sustain the circulation
a. and if the daily food of men were deprive
Re of certain necessary stimulating adjunct
IT'S the digestive organs would no longer recru
the strength, and the wear and tear Of Il
ed body. Nay, strange as it may appear, th
be common article IN domestic cookery, salt,
n "a natural and universal stimulaht to the
+ - gestive organs Of al Nsssf-Dlosded animal
y, This is strikingly exempli6ed by the fac
on that animals, in their wild state, will Il
ed verse illstinctively, imnlense tracts Of cou
nd try in pursuit of it t;fas example, 70 t
are lsaltpans of Africa and America aud it
curious circumstance that one Of the
effects produced by withholding this stim
liant from the human body is the generati
or of worms. The ancient laws of Holla
as condemned men. as severe punishmei
hat to be fed on bread unmixed with salt a
ey- the effect was horrible; for these wretch
my criminals are reported to have been devol
aey ed by worms. engendered in their O
yes ..s stomach. Now, I look upon alcohol to
~bav ~ under certain circumstances, as health
Al and proper a stimulant to the digestive
S il gans as salt, when taken in moderatil
whether in the form of malt liquor. wine,
GU spirits and water. When taken to exec
lose it may act upon the nervous system as a ]
TO son but the most harmless solids OF fu
'muio m may, by being taken to excess, be rende
N, o poisonous Indeed, it has been truly
are served, that medicines differ from pois
sfifv tonly in their doses. Alcoholic stimulal
ties, artifeially and excessively imbibed,
lion, doubtless. deleterious. 2
heir The subject, observed the host. fill
his glass, and passing the bottle. is a
IS rious one. The port before US, atall eve
;1ds E { is not poison, and confess. that 50 /
here he rant am of these matters, that 1 would
sew to know something about this alcohol vi
and is SO much spoken Of.
urse, The explanation is not difficult,
ve- swered the doctor. Alcohol IS sin1plv
: ar r;yod bv fermentation. or ,lixtillst;on
ot De ..,tst..as ~ fu;as eo,,ts;y;,,ov s,,,,or
s sno. other words, the matter Of sugar. when
Il re- ieeted to a certain temperature. under
ubinh ! . chanoa. and the elements 1f which the