New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-10-23
RTPIY OF Nh. YOrMAEs.

DEAR SIR: i take the earliest opportunity WINCH
multiplied and pressing engagements Will allow ID
comply with the request contained in your letter, aud
prepare a statement Of some thoughts which seem to
have important bearing upon the present aspect OF
fhe Temperance movement and which Il think have
not been sufficiently pressed upon public consid-
Grafton. The question presented Is: Shall Alcohoh;
Liquors as common beverages DC commercially out
"lsveA 7" and we are required TO deter line what
there is about them in relation 70 the human consu'
ton which demands that their s.le shsi DC p'ohib-
nd. ptopose 70 show that there is part OF
mans physcal organization upon which his meotal
psture depends ard which is Therefore the ra found
alton Of ali society and government; that Alcoholic
Iiouors when crank, seek out this portion Of the
bodily system in preference 10 oil Others and so dis
organize IL ss 10 disturb the mind peryert the con-
duet and invade the responsibility that their proper
ties in these respects peculiar and remarkable
NJ 10 separate them widely from all other substances
In ature and art and confer upon government night
Of control over them which necessary Fundamental
and absolute.
OF Alcohol itself, little need BE- said Its scientific
history has been thoroughly canvassed and no ques.
ton is better settled than that Of i!s origin and ma
ture II comes into existence through the che meal
destruction Of food, and IL that common and active
pripciple of all fermented and Distilled liquors which
gives them the power of producing intoxication. 1t
IL hence bob customary and proper to employ t1e
term Alcohol when its various mixtures arc referred TO-
Before considering the way ia affected by this
agent il will be necessary that we dbec attention 70
certain fundamental facts concerning the nature or his
constitution Before we can unders'and how a
machine is acted upon by any foreign influence we
uust first have come hat distinct idea oil the mechan
ism itself In this case il Is of extreme importanee
and ] may, therefore, be psrdoned for hr>t calling
attention TO certain facts ard la"s oil the human S'ruo
tuTe.
ovrtcFs AND RANK OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE
STRUCTURE.
II we ideally take the human system to pieces, we
shall at once discern the of its leating parts.
The bory framework is des yned to support 1t 10 hrm-
mess aud strength and the elastic muscles TO throw 1t
into movement. As the production OF force involves
waste Of matter, decomposition OF the parts IN &C
tob-s gradual pershDg Of the living atoms-there is
netdeo a circua DRY syttem to attribute new matter
to all parts and 10 take up and carry away the pro-
ducts of change which are constantly formed. Iuis
requiIes ds osive system for the prepare ion OF nu-
frimtnt. heart is needed to impe and regulate the
vital current aad lungs TO supply air to the body it's
oxygen being the motive power OF onimal llie In ad-
diOn TO the 80 organs, there s another part OF tho
fabric, the specific purpose OF which is not at first go
obvious
MACS Of matter which diff rs in aspects and qualities
rom ali other parts of the sys en- 1t is not ard and
resisting like The bones nor firm and conracnle
like The muscles, nor hol w and receptive
like the stomach nor spongy and porous llse tde
lungs. II is clearly different I'D nature and uses from
all other part and yet it is evidently of the first i'm
portarce Situated at the summit of the body, it
overooks all the other and subordinate portions;
perior n position, suspect il is also superior In
comic Grafton; surrounccd and guarded by strong
Dor case, its protection is apparently matter OF
the first necessity; connected with all parts OF the
body by a complex and curious system OF minute
threads or lines, il is in some way Intimately asso-
ciated with the general action of the meohanis n.
refer TO the brain. which is inclosed within the
skull. 1t consists of large fheet Of nervous matter
which packed wi hin the bony cavity as TO crum-
rale n COnyolutiOns
ouenty hoisws and furTows. Ana:omi'ts say tha!'
when taken out and soaked 1t may be uutolded or d.
lated out so that the convolut,ons disappear; and
that then il has surface of more than SIX hundred
SQUARE inches. The weight of the brain in the adult
male ranges usually from forty to sixty ounces, the
average being about fifty ounces The heaviest
healthy brain is sixty -four ounces, and the
Iightest about thirty ounces, although in Idiots
IL sometimes falls low twenty ounces.
The brain, like all other parts of the system contains
innumersble circulatory vessels, and is hled with
blood but il ers from them in this that IT receives
a very much larger share of blood than any other
equal portion of the organism. Although It's average
weph is TO that Of the body but to thirty Elk II
receives according 10 different authorities, from one
6fth to One-tenth of all the blood which is sent from
the heart. An arterial torrent rnshes into IT, and
venous stream flows out Of II continually Tnoee de-
compositions or changes in the blood therefore, which
give to force 60 forward in this organ with rs-
pdiy so that whatever may be its uses II is evldelt-
iy eli engine OF power.
The brain is we'll known TO be the center OF bodily
sensations; The seat of the wilt the residence Of the
intellectual and moral attributes OF man; the point at
which the spiritual and material worlds blend and
unite The soft, PUPPY sheet, so curieusly folded
away in the cavity of the skull and whiol is KEEP.
constantly flooded with bright, areria blood, is the
mate rial structure that God has prepared the
OF thought. How mind and matter are joined-how
the immortal spirit during the life period of It's being
dwelh, and can only well in the ever changing cere
bral fabric is ipscrutable mystery. Nevertheless
such is the fsct We know nothing of mind except
bound mp With matter in the brain, and in this alliance
there trises intimate dependence of the former
upon the later-of the mind upon lis material
organ. Bodily conditions exert powerful influence
mental feelings conceptions and statee in.
dependent of the will. In faintiug. there is a
transient suspension of the circulation and hence
temporary pause in the dow of blood through the
brain al the mind disappears IN Inconsistencies.
Sir Ashley Cooper checked the vital carren in the
arteries that led TO the brain of dog, when the ANNA
fell .ensacss; the circulation restored 1t re-
yived Bchat showed that the influence of the scar
LET are'ia blood is necessary to the due perform
snce Of the cerebral functions Ii dark coiored or
veinous blood bs substituted for IT, aid transmitted to
the brain by the arteries the animal falls into state
OF total inssnsib,y. IT, when portion OF tue skull
is removed slight pressure be made upon the brsin,
mental paralysi ms andy flows, aud continues Until
the pressure is removed. case is recorded where
copseiousness which had been extnguished for SIX
months was restored by removing small portion Of
the skull which pressed upon the brslo. In fever,
the blood acquires diseased coLeltion, and
disorders the brain as 70 replace the normal
course Of thought by the rawlings and phantssms
of d.llium Unusual rspdity OF the dow of blood
through The brain, undue pressure within IT as in
determination Of blood or congestion disturbs
the minds action. Nitrous oIyd gas reepred, so at
fecs The brain 10 the mind into pretematu-
raj violence Of action while the respiration Of car.
bonc acid gas, even In the small proportion often
found in unvepated apartments, depresses and stu
p<ies The mind in spite of the utmost effort of voon.
The opinion is now generally eniertalne1 by the most