Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-09-11
From the Richmond Examiner.
Cur Intimate Enemies.

NOA @-40AnA0S'
During this pro onged interval between
Manassas and the next considerable thrash
ing which the Yankees awaits, it may not
be amiss to try conclusions with much
more formidable a1ny-namely, King
Alcohol. Upon the sagacity and decision
of our military authority it depends whcth-
CT the abuse of ardent spirits shall or shall
not continue to levy upon the youth Of
this country tribute ten thousand times
heavier than that ofthe Cretan Minotaur,
and as much more disgraceful Upon the
habits and ideas contracted or permitted
during this war, hang the social destinies
of the South.
President Davis, through the military
organization which gives him salutary
power over the personal habits of our sol
diers in camp, holds, or may hold, the
thousand heads Of vice by single neck
and strange them in his grasp. So en-
tire the confidence reposed in our leaders,
and SO profoundly the necessity Of victory
is felt, that the virtues essential to it need
but to be proclaimed, the vices inimical
to it denounced, by these chiefs, in order
that the conscience of the army should
adopt the former and repudiate the latter.
Our national sin, mainly due to the neg
lect of the sitSXayd, Is Drunkenness
drunkenness of tEySScoarest and most per-
nicious kind-the gross and continual
swilling of liquors largely adulterated, and
which, even when pure, contain too much
alcohol to be compatible with the sound
mind in the sound body. To grow and
make an abundant supply of either good
wine or malt liquors is work of some
years, even supposing the heart of the South
set upon 1t; but in fact there is little de-
mand for that "wine which gladdeneth
mans heart" and which Jesus made and
blessed and consecrated at the wedding of
Cana This wholesome human taste is
perverted by the habit of swilling strong
liquors, and can only be revived among
temperate population. We must cease
to do evil before we can learn to do WE'LL
Meanwhile, the exclusion of liquor from
our camps is tsTe only way to break up
the prevalent habit of dram drinking. 1t
lies in the power of our officers to effect
this for the entire South, and to render
the abuse Of liquor as questionable as it
Is pe!nicious and absurd.
COHOL.
The whining and barking school of NOR
alists nave SO wretchedly "abolitionized''
this subject, that it may be somewhat diff
hcult Tor common sense to get access to it.
! Such Is, however, its importance owing to
the general abuse of alcoholic stimuli, that
it becomes the duty of every public mon
itor to represent them from time to time
as they are seen through the analytic glass
es OF science. In our camps, having elm
mated from society the presence of aoonaon
the personal interests Of civic industry, the
. sports of hunting and fishing, and the ath
letic games, while the Yankees keep close
under cover, the whiskey flask divides
: with the pipe too many hours of idleness
Toxico!ogy distinguishes three degrees il
t the action Of alcoholic liquors.
l. Single doses excite feeling of warmth
4 and comfort from the pit of the stomach
7 over the whole body; the pulse rises, il
5 stronger and quicker; the muscles NOV
7 with more ease, power and endurance tn
tone of the nervous system is raised, a
] evinced by vivacity, emotion, courage, will
a freer and bolder range of thought. Th
$ metamorphosis of tissues is accelerated
n and the secretions of the skin and kidney
notably increased, while more powerfr
) currents Of electricity are evolved in tn
organism. In a few hours this state is 70
# lowed by lassltude and somnolence.
e 2. In the second degree the excitemer
?. is more violent, with flushed face, confu
e sion of thought, and mental affections va
rying with the individual character. Mos
e intoxicated persons become jovial, sympi
:, thetic, aud even indiscreet (an emo uerataS
II Others become sentimental, or speak wit
incomprehensible suavity about learne
St subjects, politics, country in some cas'
'e the coward becomes hero in his oH
1t imagination some are always ready
y. quarrel or fight, and either comport them
er selves as pugilists or become almost mul
n derous in their ferocity fortunately, 9th
n ers no less drunk are not onl y peaceabl
y but anxious to preserve the peace. An
We other class of drunkards always becon
depressed in spirits, sit quietly in corne
a are much absorbed in themselves, and bur
into tears and complaints over the mo
. trivial occurrences. The perceptions al
ed disturbed and often confused, the harmon
e. between the intellect and the will is bre
lk ken mp, the higher intellectual function
and even the common process of the an
r; derstanding become more and more diff
at cult, while the imagination and the low
er impulses predominate. These sympto
are followed by solnnolence, which ms
: gradually become SO deep as not to be ca
L lily shaken off. After several hours, th
RS, is followed by giddiness, weakness, stupi
'r> ity, headache, sickness and vomiting Th
degree of alcoholism may prove fatal, cit
g er from the excess of stnpor or from disea
es of the brain developed by the derang
ne ment Of its circulation in predlsposed su
jects.
as Alcoholic intoxication varies, lndee
lth through very wide range in its prime
he pal symptoms, However complete t
'er stupor, the subject is sometimes capable
GU being reused, sometimes remains lmmc
ny ably comatose for long time; the pul
i may be imperceptible, very feeble, distir