North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1867-05-29

lcehse law "ouiu De suppoTtcu III tHe
state.
Judge L"pham, of Fall River, stated
that he had been Justice of the Police
Court in that city for fourteen years. He
testified that the efforts which had been
made to enforce the law had seemed to eff.
feet wide clandestine dissemination of
liquors in small quantities; intemperance
did not seem to decrease. He said he
thought the effects of the terrible stuff
which was now sold were worse than those
formerly following the use of liquors. He
did not know whether or not new system
would be sustained, but he knew that the
present law had failed after an earnest ef-
fort to enforce it. He said the state con-
stables did not prosecute liquor cases in
his Court; he had refused them that lib
erty, as the statutes did not permit it.
Nr. Henry A. Marsh, of Amherst, testi-
fed that much difficulty was encountered
in obtaining convictions in liquor cases,
and that liquor could be easily procured
in Amherst. Mr.. Marsh said he had
nude abstracts Of the amount of liquor
sold annually at the agencies of various
towns in the state, and had found that in
some places the amount to each fami-
ly had been three and half gallons.
The kiuds of liquor mostly sold were
Medford rum, Whiskey and Holland gin.
Minot Tirrel, j., a practicing lawyer, of
Lynn, stated that in that town there were
six drinking clubs located within twenty
rods of the public squares. He testified
to various evil effects of these clubs.
Captain Hoyt, of Deerfeld, testified that
liquor was procured plentifully in that
place, and that the efforts of the state con-
stables had only driven the traffic little
further out of reach. He declared him.
self in favor of license law, and that the
present law had not reached the cases in
his town; it has proved no substantial pro-
lection to the temperate people. He said
he would license first-class hotels, as keep
ers of these places could scarcely make
living under the present system. After
questioning by Mr.. Spooner concerning
the drinking habits of people of the pres
ent time compared with those of twenty
years ago-no facts being elicited-the
witness was dismissed, and the committee
adjourned until o'clock p. m.
At the evening session the first witness
called was DR.. Edward Ii. Clark, professor
of materia medica in Harvard College,
who testified concerning effects of alcohol
upon the human system. lie said that al
cohol was often prescribed by physicians,
but its effects varied with the different
kinds of liquors containing the alcohol,
the individual taking it, and the condition
of the individual when taken. In regard
to the dietetic use of alcohol, the witness
testified that some individuals who were
in what was thought fair health needed
70 ~ oil tot al ho1
being such an agent. In reply to interro-
cations by Rev. DR.. Miner, DR.. Clark said
that the question of the transformation of
alcohol in the human body and its assimi-
lation with the system was unsettled. He
said that after having told an individual
the principle on which alcohol should be
taken, he should leave the taking to the
individuals discretion. He considered
both occasional inebriety and regular dram
drinking injurious, but did not say which
practice he deemed the worse in effect. So
far as he could observe, the witness said
he looked upon the drinking usagcs Of So
ciety as matter to be regulated by the
will Of individuals, and not governed in
any other way; undoubtedly, however,
those usages did not conduce to health.
DR.. James G. White, professor of chem
istry in Harvard College, testified concern
ing the question of assimilation of alco-
hol with the human system, holding that
the conclusion that alcohol did not assimi-
late with the human system, which had
been drawn by certain French chemists
from experiments in the matter, were not
well founded.
He said that under some circumstances
the results of alcohol in the system were
precisely the same as food, but the true
food was better for individuals in good
health
He said it had been stated by Arctic
explorers that men who did not use alco-
hol could withstand cold better than those
who did; he knew nothing in science in
compatible with that statement.
DR.. Oliver Wendell Holmes testified
that alcohol, as a dietetic, was stimulative.
He remarked that it was not used in the
human economy, excepting for certain pur-
poses in museums. DR.. j. b. S. Jackson,
Professor of Morbid Anatomy, testified
that in certain cases of lung diseases alco-
hol was used medically.
Proressor Horsford, of Cambridge, testi-
fed that he considered alcohol as food, be-
cause it preserved the tissues of the body,
and thus virtually supplied tissue, rs ami
NAL food would do. He did not think al
cohol in purity was poisonous. In reply
to questions by Rev. DR.. Miner, the wit
ness said that alcohol might be preserved
tegration be prevented.
DR.. Henry J. Bigelow, of Boston, stated,
as the result of observation in wine grow
ing countries in Europe, that he did not
think the effects of the wine freely used in
those countries injurious he thought the
wine acted as food. The witness said that
if alcohol was taken as a stimulant he
should not expect to find disease resulting
from such use, but if taken to excess it
would act as narcotic and produce disease.
In reply to question by the chairman of
the committee, DIR. Bigelow said that as a
rule physicians did not abstain from wine.
To Rev. DR.. Miner the witness said that
great many of his medical friends smoke
tobacco.
He thought that in cases where an indi-
vidual was obliged to exert himself, being
already in an exhausted condition, stim-
ulus was useful, and ON the whole benefi-
cial.
In regard to the drinking practices
of society he said he did not think they
were to be deplored. To the chairman,
DIR. Bigelow said he should not 90 to the
State agency for good wines or liquors.
DR.. Charles 7. jackson stated that alco-
hol was respiratory food-it took the place
of so much fat in the body in the process
of respiration. He detailed the proper
ties of different liquors and their beneficial
effects on various parts of the boby.
Concerning the matter of the assimilation
of alcohol with the body, DR.. jackson said
that the general opinion of scientific men
was that it did assimilate; he said that
the breath of drinking man could not be
smelled without detecting acetic acid, the |