Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-08-12
Absinthe

The use of this liquor, of which oc-
c%asional mention has been made in our
columns, is fearfully on the increase in
France, and more especially in Paris.
Too ready, rs our people are, to initiate
foreign practices and fashions, without
regard always to good taste, usefulness
or health, there is reason to fear that
the vice is making ONE Roadway in
our own country among those who
crave intoxicating liquors, and who are
misled by accounts of its eIhilarating
influence when first used. Under such
circumstances it is the duty Of the press
to exhibit n true picture of the perni-
cious effects Of this seductive and pois-
onous drink. In doing so it con not be
deemed necessary or advisable to give
the several ingredients which, after
having been stepped in alcohol for some
days, furnish the absinthe by distilla-
ton. The utmost care is taken to OBJ
thin the right shade of color and to in
sure the liquor expanding and Wilton
ing we'll when mixed with water. Should
there be u deficiency in these respects,
the manufacturer does not hesitate to
add indigo, hyssop and n%ettles, and,
still worse, even to have recourse to
sulphate of copper (green yitriol), to
obtain this precise tint of green, or chic
ride Of anthony TO produce the muddy
white prccipitate, both of those chem
icals being active poisons. There are
two kinds Of absinths consumed in
| Paris, the common and the Swiss alb
sinthe, the latter of which possesses al
most double the intoxicating properties
of the former. According to official
returns, France receives from Switzer-
land nearly two millions of gallons an
nually, in addition to which IN enor-
morous quantity made in Paris is sold
as the real Swiss production.
Absinthe does not affect the brain like
any other s~timulants; il produces neither
the heavy drunkenness of beer, tho fu.
rious inebriation Of brandy, nor the
exhilaration of wine. II is IN ignoblc
poison, destroying life, but not until it
has more or less brutalized its yotaries
and made driveling idiots OF them.
While borrowing largely from the arti-
Gle, "Absinthe Drinking in Paris" as
found in the Pal Nall Gazette, we shall
not repeat in detail the enumeration of
the symptoms of absintho drunkenness,
which last much longer than that pro-
duced by spirits or wine, and are fol-
lowed by extreme depression and n SEN
sation Of fatigue which are not to be
got rid Of. After q while digestion is
~dcranged, the appetite is diminished
and then lost, there is a constant feeling
of uneasiness, intense thirst, painful
anxiety, accompanied BY a sensation of
giddiness and tingling in the ears, and,
as the day declines, Authorizations of
sight and hearing begin. The mind of
the absinthe drinker is oppressed by n
sort of melancholy, and his brain is af-
fected By a sluggisbness which indicates
approaching idiocy. During his more
active moments he suffers from delirium
trtmens-seeing some imaginary perse-
cutor from whom he is anxious to es-
cape, or the fancied denunciator Of some
crime he dreams he has committed.
The symptom that first gives alarm to
the absinthe drinker is q peculiar affec-
tion Of the muscles, beginning with fit.
full contractions of the lips and muscles
Of the face, and tremblings in the
hands, arms and legs, soon followed by
a distinct loss of physical power, a wan
and snd countenance, and n wrinkled
and yellowish skin. In the end come
entire loss of intellect, general paraly-
sis and death.