The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-10-09
From the Atlantic Monthly for octsbsr.l
WHY DO MEN DRINK

From the Atlantic Monthly for octsbsr.l
WHY DO MEN DRINK?
Why do so many persons OF cultivated intellects,
wealth and position become inebriates? We are
more than ever impressed to ask this question in
all seriousness, after studying the fases of the
eighty or ninety gentlemen assembled at the
Binghsmpton Inebriate Asylum. There we see
representatives. from all the learned professions.
and The mercantile, mechanical and agricultural
interests of the country from Maine to Florida.
So much intelligence and so much refinement are
seldom seen in so small an audience. There is
everywhere apparent the and neglige of
well bred men. Some of them have commanding
wealth. and once held high official stations. What
giant srm dragged them down? No man be-
comes suddenly drunkard. Many OF them pass
long season Of education In the primary schools
of iniemperance. The first of these is the social,
moderate drinking family, which dwells in man.
sioDs of sweetness, cherishes sympathies, dis
pepses charities and INDUCES in winning smiles
and honed accents. Here the taste Is created
asd the habit contrmsd an a.a <..- An Ai-.
schools of intemp mperance. Drunkenness Is always
the failure OF an attempt to drink moders ely.
The interchange of family courtesies and hosp.
talites are frequently schools of intempersnce
All holiday occasions. such as New Years and
Cbristmes. birthdays, tn silver, aud golden
weddings, Dickens and literary dinners. club re-
unions, etc., ETC., are often schools of intemper
aDce. The graded schools of intemperance are
our billiard saloons, tenpin alleys, and fashionable
watering places the bieh schools of intemper
ance from which the poor drunkard graduates into
the gutter or the grave are our hotel bars corner
eroggeries, and fashionable "sample rooms"
Men drink because they acquire the habit and in
the end cannot control their appetite.
aX DIPsoMASIA.
This impulse 10 drink is now held to be NAL
a6y, and the vice stands TO it in the relation of
efiect instead of cause. Dipsomania is from the
Creek % dpso," thirst, and " mania " madness, or
eager desire. 1t denotes an insatable craving for
al drin nEa In
wiDe and there they have the term oin0mania, or
wine madness. This disease is specific aud pecu
liar, uniform in its symptoms and progress. and is
essentially form OF nervous pOsonng-a toxi-
Geological result from the accumulation OF alcohol In
the system. Alcohol acts on the uervous pulp of
the brain and produces an exhaustion OF the
bral and muscular functions. Ere long II begins
TO poison the gray matter of the brain, that
every sdditiona drop thereafter brings it more and
more into poisoned condition. Persons of nerv.
ous and sanguine temperament aud constitution,
and more readily men than women, are apt to fall
victims to this disease. The number OF dipso-
maniac women in the United States Is alarming.
The poor victim, from too long tsmpering with
this d. mon, loses entire command over his will;
bss no power to resist the craving for alcoholic
stimuli. and is transformed into the involuntary
slave Of the insane propensity. Physically he has
9 slamentsbly broken down aspect; his limbs are
feeble and tremulcus; yisage pale. ieaden colored
or scddeD; eyes watery or lusteress. 10 the
manifestations of mind and heart the change is
still eacder and more awful. As the habit of in
diligence continues, process Of mental deterio.
ration goes on; the chief aim Of life is now to
obtain liquor, and the poison is swallowed. not
socially and conyvislly. but q drug. The
moral feelings become more and more perverted,
the intel ect weakened, and unless control Is OBJ.
tanned of the unfortunate, he goes on from ad TO
worse. and ends his career either as homicide or
suicide. or he becomes hopeessly insane.
CAN THE DRUsKARD BIZ oURED!
This is the question which the world asks, and
which iris anxious TO have answered. Ia most
Instances he can be. The experiment is now being
sS NJ ade spo At po6S NAG nd
TIVE TO ,hree hundred cases annually under treat
ment. What lasting benefits the confirmed ine-
bristes there treated have received IL possible
in the absence of dsa TO say. Usually, patients
do not stay long enough at these institutions.
They seldom 60 10 the asylum quite voluntarily,
ard they make il point 10 leave them as soon ss
they can get away. In q few months absinsnce
from drink. judcious medical treatment, good
diet, pure sir, exercise occupation and smuse.
meDt, 80 improve the physical condition that be-
fore radical change has been effected the patient
0emsndsto 10 be released. Years rather than months
OF control are necessary TO effect q permanent
cure. The Fundamental basis of all hopeful treat
ment must lie in the patients own desire to get
well. ihe spPe'ite for liquor cannot be removed
from the pstlent, and there Is no specific which
will prevent further induieenee. patient can
remain in Btnghsmpton dozen years, and en-
tirey recover from the effects which previous al.
coboIc drinks had produced upon him in short,
be a. healthy physie ally, men usually are, aud
yet il he 30 chooses upon leaving, there Is moth
ing 70 hinder bis palronizng the frst dram shop
which lies in his path. man may be considered
cured when he has will strong enough to control
his desires. and practices total sb-tine0ce. ALI
the hygienic treatment and drugs in the world will
not prevent him from drinking, although clear
head snd hesithy body are great helps to that
end. II man returns 70 his cups after treatment
at hinehsupton or Wards Island, he does 20
knowingly. aud no one bat himself is responsible
tor the set.