The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-12-29

THE LAST WORD IN FAVOR OF srmULASrs.

Messrs. Leypoldt & Holt publish to-day q To-
bscco and Alcohol. I. IL Does Pay to Smoke. III.
The Coming man will Drink Wine. By John Fiske,
M. Az This little l6mo of l63 pages. beautifully
ever made OF the scientific arguments In favor of
moderate smoking and drinking. Mr. Fiske GER
tainy succeeds in striking some hard blows at Mr..
James Parton. whose little book-libelIltns. or IL
bel-upon {" Smoking and Drinking" he has Sc.
lected as his adversary. He shows that Mr.. Par
tons arguments are unsatisfactory, and by no
means prove all that he claims for them. But,
besides refuting Mr.. Parton, Mr.. Fiske undertakes
TO establish some doctrines of his own.
The leading point in his theory is that all known
narcotics, when administered in doses small
enough, not narcotic at ALL but stimulsnt, and
that the evil effects of tobacco and alcohol are
produced, as are those Of opium, tea and coffee.
or even salt and mustard, not by the stimulant
dose. but by the excess. In support of this view,
Mr.. Fiske is able to quote many high authorities
in physiology, and TO relate number of interest
ing and pertinent facts.
Taken, then, In moderate doses-that is, 10 such
amount as experience, In each case, proves to be
only stimusnt Mr.. Fiske concludes, first, that
" tobacco retards waste; In the second place,
that it facilitates repair" and lastly, that il SO
acts upon the nutrition of the brain and spinal
cord as to alleviate " abnormal wakefulness and
tremor."
The stimulant effects of alcohol upon the nerv.
Gus system" he says, are very similar to those
of tobacco. Like tobacco, alcohol stimulates the
allmentsry secretions, slightly quickens and
strengthens the pulse, diminishes wesruess, cures
sleeplessness, puts an end to trembling, Gains
nervous excitement, retards waste aud facilitates
repair. By its antiparalytc action, il checks
epilepsy, quiets delirium and alleviates spasms
and chronic commissions; and 10 typhoid fever,
where excessive waste of the nervous system Ia
supposed to be of the chief sources of danger,
it is used as we shall presently see, with most sig
nal success. 1t thus appears, like tobacco, to be
in general an economizer Of vital energy aud an
aid TO effective nutrition 1t also directly assists
digestion.'
Mr.. Fiske presents these views as the conclu-
sioDs in favor of which, in the present state of
physiological science, the evidence on the whole,
preponderates and he certainly shows that they
may be plausibly maintained. But he does not
deny that the controversy is unsettled, nor that
some of the most important elements of it are
still very obscure.
There is no consolation in Mr.. Fiske's book for
topers and self-stupefers. Whatever tobacco or
alcohol may be good for, they are certainly Alto
gether bad when a man becomes their slave. All
who have any knowledge whatever of the subject
agree that there is NO safety for the man who
finds IL difficult TO control his appetite for any
sIimulant but In total abstinence from indul-
gence. This point, at least, cannot be sssaied,
and If this is admitted and acted on by all whom
it concerns, society has nothing to fear from
either side of the controversy, but will watch its
progress and await its result with interest and
confidence.