The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-09

hocs, have some right to claim equal expllcitness
IRON ON those IN, S9, who prescribe them; 49,,
house, IN letter TO the chairman of this committee
says There has not been a pint Of alcoholic
remedy for twenty months; and very little
that was used, am certain did harm. my patients
got well sooner and better when none was used. l
nave treated maniaapotu, typhoid fever, dysentery,
pneumonia and surgical cases, and appeal to the
record for the evidence of the success OF my prac-
tice. There have been fewer deaths than in any
period OF the length Of time for twenty years
] have examined the records no further-and am
so well satisfied OF the correctness of the practice.
that shall never resort to those kinds OF smulants
IN tne @ treatment me OF any kind OF disease that may
DIR. T. w. Gardner, in a late number of the
Gldsgo,C Medical Journal in able article Alco-
holic Stimulation says:-'It is error to conceive
OF alcoholic stimulation as proper substitute
in febrle diseases for ordinary food. Even beef-tea
$50 much favored by DIR. Todd in conjunction with
alcohoD is OF very inferior nutrtive value to milk,
and of secondary Importance To give brandy and
beeftea every hour or half hour for days and nights
mended by DR.. Todd) in order to give him his food
and stmulants is the surest of all ways to destroy
what remains Of natural appetite 1t is an error to
suppose that patients affected with very severe
symptoms of acute disease are capable OF oerating
indefinitely greater amounts Of alcoholic liquors
than can be given in health.
'1t is almost certain from facts already observed
that in young persons the mortality OF fcYers is
greatly increased by the continuous administration
OF alcoholic stmulants; and, it may be confidently
anticipated, as a result Of improved consideration
administration Of alcoholic stimuants with a view
to alimentaton in acute disease, will ere long be
abandoned as inconsistent with an enlightened ply
siology and sound practice. A subordinate, though
very Important consideration, bearing on this
Kat ot"s' such Gn' 6sra uouS doses s'ueloh wins
and spirits given habtually under
medical advice tend to give wrong bias to public
opinion and even apart from the grave moral con-
sequences arising from the abuses of alcoholic quor)
to involve the whole medical practice of the country
in system Of unnecessary and, therefore, wasteful
expenditure. 1t is as nearly as possible demon
strated fact thai much of what is spent in wines
also in private practlce) is unnecessarily if not in
juriously spent Typhus fever, occurs in Glas-
among the most lll-nourshed, debhitated and dssi-
pated classes, classes, is the very type of a dis
e' the highest dosGs RpS"' an the most tSqqFe free
quent and liberal administration of alcoholic stmu-
lants. Yet it has been clearly shown that typhus
fever in Glasgow may be so treated as to have a
diminished mortality with the aid simply OF milk
diet and careful nursing"
In confirmation of the above allow me to quote
again from the lecture of DR.. Wilkes. "To my mind
the most important question in therapeutics is the
to consider the proprety OF it, as you would any
drug in the pharmacopGia. You have witnessed
sons with typhus and typhoid do far better, |
believe, without them them. That That they make good
which my hospital cases ,. prove, and
which no argument can gainsay. It is also a fact
that in bronchitis | have often seen Improvement
after stimulants have been omitted and as regards
heart disease, the amount Of mischief done by stmu-
lation is immense such are the testimonies of
some of the first medical men in Europe.
1t is but a few years ago. that almost the only
treatment for mania-a-potu, derum tremens, and
all the tortures of chronic alcoholism, was more
rum; now scarcely any really enlightened physician
thinks 1t necessary. Dr. Day, Physician and Super
intendent of the Inebriate Asylum OF New York
State, does not in the treatment of those dis
eases. Dr. John Curwen, Physician OF the Penhsyl-
yania State Asylum for the Insane at Harrisburg,
informed member OF this committee, that he has
found it necessary only in single form of fierce n-
sanity, and then not as means of cure, but for
nrnl uTnG Of tI,nI I,o,N
ntoXication which 1t produces.
But again we are met by the almost universal de-
mand for whisky as a cure and preventive of con-
sumption. There is scarcely single person in the
whole country, threatened with or Suffering from
brandy whisky, in large doses, by advice of the
physician, who conscientlousy regards them the
the disposition to tubercle. We have for several
years had occasion to deplore this system OF treat
ment and from most careful observations made in a
large region of country where the history OF every
case OF phthiss which occurred could be ascerained
least benefit derived from the use of alcohol either
as preventive or remedy in that affection.
offered ''y a prize Of Wo SGGGed sGGSsy GSaFys
for the best essay on ''The effect of the use Of
alcoholic liquors in tubercular disease or in consti
far as possible by statistics" The prize was awarded
10 JQhn HGii, NJ y, Of New YORK, Seldom have OBJ
servations been more thoroughly inade more care-
fully conducted through long period of time, and
embracing every condition and circumstance which
could conduct to reliable conclusions; and what
First. That the opinion prevalent as to the use OF
alcoholic liquors having marked effect in prevent
ing consumption is without any solid foundation.
Second. Their use, on the contrary appears rather
to predsp0se to tubercular deposition
Third. Where tubercle already exists, alcohol has
no obvious effect in modifying its usual course
Fourth. Neither does IL mitigate in any consider
able degree the morbid effects Of tubercle upon the
system at large.
Such are the conclusions OF an extended nvest-
cation of the subject by the man to whom the Med-
cal Society OF Rhode Island joyfuly awarded the
need of merit; and happy to oppose it to the
alcoholic practice of Anstie, Bennett, Todd, Cham
bers, and others, who have placed alcohol at the
head OF the list OF remedial agents. They have sung
praises to the healing virtues Of alcohol Their songs
have been heard in every family, and now through
out the length and breadth of tine land in palace and
in howell the word has passed that the young child,
studiOus youth, the nursing mother, the anxious
merchant. the girls in the store, the tailor
the bench, all who take exercise, and
those who take none, can have immunity from con-
sumption only by the daily use OF whisky. To op-
pose this popular practice is to call down on our
heads the anathemas OF those who are ever ready
to stie free discussion We have cOnscientiOusly
and prayerfuy desired to make just report on the
resolution, and are constrained in view OF the facts
terrible practice of stimulation which sends its vic
tins daily by thousands, prematurely to the grave,
and fills the land with drunkenness and crime;"
that modified, regenerated practice, based on COM
mon sense and sound clinical observation, should
take its place to bring healing and blessings its
wings to the nations OF the earth.
All OF which is respectfully submitted
HIRAM C0RsoN,
w. w. TOWNSEND,
noVN