American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1869-08-21
Temperance as Viewed from a
Physiological Standpoint.


We copy as follows from a lecture
delivered on the Cd, in Cincinnati,
by Dr. T. R. Lees, of England, as
reported in the Enquirer of that city:
Dr. Lees than stepped briskly
forward to the front of the stage, i'll
IA manner characteristic of his coun-
trymen. He said he proposed to adj
dress his hearers upon the subject of
temperance as regards the law of
food, for he believed that it was only
when temperance was made a part
Of the scientific as we'll as the popu-
lar education of the period, that it
would achieve its triumphs. No
great reformation was ever effected,
except upon the basis of an under
standing-the understanding work
ing upon the cOnsciences of mankind.
He would therefore, develop the
great doctrine upon which the tenn
perance movement is based as one
of the problems Of physiological and
chemical sciences. In doing so. he
got rid of those numerous questions
concerning the nefinition of temper
ance. People told him that teetotal-
lers made great mistake for not
using liquors moderately; but that
he denied.
Temperance, said the speaker, is
| the law of food. The human body
requires two kinds. First, matter
! 70 nour;cI, opJ CnooDJ f,,o1 10 l,,,p,,
Matter to nourish must be to assimi-
late, capable of assimilation, con.
tanning therefore the elements of
blood and tissue This nourishment
consisted of aibumen, gluten and
casein. Fuel food, as the speaker
termed it, consisted of oil, sugar and
starch.
He then applied the general doc
trine of alcohol, showing first that il
had no pretensiOn to nutrition, being
an element consisting of oxygen
hydrogen and carbon, and destitute
of any proprieties for forming tissue
and cited Leibeg and others in sup
port of his theory.
Alcohol could not be claimed n!
as fuel food. That had been demon
strated by experience. 1t could no
be used in extreme cold weather il
the Artic regions in safety, and th'
Artic navigatorS had rejected it. II
the second place, the quantity o
carbonic gas eliminated from tn
body is always less, and as the les
smoke ascending chimney shove,
, that less fire was III the CRATE, ant
therefore the less heat given off, S
it was the less carbonic acid givel
off from the human body produce
an equally small amount of heat i
it. This fact was also demonstrate
be the thermometer. 1t had bee
| successfully shown that the tempera
ture of the blood, after the use c
y alcohol, is several degrees lower, az
1 cording to the quantity taken.
, Alcohol could not give strength
1t simply excited the vascular sy'
;. TEN, while it deprived the nervOu
system of its proper aliment, an
: diminished mans availability ft
t work, mental or physical.
), The speaker had a diagram upon tt
o stage with which he represented h
n theories. SuppOsing the measure
l. a mans power to be twenty-four, an
e that it required seventeen of the!
d to keep up his body, there wou
). then be left seven with which to {
l. the mental or physical work nece
sary. The pulse was supposed to !
: beating sixty two times a minut
: He supposed he then drank son
alcohol. The pulse would quicke
and all the functions of the boz
!" were called upon to act faster.
d then required nineteen Of the
$. twenty four powers IN order to ke'
1t up the body, thus leaving but fl
ef to perform physical and ment
labor.