, 1869-03-28
AHSINTHE AND ALCOHOL,

Some interesting experiments have lately
brcn made IN Paris With the view OF deics-
mining and comparing the Fleets Of absinthe
AID Of pue slcohol. We do not wish TO
haps, In some respects cst3mable class ol per
eons; but the most f1tti1g suhjcct for these
eSprriments wts to bc-a pig! A man Ia
state o. {ntorication has often been compared
to pig; and 1t is said that 4 pig under Tho
ir1u. nee either OF absintlc CT OF pure alcohol
h1blts precisely the eame symptoms Is su In
toIfsn!cd nan. 4 question had arisen As to
whether the pernlcious effects known to be
exercised by the liquor called absInthc were
due TO the esseuce of wormwood. from which
II derives Its 1aTor and It's name, or to the
fptrit which enters 50 largely Into It's compo-
sltion. Absin1hc drinkers ma1ptaired that
their beloved ttlmu1snt was not Injurious Il
taken in moderation, and thht, taken in cx.
:cest, u did neither more nor less harm than
The medical profession were Of contrary
opinion. and several mad doctors tslgnihcant
testimony y adduced cases IN which insanity,
they declared, could be directly traced to IN
immoae.ste indulgence IN absiuthe, or, to
use the technlcal word BY which the IRE
eistthlc passi ion Is expressed, "AbslHtno.
mpnis."
sevcral books and pamphlets have lately
been published On what has been dicutflcd
By The title OF La Question d'ah.iotAe,"
but, as gent rally happens IN such DISCUSSIONS,
no one has been conylnccd. The enemies OF
stnthers," or devotees Of ao@tnthe, say ths!
i Is At least ve5s Agreeable poison, and
that It does rot Kill quicker than auy other
Intoxicating liquor. Some three or four
years ago tho drinkers Of absinthe seemed
really to have been alarmed BY the numerous
and persistent attacks made upon Their
iavo1{te yeffeshment- Perhaps the rnmorcd
az proach Of choiera made them r. hect. At
al events Absintha Vas, for d time, all but
banished from the bouley ards-to be replaced, ,
It Is tIuc, by = much stronger, though per.
haps, leta bratu.e1citing,. liquor known IS
OF ateiothe returned TO the poison Of thclr
predilcctiou srd champion appeared from
among them who boldly-Iesh2ps, we should
say recklcs$ly-asseEted that the beverage,
which Is known to hare been the tavorite oLe
Of Gustaye Planche, perhaps The soundest OF
SET, certainly The most brilliant Of all French
| poets, Is very esumable beverage indetd, ,
| which, fairly used, does much more good
than harm. To be sure Alfred dc Muss send
WA tragic enough hut II Is By no means cer-
tam that 1t ought TO be attrlhnted 70 a6stuthe
| rather than to apy other ktropc drink. BAl1ac,
In his .EtaAy on Modern Stimu1knts, "condocs
hlmseH to WIG, cotec and tobacco, and. BY
strange omission, makes no mention Of Ao'
tsnthe- But the champion Of absanthe has
4 0U9T0~eQ 1lqM ba1xac lA t01ft 1nu GasJ
method Of testing stimnjants; aud he de-
votes one Of 1he most curious chapters IN bis
book TO the Experiences Of an absinthe
drinker," who, 1t appears went 10 q cafe on
| the BouleFardc MontmAEtxc, and deliberately
drank isur glaskes Of the mixture ior ab-
slnthc. We Iced hardly say. must be taket
With water. Alter bis INST cissA the ab
sipthe d1tnkcr Wa suprcmely happy, anc
felt that his intellectual power hAt
been Itcreased teufold. Here, o
course, be should have stopped. However
In The cause Of ecience, he repeated tho dose
and then took third and I fourth glass, IN
III 1t last, tnstend Of feeling suprcnely hap
py, be became dull, heavy, silent and mo
rose" wandered abont, and II last fnuni
himself ecatcd on I bench, on one Of tn
cutter boulcvards. Alter that he hts
" vague notion" that he went Into = low res
taurant, ate SONIC duck 6tewcd with tusnfp!
walked about for couple Of hours. an
nnAlly, with dead eye. heavy heart and
totteftug RAIt,n got home and went to bet
This condition had been brought about b
four very small elatses Of abztntoc, and It
A4kcd BY the Atainthc-drinlen' critic
whether iour very 8nall RlakSes of brand
could have PFC ducad the same effect, NOR
especlalIy The "vague notion"
II sppeafs th1t until 1864 the belief thA
there was noihInX injurioua In ah>inthe e.
cept the slcohol was general enough. Il
49,. >.r, LoSi1e. a l4.4 .~~s-'. i-A-.c