Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-04-27
Is Intoxicaifioan : Disesaas.e,.. 9 Z, !.

Is Intoxicatfon q Disease.
From the Pni' 'sdelplia record. ~ ~
| No subject has engrossed more of the
attention of moral reformers than ths
| use and abuse of alcoholic s.imuIants
Scarcely any two of these reformen
agree upon the policy that should be
adopted to control il, Total abstinence
men, local 0ptionistsy prehi itienists,' 2
4 moral suasiOnists, and even the "mOd
crate drinkers, " have each in tarI
sturdy advocates and followers! sd-s-5r
All admit that alcohol IS "a poison
useful, Ike other .poisops, asa -iAedf
cine. Nearly all admit, too, that its ha-
bltual use as beverage creates a dis
eased appetite and morbid craving.
1t penetrateS the system and affects all
the functions, organs and tissues. 1t
affects the mental faculties through the
brain, and takes away the strength OF
the will and the power of self control.
1t reaches the vital organs, the heart,
the liver, the stomach, kidneys, and
bowels. The longer a man indulges in
| its excessive or immoderate use, the
less restraint is he capable of exercising
over himself, until, at last, the quantity
| which he drinks is only limited by his
| physical endurance and the capacity of
his stomach. Yet this class of drinkers,
| who have lost their force of will and
ton. In most cases they are entirely
conscious of their state, and would re
form if they could, but lack the moral
strength, to push away the pOis0n. If
they could be surrounded by restrainr
ing infiuences-fresh air. wholesome
and varied diet and careful medical
hep; if they could be place under the
judicious control of those who would
supply to them the Judgment and will
which they have imp ,ired, they could
be cured. What the habitual drunkard
needs is the moral power tostop drink
ing. He knows his condition, and sees
the damage he is doing to himself
every day. - i'''-'itieN' 7il-oS % ss>'7n
Habitual drunkenness was formerly
considered ancaffair quite beyond the
reach of cure, and entirely out of the
sphere of the doctor of medicine. A
victim on whom, intemperate habits
had taken a firm hold was looked upon
as beyond reclamation. The man who
had wallowed once in the gutter was
held to be irrevOcably lost. The reg
ular, habitual drunkard was looked
upon as only fit to be given over to the
jibes of bad boys, and ruled out, as tn
outcast beyond the pale Of cofisidera-
ton, by society. Thirty years ago none
but scientific professors Of the most adj
vanced school Of medicine looked Upon
drunkenness as "a disease and even
twenty years ago the appladders and
admirers of Coughs eloquence would
have been shocked II told. that iiiebri-
ETY. was disease for which the habit
ual drur,kard had ii one sense ceased
to BE RESPONSIBLE y9nl JffiV 's3ssi s''f5 :
Happily, all this has changed, and
the wisest opinion is that drunkenness
is a disease like most Of the other iHS
that ,ss.fiesh is. heir to, and should be
treated asthey are, by the most aecu-
rate and scientific knowledge. 4nebri-
ate asyiufnsi have demonstrated the
value of the treatment c6f this great
curse as q disease, and ex perience In
this country has shown that it Is as fii-
tiie,to endeayor to extirpate Che dis
ease Of intemperairce by legislative pro-
hibition against its contraction, as it
would be to make similar s1egisI Iitive
prohibitions against other diseases. (;
In those sylu1fs for inebfiate5 that
q = We been ,estsbiisifed for years ID fhP ,l7
country, the most peneISleng results
nave peen Inaniiestei. tnou5fsih9s s0l
Victims to the yiee e. haYs "a been entirely
reciaiLned, fia [i ana are now an valuable mens
oers OF society, anu are the most enthu-
sl'istic advocates Oh treatihs drunSeh-
ness as a disease; In tnese estapiisn-
ments the patient, hrst unaefgees, as
40 tne insane ms proper con pats9fy re-
surainl, until ne becomes comes aware OF tRe
QlSezfSe That mas possessed him. IHere