The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-09-14
From Good Health
StimulantS.

| Pure air is a well known stimulant
though, like light, it would hardly b
looked upon a. such, were we in tn
city not constantly in our every dal
existence in a certain lack Of supply
so that TO Us, and more particularly q
those living in crowded rooms o
streets, a week or two in the pure al
OF the country becomes the most pow
ertul stimulus To the restoration o
health; hence the extreme value o
country hospitals for the reception o
those in whom impure air has prOduc
ed disease, or in whom the shock o
an accident or surgical operation can
not be recovered from without the
stimulus of purer air than can b,
found even in our well ventilated city
hospitals.
I The air Of elevated regions is more
truly stimulant, producing its effect
no doubt, by quiekening and deepen.
ing the respiration, and Fastening the
circulation of the blood, through the
! lungs, brain and other organs. The
effect Of mountain air is to exhilaratt
the spirits, and induce a feeling Oi
buOyancy and strength which is most
| pleasurable.
In ordinary conditions of health,
apart from any special call upon the
vital energies, in persons taking n rea-
sOnable amount of mental and physi-
cal exercise, and enjoying an equally
reasonable amount of rest, there is nc
actual necessity for taking stimulants
of any kind; but in civilized eoun-
/ tries, it is so universally customary to
fa l-a or
crate quantities, that it is now looked
I upon as a natural habit.
There is no habit which is so dispOs-
ed TO grow upon one as that of drink
ing. Even water-drinking, apparent
ly harmless, becomes, with some pee
pie, a most peTniciOus habit; they
1 cannot exert themselves in any way
without drinking water; they are reg
ularly in the habit of drinking many
glasses of water between meals. This
habit is an injurious one; it greatly
weakens digestive power, hastens
waste, and very probably tends to
produce cOrpulency. Unfortunately
however, water-drinking, which, in
quantities very far short of intOXica-
ton, is much more injurious. By wa
ter-drinking we dilute our tissues, by
beer-drinking we contaminate them
yet how very common it is to meet
with people who never miss the Op-
portunity of taking q glass of beer
independently of that which they take
at meal times When a train stops,
or q coach changes horses, they rush
To the counter; at races, at fairs, crick-
et-matches, they take sundry glasses.
We constantly meet such men; they
are what is called temperate, frequent
ly highly industrious and intellectual.
The physician often meets them; they
come under his notice at about mid
die age, miserable hypOchOndriaes,
suffering from all varieties of indiges-
tiOn, gout, and liver disorders, and
would be astOnished to know that
years have been taken Off their lives
principally by the effects of a habit
they have acquired so gradually and
regard so lightly.
A still more dangerous habit than
the last, acquired in the same gradual
manner, and INDUCED i'm often with
the same Ignorance Of its results, is
that of taking small quantities Of spir-
its, either meat" or with little water
at intervals during the day-what is
vulgarly called "nipping." This hab-
it is most common with cOach-drivers,
hack men and conductors. They are
not drunkarks, though i'm too many
instances they ultimately become so.
We have often sat by the side of the
driver of coach, a merry fellow, well
ing a word or a joke with every one.
II. 81