Litchfield enquirer., 1871-02-16

man is in perfect health. But he has seen others smoke. He may have read some treatise, showing that the limited and stim- ulant use of tobacco smoke stimulates nu- triton. He must needs smoke. The ci- gar is lighted. He learns to burn the weed, and puff the smoke In pro
 process of few weeks, he can, by ihhaling and exhaling the smoke. complacently en- joy the stimulant that facilitates nutrition, and. in the proud feeling of his smoking attainments, knock the ashes from the burning end of the coiled leaf, with his little finger, with as much gravity and self. l importance as the man of thirty years practice. We need not the testimony ci smokers to show that the moderate use oi the weed soon becomes as constant and in cessant. as the circumstances of the man
 will allow. We see the professional man
 who has acquired the habit, not an hou1 in the day without the cigar in his mouth
 His very clothes are filled with the odor
 his letters sent by mail carry it to theil
 place of destination. The stimulant use that facilitates nutrition commences in the morning, but the narcotic effect comes on, while it is yet only ''the third hour of the day" There is no limitation to the use among men. whose business and time al low the indulgence. Where there is one
 that restricts himself within the narrow limits prescribed by the writer of this book, there are hundreds whose indulgence i is restrained only by lack of time and means. With these facts ever before us, are we not forced to say with renewed ear nestness and emphasis. H does NOT pay to smoke
 l So far we have been considerins the value of tobacco. as a help to nutrition when not used in excess. We noo turn 10 alcohol ''The important point to be kept in mind," the author says, s'is the funda- mental difference between stimulant and narcotic doses' "Without keeping in mind this all important distinction, any inquiry into the physiological effects of alcohol must end in confusion and para dox." s'The narcotic effects of alcohol up- on the entire human organism are so bad that even the teetotaller does not need to exaggerate them. The stomach is not on- ly damaged and the cerebrum ruined, but slow molecular change takes place throughour the nervous system, which ends by destroying the power of self-con- troi and utterly demoralizing the charac- ter" "A man who wishes to1snjoy alec hol and reap benefit from It and be ready at any time to do without it, like any oth- CT wholesome aliment, must alway keep a long way this side of intoxication." These are important admissions. It should be borne in mind that the purpose and de- sign of the author of this book is to prove that it does pay to smoke-that the coming man will drink wine-that it is on ly the excessive use of alcoholic liquor that is hurtful-that so long as the use is restricted to simple stimulant it is safe beverage facilitating nutrition, and that it's use is ansGys only to those who have, by excessive indulgence, lost self control. It is conceded by the author, that for the poor inebriate there is only this alternative, en- tire abstinence, or degradation and death. This necessity, he says, arises from "cer- braf craving" brought on by the excessive use of alcohol. Structural degeneracy and hereditary degeneration" are the chronic diseases engendered by such ex. cess, and entire abstinence the only rem edy
 This is the doctrine inculcated through out the book. Now it is not needful to controvert a single physiological statement in this treatise, in order to make use of it to prove that entire abstinence from the use of alcoholic liquor to be the safe doc- Urine to inculcate for all persons in health. The author freely admits that all men are not alike constituted, or, in his own words, ''may not be constructed on exactly the same plan." Although he himself. and many others, may take half pint of pure soine with his dinner, there are others who cannot do it and not suffer an effect ap- preaching intoxication. What then is the safe way-the safe practice "All men are not constituted on exactly the same plan" The dose that will only act as a stimulant on one man will most assureily prove narcotic to another. Shall we who are householders put a half pins of pure wine on the table for adults, and less quantity for children How shall the pa- rent who has children to educate adjust the dose so that each member will not go be- yond the needful nutritious stimulant ?
 What shall the man do, who has large family.of such advanced age as to have "left father and mother" and one among the number has suffered from inebriety, but has at length partially recovered, and is struggling for the mastery over the latent and cerebral craving for alcohol We ask what shall this man do, when he desires and actually calls a family gathering on aomo annivnrsarvy occesion ? Shall ho ,,r,t