The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1874-04-24

IN S'nte incbriate Asylum, which has just
d been published.
10 IL seems 10 be established that inehrie
Of ty, like other disorders Of the human
system, can be corrected aud cured by
"a proper trcatr.cnt; that the lost selfcon.
>. troll can he restored, and the unfortunate
|. victims &c terrible vice returned 10
/ lives Of usefulness and rcspcctability.
Many eminent men, including Doctor
Rush, have from time to time, during
the last half century, given testimony in
:, favor of medical treatmen, in the man.
, agement Of drunkenness. When the
public come to unlersta nd that the med
ical profession regard drunkenness or in
ebriety as disease. literally crazy
: thirst inherited, or begotten Of excessive
! indulgence, and that intoxication is the
, immediate or remote cause of this dis.
ease, the subject will not be treated in
the flippant or noisy denunciatory style
} that is too frequently INDUCED in by the
press and pulpit of the day.
The physician of the New York State
lnebriate Asylum classifcs the different
forms of drinking as accidental or social.
habitual and periodical An accidental
or occasional drinker is n sound man.
and has the power of restraining himself;
but the lIabi;ual drunkard is an unsoupd
man mentally, physically, and morally.
lie is lost to selfcontrol. The appetite
grows by what it feeds upon, and as a
rule, habi'ual drinkers as they increase
the amount Of stimulation, take cores
pondingly less food. Not a few patients
have been reported as having taken
from forty to fifty glasses day for as
many days, with scarcely any food until
poisoned and exhausted, the eliminating
point is reached, and utter prostration,
with or without commissions or mania. or
It may be death, follows. If they re-
cover, such persons soon relapse again,
and gradually the whole being, moral
and physical, is changed. Slowly iusid.
iously, but surely, the brain and nervous
centres have been poisoned. The tissues
are inflamed, and hardening or softenipc
may follow then comes confusion of
thought, blunted perceptions, and con-
scions or unconscious moral obliquity.
Such persons seldom see themselves as
others see thcm. They viii, with appar-
ent earna-incss, deny the fict of their
drinking. la fact,'a they frcqueatIy go
for days without reeling, even their init !
mate friends may be deceived. They
say and do all sorts of absurd things, for :
which in the restored consciousness of
sobriety they-are deeply penitent.
A majority Of the persons who drink
exclusively have excellent qualities. :
They are ordinarily of generous impulses, :,
and with not little manly pride and I.
delicate sen i'iiity. Letters from friends, =.
furnishing the physician with brief biog- o
rnphies Of Ta.ienti usually refer TO the g
''only one fault" That one fault is n
Vice; hut at the same time n disease :.
from which the victim i power'e.s. un. =,
aidec. to nil himself as the fever patient q,
craze,l with the poison of malaria l.. to },
restrain his ficnzy lie Graves the slim :,
illus of alchohol with the same intensity
hat starving man Graves food. Under
such conditions food is rejected and posi- b,
lively loathed a man in this condition Il,
'hould be regarded as we would regard l.
bath, finds himself in the current of an er
lndertow and unable to regain the shore. "
n both cases the need of assistance is G.,
lrgent Humanity demands that we in
promptly provide for the perishing the St
means Of rescue. of
When sufferers from dipsomania have ex
cached the piteous copdtion described thi
bove, they are too often treated with tic
,excusable neglect by their friends. an
Trough ignorance and prejudice they SUI
ave been left to founder and sink in q,
ne slough with that mochery Of conso-
ition that they have only to stop drink
lg and they will certainly recover. But Vi
o mistake could be more f,tal.to them. da.
ordinary observers can form no concep- tina
on of the weakness to which such per- KIN
ms have become reduced. Careful ip- pre-
estigation into the condition of the pa isr
ents coming under charge of the State tina
lebriate Asylum has led To the cOnclu- OH
On that not one Of those who had drank ian
excess for a year or more before going con
the asylum found his way to perfect we
'alth and complete emancipation from =
c effects of alchohol in less than year H..
ID some cases require much longer os
ne. H..
1t is gratifying to be informed that san,
Imbers 60 from the institution really her,
red, restored and reformed as much rs IT.,
possible in human nature. The sys. mo-
u s''o''' "o' we ueo,a'e' =" iaiiure IL ciat
ese persons voluntarily or carelessly
apse. The cases of complete restora- I
N, as shown by official statistics and dec
tiers on file from various parts of the rigl
intry, demonstrate satisfactorily that moi
ERE is no reason for despair where there sch,
a genuine cooperation on the part of beer
} patient. In fact the work of res The
alton to mental, moral aud physical Jud
nth has been accomplished even when -.
,ukes of conscience, the force of public v