Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-06-04

often found TO be directly or indirectly
caused by the use Of alcoholics. Acute
and chronic Inflammation Of the heart
and arteries are not infrequently traceablc
to alcoholic intoxication, and 1t cannot
therefore be regarded az impossible" says
| DIR. Carpenter, 1tthat those more chronic
disorders of their walls which give rise
TO aneurism, softening, fatty degeneration
and other structural changes should be
! favored IL not absolutely produced by the
habitual presence Of alcohol In the circu.
iating current"
| Besides these positive diseases there In
developed by the habituai use Of alco.
| holic stimulants marked diminution OF
power TO sustain injuries by disease or
accident, and remarkable liability OF
those who indulge to epidemic diseases.
| With the former Of these positions the
experience Of every physician Of any con-
siderable practice is in harmony. How
often are physicians disappointed at the
results Of diseases In cases OF adults dur
| ing the age when they ought to be in
their prime. Many cases Of fever and
many forms of Inflammation, Is well as
almost every grade of accident and surgi-
cal operation, prove fatal unaccountably
unless the habit Of the subject as to the
use of alcoholic drinks be taken into the
account. As TO the liability OF drinkers
10 disease as compared to sobers, w.
Marcel, M. d., r. X. g., has an interesting
chapter In his work on "Chronic Alec
holic Intoxication." His tables are based
upon 695 cases of out patients, carefully
| observed at the Westminster Hospital.
OF the whole number, 895, two-thirds, or
463, were caused by indulgence In alco-
hol, and were prevcptable by abstinence
| therefrom.
In the vital statistics Of this State for
1870, out Of 10766 deaths there are IA
attributed to alcoholism" / have had
the curiosity 10 look over the list OF
deaths Of adults for that year which oc-
CURED in the township OF Kalamazoo,
and / find that out OF the "a deaths 10,
or 16 per cent, were more or less directly
attributable to the use Of alcoholic drinks,
TO my personal knowledge. But In the
report from which the vital statistics were
compiled they were all said TO have died
| OF respectable diseases. / have no doubt
that the same, or even greater per cent,
will obtain throughout the State.
have purposeIy passed over until now
| two or three diseases or classes OF dis
eases, 80 that, being last spoken OF, the
l
| for, although the diseases already named
are exceedingly grave, yet these, affecting
| as they do the intellectual and the moral
condition and development Of tho man,
appear to me TO challenge cur more Sc
rious attention. "There are" says DIR.
Carpenter, "some individuals In whom q
| fit of positive madness, persisting for
some time after the immediate effects of
| the stimulus have subsidized, is brought
on by every excess Of drinking" This
| he terms "delirium ebriosum." 1t is not
intoxication, but consequence of 1t; 1t Is
the tonic delirious excitement resulting
from intoxication. while delirium tremens
| Is the atomic excitement of nervous sys.
tenn exhausted by long-continued intoxi-
cation. DR.. Carpenter, while discussing
delirium remens, says: cit 10 important
to remark that q slighter form of this dis
! ease, marked by tremors Of the hands and
feet, deficiency OF nervous power, and oc.
casional illusions, will sometimes ap-
pear as consequence Of habitual
| tipping, even without intoxication hav-
| ing been once produced" Mar
Get calls this distinct disease and gives
| Il the name of "chrOnic alcoholism. -
1.-THE symptoms Of the disease depend on
a functional disturbance Of the nervous
system which may last for weeks, months
| or years, even after the habit of excessive
| drinking has been given up" II 10 de.
generated condition OF the man In c0nse.
Quence of the more or less complete
saturation Of the system with alcohol; q
condition in which the will is weakened
while the bascr appetites are strength.
ened; condition OF the citadel that
invites the attack Of the enemy by having
exhausted the resources for defense. In
insanity. on the other hand, We have q
condition Of the man still farther dcgen.
erated--a citadel In the very confusion of
capture and pillage--while In dement's
and idiotcy the citadel Is dismantled and
in ruins Lord SALISBURY, after having
acted as commissioner Of lunacy In En-
gland for twenty years and as chairman
| Of the commission for sixteen years, says
Having made inquiries into the matter
the result Is that fully six-tenths of all the
cases of insanity 10 be found In these
realms arise from no other cause than
| from the habits Of intemperance in which
the people have INDUCED"
The number of deranged people in q
country corresponds very closely with the
amount of strong drinks that are con
sumed. Till the Introduction Of fire-wa
among the American Indians insanity
was unknown. In Cairo, comparatively
teetotal, there Is one insane person Il
every 30,7l4 of the inhabitants. In Spain
comparatively sober, the consumption Of
alcohol being only one gallon per head
per annum, there Is one insane person In
every 7,18l. In Normandy, consuming
two gallons Of alcohol per head per an
mum, one In every 700. In Norway, con
Stunning two gallons, one in 551. In En-
gland, consuming two and half gallons,
the proportion Is one In every 430 Of the
Inhabitants" In Michigan, where, In
1865, according to Commissioner Wells
report before referred to, the sales Of the
retail liquor traffic amounted to little
mere than forfy-five dollars for every man,
woman and child In the State, the census
of 1870 states that there are 500 insane
persons In population of 1,184,282, OF
one to every l, 428. In the United States
the census gives one insane person to
every 1,020, while In New York, where
! fifty-six dollars per annum for each inhsb.
liant were spent for alcoholic drinks, there
Is one insane person to a little less than
| 700.
The degeneracy by no means stops
1 with the man himself. BY law of ma.
/ ture. running through the animal az we'll