The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-11-08
LEADING TO THE GRAVE.
The Theory of Inebriety as Get Forth by
an Association of Physicians.

MI o Vi "o wv
an Association of Physicians.
The association for the r of
iuebriates had its annual session in
Philadelphia. The theory upon which
medical rystems for the cure of drunken
ness are based was explained forcibly
and clearly in a paper read before the
opening o: the convention. From this
paper we note the following points
made
Inebriety is n manifestation of O
cerebro-physical disorder, just as cpl
lepsy is another, with a distinct dura-
ton, mortality, and ~prognosis. Ten
years is usually the limit of time after
it's development in which it results
fatally. OF late years DR.. Orothers as
serts that this disease takes less time to
do it's deadly work, owing to the in
crease Of inherited degenerations, irregu-
lar work, the extremes of luxurious and
poor living, unhealthy brain work, and
other means, which lower vitality. 1t
is most difficult to overcome "in per-
SONS who have other nervous or cerebral
disorders, or who possess eccentric or
unframed will power and limited educa-
ton, in ~paroxysmal drinkers, in those
who smoke or chew excessively, or when
it originates in some injuryto the brain,
or appears suddenly without any par
ticular cause" The mortality of inc
briefly equals that of the most fatal dis
eases, but under proper treatment at
asylums the recoveries may exceed
those of any other cerebral or nervous
oToo Okhar ooror%c rrora T006 IN
proof of the fact that inebriety was fire.
quently a matter of heredity, as is con-
sumption, the morbi6c force causing it
taking sometimes the shape of epilepsy
or hysteria in one child and drunken
ness in another. The producing cause
is most frequently a habit Of moderate
drinking in father o. grandfather.
Temperance and the ravages of
drunkenness have of late years become
distasteful subjects among people who
assume a certain degree of refinement.
They are not fanatics. The violence of
temperance reformers disgusts them.
They are able to take their glass of wine
without degenerating into beasts, and
there is nc reason why everybody should
not do the same. If they cannot, why
and a shrug of the shoulders ends the
discussion. Mean while one-ffth of the
deaths in the country may be traced di-
rectly or indirectly to inebriety, and
one-half the murders and other crimes
which fill our prisons and jails are due
to the same cause. Yet 81 strong is the
distaste to arguing the question that
even by prison reformers the subject Is
virtually ignored. The mistake appears
to us to have been in urging drunken
ness as a crime and temperance rs a vir-
tue. That is only n side of the ques-
ton. The one is also a disease and the
other a necessary %precaution to save
life. If the young lad starting out in
life, and the mother who follows him
with entreaties and prayers, understood
that the glass of liquor in his case was
not only a moral delinquency but a step
toward suicide, just as dangerous as e1-
posure to cold would be to a consump-
tive, his danger would be lessened one,
half. No man is ashamed to protect a
weak body, but he rushes into tempta-
ton to prove his power of resistance as
strong as his. neighbours. We r glad
to find from the reports of the associ:
alton that their rational method of meet,
ing this foremost evil of our time is SO
fast gaining the approval of the public.
-New York Tribune.