New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-10-08
luebriety In America.

The American Association ior the cure OF
inebistes held it's seventh annual meeting
at the hall of the College of Physicians
September &c. Dr. George NJ. Beard, of
New York, read paper on "The Causes OF
the Increase of Inebriety in America, y
which is given in abstract below:
The habit of drinking to intoxication was
defined as partly vice and partly q
disease. The inebriate is one who drinks to
excess against his will, and in spite of reso-
lutions to the contrary, and when there are
no external temptations to do 80. Inebriety
resembles other nervous diseases in it's
hereditary character, and in it's periodjcity
1t runs in families, and in many cases the
attacks come on like attacks of neuralgia,
at mathematically regular intervals. During
these intervals the inebriate is perfectly
self controlled, and may not be tempted by
the presence of stimulants. The inebriate
desires to recover as much as the neuralgia
sufferer. The commonly accepted cause of
the increase of inebriety in America is the
increase OF intemperance; but this is Q great
error. For fifty years the better classes
have been growing more and more tenn
perate. There never was at time in the
history of civiliz alton when there was so
little excessive drinking IN proportion to
the population as now.
The fundamental proposition of the
speaker was that inebriety was increasing,
because the higher classes-the brain-work
ing classes-were becoming more sensitive
and nervous. We 3an not bear alcohol Is
our fathers could. nat functorial nervous
disease and nervous sensitiveness on which
inebriety depends has been on the increase
for many years in all the great centres of
civilization. but especially in America.
This Is proved by four methods of investi-
cation:
l. BY comparing the higher and lower
classes of the present day. The majority
OF the cases OF Drunkenness (which is q vice
and may be cured) are among the lower Or
ders-the abiectly poor and ignorant. The
majority of the cases of inebriety are among
those men and women who are more or less
cultivated. In both classes, however. the
vice may lead to the disease. 1t is found
by observation that not only inebriety, but
all allied nervous states, are incompsrably
less frequent among the literary, profess
sionAl and business classes than among
those who live BY manuel labor. Hay
ement-house population of New York.
9. By comparison of the present time
with q quarter or half century ago. There
is pretty general agreement among good
observers that our fathers did not suffer as
we do from variety of nervous symptoms,
we are more susceptible to drugs, to tea
and coffee and tobacco. as we'll as to alco-
hol when unadulterated.
3. By comparison OF the present time
with the middle ages and the few centuries
preceding the nineteenth century. The
medieval epidemics of Mysteries and St.
vitus' dance were psychical not physical,
the result of superstitious and unframed
minds acting on strong bodies, and not of
nervous exhaustion. That form of trouble
yet survives in the so-called servant girl
hysteria." Insanity as we'll as inebriety
making all allowance for deficient observa
ton of those ages and the more extended
philanthropy Of the present. They have
increased during the past fifteen years, and
out OF proportion to the increase OF popu.
lation.
a. By comparing the nervous status of
woman with that in past time. The child
bearing and child rearing capacity has
Female inebriety, though not
90 abundant as reports would have rs be-
lieve, is yet not unfrequent both in England