Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1880-02-26
BY LUCIA Z. T. KIMBALL.

/
discussed from scientific standpoint
in high places.
Not long ago a series of articles on
the "Alcoholic Question" appeared in
two numbers ofthe Contemporary Review.
They were written by distinguished
men, most, if not all of whom regard
total abstinence in no favorable light,
and do not hesitate to speak Of the ef-
forts of its advocates as well meaning,
but lacking in sound common sense.
The scientific truth which they set
forth, to some minds, may possibly be
of more value because of this fact. Let
one of the most distinguished of the
number speak:
Teetotalizing A, the good man, to
save B, the sot, is throwing good after
bad. The sot is not worth it. He may
be deserving Of the pity bestowed upon
him. All crime has its pitiful side. But
as to saving him! Before committing
yourself to lifelong course with such
quest it would be well to ask an ora
Gle. The right oracle would be Morbid
Anatomy. That oracular science claims
the sot. When he has descended
through his chosen course of imbecility,
or dropsy, to dead-house, morbid anat-
omy is ready to receive him-knows
him well. At the post mortem she
would say, oliver hard and nodulated;
brain dense and small, its covering
thick" and if you would listen to her
unattractive but interesting tale she
would trace throughout the sot's body
a series of changes which leave unal-
tered no part Of him worth speaking of.
She would tell you that the once deli
cate, f1lmy texture which, when he was
young, had surrounded like pure at
mosphere every fibre and tube Of his
mechanism, making him 1.-THE and sup
pie, has now become rather a dense fog
than a pure atmospbere-dense stuff,
which instead of lubricating, has closed
in upon and crushed out of existence
more and more of the fibres and tubes,
especially in the brain and liver.
Whence the imbecility and the dropsy.
And morbid anatomy would give evil
dence that such was the state of the
drunkard long before he died. So that
in vain you get him to sign the pledge.
Hesigns too easily, because his brain is
shrunken, and therefore he can not re-
fleet; and he breaks his pledge imme-
diately, because his brain is shrunken
and his membranes thick, and there
fore he has no continuity of purpose
and will. The Insane Asylum is truly
the only proper place for him.
We, who believe in the reformation
of the drunkard, can forgive the SEEM
ing inhumanity of these opinions for
the sake of the good which may come
from this clear statement of the effect
of alcohol upon the brain.
Some of US, who do not claim at all to
be scientists, for several years past have
been trying by means of simple expert
ments to teach the children and young
people the plain, simple truth upon this
matter, but it is of untold value to have
our small knowledge thus confirmed by
a learned NJ. D.
Another of the guild, no less distin-
guished, and no more in favor of Total
Abstinence, says: "Short Of drunken
ness, l should say from my experience
that alcohol is the most destructive
agent we are aware of in this country.
A man who carries great deal of drink
and does not get drunk may be even
more demoralized than man who does
get drunk, because he may be able to
pursue his system of drinking for
longer time. When a man
who has been in the habit of drinking
largely has some disease, l should fear
lessly take alcohol away from him al
together. If you are taking poison into
the blood, do not see the advantage of
the degrees of it day by
day"
In view of these scientific facts, sup
ported by host of our most learned
medical men, can any one doubt con-
cerning the duty of intelligent Chris
tian people to educate our children and
youth upon this subject, which more
than any other affects the well-being
not only of the Individual but of the
and the nation9
1 hold that we have a right to ask,
nay, demand ifitneed be, Of our Boards
of Education and all who shape and
control our courses of study, that into
their systems of instruction shall enter,
at least, the simple facts pertaining to
the effects ofalcohol upon the system,