The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1880-12-22
NO. All.
dBsfN1'HE

IA ~ II $3.50 ~ = >tFt*tNtt &ItNH 3 tr6NotH
refugee named ofdinaire settled III the snssll
village Of couvet, ID the Val ,rravess. Is ,I,e
canton Of Neuchatel Switzerland. Dr. Or.A.
naire was medical man, and d very claver
one for the time in which he lived and Il
soon made himself useful to the people Of the
val Travers, among whom doctors and medi-
cine had hitherto been almost unknown.
The doctor prepared his own medicines i
was not unusual in those days and though,
no seems to have been a regularly qualified
practitioner, 1t Is evident he had not that con-
tempt for panaceas which is usually to be met
with in the profession. Indeed, there was
one universal remedy which no held ifY ilich
esteem, and compounded with his own hands
from various aromatic herbs, after a secret
recipe known only to himself. This went bv
the name of Extract of Wormwood," and
as many persons declared that it bad COM
pletely cured them, the doctor naturally pre-
scribed and recommended it to Others. Before
his death he gave the recipe to his servant.
Mamsel Grandpierre,' and she sold il to the
daughters of Lieutenant Henriod, who grew
the necessary plants aud herbs in their own
garden, distilled the elixir over the kitchen
Hire and sold 1t to the peddlers Since that
time the manufacture has increased in other
hands, until the quantity of absinthe now,
made in the Val Travers amounts to 81 400
gallons annually.
II is from the yellow flowers of the common
NORWOOD, Artemisia Absynthium. that the
tinctures and extracts of the Val Trayers are
made; and these are said to be very Sfica-
cious In cases of indigestion, though the rem
edy would seem at best to be dangerous
one. II this were all, however, there would
not be much to say upon the subject IL Ia
when, by the admixture of other aromatic
ingredients, the extract is converted into the
famous, or rather infamous absinthe liouor.
that 1t is consumed In large quantities, and
becomes of really terrible importance. I'm
what its peculiar charm consists scientific
men have striyen in vain to discover, but that
It does possess a deadly and well~ngh ire
sistible power of fascination is only too evident
from the large quantities sold in France Ger
many, Switzerland, England and North Amer
lea, Notwithstanding the pernicious effects il
is well known TO produce.
The habitual use of the poison, like that of
opium, affects the whole nervous system in
general and the brain in particular +; it pro-
duces actual organic changes Ia the delicate
network Of the brain, aud these are, of course
accompanied by corresponding arrangement
&c IA tne mental powers.
The end or the nauItuaf Husintnu urfnker Is
as terrible as II is sure and inevitable. He
becomes at first brutalized, dull and obtuse,
then be becomes raving mad, and finally is
either partially or entirely paralyzed, unless
disease of the liver or stomach puts a more
speedy end to his existence. The liquor is
the most seductive and dangerous because at
first it seems to inyigorate the digestive or
gans, while in reality it is doing nothing but
harm. Until the very day when he is seiz-
ed with Illness" says DR.. Defiant "the vic
tim seems to DO in unusually good health,
but the first time he is subjected to a medical
examination it is found that his whole system
is deranged. Nothing is more difficult than
to cure an absinthe drinker, for his first ILL.,
mes is usually also his last, and is terminated
| by DEATH"
| Great efforts are now being made In France
and Switzerland to check the practice of alb
sinthe drinking, which is unhappily largely
on the increase. From various statistics pubs.
lisbed from time to time, we gather that
whereas in the year 1864, out of hundred
cases of insanity or idiotcy, fourteen were
traceable to dram drinking; the percentage
has since risen to twenty-five and four-fifths
of the cases of insanity occurring among Off
GERS may be put down to the use Of absinthe
1t is, moreover, an established fact that the
children of absinthe drinkers are generally
born with tendencies to some of the worst
forms of disease, such as epilepsy, etc. The
most effectual way of meeting the evils by
prohibiting the manufacture of the liquor
but as CHS is impracticable, all that can be
done is to point out the fatal danger of alb
sintbe drinking, and to urge those who are
not yet utterly enslaved to save themselves by
gradually diminishing their accustomed po-
tion. In mouth they will become reconciIed
to taking only half their usual quantity; in
three months, if they persevere, the victory
will be won. They will find their confessed
ly difficult task easier If they take cup of
coffee in place Of the absinthe. Harper's
BazGr.