The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-05-20
"ALCOHOL IN HEALTH AND DIS
EASE"


DR.. Buckles able and convincing essay on this
subject, which was read before the Dominion
Medical Association last September, and which
created no little discussion at the time, has been
rewritten and enlarged by the author, and Is now
Issued to the public in pamphlet form. To the
friends Of total abstinence this brochure should be
OF special interest, for 1t maintains firmly their
views, while to all classes of the community 1t
cali be Of great service, as II discusses from a prac.
tical point Of view a very important question.
DR.. Buckle, from careful investigation and expert.
mentr has come 10 the conclusion that neither in
health nor In disease Is alcohol OF any service,
that IT Is not necessary to preserve health and
Vigori that 1t will not lessen In any way the dis.
comforts Of life; that even In circumstances OF
unusual hardship exposure and exertion, or in
the case of persons temporarily or permanently
enfeebled, 1t is Of no benefit; and that either as a
medicine or as a beverage it will do no good, and
may do much harm, Experience Is usually the
best test for any theory; and DR.. Buckle has had
special advantages for applying this test in the
management Of the Insane Asylum, of which he
is superintendent, With six or seven hundred
people under his charge, in all conditions of
feebleness and disease, and many OF them In cir.
cumstances under which the use Of stimulants
has usually been considered indispensable, he has
good opportunities for finding the actual value of
alcohol. When DR., Buckle took charge of the
London Asylum there was about twenty-five hun.
dred dollars worth Of beer, wine and whisky used
by the patients every year. About two years ago
he began to discontinue the use of stimulants,
and over a year ago he stopped 1t entirely. AS a
result, he tells us, mo evil consequences have fol.
lowed this step; the health OF the Asylum was
never better. doubt If II was ever as good as II
has been since the use Of alcohol has been discon.
tinued, the death-rate has fallen slightly; there
have been a larger percentage of recoveries to
admissions than there were while elcohol was be,
ing used; and in fact the change seems to be q
change for the better In every way" The Doctor
also cites the evidence OF other Asylum Superin'
tendents, and OF eminent European physicians
all supporting his views. He is quite confident
that "a time will come before many generations
have passed away when 1t will be as rare for a
physician or surgeon to prescribe alcohol as IL is
now for either of them to prescribe blood letting,
and when a healthy man will no more think of
taking alcohol with a view of preserving his
health or to make him feel better than he thinks
now Of going to a surgeon to be bled with the
same end The question may be asked how is il
thatif stimulauts are Of no advantage there should
be such a universal craving for them. DR.. Buckle
answers the question by pointing out that the i'm.
mediate effect of a moderate dose Of alcohol is to
produce a decidedly pleasurable feeling, and a
quickening of intellectual and physical energy,
The reaction comes after a tlme;5and then anoth.
er dose is taken to renew the pleasure produced
by the first, But taking repeated doses gives an
appetite for more, and the individual finds him.
self with a craving desire for a sttmulant, the use
OF which has so reduced his nervous energy that
his power to resist 1t has become greatly weaken.
co. In the earlier stages of the worlds history
this desire for stimulants became implanted in
the human breast, because, "up to a certain stage
of development of the human mind an immedi.
ate pleasure is more coveted than is a more remote
though greater pleasure, or than a much greater
but remoter evil is dreaded" So among our say.
age or less developed ancestors the tendency to
drunkenness made its appearance and was cult.
waited, because they thought more of the immedi.
ate pleasure than the remoter evil. This tendency
still exists among savages, and fingers among civ.
ilized people as a relic of barbarism. As the mind
becomes more developed, and people weigh the
future against the present, and resist immediate
temporary delights for future lasting benefits, the
tendency to drunkenness will cease, This seems
to be Dr.. Buckles idea Of the cause and cure Of
intemperance. "The habit Of mind which makes
men drink alcohol in whatever quantities-that
habit Of mind which places instant qualification
before ultimate welfare--is essentially the same
habit of mind as that which makes men %gluttons,
liars, thieves and unchaste; it is, in fact, the habit
of mind of the savage, as contrasted with the hab.
1t Of mind of the civilized man, And civillz ton
itself, a higher civilization than we have reached
is the remedy for the usO Of alcohol, and this is
The only remedy, as far as l can see, which ia
likely to do any good"
alcohol in Health and Disesse," the contents
and merits Of which we have but family indicat-
ed is published by Vim, Bryce of London, at ten
cents per copy, with the usual deductions to the
trade. Itshould be given an extensive circula.
tion,-LOndon (OntariO) advertiser.