Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-04-26
INSANITY II CALIFORNIA.

they were still OF opinion that the tendency
was upwards after all abnormal conditions
had been taken into account. We are in
ciined to think that when the many patent
advantages possessed by California over
the inhabitants of crowded European cities.
are considered, our ratio ought to be very
much lower than it has ever been. We do
not believe that the conditions which in
Europe promote insanity exist here in
anything like the same proportions. No
doubt there are exciting influences, but
even allowing the utmost scope for them it
is improbable that they are so widely
diffused or SO constant in their operation
as in those densely populated countries
where the struggle for existence is a cease.
less fight from the cradle to the grave. We
are disposed to believe that if the people
Of California lived nationally and in accord
ance with the demands of their environ
ment, the ratio of insanity would be much
lower here than elsewhere, and we think
tina! one of the chief causes Of its abnormal
increase among US is the prevalence of in
temperance.
The use of alcoholic drinks is largely
question of climate, or at least it ought to
be. II moist, damp climates, such as
that of the British Isles, it is possible 20
drink great deal OF alcohol in various
forms without producing serious mischief
to the constitution. But in proportion as
the atmosphere becomes dryer and lighter.
and freer from fog and cloud, the evil
effects of alcoholic drinks increase. The
man who in the rainy climate Of Ireland
has been accustomed to take whisky freely
and without experiencing any trouble
from it, finds that a very moderate dose Of
the same stuff will in California produce
intoxication. The truth seems to be that
here there is sufficient stimulus in the air
and in the sunshine, and that the system
consequently has no need of artificial
tonics. The history Of nearly all hot eli
mates shows that their inhabitants, when
left to themselves, voluntarily adopt tenn
perate habits. Throughout Africa the
popular beverage is merissa, mild kind of
beer, of which large quantities can be
drunk without producing intoxication.
The Arabs, again, eschew all stimulants
save coffee. The law of their Prophet
may perhaps be cited as the cause of tenn.
perance among the Mohammedan peoples,
but it must be remembered that laws pro.
hibiting the use of intoxicants have never
been observed save where the people were
already predisposed to temperance.
Prohibitory enactments introduced in
communities which have acquired pre-
vailing habit of drinking, have invariably
failed. They may sometimes drive drink
ing from the surface. but they do not ex
tingush the liking for it, and they have
VIGOROUSLY been evaded. It is only when
the public have OF their own accord aban.
dohed intoxicants that their use can be
prohibited with any practical effect. In
Oriental countries, which enjoy climates
closely resembling that OF the interior of
California, the tendency is naturally away
from all fiery and stimulating pota-
tions. Coffee is the great drank of these
peoples, and whenever in Arabia ten.
perance movement is set mp, as has been
done frequently by the Wahabees, their
objects of attack are coffee and tobacco.
How dangerous the reckless use of alcohol
may be in hot climates is illustrated every
year during the heated term ia New York.
when scores and sometimes hundreds of
sunstrokes occur, and may be traced in
nine cases out of ten to unreasonable indul.
gence in whisky and its congensrs.
Even sailors, who are proyerbially fond
of their grog, cease to relish it in the trop-
les, and prefer cooling drinks such as
sweetened lime-water. In short instinct
leads men to adapt their diet to their sur
roundings, and but for the force Of custom
they would, in country so different as
this is from Europe, have long since adopt.
ed more temperate habits. We generally,
However, carry our social habits, like our
domestic architecture, with us, wherever
we 60. Ii we have been raised in moist
and cold climates we think we must con.
tinue to do as we did there, no matter
how radically the conditions around us
have been altered. An inevitable result j,
that those who will nat learn or change
are punished for their obtuseness, and II
they continue stubborn they expose them
selves to the most serious consequences. We
believe that hundreds of men have been
sent to an insane asylum whose lives
might have been happy and useful if they
had only had sense to realize that they
could not afford to drink in California as
they had been accustomed to drink else
where. We should like to hear from Drs
Shurtleif and Wilkins or. this subject, for
they have experience which must enable
them to speak with authority concerning
1t. The question is certainly one of very
great Importance, and it ought TO be taken
under consideration. 1t is not to be ex-
pected that any sudden change could be
effected, no matter what exhibits were
made, but it would be worth something to
set people thinking and even to introduce
the thin cad of a rational reform wedge.
s ~--
PROFESSOR DEMONS sUPERNATURALIsM
Professor Denton. after demonstrating
his familiarity with the latest results of
physical science. has undertaken to con-
vince the public that his studies have
after all been limited, and that they have
not included human physiology or psy.
chology. For he is at present astonishing
audiences with dogmatic assertions about
future life. based upon the performances
Of clairvoyants and spirit mediums. His
supernatural theories appear to be slightly
modified recasts of the fantasies of Swe. 4