Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-10-10
NEW REMEDY FOR DRUNKENNESS.

At last platform appears to have been
found upon which the Blue Ribbon Army
and the habitual drunkard can meet and
shake hands. 1t is the kola nut. Hitherto
Senators have legislated, orators harangued,
and the church preached and prayed as if
drunkenness were one thing and temper
ance another as if intoxication and teeto-
talism must remain antagonistic forces
This has, indeed, been among the popular
errors of civilization for many centuries,
but the belief is happily past. Science
claims another triumph, and Sir Wilfrid
Lawson and the owners of the GIN palace
can now sit down together in harmony, and
consent, over the mutual glass. to let by
cones be bygones. Senators can with
draw their oO.hasty measures for the re.
striction of the poor mans drink and the
circumspection of his hours of willful in
ebriation the orator, following the ex-
ample OF high authority and most illustrious
precedent, may plead that construction
mot obviously inherent has been
placed upon his public utterances while
the pastor may find in this latest
discovery of botanical enterprise an over.
ruling dispensation which accommodates
itself to the infirmities of weak-minded
and erring humanity. For here, actually
on sale in London, is NUT ga harmless,
necessary" nut, which routs all previous
impressions on the subject of intoxication :;
which takes the thorn from the rose and
gives the honey-bag to the scorpion which
straightens the tortuous latch.key of the
drunkard, and yet leads innocence by the
hand through the dreamlands of inebria.
ton ;" which makes that which was not to
be, and that which could not, to have
power; which abolishes all necessity for
social leagues against the Fiend of Alec.
hol; which sweeps away the boundaries
between the sober and the besotted, and
smiles, as if in the fullness of virtuous
achievement, at the licensed victualler and
the teetotaller embracing one another with
the kiss of peace. 1t is, indeed, won
derful berry, if half be true that is said of
it, and exceeds in its virtues the amethysts
and toadstones of antiquity. The former
could only cure drunkenness, while the
latter could only insure abstinence.
But the kola nut does both at once,
for it lets the whole world get soberly
intoxicated together, and allows them to
be drunkenly temperate. If the immod.
crate topper eat it before he gets sodden
with strong drink he can never become
"unfit to join the ladies'" Or if he de.
lay eating it until the worst has over
taken him, he is restored at once to
condition of sobriety. So, at any rate,
say those who would have us believe in
it. What authority, however, have the
proprietors for claiming such advantage
GUS qualities for their berry! 1t is
claimed for it that, like many other nuts
and herbs, it has the property of staying
the appetite for long period. The mate,
for instance, is leaf upon which the
Peruvians can travel for as long as three
days without other food, solid or liquid.
Moreover, infused in water, it gives to
the decoction a bitter taste that resembles
tea or coffee in very much the same de-
gree as boiled brown paper might do.
Further, MIR. Papefo whose name is
not familiar to us, says that the kolanut.
if eaten at the same time that alcoholic
drinks are being imbibed, will absolutely
prevent the latter from having any effect
at all while "the negroes" are, sit ap-
pears, !" in the habit of using their valuable
discovery "as a remedy for drunkenness. "
/ London Telegraph.