The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-06-23
DRINKING THAT KILLS.
How Absinthe Destroys tho Health and
Life OF It's Consumers.

U TIA NIhLSt
How Absintho Destroys tho Health and
Life OF It's Consumers.
Absinthe drinking has increased to
an alarming extent in New York. In
many bar-rooms the statement Is un-
hesitatingly made that at least ten out
OF twenty-five patrons call for absinths
in some form. This fact is significant,
inasmuch as by the medical fraternity
the liquor is pronounced to be far more
destructive to the nervous system than
either whisky or opium. II Is the
deadliest Of drugs. Indeed, a man may
smoke opium for years without COM
pletely wreclting his mind and body,
while an absinthe drinker will die or
be sent to lunatic asylum in less than
four years. A fact not generally known
is that nearly all absinthe drinkers
in this city are persons Of means and
intelligence. No special retreat has as
yet been provided for the treatment Of
habitual drinkers of the brain killer,
but the private resorts for the cure of
inebriates are filled with patients who
are suffering untold agonies caused by
over-indulgence in this drink. The
worst case of delirium tremens result
ing from excessive whisky drinking is
tritling compared to that brought on by
absinthe. 1t is certain that some place
especially adapted for the cure of the
latter will be decided upon in the near
future.
Absinthe is, or was, liquor used al
most exclusively in France New York
ers now bid fair to rival the Parisians
in this vice. The injurious effects of
absinthe are much more marked in this
country, because of the climate. In
France nearly every one drinks absinthe
and the fatal results from over-indul-
gence are few because of the climatic
conditions and the manner in which the
Parisians drink. They do SO scientific
ally. Americans do nothing by halves.
They drink as much absinthe as they
formerly did whisky, making no allow
ance for the increased risk.
Absinthe consists essentially of alco-
hol mixed with volatile oil of worm
wood and some other less active ingre-
dients, especially oil OF anise. DR..
Cyrus Edison, OF the Health Depart
ment, and others say that for some
time it had been noticed that the effects
of absinthe drinking differ essentially
from those of pure alcoholic drinks,
constituting a series of symptoms which
have been designated under the name
Nf hcin MI h Hhn of{ Of,
porter was called to the case of a
wealthy merchant who was quite re-
Gently taken ill in the street and carried
into the house of a physician. He had
for a score of years drank brandy and
whisky often times to excess About six
months ago he took tSlrinking absinthe
in the morning to steady his nerves. He
found that after the first effects of the
drink wore off he was in worse condi-
tion than before, and in order to keep up
he found it necessary to keep himself
pretty much all the time braced up
with the poison. From drinking alb
sinthe in whisky, he took to drinking
it plain. When he was carried into
the PHYSICIANS Office he was frothing
at the mouth and suffering from con-
vulsions. He is now under special
care, and there are hopes of his ulti-
mate recovery.
The characteristic symptoms OF alb
sinthism are restlessness at night, with
disturbing dreams, and nausea and
vomiting in the morning. The hands
tremble and the tongue shakes in q
jerky fashion in the mouth. The suf-
ferer is hardly able to articulate. Then
follow vertigo, and a decided tendency
to epileptiform coavulsions, in which
the patient loses consciousness. He
falls, bites his tongue, foams at the
mouth and makes facial grimaces. All
the while his limbs are working. Ex-
periments have been made with alcohol
and oil of wormwood, separately, on
the lower animals, and it is undeniably
demonstrated that the effects referred
to are ascribable directly to the worm
wood. AS absinthe is made from
wormwood, it may be inferred by even
the uninitiated in medical science that,
as drink, it is more dangerous than
any other alcoholic drink in its pure
form.-M. Y. Letter.