New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-02-01

A'AA W 1nC fClSo vi 1uSdu1tt. 1u6 pQY-
sician, during a single visit to his pa
tient, is frequently called upon to con-
centrate the education and experience
OF a Lifetime upon the case before him.
Daniel Webster, speaking of his reply
to Hayne in the senate (Jan 26, 183O),
says: ''My feet felt the floor again
they seemed rooted like rocks, and all
that had ever read or thought or acted
in literature. in history, in law, in pol
itlcs seemed to unroll before me in
glowing panorama, and then it was
easy if wanted thunder-bolt, to reach
out and get it as it went smoking BY"
The degree in which Webster's brain
was congested at the time, might have
caused in a person unaccustemed to
brain.work either q loss of consciousness
or insanity. ..s. .a. 1872"
The degree of congestion, then, which
will impair the activity of the mind va
ries within very wide limits. The extent
to which the brain of one person is con-
gested during his daily work may in
the case of another who is mentally less
active, seriously interfere with the work
OF thinking. No general rule can,
therefore. be given relative to the
point at which congestion begins to
blunt the higher faculties of the mind.
Nor must it be inferred that the same
quantity of alcohol will produce the
same amount OF brain congestion in all
persons. All congestions depend on a
partial paralysis Of sympathetic nerve
branches, as we'll as on the elasticity of
the blood-vessels. Two persons may
be equally sensitive, and yet the same
thing which causes one to blush may not
produce any perceptible change of color
in the face of the other. The difference
is due in part to the fact that the same
emotion in the one case causes a con-
siderable relaxation of the sympathetic
nerVe-branches that envelop the blood
vessels of the skin, while in the other
it affects these nerves but slightly; and
1t may also be due in part to difference
in the elasticity of the artery-walls,
which in case of equal relaxation of the
sympathetic would produce differentde
grees of dilatation. In similar manner a
given quantity of alcohol in different per-
sons will produce widely different effects
upon the sympathetic nerves that con-
troll the blood-supply to the brain; and
considering also the different elasticity
OF the blood-vessels, the impossibility
OF finding any fixed quantitative relation
between alcohol and congestion of the
brain becomes apparent. A small glass
OF vine IS sufficient to intoxicate some
persons, while in others it congests the
bralnto no greater extent than thatwhich
Is requisite to the multiplication of by5.
Adults who are anxious to ascertain,
without resorting to direct experiment.,
to what extent alcoholics would congest
their brains, should apply to some ply
sician for an examination of their sym
pathetic system.
A DIR. Alden gravely informs us that
'there is no such thing as temperate
use Of spirits.'' This is the sum and
substance of the prohibition doctrine.
1t proclaims that, because alcohol used
in excess cripples the faculties of the
mind, alcohol used in moderation will
do the same thing, though in a degree
less marked. No distinction is made be-
tween the opposite effects of congestion
IN the two cases. Such distinction
would spoil the argument, which is di-
rected, not against drunkenness and the
evils connected with it, but against the
use OF alcoholics in any quantity what
ever. The same course of reasoning
would lead us to look upon any amount
OF thinking as unsafe because excessive
thought may derange the mind. I
would strongly urge upon workers in
the good cause the advisability of first
inducing people to accept the latter
conclusion; there will be no further
trouble then about the other.
The question may be asked, however,
whether the long-continued use of aJco-
holics in moderation may not produce
permanent changes in the brain and
thus indirectly diminish mental power.
The textbooks issued ''in ac-
cordance with the requirements of the
W. G. L. o." contain only vague state
ments on this point. We are told that
''alcohol' produces certain permanent
changes in the brain; and as ''alcohol,"
according to these books, is injurious
in any quantity and form whatever. the
guileless reader is led to draw the con-
clusion desired. But the structural
changes are such as will take place on
ly after years of excessive drinking, so
far as adults are concerned; and it is a
noteworthy fact that excessive thinking
continued through period Of years
may produce the same results. Just
as in other organs of the body, long.
continued over-stimulation Excessive
congestion) causes an increase lin the
growth of connective tissue, which, by
pressing upon the cells of the cray mat.
ter, interferes with their proper nour.
ishment and work. s'The brain, like
most of the internal organs, suffers in
alcoholism from the contraction of new
areolar tissue pressing upon and oblit-
Grating some of the nervous elements. y
(Farquharson.) 1t goes without saying
that in q boy drunkard these perma:
nent changes in the substance of the
brain may be produced in a very short
time.
There have been total abstaipers in
all ages. But history does not show that,
making due allowance for the inferior
ity OF their number, they have contrib.
uted better thinking to the civilization
OF their respective ages than those who
used alcoholics. Most of the greatest
thin kerS the world hoe prodnood mood