The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-01-14
Special Contributors.
INTEMPERANCE AND ITS CON-
SEQUENCES.
BY DR.. r. G. BAYLY.
Springfield, Ill.)

That the world is in an abnormal
condition is, perhaps, apparent to the
most superficial observer; and it is
fact without inquiring into the origin
of the disease itself.
And it is believed with Hugh Miller,
''That the paleontologist finds no trace
in nature of that golden age of the world
of which thepoets delighted to sing, when
all creatures lived together in unbro-
ken peace, and war and bloodshed were
unknown. Ever since animal life began
upon our planet, there has existed in
all the departments of being, carnivo-
rous classes, who could not live but by
the death of their neighbors and who
were armed, in consequence, for their
destruction, like the butcher with his
knife, and the angler with his hook and
spear" Distemper of both soul and
body being, therefore, prominent, the
common history of paradise as generally
understood, is still farther from pos
sible verification while man is now
greater and better, perhaps, than at any
period of his past existence.
But a higher destiny awaits him, and
the want is to clear the way for his
more rapid advancement. @neof the
seaEsst - III Size ssssy oE the
continued progress of man in both
moral and physical development is in
temperance. And it is evident, since
it is fact, that it must be followed by
important consequences for it has be-
come dynamic force, considered as
acting on the moral and physical order
and sphere of nature, in the contact
and surrounding of which its violations
o law take effect. In one view it is
the fall of virtue; in another, it is the
disorder and penal dislocation both of
the soul and of the body-the world.
AS crime, it destroys the sacred inter-
ests of character as force, it is the
disruption of nature, a shock of disor-
der and pain, kind of poisoning tor
nado in society, that unsettles the har-
mony of things, and reduces the world
to a state Of questionable beauty. Its
violent and terrible storms of disorder,
war and death, throw dark pail of
want and desolation quite over the
whole earth, that would seem to call in
thunder tones upon all good men and
women-all Christian nations to rally
for the rescue and salvation of the race.
What propose to write on the sub
ject will be predicated upon the follow
ing physiological and pathological prop
ositions, on which physicians are very
generally agreed.
l. Under the name hereditary alco-
holism" is included the totality of the
pathological manifestations transmit
ted to child by one or both of his pa
rents who are drinkers.
2. The inheritor of this taint, as we'll
as the drinker himself, can hand down
not only his own vice, but special
morbid tendency which can always be
charged to inebriety.
8. The alcoholic inheritance may at
first be dormant but when it exists it
shows itself in infancy, or later, or per
haps, in another generation. 1t shows
itself as congenital paralysis, convul-
sions, epilepsy, idiocy, etc.
4. The increase in the number of the
insane, of the number of suicides, of
crimes and misdemeanors, is the result
of hereditary or acquired alcoholism.
5. In hereditary alcoholism, is to be
found the explanation of certain mons
ters who come from time to time to hOr-
rify society and scandalize the courts of
law.
6. thas been proved that in the case
of drinkers there is loss of both phys
ical and mental force, as we'll as stat
ure.
7. Hereditary alcoholism, and that
which is acquired, determines enfeeble-
ment of the species, the destruction of
the family and the degeneration and
abasement of the race.
s. From medical and legal point of
view, the hereditary inebriate should
be regarded most of the time as not re-
sponsible, or at least his responsibility
should be considered as limited. He is
to all intents and purposes a sick man,
who should be cared for, remember
ing that he presents defective intel