Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-05-18

. anus the brave man becomes cowora,v N.
s.miu courageous, the peaceabla ons,raio
some' the modest shameless, etc. ts.allv
"eser, the emotions which the snh;aot =,
us hofMal condition is able to control and
~ keep IN proper subordination to ,ha ~
teIlsct and will, become exaggerated and
are no longer held in subsection. II thsra1
ioIe happens that when this state Of olco.
nI.I' M'oxlcatlon IL reached the person
who' while in his natural state, is hioh-
.oneu ana spirited. is now ready 10 take
onense and TO engage in quarrels upon the
snsn'es. provocation, and often when no
1 :. y: 1or MS emotion and conduct exists.
~ IS IN this state that outrapes aoainst the
law are most apt to occur.
The more purely intellectual part Of tho
mlnd does not escape. The Judgment ia
weakened, the memory impaired, the i'm
aeanat!on exalted OF perverted, and delus.
ions often having their origin in disordered
sensations. and often arising in the mind
without any accompanying illusion or hal
lucination, may assume the government of
the thoughts and actions. The ability to
grasp the details of subject and to com.
prehend them is greatly impaired, or even
altogether destroyed, and hence study or
continuous and Systematic thought is no
longer possible.
alcohol is attained. The mind, the special
senses, and the power Of motion are more
or less completely abolished; the heart and
other important organs of tue body are
greatly disturbed in their action, and death,
generally the direct result OF suspension
OF the respiratory movements, may ensue.
When this degree of alcoholic intoxication
is at its height the person is dead to all ex-
ternal Impressions. Boiling water may be
poured on his body or his legs may be
burned Oft in lime kiln, but he feels
nothing; speech is impossible; the pupils
are largely dilated; the breathing is slow,
heavy, and stertorous; the face is swollen
and purple from the circulation of nom
oxygenized blood through the vessels, and
the power of thought is extinct. Should
the poisoning process go little farther, SO
as to involve the nerve centers which pre-
side over the action of the heart and lungs
to slightly greater extent, life is very
soon abolished.
Such are the immediate effects which
follow the taking of large quantities of al
cohol into the human stomach. No one can
fail to observe that most of the remarkable
phenomena mentioned are connected di-
rectly CT indirectly with the nervous sys-
tenn. Indeed, experiments performed upon
animals with reference to this point, AS we'll
as careful observation Of the etfacts of al
cohol on the human system, show that this
GUS tissue and that it is even capable of
acting powerfully on the brain, the spinal
cord, and the sympathetic system be-
fore there has been time for it to be abb
sorbed from the stomach and 10 act
through the medium of the blood. In
stances are on record and have myself wit
messed one such, in which a large quantity
Of alcohol taken into the stomach has pro-
duced death in few minutes. Orfila cites
q case in which man died Immediately
from the effects of an excessive dose OF
brandy. In the instance that came under
my own notice a man drank somewhat over
pint of whisky without stopping. He
Immediately became deathly pale, stagger-
eral times killed rabbits in less than min
ute by introducing an ounce of pure alco-
hol into the stomach. In such cases the
action is not excited through the medium
of tie blood, but directly on the sympa-
thetic system by the terminal nerve branches
in the stomach.
Indeed,if as have frequently observed, a
like amount of alcohol be injected into 9
vein, death does not ensue with any like as
great degree of rapidity.
1 have not the space TO do more than
| mention the conditions known as delirium
tremens and chronic alcoholic intoxica-
ton. The first of these is an acute form of
alcoholic poisoning: the last, as its name
implies, is q more chronic manifestation.
Both are especially the result of the abb
sorption by the brain and other parts of
the nervous system of the alcohol which
has been taken into the stomach. I have
shown by many experiments, which have
been detailed in full in another place, that
the nervous substance of animals poisoned
| with alcohol. If cut up into small pieces.
soaked in little water, and then distilled,
yields alcohol in very considerable amount.
The brains of habitual drunkards treated
in this manner give like evidence of the
actual presence of alcohol. 1t is impossi-
BILE for this substance to be in such init
mate connection with the nervous tissues
without etfecting radical changes in their
structure. Experiments upon animals, as
we'll as post mortem examinations of the
bodies of habitual drunkards, show this.
without the possibility of doubt, TO be a
fact It is not strange. therefore, that
at least twenty diseases Of the nervous
sanity, may be produced by the excessive
use of alcohol. The crime, the mental and
physical degradation, the social misery and
destruction of life that result more or less
Immediately from the abuse of this power
ful agent, are simply incalculable.
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.
Liquor License Catechism.
What is license?
TT ia permission to do something that