The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-12-11
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
,NEBa,Erv AND CRIME.

INEBR,ETv AND CRIME.
1hsir Relatisaship to Each 0thsr and -
Their kinsssd Conpsnient Insanity.
TAs following extracts are from an
ssticle in the Quarterly Jour1aEof Ine-
briefly by Pref. X, J. Kinkaae, A. b.,
NJ. d, Dublin. The writer is professor
Of medical Jurisprudence, Queen's COL
lege, sad medicaionassr in her Msjestys
prison Galway. .l
Inebriety. insanity gnd crime spe un.
holy trinity, Intimately, inseparably
bound together - mutusl cause and
effect Drunkenness produces insanity.
insanityeften begets drunkenness, crime
b. frequently the product Of both.
The direct connection; between inebri.
ETY., insanity and crime is universally
recognized; their indirect relationship
b not SO clearly perceived But neither
the cost to the community which fol-
lows as, natural consequence nor the
danger TO person and property, the in
tolerable' anxiety, the risk Of life, the
absolute ruin consequence on the want OF
power to control the habitual drunkard,
have attracted sufficient public atten--
ton; il they had, assurediy legislation
30 Imperfect as that. at present exists
would not be tolerated.. Nor has the eff
feet on the race received due considers.
ton. 1.-THE best and most prejudiced
observers are agreed,' writes DR.. Elisha
Harris, shat the families ID inebriates'
develop forms of nervous and brain dis
ease which could only be referred to the
habits of drinking in the parents"
Dr. Magnus Huss, of Stockholm, de-
clares' that drinking produced partial
atrophy'of the brain, which, was handed
dowmto,the children. The. brain was
then too small for the bony case, and
lunacy was the result. The same facts
have been observed in, lanatics of
Massachusetts, Indiana and France.
DR.. Marel had observed the same re-
suits Of diminished brains through
severals generations, leading to imbe-
cility,. homicidal insanity. idiocy and
final extinction. Posterity has done
nothing for me; why should l care for.
posterity? would seem to be the pop
ular sentiment with regard TO the griev-
GUS inheritance transmitteG 70 the of
springsby the inebriate andsinsane.
Nature, however, more pnovident than
man, has decreed that both, inebriety,
and insanity tend from degeneration to
extinction; 30, that unlesss some vigor-
GUS healthy strain interysnes, mental
decrepitude is followed by physical fail
ure, and then sterility terminates the
family history.
In acute Drunkenness the passions
andlemotions are stimulated to excess.
i've activity and the control Of the will
d weakened and abolishsA In chronic
or. hahitual inebrietyV there is, in I'd,
ditioR dominant iaes established,
commonly expressed as. . craving foe
stimulants, so powerful, q to be prac-
ticallF irresistible;: the moral sense,
also, i almost abolished In delirium
tremens and mania-a.pOtu, illusions,
Authorizations and delusiOns are added.
That drunken person,is mad, that hsb-
itual inebriety is.a lcendition Of insan-
ity., that more frequently than is gen.
orally supposed inebriety is the cense-
queAce Of antecedentr nervous disorder
either hereditary or acquired, that is.
that habitusl drunkenness is the"prOd-
not of disease. may appear startling
statements, nevertheless they arc true.
Q The action of. alcohol on the n,ind de-
ponds upon the amount ingested, and is
produced PARTLY by alteration in,the cir
oulstion and partly BY the nal'appli-
cation to the nerve centers Of the alcohol
absorbed by the blbod. At first the ef-
feet is stimulating, starting aalthe men-
tai faculties. but especially the emo
tional, int0 increased activity, giving
/ rise to pleasurable feelings Of exhilsra-
ton, making glad the heart Of man.
The consumption being continued, ex-
element increases; there ID confusion
Of ideas, uncertainty of muscular mo-
ton, voMtionaA control 10 weakened;
reason, Judgment and memory become
feeble, while the PASSIONS and emotions
become dominant. The mind works aCs
tomaticalIy,. according ia, the inherited
disposition o. the mode to which the
nerve senters have grown by habit; and
so according 10 the nature or training OF
the manare exhibited generous impulses
or brutal passions, imperturbable good
temper or intolerable irritability. The
coward shows up more craven, the beg
gar more boastful, the cruel more nerci'
less, the untruthful, more false, tl,b car
nal more degraded
The control of the will being over
thrown, and excited passions and emo
lions being left nasters Of the mind, the
man is mad, he is incapable Of restrain
ing his impulses, Of understanding the
nature and quality Of his acts, of know
ing that what he does is wrong. Final
ly the higher brain centers yield 10 the
anesthetic Influence, and only those
presiding over the automatic functions
Of Inspirations and cardiac motion re
tain sufficient sensibility to carry OF
the operation of life, ana the man LEI
an inert, fnsensible mass, asad drunk
dead to internal impressions, dead tt
external excitationss the 0nly life lef
in him being just sufficient and not al
ways 50, to preserve existence, until thu
poison shall be slowly eliminated.
One Of the most common symptoms o
the excessive use of alcohol is wha
patients describe as huttering or siak
ing about. the, heart and his physioa
sensations seem to BE- closely allied 4
physical craving, which is rated . crav
ing so strong that II entirely dominated
the will. The will itself being weak
ened can neither control the craving no
restrain the actions necessary to 1t