The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-03-20
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
iNE9Rl ON.

NsASO way NNASSu ~ 3AOoVOU 4uVCup0AOHO
habits upon its younger members,
Apart from the influence Of heredtty,
the probabilities are that the tendency
may be the very opposite. The horrors
experienced by all, the complaints and
admonitions Of the sober members Of
such. home, together with the daily
example of decency and morality seen
elsewhere in all directions, lead to So
briefly rather than drunkenness.
But there are regions of country Of
considerable extent where strong drink
IS habitually taken bv the people in
genera, where, as rule. the wealthy,
the intelligent, the influential. are al
most continually under the influence Of
alcohol. In such an atmosphere there
is little. If any, home objection;. while
tho conduct and language of tho public
1T large teach nothing of the advantages
and beauties Of sobriety. In such COM
munities the exaggerations of the alco-
holic disposition are in daily operation.
The unduly sensitive inebriate ''honor'
Is ever on the alert to detect ''insults."
Deadly weapons are habitually carried;
. for some difficulty" or other. having
its foundation in drink, is perpetualiy
on the tapis. The mother tongue is
much employed in asseverations Of in
tent to XII, or Willingness to de, Tin de-
Tense of my honor" =. go,
Now. there is here disclosed mental
nervous state that is habituallv present
and is in constant activity. The tone
of the voice, the expression Of the eye,
the matter of the speech necessarily
impress themselves on the daily he
holder, whether he drinks or not. His
voice, lis looks, his speech begin to
correspond with these perpetual sur
roundings. His nerves vibrate in unison
with the nervous impulsions Of others.
As chord In musical vibration
awakens a sympathetic movement in
other chords. so the mere on-looker be-
comes imbucd, through nervous sym
pathy, with kindred nervous feelings.
Even the women of the households,
through force Of habit and association,
rather encourage the ragings and kill
ings and dyings for ''honor's" sake; and
in case of tragedy they wear their
weeds with something OF pride and
vanity, for. have not their lords and
husbands ''died in defending their
honor?" It really seems to be possible
that an inhabitant of an inebriate COM
munity might transmit neurotic con-
stitution to his posterity, weighted with
all the evil potentialities Of that con-
stitution. even though he had never
himself tasted alcohol. It is manifest
that when the indispensable prerequi-
site to knowledge, namely, sensation, is
materially depressed and torpid, clear
and true idea OF any thing presented to
the mind is an impossibility. But the
senses are not merely weakened by al
cohol. They are unequally depressed,
and. besides, they are disturbed in the
uniformity with which they severally
represent the same thing, both with re-
spect to quality and completeness.
There is distortion and caricature in the
mental pictures of drunken man. The
information conveyed by the senses.
and especially the sense of feeling, is
not only imperfect incapable of becom-
ing ''set" in definite shapes, but it is de-
formed and even false.
If person esteemed to be trust
worth deceives and falsif1es regarding
important things. those deceived by the
Justification will think and act wrong
fully respecting the things misrepre-
sented. And this is the only rational
and honest course they can pursue. In
manner parallel, when drunken in
dividual is deceived by false reports
coming through the sense of feeling,
and in fact through all the several
thu uSuti0,, ~ h;o s~l
the language and conduct inspired by
them, must be out Of harmony with
facts as they are observed by men in
general; that is, out OF proper relation
with the recognized fitness of things.
There is another point of view from
which to observe the distinctive influ-
cnce OF alcohol upon the mind-the
point of Consciousness. If alcohol de-
presses-:b]unts sensation in proportion
to the quantity taken into the system
then the presumption is that there
must be point of alcoholic saturation,
at which sensation will be practically
extinguished, and this is the actual
fact. This condition of alcoholic tor
pidity is not sleep. The senses are not
simply suspended and subject to revival
at the instigation of some slight ir,ita-
ton. or possibly of the wakeful mind
itself. On the contrary, the senses are
truly paralyzed by the poison. and no
amount of irritation will serve to arouse
them. This paralysis will remain un-
alterable as long rs the conditions in
ducing it are unchanged. No effort of
volition will exercise the slightest in
fuence upon it. Indeed, volition itself
is impossible. For. if the paralysis IS
partial. an enfeebled will may provoke
partial response, yet mere slumber, or
dizziness, or fatigue may respond to the
impress of volition. There is, there
fore, radical difference between the
inconsistencies OF physiological states
and that of Psychological states.
Now. to know precisely the injury
done to the mind bv the suspension of
consciousness by alcohol, it will be
proper to make some inquiry as to the
sciousness.
Sir William Hamilton describes con-
seriousness to he 1.-THE se!te:recognttion that
we know, we feel, we desire. = It
is an actual or living, not potential or
dormant knowledge. 1t is an
immediate, not mediate, knowledge.
It supposes discrimination, in
wolves Judgment, and is possible only
through memory. Nothing but
the facts Of consciousness can be taken,
or If reason DO admitted, it must rest
solely upon the data of consciousness.
= Consciousness constitutes, or is
co-extensive with, all our faculties of
knowledge, those faculties being only
special notifications under which con-
sciousness is manifested"
But In drunkenness the powers of dis
acknowledgements, sensation, per
ception-are paralyzed by alcoholic an
sesthesia, as also are the faculties Of
Judgment and memory. Reasoning is
impossible, for the data of conscious.
ness" are dim, imperfect, or altogether
absent
T. l.