The Portland daily press., 1891-08-08

HOW Physicians Can Help the Cause
OF Temperance.

[From Paper by DR.. John ID. Blaekmer OF
Massachusetts,
"In what way may physician effeetually
help to stay the rayages Of Intemperance?
There are many specific ways Of doing this
which the limits of such paper will not al
low us to consider; we will briefly point out
three general ones.
First: BY practcing tCtal abstnencs him
self. Not only Is 1t true that every mans
life tells upon some other life and the un-
conscious Influence Of what man does or re-
fralns from doing is often greater than the
impression that he labors TO make, but Il Is
also true that the physician Is exceptionally
placed in his power to influence others In
things pertaining to health and disease. He
Is supposed to know what Is best for the
physical syst I'm and he is supposed to act in
accordance with that knowledge: hence,
many feel sale In pursuing a course which
they regard as questionable II they see the
guardian OF their health doing IL. Still fur
Their. however deeply one may deplOre the
rayages OF lDtemperance. and however
earnestly he may desire to rescue its victims,
he can really do very little effective work SO
long as the Odor OF the evil clings to his own
person. The daY has passed when one can
iaoor eneetaallY Ia the temperance cause
able to catch thief but he will not accom-
plish much toward reforming one while he A
known to be thief himself. An opium slave
may detest the habit and earnestly desire 10
rescue those who are in the tolls but he will
have very little moral force in -effeetips Ik.-
reform Of ntheEs sshtao 10 Is uuuerst0Od thak
ne IS himself a victim. The life that Is above
reproach Is the welghty one In any reform.
Second: He may help by talking, teaching,
praying and voting with view Of DESTROY
Ing the great evil. 1t Is sometimes said that
talk is cheap and SO 1t lswhen 1t means moth
Ing, talk that Is c0Dtradicted by practice aud
that Is more than offset by going to the polls
hand In hand with the distiller and the sa-
l0Onist. shouting for the same Candidates
and voting the same ticket. Such talk Is of
little avail but talk that Is reinforced by an
upright life and consistent acting aud voting,
Is effective and Is often irresistible. The
hyslcian Is In position where he can do
much teaching that In a quiet and eonvinc-
Ing way will Impress the heart and mould
the life; in public and In private, Ia the
social assembly, on the street and in the sick
room there opens to him opportunities Of
service In this field which few other men en-
Joy.
physician can help stay the Iavages Of in
temperance by proper attitude toward In
toxicants In the treatment of the sick and
here 1t must be admitted by candid men
there's abundant occasion for a great reform.
When the craze for intoxieant3 have passed
away and an impartial history OF their use
as a remedy shall be writ IN, it will appear.
as We believe, the most Irrational ana an-
scientific chapter upon the medical record,
inasmuch as they have been and are em-
ployed In every form Of disease, and for
every concelvabls purpose. and that too FREE
quently without regularity OF administration
Or precision Of dose. They are prescribed
when 1t Is well-known that the most glaring
and abominable adulterations are the rule
and not the exception, so that neither the
patient nor the physician has much idea OF
what the former is swallowing under the
guise Of whisky, brandy or gin; Yes the In
discriminate use Of these articles has become
by-word and repr0ach OF which the pro-
fesston have reason to DO profoundly
ashamed. They are given TO increase the
temperature and to lower the temperature
when 1t has been abundantly proved by ex-
pertinent at home, and also In arctic regions
and In t0rrid climes, that their use does not
Increase the power TO resist cold OF TO with
stand heat. They are given to increase
strength when 1t is wellknown that they do
not give volume or power to the physical
system or any part thereof. and athletes full
ly understand that they must eschew them
utterly II they would develope their highest
powers. They are given again and again to
raise up, when even the school boy knows
that tnelr general tendency Is ID run one
down Still II some Of our medical brethren
have not yet arrived at the point where they
can utterly exclude intOxicants from their
list OF remedies, and we have much reason to
believe that there are some such yet, In view
OF the fact that all these agents are pre-
scribed because Of the alcohol which they
contain, and were this element excluded not
one Of them would be employed, we urge this
class OF physicians 70 use alcohol alone
properly diluted and favored If need be, and
cast out forever, whisky, brandy. gin, wine.
"et Id genus omne." This would prove
telling blow against the liquor interest and
would not abridge or impair the power OF
even believers In alcoholics, In their warfare
against disease. We earnestly solicit our
alcoholic brethren 10 take this step and es-
pecially to study and investigate this subject
| In all its relation, feeling assured the more
| fully IL Is examined the sooner will dawn the
day when the use Of intoxicating liquors In
the sick room will be utterly discarded as
| both unsclentifc and unwise.