The record-union., 1891-07-03
THE GINGER HABIT.
Seductive Fad That Is Making Inroads
Upon Health and Society.

Upon Health and Society.
The ginger habit has supplemented the
liquor habit. 1t has become a kind of
fad in some classes of society, and its
dangerous inroads upon health are fore
ing it upon the attention of physicians,
while, as an outgrowth of high license
legislation, it Is at the same time recon-
mending itself to the attention of the law
makers. The ginger habit is worse than
the ordinary liquor habit, because it is
more rapid in its effects and means early
ruin to the health of the individual. 1t
has only recently come to the attention of
the physicians and druggists that in thou
sands of families the peppery dose that
has borne the popular appearance ofinno-
cence and respectability has become an
agent of debauchery. The tincture of
ginger, or Jamaica ginger, as it is popu
larly known, is the strongest and most
irritating alcoholic solution known, rank
ing next to alcohol absolute, which is
undrinkable, and standing equal to COM
mercial alcohol, which is never used as q
beverage. The Jamaica ginger is sold by
druggists and grocers in four-ounce vials,
and the unbottled tincture is retailed at
one ounce and upward. During the past
few months the demand for the article,
which has been steadily growing for a
number Of years, has become unpre-
cedented, and some druggists are already
The greatest demand is i'll those sections
that are at distance from the principal
business centerS of the city, although the
Chestnut and Market street druggists
themselves have experienced and noted
the rapid growth of the traffic. The most
alarming phase of the habit is its preva-
lence among women.
DR.. w. @. Mcconnell said: "The tinct-
ure of ginger can be bought for about five
cents an ounce. 1t contains fully 95 per
cent. Of alcohol, so that in an ounce of
ginger there is more than two ounces of
whisky. The way it is now being used is
amazing. l knew a physician, a man
very prominent in his profession, who
died only short time ago from the effects
Of ginger drinking. You would think a
physician would know better, and he did,
but in spite of the warnings and protesta-
tionS Of his friends in the profession, he
would use it daily as a beverage, diluting
1t one-third. j was in drug store only
few days ago when a young girl came in
twice, buying each time two ounces of
ginger. The druggist said that she had
been in twelve times that day. He knew
that her mother and her sisters drank it,
but 1t never occurred to him that he
should refuse to sell them the article. 1
was called not long ago to attend a woman
who admitted to me that she was III the
habit of drinking sixteen ounces a day.
IL
have the strength of more than twice that
amount of whisky. 1t would surprise
you to know how many patients afflicted
with the ginger habit the physicians of
this city are now struggling with. The
majority of them are women who, until a
few years past, were accustomed to send
ing to the neighboring saloon for beer of
whisky whenever they wanted it, night
or morning, or Sunday.
"One woman told me she began to
drink 1t when she could not run into
handy saloon with her pitcher, but found
that she could buy all the ginger she
wanted at the druggists or at the grocery
store, and that it went further and had
more effect than anything else. Old
drinkers at the bar are familiar with the
effects of ginger, aud / suppose the
growth of the habit had its origin
with them. 1t is encroaching upon the
very best society, and many an exclusive
morning and afternoon gathering of
ladies about the table of some elegant
hostess indulges in the ginger tipple. 1t
is passed around diluted in water, and it
seems harmless enough. But the babit
once acquired is almost hopeless. 1t is
wore than the liquor habit. The ginger
through which the alcohol percolates in
its manufacture is an irritant of the worst
kind when taken in excess, and the alco-
hol is in almost its absolute state Its
drinker invariably becomes simple.
These are not the varieties of ordinary
intoXication. You will find all the small
drug stores outside the center of the city
do an enormous business in ginger, and
the same with the grocery stores. There
ought to be legislation against it's indis-
criminate sale, as there is against the
indiscriminate sale of other alcoholic
drinks"
A prominent druggist whose business
is wholesale and retail said the growing
demand for ginger had been noticed and
commented upon in his establishment
and in others which he had visited.
I'm our store" he said, ''we have
adopted the rule of refusing to sell ginger
to any person who appears to have been
drinking, but we have not gone so far as
yet as to refuse to fill the orders that are
brought in by children. There ought to
be some restriction, / must admit, but
what and how? Most of the ginger
drinking is done down town 1 should
judge by the quantities ordered by the
druggists. We sell good deal of it, too,
and to people who would be Mortified if
accused of tippling.'
According to the pharmacopoeia, the
formula for the tincture of ginger is:
Ginger, twenty parts; alcohol, suffi-
cient quantity to make 100 parts. Moisten
the ginger with five parts of alcohol and
macerate twenty-four hours, then pack it
firmly in cylindrical percolator and
gradually pour alcohol upon it until 100
parts of tincture are obtained. ."-Phila-
delphia correspondence of the st. Louis
Globe-Democrat.
Ar,izn Tn