Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-11
The Diversity of Opinion Among Sci
entists Now Discussing 1t.
EDISON'SEEW STREET CAR SYSTEM
A Statistical and Sociological Discussion of
Rapid Transit
LATE APPLICATIONS OF SCIENCE
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.l

WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.l
An interesting discussion has been going
on ir tbs English papers on the relative ad-
vantagcs of 'teetotalism'' and the moderate
use of alcohol If anyone had been inclined
to think that such a discussion would be in
any way one-slded, his belief would be
promptly changed bv the flood of letters
which has poured in from all quarters of
the country expressing widely differing
views on the subject. Dr. j. Mortimer
Glanyille, by whom the agitation was
started, says that incalculable harm has
been done to the average organism, with its
functions, which we are wont to classify as
mental and physical, by the spread of teeto-
tai views and practices. DR.. Glanville
says there is less stamina in the
life Of the average Englishman now than
there was 40 years ago. He NAV live little
longer, but he is not so well able to resist
the invading germs of disease or to recover
from the debilitsting effects of such an in
vasion as he was when good wine and sound
ale formed integral parts Of his daily diet.
He has lost some if not much, of the prac-
tical advantage due to the diminution of
preventable maladles by improved SANTA
tion, because he has allowed his organic life
to fall to a grade lower in vital energy than
that which previously protected him
against periIs greater than those which now
beset him.
With reference to the statement made
BY the advocates of Temperance" that the
Increase OF insanity is due to drink, DR..
Glanville says, that even if insanity has in
creased which is not clearly proved, he
doubts whether, Of the great bulk of gen.
eral practitioners who have opportunities
of collecting information OF the subject any
large number could compile twenty cases,
falling under their individual observation
of persons who habitually drank freely and
became insane" :
Meanwhile" " he continues "a calm and
careful survey of the statistical and clinical
facts will show that not few diseases, such
IS consumption, cancer, specific maladies of
low tvpe-for example, diphtheria, the
worst forms of Cout, nerve troubles and a
host of minor ailments having for their
proximate, if not ultimate, causes those de-
pressed and asthenic conditions of vital
force in the organism which render it, as a
whole, weak in the presence of its enemies,
and, as to its constituent parts, prone to the
degradation of organic types of life-have
developed and extended their ravages since |
the practice Of substituting table waters |
and waterv wines for sound malt and grape
fernented beverages has sprung into fash |
ion at the instance of the temperance advo- |
Gates. These are grave assertions to make, |
but am persuaded that the time has come |
when those who do not share the views it |
is fashionable to profess ought to declare
themselves"
On the other hand physician of un-
doubted eminence states: wherever two |
bodies of people can be fairly compared, one |
abstaining and the other no5, the advantage 1
lies with the abStainerS For strength, en-
durance and every kind of vigor for work or
for play, other things being equal, the ab- |
Btainer wins. Alcohol is drag on the ma
tion, and the only people who fear its de-
parture are the doctors" "
Another authority saws: "It is quite GER
tain that alcohol, when rightly understood
and wisely used, is a most blessed gift of
Providence. 1t may best be described as a
medicinal food. Let it be taken as food, as
medicine or as luxury, but not to quench |
thirst in the place of those unfeTmented |
liquors which are essential to health as |
diIuents and solvents. Those who habitu- |
ally take alcohol daily should abstain from |
it entirely few days now and then"
An entirely different phase of the case is
suggested bv the letter of "a House |
holder, "who thinks that if the people are to |
be persuaded to become teetotalers, some way |
must be found of making provisions cheaper
or incomes larger. Speaking from long
experience, the lady observes: 81 can feed |
8 man on 10 shillings a week, with plain |
wholesome food and quart of beer a dav,
but q teetotaler eats such au immense guam |
tity that he cannot besfed at theI same price"
One Of the writers on the anti-alcoholic |
side attributed the decreased death rate in |
the British navy to the diminution of |
drinking, whereupon a naval officer wrote |
to declare that The improvement in the |
health of the sailors must be ascribed not |
to their drinking less liquor but to their |
drinking better water. Distilled water is |
the secret, he insists, of the improved sani- |
tary condition, and he says further: 'tAs |
far as alcoholic beverages are concerned, |
there is very much more drinking and in |
comparably less drunkenness in the navy
than there used to be. The officers and |
men of that service are more sober than
any other class of Englishmen. Both |
among sailors and officers drunkenness is
comparatively rare, but the teetotalers have
had not the smallest share in bringing this
about"
As confirming this writer, it is found
that wine merchants who have supplied |
naval messes for generations state that the
stock which they put on board ship in
these days is much greater than that re-
quired say 40 years ago for each head of
the ships mess supplied.
"