The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1895-06-13
Drunk on Pure Alcohol.


The action Of the liquids as they were
administered is also more rapid.
Ninety seconds after the first guinea
pig had received his dose of pure alco-
hol he gave the most manifest signs
OF lnebriety. His sensibility and ac-
tivity were much increased If he was
touched. for instarce, at the extremity
OF some member, he evinced great
constituencies and ran about the small
Enclosure eXcitedly, but with apparent
enjoyment Of the exercise. His respi-
ration was more rapid, and a sort of
numbness and torpor res e)nbling pa
ralysis was noticed in his hind legs.
The effects of the alcohol disappeared
after several hours, and the animal re-
sumed his accustomed nourishment.
The second guinea pig had scarcely
absorbed his injection of amylic, or
impure alcohol, when his body COM
menced to tremble violently, and his
eyes became dull and CLASSY. His
hind legs became useless-failed to
support him. A few seconds later la
rolled over on his back utterly insen-
sible and apparently dead. Many
methods were resorted to in order to
arouse him from this state, but met
with no response. He was dead drunk,
and remained in this condition for
over twenty-four hours, after which
came period of semi sort Of
british stupor-dHring which the ami
NAL hardly troubled itself to move,
and digestion seemed at a standstill.
This Pig Died.
The third guinea pig suffered worst
of all, however, and became a martyr
to the cause of science. Two minutes
after the Injection of a cubic cent?
meter Of ordinary eXtrait d. absinthe
it stiffened it's four legs and bounded
into the air, and when it fell back. to
the ground rolled over and staggered
about crazy drunk. The wild express,
sion of its eyes was exactly the same
| as in the case Of man suffering from
what doctors call "impulsive hallucin.
alton" DR.. Laborde tried this ex-
pertinent on dog once. The beast
! went mad and foamed at the mouth,
and 1T was with great difficulty that
the doctor and his pupils escaped
without serious injury. This alcoholic
'delirium in the dog is exactly the
same as that which In human beings
drives men to commit wholesale and
indiscriminate honicide.
The guinea pig. however, showed its
superiority to the human race by re,
fr9ining from venting it's frenzy upon
those about it or itself. Its back
stlffened into a Semi-circle, and then
the commissions commenced. These
were marked by violent somersaults
and plaintive cries from the suffering
animal, whose legs moved as if it
were swimming. The brief intervala
Of calm between the attacks became
shorter, and the convulsions more ill.,
tense, until the victim died after
forty-ejght minutes Of agony.
Those physicians who have wit
messed the end of the absintheur at
the great Paris hospitals of st. Anne
or Saltpetriere, say the symptoms in
the animal and the human being are
exactly the same, and that the death
scene of the later is frlghtful beyond
description. lola has depicted one
such spectacle in "L'Assomoir," with
all the horrible faithfulness to detail
of which he is master.
The Doctor Drunk, Too.
In the Course of his experiments,
DR.. I1aborde discovered that alcoholic
eXhalations were almost, perhaps
more, deadly than the liquid itself.
He noticed after a time that on leav-
ing his laboratory he would be at
tackled with every symptom of intoxi-
cation, though he never tasted even
wine. Finally his system became SO
impregnated that up to a certain time
he would feel no effects from the
alcoholic atmosphere in which he
worked, but, all in a moment, the
limit of endurance would seem ia
have been passed, and he would feel
wave of intoxication sweep over MIN,
and often would have to be taken in