The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-19
THE USE OF ABSNTHE
so GENERAL THAT 1T HAS BECOME
ONE OF THE EVILS OF FRANCE.
A Compound That L. Now Greatly
Adulterated-Its Curious Effect ON
Victims of the Habit.

London Mail.
Frenchmen can no longer talk about our
national vice and pride themselves that
they are not as We are, for In recent
years the great question in France has
been the abuse of absinthe.
One rarely sees a drunken man or woman
in the streets of Paris, and never in those
of the provinces. On the other hand, sta
tistics show that alcoholism in France is
steadily increasing and that the use of
absinthe and of other deleterious liqueurs
is rapidly undermining F%renchmen's con-
stitutions, and is one of the main factors
in the decrease of the French population
every year.
Absinthe Is prepared by pounding the
leaves and flowers of various kinds of
wormwood, the root of angelica, sweet
f1agroot, Cretan dittany, star-anise fruit,
and other aromatics, and macerating them
In alcohol. The compound soaks for eight
days, and is then distilled, yielding an en-
erald-colored liquid, to which a proper
ton of an essential oil-oil of anise usually
is added. This is pure absinthe; but very
little of it is now sold in France, for the
authorizations which can be, and are prac-
tised in its manufacture are innumerable.
In the adulterated drink the green color
is produced by tumeric and indigo; but blue
vitriol Cor, as its true name is, cupric sui
phate) is often used as a coloring ingredi-
ent. 1t is impossible to estimate the amount
Of absinthe distilled every year in France
for home consumption; but the amount i'm
ported from Switzerland (where a great
deal of ahcinfha iC m arY,r0d in the
canton of NeuchateD has not been less
than three to four million gallons every
year.
Oddly enough, absinthe first came into
use as a medicament. During the war in
Algiers, from 1874 to 1S47, the French sol
dierS were advised by regimental doctors
to mix a little absinthe with their wine as
a febrlfuge. On their return to France
they brought the custom OF absinthe-drink-
ing with them, and the custom has now be-
come so widely disseminated throughout
all classes Of society as to have become a
grave national evil.
1t is the effect rather than the taste of
abSinthe which is responsible for its high
favor with the French. Its taste is not
nice, and only the hardened absinthe drink
ers take 1t neat. The usual addendum is
either syrup (gomme, as the French call it,
or loaf sugar. which is placed upon a per-
forated spoon across the glass and melted
slowly into the drink by pouring water
drop by drop onto 1t.
THE EFFECT OF ABsINTHE.
Even with these additions absinthe al
ways has the medicinal taste of cough mix
ture or paregoric, and it leaves an after
taste upon the tongue. But its effect is
immediate and counteracts the disagreeable
taste entirely. In the unaccustomed drink
er absinthe produces a feeling of strange
exaltation. 1t is not the exaltation of
drunkenness from wine,. but one which
seems to clear each individual faculty. The
absinthe drinker after his first or second
glass, II he be a beginner. or, If an Injured
consumer, Immediately after the ABSORB
ton of his usual limit displays great bril-
nancy OF thought and for q time is, to use
SELF"
AS with the use of most drugs. he is CON-
PEELED from time to time to increase his
daily dose so as to produce this feeling, and
the increase quickly upsets the action of
the digestive organs and destroys the ap.
petite. The habitual absinthe drinker. who
in France consumes as much as twenty
doses every day, never eats more than just
sufficient to sustain life, and acquires a
great distaste for all but very dry and non
fattening food.
The action of the drug upon him. which
takes place with more or less rapidity &C.
cording as the natural resistance of the
victim to the craze is greater or lesser. /:
EN0t tho Sioctty oDOl
the loss of appetite, an unappeasable thirst
takes possession of him, with giddiness
tingling in the ears, Authorizations of sight
and of hearing and a constant mental de.
preston and anxiety when not under tn,
influence of the drug. Loss of brain power
and either idiocy or furious madness short
ly follow. The other, if more gradual
are no less terrible. They begin with quiv
erings of the muscles and a great decreas,
of physical strength. Then the hair drop,
nff fnnfh hQannnn 1naGAnAI H. ~ n.
absinthe drinker becomes emaciated. wrin
killed. and sallow looking, and is a victim {,
horrible dreams and delusions of all kind.
and nnally rails a victim to paralysis.
MADNESS IT CAUSES.
The forms of absinthe madness are S,
many and so varied that it is impossible t,
lay down any general rule for them. blu
by the kindness Of the doctors in charg,
of the special ponce infirmary in Paris
am enabled to describe a few of the mos
extraordinary of their patients.
One absinthe drinker had a mania which
made it impossible for him to see a blu
silk dress without setting it on fire. H
was arrested on a national fete day 70
having put his lighted cigar to no fewe
than thirty-seven dresses.
A form Of cannibalism is quite a freauen
thing among the patients, and there ar
many in the Infrmerie Speciale du Depo
VINO nave bitten pieces out of the faces o
their dearest friends under pretense o
kissing them. One man who died but re
Gently had to be prevented by force from
literally eating his own flesh. Many of tn
absinthe drinkers suffer from hallucina
lions which have no criminal tendency, bu
usually their vagaries are the outcome o
a fear of persecution.
One of the most remarkable victims o
this kind was an educated man, an cleo
trician, Valentin Boyer. He was convince
that Invisible enemies prosecuted him b
means of electricity. For months he use
to bury himself in the country, living in
ditch six feet deep and covering himsel
with earth every evening. One day h
came to Paris, and was promptly arreste
for the popularity of his costume. To kee
off the electricity he wore a copper Coz
Weighing 1856 pounds, above which wer
seven large pieces of cardboard, a quantit
of old newspapers, pieces of wood, and owe
all q second cuirass of cardboard fastene
with leather straps. He wore a leaden he
met with a visor which could be pulle
down over his face, and in this costume b
imagined himself safe from his enemies.
There was another man in the Saint
Anne Hospital for Alcoholics who was al
rested during the visit of the Car to Par
GrvA 49, II 80 1900 49, - IL