The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1910-06-02
sREZiS'sIR|5RIar7ea,
80
VALUE OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE
Interesting and Able Address Deliv-
cred by Sir Alexander Russell
Simpson, M. D., D. Sc.

cred by Sir Alexander Russell
Simpson, M. D., o. Sc.
An interesting and able address on
the value Of total abstinence was re-
Gently delivered by Sir Alexander
Russell Simpson, Nj. D.. ID. Sc, dean of
the faculty OF medicine, Edinburgh
university. before an immense assem-
blage gathered for the Scottish ma
tional Sunday school convention. held
In the great Scottish center. Speaking
from the standpoint OF morality and
science, Sir Alexander said in part:
About a quarter of century ago
some friends In Kingston. Ont. took
me on an excursion on the st. Law
renee river. The speaker of the Ca
madam parliament, who was of the
company. made me take notice. as we
sailed out from the town. that the first
imposing building wo were passing
was distillery. Near by was an in
Urinary. then a lunatic asylum. then a
prison, and after these a cemetery.
Il take 1t for granted that every
teacher before me has SO far consid-
cred the relation of the use of alco-
holic liquors to disease, arrangement.
degradation, and death, as to have
seen the advisability of becoming a
personal abstainer. Supreme among
the dangers that beset all cur lives ls
the danger inherent In the common
use Of alcohol. Whatever be the form
In which II is taken-wine. beer. spir-
its. or what else-it is a more COM
mon cause of loss of health. of loss
OF reason, OF loss of character, of loss
of life. than any other of the infiu-
ences that tell upon our complex
mechanism. An intoxicated man is
simply a man that is in the clutch OF
q poison.
This leads me more Immediately In
the direction In which | suppose you
expect me. as a member of the med
ical profession. to offer some sugges-
lions as to what instruction II might
be desirable to impart to our young
charges II much of the result of all
your labor is not to be blotted out of
their lives in later years through ig
norance of the influence Of alcohol on
the body and even more on the mind
of the man.
ITO begin with. young people should
be taught that wine is not a necessity
of life. II is no more necessary for
man that for any of the creatures
around him. There are tribes and
communities who live and thrive with
out 1t. The want of 1t Is never felt
by one who has not begun to use 1t.
No household that excludes It from
its dietary suffers in anything from
its absence. The child reared in abb
stinence has missed nothing that could
have helped its growth and develop
ment, or. will add. its happiness.
I'VE deny it a place among the nee
essities of life. But there is no deny
ing it a place among life's Injuries.
We must be quite honest with our
selves and with the young, and recog-
nize that those who habitually or &C.
casionally drink wine do so because
of some qualification It affords. But
II is a costly luxury. The temporary
qualification 1t yields puts q tax upon
the life. Ii is the most dangerous lux
ury in which a human being can In
dulge, because of the risk to life and
health attendant upon its use, apart
altogether from its contramoral and
antispiritual influences.
in a graduation address Is years
ago. took occasion to congratulate
the young doctors who during their
student curriculum had had the wis
dom and the courage to be members
of the Total Abstinence society. and
to say to all the graduates: You will
not be long in practice before you
will prove these FIVE things:
~. That alcohol. habitually used,
can OF itself produce disease from
which the abstainer remains exempt
"'2. That it will aggravate diseases
to which all are liable.
80. That 1t renders those who ha-
bitually use it more open to attacks
of various forms of illness.
"a. That the alcoholist has worse
chance Of recovery from fever or an
injury than an abstainer.
"'5. That in the crisis of disease the
alcoholist gets less benefit from slim
ulants than the abstainer.'
1T may occur to some one to ask,
But what OF the people who take their
daily glass Of wine and live to old
age? Well. with the splendid equip
ment of blood and blood vessels with
which they were endowed by nature.
how much longer might they not have
lived on had the deteriorating element
been kept out of their system? They
are likeliest to come near the natural
limit of longevity who all their life
time keep their blood and tissues clear
of the effect Of alcohol.
"It is sometimes claimed for wine as
virtue that 1t stimulates the appe-
title. Here again experiment and OBJ
servation show that II 1t irritates the
stomach to secrete more fluid, the Sc
erection is of lowered digestive quality.
Instead of helping. 1t binders diges-
ton. 1t temps the drinker to take in