The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-15
From the Springfield Republican.

From the Springfield Republican.
| ut is curious THAI scientific investiga-
tion has thrown so little light on this
+; L subject. Not so long ago most people
would have answered unhesitatingly that
| It is because stimulants in moderation
are a. good thing; that a man is stronger,
| healthier, more capable for his Wine OF
ale. Now we know that alcohol Is not
stimulant but depressant, that SO far
| from making men stronger and ADLER 1t is
inimical TO the highest pitch of physical
| training and dulls the edge of the mlnd.
We have learned much about alcohol, but
we have not yet learned why men drink.
That problem is quite as important as the
question OF the physiological effects OF
alcoholic beverages, and temperance re-
| formers should be Interested in the the
ory worked out by Prof. G. I. w. Patrick
in the Popular Science Monthly for Sep
tember.
| Briefly, his theory is that men drink not
to highten their powers but to lower them.
The race has progressed by the develop
ment of definite mental powers, and the
higher and newer the brain centers, the
more subject they are to fatigue Ma
| ture seems to demand some form of 'ac-
tiyity which shall allow the higher
brain centers to rest while providing en-
ployment for the lower ones.'" We are
wisely learning to provide such relaxa-
tion by return from time to time to the
primitive life While he loafs in the
| wilderness the modern man is very sensi-
bly, on an intollectual level with the saw
age. When he amuses himself by knock
ing a little ball about with club he is
returning to the stone age and, occupying
the humblest and oldest of his brain cells.
But early in the history of the race
Professor Patrick plausbly says, a quick.
easy and convenient measure of relaxa-
ton was found in alcohol and the con-
VITALITY which goes with it. The restless
brain cells dedicated to the higher in
tellectual life were benumbed, liberatng
the older freer life of the emotions and
the more primitive impulses. After all, is
this more than Shakespeare has said in
less scientific terms? 20 God, that men
Should put an enemy in their mouths to
steal away their brains.'" But, of course.
we are not to suppose that primitive man
realized that drinking in moderation, to
| the point, that is, OF mere exhilaration,
was deadening his higher faculties; ne
was simply discovering and repeating a
pleasurable experience. He found in al
cohol a kind of ''catharsis,'' such as
Aristotle ascribed to the drama, an es-
cape from the pressure of life. 1t is at
least significant that the consumption of
alcohol increases steadily with the COM
plexity of society. The desire for it, Mr..
Patrick notes, is strongest in the most
progressive races, and has reached IAN
unparalleled degree of intensity in pros
Iperous communities relatively rich in COM
forts and luxuries. In 1850 the per cap
ita consumption in the United States of
Intoxicating drinks was 4.0S gallons; In
| 1890 it was SAB gallons. BY 1891 it had
risen to 1912. In the years from 1900 it
has increased thus: 1776, 1765, 1914. 1857,
9.S7, 1895, 21.55, 2279, 22.22, 21.06. 21.S6,
22.9O. And this increase is in the face
OF public and private sentiment. legal
statute and social effort.
What conclusion are we to draw? Not,
certainly, that the war against alcohol
| is to be relaxed, but rather that civiliza-
ton be steadily bettered, SO far as may
| be. in such way as to reduce the crav-
ing for it. That craving .is strongest
among those whose lives are so success
full as to yield luxury. leisure and the
temptation to indulgence, and on the
other hand among those rose life is SO
monotonous and depres1 ~ they seek
relief by the duiclSa1 Hest way.
Nowhere in the Chi Las senti-
ment against alc1 tker than
dox vi Trick offers: The
deSiI n the progress Of
eli NE corresponding in
ng the Anglo-Saxon people
81 of all. perhaps, in Amer
Is at the present time" The
Il that we should slacken the pace,
Iify life. get back to nature, relieve
ia strain by cultivating the art of re-
Taxation. Drinking may be compared to
the patent medicine habit-it is wrong
| cure for real ailment. In either case
jit is not enough to stop the use of the
drug, because the craving flor the drug
shows that something is wrong. Those
temperance reformers who preach the
y. 80 = Is &.