The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-08-11

Alcohol Has mo- Legitimate Place I'm
Medicine Being an Injurious Mar
ootic.
Editor Daily Item.


prohibition movement in south Caro-
lima. a gentleman stated that while
he did not drink whiskey himself he
would not vote for prohibition. and
expressed the opinion that ''whiskey
Is . good thing In It's place" meaning
that II Is good medicine. This err
roneous belief. which is still held by a
great many OF our people. both lay
men and physicians. has done much 10
delay progressive legislation against
the liquor traffic.
From time immemorial, when the
father. or son. came in cold and wet
. from exposure. the thrifty house
wife. whose kindly anxiety exceeded
her knowledge OF medicine, imme-
diately gave him n stiff drink of whis-
key In the form of hot toddy."
What did she 'fondly believe that she
was doing? Why. stimulating him.
strengthening his vital powers. les
sening his liability to catch cold, or
pneumonia. What. in the light Of
modern science. was she really do
ing? Why. depressing him, weaken
ins his vital powers. and increasing
his chances OF becoming ILL., Is the
hot toddy a thing of the past. and, If
not. why not? BY no means, because
IL takes long time TO overcome a
wen established custom, especially II
the custom appeals to the appetite.
Is whiskey still used instead OF real
stimulants by physicians? Yes. many
OF the older ones prescribe IL largely
because they were taught to do so
and they find II hard to pull out of the
rut. Some OF the younger ones use
Y either because they have failed TO
take the trouble TO learn its real na-
ture or they employ II simply to tickle
tho palates OF their patients. The
writer once heard young physician
sas that he intended to keep a plenty
Of whiskey for his patients. He SEEM
ed to be impressed with the idea that
II would increase his popularity. Many
modern authors OF medical text hooks,
following In the footsteps OF former
writers who wrote before alcohol had
been thoroughly investigated, stilI
recommend whiskey I'm certain diseas-
es.
What proof is there that whiskey
In injurious to the human body and
cannot be ciassed as n stimulant? The
overwhelming consensus OF opinion
held by the most able and prominent
physicians and psychologists OF today,
based upon minutely accurate and ex-
haustive experiments conducted all
over the world. One OF the most
complete and convincing series OF in
vesfigations was that conducted by
DIR. Emil Kraepelin. professor OF men,
tai diseases In the University of Mu-
mich. His conclusions were that al
cohol Is first, last and always mar
cotic. that It's stimulation Is entirely
Imaginary and that under its influence
one does less and poorer work al
though deluded into the belief that he
is doing more and better work than
usual He found that even one glass
of wine given after meals decreased
mans ability to withstand fatigue
and his co-ordinsting powers about s
and ~ per cent. respectively.
Sir Victor Horsley. the great Eng
hsh neurologist fatty denies that al
cohol In moderation Is beneficial. Kel-
logg. editor Of The Modern Science.
writing on the subject of alcohol. says:
Most OF the eminent authorities con-
denim Its use as pernlcious and most
positively contra indicated in the very
cases for which II has for centuries
been commended" Abel, of Johns
Hopkins, pronounces. alcohol an arch
deceiver. saying that while IL prom
ises strength, II gives weakness: prom
ises warmth. but lowers temperature;
promises stimulation. but produces
anesthesia; and has failed to stand
the test anywhere. Numerous other
hish authorities have made similar re-
ports on alcohol.
Whiskey has 80 marked an effect I'm
decreasing resistance to pneumonia
that when those who use intoxicants
are attacked by this disease II Is call
ed "drunkard's pneumonia" because
OF Its very high mortality However,
In face of all this whiskey is still
used by many physicians To combat
pneumonia! With such real stlmu-
liant as str 'hnlnc. digitails. and caf-
feline at his command. the physician
has no excuse TO or"ploy the narcotic
depressant, alcohol. IT every drop OF
whiskey was destroyed tomorrow Il
would be no loss To the medical pro-
faaaiou