SOME MATTERS OF GENERAL HYGIENE 219 



have' been a worthless fellow even if he had never discov- 

 ered the consolations of liquor. This we can readily 

 grant for certain cases, but we can think of others where 

 we feel sure that nothing but alcoholic intemperance has 

 stood in the way of useful or even brilliant attainment. 



One thing which we do not much like to remember is 

 that none of us are many generations removed from ances- 

 tors who were frequently intoxicated. Only the Mahome- 

 tan can claim that his case is otherwise. Reid Hunt, com- 

 paring the toxicity of grain alcohol and wood alcohol as 

 determined upon the lower animals, found that while 

 wood alcohol is more poisonous than the other the differ- 

 ence is much less than for man. His suggestion is that the 

 human race is habituated to grain alcohol by ages of drink- 

 ing. It has never gained any such tolerance for wood 

 alcohol largely because it has not often employed it as a 

 beverage. 



Keeping the welfare of the nervous system in the fore- 

 ground, let us consider the action of alcohol as experienced 

 by those who take it very moderately. It is popularly 

 held to be a stimulant, and the claim has a measure of 

 scientific support. But most students emphasize its de- 

 pressant property, pointing out what has been said 

 elsewhere that to depress the inhibitory centers is to 

 "take off the brakes" and to create an appearance of 

 stimulation. The most impressive articles that have been 

 written in defense of the retention of alcohol have come 

 from writers who did not recommend it as a stimulant, but 

 as a means of promoting mental relaxation and social ease. 

 It is disquieting to the advocate of total abstinence to 

 find that the great majority of the most original and, 

 on the whole, the most admirable men have valued alco- 

 hol a's a social reagent. It begins to seem as though a 

 reaction were setting in, but it will evidently be a long time 

 before the representative gatherings of leaders in politics, 

 letters, and even in education will forego their wines 

 without complaint. 



The temperamental change induced by alcohol in 



