464 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the agents of others, and accept and carry out the plans arranged 

 for them, either tacitly as by power of compulsion of an idea, 

 or desire to please another ; secondly, the act is the materiali- 

 zation of a delusion which has existed before and has been stimu- 

 lated into activity by the use of spirits. In the first case some 

 hypnotic state, in which an idea becomes dominant, exists. But 

 this is very unstable, and while it may be increased by alcohol, 

 is uncertain in duration, and liable to change any moment. 

 Thus in a case where a man who, after using spirits, developed 

 delusions of suspicion that his partner was robbing him, this was 

 increased by giving him more spirits and reiterating the idea, and 

 suggesting criminal revenge. It was noticed that there was a cer- 

 tain brief period when he might execute a criminal act, but before 

 and after it was very doubtful. The brain could not be depended 

 upon : it might act in an entirely different way and from a differ- 

 ent motive apparently. Alcohol clearly predisposes to criminal- 

 ity by lowering and paralyzing the higher brain centers which 

 preside over consciousness of right and wrong. The immediate 

 effect of spirits is to cause impulsive, petty acts. For the pres- 

 ent moment such acts might materialize into serious crime, but it 

 would depend upon favorable conditions and surroundings. The 

 unstable condition of the brain made so by alcohol, is more or 

 less incapable of sustaining a preconceived idea and carrying it 

 out, especially if time and continuous drinking follow. This is 

 the rule to which there are exceptions, but these exceptions 

 clearly follow certain circumstances which are easily traced. 

 Often it is claimed that spirits are given for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing undue influence in the making of a will or signing a contract. 

 This is confirmed by a clinical study of cases, and facts indicate 

 the impulsiveness of the act, with absence of deliberation or fore- 

 thought. Delusions and misconceptions of acts and motives are 

 very common in all inebriates. Faulty reasoning, childish credu- 

 lity, and general failure of capacity to discriminate and adjust 

 himself to the conditions and surroundings, must of necessity 

 result in wrongdoing ; although in many cases this condition is 

 covered up, and only when the person acts along unusual lines 

 is it apparent. 



All contracts and wills written by inebriates should be sub- 

 jected to careful scrutiny. Not infrequently such acts display 

 sound judgment, and it is found that they are the culmination of 

 previous conceptions. Where they manifest imbecility and strange 

 motives, it is clearly the workings of an ansesthetic brain, acting 

 from suggestions from without or deranged impulses formed 

 within. While a very large number of inebriates act rationally 

 in ordinary affairs of society and business, and do not commit 

 overt acts that come under legal recognition, it is a question if 



