THE UTILITY OF DRUNKENNESS. 785 



minate. After the insertion of the plug, the whole fuse is dipped in 

 some water-proof composition and thoroughly dried. In use, the wires 

 are connected with other wires leading from a galvanic battery or an 

 electrical machine ; when the current is caused to pass through these 

 wires it reaches the bridge, where meeting with greater resistance to 

 its progress, it raises the platinum wire to a heat sufficient to ignite 

 the gun-cotton wisp, which in turn ignites the fulminate. It will be 

 seen that in all cases it is absolutely necessary to keep the ultimate 

 explosive dry, as even those high explosives which are not themselves 

 affected by water require the use of perfectly dry primers. The 

 orders of Cromwell must still be obeyed to " trust in God, and keep 

 your powder [or primers] dry." 



-- 



THE UTILITY OF DRUNKENNESS. 



By W. MATTIEU WILLIAMS. 



IN" the early argumentative struggles between the advocates of 

 total abstinence from alcohol and their opponents, the latter 

 believed they settled the question by affirming that "these things are 

 sent for our use," and therefore that it was flying in the face of 

 Providence to refuse a social glass. This and many similar arguments 

 have subsequently been overturned by the abstainers, who have un- 

 questionably been victorious "all along the line," especially since Dr. 

 B. "W. Richardson has become their commander-in-chief. 



In spite of this, I am about to charge their serried ranks, armed 

 with an entirely new weapon forged by myself from material supplied 

 by the late Dr. Darwin, my thesis being that the drunkenness which 

 prevails at the present day is promoting civilization and the general 

 forward progress of the human race. 



Malthus demonstrated long ago that man, like other animals, has a 

 tendency to multiply more rapidly than the means of supporting his 

 increasing numbers can be multiplied ; he and his followers regarded 

 this tendency as the primary source of poverty and social degradation. 

 Darwin, starting with the same general law, deduces the very opposite 

 conclusion respecting its influence on each particular species, though 

 his antagonism to Malthus does not prominently appear, seeing that 

 his inferences were mainly applied to the lower animals. Darwin 

 shows that the onward progress, the development, or what may be 

 described as the collective prosperity of the species, is brought about 

 by over-multiplication, followed by a necessary struggle for existence, 

 in the course of which the inferior or unsuitable individuals are weeded 

 out, and " the survival of the fittest " necessarily follows ; these supe- 

 rior or more suitable specimens transmit more or less of their advan- 



VOL. XXI. 50 



