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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



great enthusiasm, and asking the prayers 

 of every person he met, to save him. His 

 mind seemed troubled with intense fear of 

 failing to get to heaven, and every thought 

 and exertion seemed directed to this end ; 

 but secretly he drank constantly, never to 

 be stupid, but just enough to keep up a de- 

 gree of excitement. This would last two or 

 three weeks, then merge into a low form of 

 nervous fever, from which he would recover 

 and remain sober for an indefinite time. . . . 

 The other three had been good church-mem- 

 bers before inebriety came on, but on be- 

 coming inebriates left the church." An- 

 other case was that of a clergyman whose 

 inebriate fits always began when he was ad- 

 ministering the wine at the communion. 

 After quoting a few other cases, pertinent 

 but of not quite so striking a character, Dr. 

 Crothers states his conclusions, which are 

 according to the view he has steadfastly 

 held, that " inebriety is a physical disease 

 which must be reached by both physical and 

 psychical means. All methods of treatment 

 must be along the line of natural laws, and 

 include all means, both physical and spirit- 

 ual, that can build up and strengthen the 

 entire man. Spiritual means are only valu- 

 able as they are used with other means, and 

 where they are effectual alone they are the 

 exception to the rule, and can not indicate 

 any direct line of treatment." 



Butehcr's-Meat and Headaches. The 



prescription of a diet largely vegetarian 

 has long been known to be good for per- 

 sons subject to attacks of headache. Dr. 

 Alexander Haig relates, in " The Practi- 

 tioner," a case that came under his treat- 

 ment which indicates to him that this dis- 

 ease and its attendant phenomena are large- 

 ly the result of a poison circulating in the 

 blood, which poison is a product of the 

 digestion of certain foods, especially butch- 

 erVmeat ; and that a cure is best effected 

 by cutting off entirely the noxious food, 

 and aiding the elimination of the poison by 

 the kidneys. The patient was a chronic 

 sufferer from headache, and the afflictions 

 that usually accompany it. lie was a hard 

 student, and was most troubled in winter. 

 On the adoption of a strict vegetarian diet, 

 the attacks, which had been severe, ceased 

 at once, and for six months of the cold half 



of the year there were only one or two 

 slight ones, although they had been recur- 

 ring weekly. A less strict diet was sub- 

 sequently allowed, and gave practical im- 

 munity, provided butcher's-meat was avoid- 

 ed. It was also found that two or three 

 tumblers of hot water taken every night at 

 bed-time gave increased immunity, and en- 

 abled the patient to take even a little butch- 

 er's-meat occasionally without fear of an 

 attack. The disease was evidently caused 

 by impure blood, and that by imperfection 

 of the digestive process. The connection 

 with butcher's-meat was indicated directly 

 by the facts in the case. It may be ac- 

 counted for possibly by reference to Dr. 

 Michael Foster's suggestion that the pan- 

 creatic digestion of the proteids in excess . 

 is accompanied by the development of bac- 

 teria giving rise to fermentative changes; 

 or by the suggestion made in " Le Progres 

 Medical," that alkaloids are formed in the 

 intestines during digestion similar to those 

 that have been found in the cadaver, and, 

 if they are absorbed in excess, or are not 

 excreted by the kidneys, cause disorders. 



Another Side to the Clothes Question. 



" An Anthropologist " protests, in the " Pall 

 Mall Gazette," that, if an attempt is made to 

 impose European clothing on the natives of 

 New Guinea, they will all be killed off. It 

 is clothes, he asserts, and not liquor or im- 

 morality, that has been fatal to so many na- 

 tives of tropical countries. The Australi- 

 ans and Tasmanians have been clothed, and 

 exterminated, while the North American 

 Indians have been left in their traditional 

 costumes, and thrive. This matter of the 

 natural garb of savages is one " in which 

 Nature can not be safely tampered with. 

 Whether tribes are found clothed only with 

 a loin-cloth, or only with paint, it is the re- 

 sult of a long evolution, an adaptation to 

 environment, and no foreigners should go 

 among such peoples who can not adapt 

 themselves mentally and morally to customs 

 representing that environment. ... In the 

 day that these natives of New Guinea begin 

 to clothe themselves beyond what has suf- 

 ficed for their health, ' they will surely die.' 

 The exact reason for this has not been sat- 

 isfactorily shown, though I have been told 

 in several places that clothing checks some 



