Art. IX. — So7ne Statistics sJiowing the extent of the damage 

 done to members of the Medical P^^ofession by the 

 abuse of Alcohol. 



By James W. Barrett. 



[Read 13th Jiily, 1893.] 



A very valued friend of mine stated some time since his convic- 

 tion that in this colony, and up to date, alcohol was the causal 

 agent in effecting the physical and moral ruin of about twelve 

 per cent, of the male population with whom he was acquainted. 

 As he is a highly cultivated man this proportion would be under 

 that obtaining for the community in general. I thought his judg- 

 ment was biased and told him so, but set to work to find what 

 data wei'e available for the purpose of ascertaining the accuracy of 

 his opinion. 



The only feasible plan appeared to be the tracing of the career 

 of a number of people I had known for periods as lengthy as 

 possible, and the estimation of the number whose health or whose 

 prospects in life had been distinctly injured by the abuse of 

 alcohol. If, however, the conclusions were to be of any value the 

 careers of everyone I had been acquainted with must also 

 be followed, and not simply of those whose morbid habits brought 

 them into notoriety. In order to do this it ultimately became 

 necessary to limit consideration entirely to members of the 

 medical profession graduating at the Melbourne University, 

 because it then became possible to make calculation on the 

 whole body of graduations in the medical school, and the fallacy 

 just referred to was eliminated. The objection to the method is 

 that it takes account of the habits of men in one occupation only 

 — an occupation, which, by reason of its exhausting and irregular 

 character, gives a strong filip to moral decrepitude. 



In the University Calendar for 1881-82 there are fifty-six 

 Bachelors of Medicine on the list, of whom forty-three may be 

 classed with Csesar's wife as regards the abuse of alcohol. Of the 

 remainder, twelve, or about twenty-one per cent., were decidedly 



l2 



