42 



This opinion I have formed from observing these facts : 



1st, That materials abound in every part of the globe 

 from which fermented and distilled liquors may be made ; 

 and that in some instances vegetable juices are sponta- 

 neously converted into fermented liquors from the heat of 

 the climate. These facts appear to me to be arguments of 

 some force in favour of the utility of fermented liquors ; for I 

 believe that nature never supplied us abundantly with any 

 thing that may not be converted to some useful purpose, 

 and that she furnishes those articles which are most appro- 

 priate to the climate, and most wholesome for its inhabitants. 

 That she furnishes man with that kind of food best adapted 

 to promote his health, in whatever climate he may be 

 placed, is a well-established fact; and I believe that a 

 similar rule will be found to hold true, to a certain extent, 

 as regards alcoholic stimulants, The inhabitants of the 

 colder countries, such as Russia, Norway, Sweden, &c, 

 are subjected to the powerful depressing influence of long- 

 continued cold, and their nervous and vascular systems 

 being proportionately torpid, they require the most powerful 

 stimulants to excite them and maintain their animal heat — 

 such as strong animal and oily food, and ardent spirits, all 

 of which contain much carbon and hydrogen. In more 

 t?mperate climates, less powerful stimulants are necessary. 

 The grape, therefore, furnishes the inhabitants with wine, 

 and the different kinds of grain supply them with malt 

 liquors, so that they are enabled to select that kind of 

 stimulant, and to adopt that combination of animal and 

 vegetable food best suited to their individual temperaments. 

 The natives of the tropics, owing to the great heat to which 

 they are continually exposed, have much more excitable 

 temperaments than the inhabitants of colder climates, and 

 on this account they subsist chiefly on vegetable food, and 

 indulge less in fermented and distilled liquors, owing to 

 the uncomfortable state of excitement which they occasion. 



2nd, From observing that alcoholic stimulants, in pro- 

 ducing excitement followed by depression, differ from the 

 ordinary physical agents, not in the mode, but only in the 

 degree of their action. We know that whilst the excessive 

 application of many stimulants, such as food, exercise, heat, 

 light, &c. is injurious, their moderate application is not only 

 beneficial, but absolutely essential to life ; and may we not 

 reason by analogy and draw the conclusion, that the alco- 

 holic stimulants are like the others, though injurious in 

 s, yet beneficial in moderation. 



'Srd, From observing that mankind are often placed in 



