ALCOHOL 235 



upon German type-setters have shown that speed and 

 accuracy are both made to suffer when alcohol has been 

 taken even in very limited amounts. Here, again, the 

 subjects have an impression of their own superior accom- 

 plishment under alcohol, which turns out to be erroneous. 



It has been freely admitted above that a little alcohol 

 may promote sociability, but there can be no question 

 that the reputation which alcohol possesses of bringing out 

 the best wit and humor of which men are capable is largely 

 unfounded. The reason is not far to seek. This reputation 

 rests on the reports of men who were themselves influenced 

 by the same agent which was working upon the nervous 

 systems of the speakers to whom they were listening. Their 

 reminiscences are to be taken with more than a grain of 

 salt. The auditor who is "vinously exalted" to use a 

 phrase of Holmes is an exceedingly lenient critic. He 

 applauds with delight sallies which a neighbor, who has 

 turned down his glass, perceives to be inane, if not in bad 

 taste. 



The justification of the social use of alcohol must be 

 based on its power to produce this singular state of mind. 

 It removes the consciousness of fatigue and the feeling 

 of care. The attention is limited to the present moment 

 and immediate interests. The faculty of discrimination 

 is dulled, and with the consequent lowering of esthetic 

 and intellectual ideals there comes a bland self-satisfaction 

 and a naive admiration of one's fellows. A vigorous 

 writer has called this process "drugging for delectation." 

 Can such an artifice be defended? It is most difficult to 

 answer this question with entire justice to both sides. 

 Perhaps it may be impossible to answer it in sweeping 

 fashion for all men. One who is cynical and pessimistic 

 by nature may really view his affairs more justly and judge 

 his neighbors more equitably while under the influence of 

 wine. This may be true of other temperaments, the neu- 

 rasthenic, for instance. But the optimist and may we 

 not say the normal individual? is not likely to be bettered 

 by such an agent. Increased buoyancy and good humor 



