U8 ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. 



manifested to him. Dyspeps-la has caused many a man to become 

 a drunkard. 



"2. OVERWORK; especially when accompanied by ill-health. 

 When a man begins to resort to alcohol to enable him to perform 

 tasks which are above his unaided strength, he is calling the Saxons 

 into Britain; he is invoking the aid of an ally who will certainly 

 one day turn upon him with deadly effect. The most hopeless 

 cases received in our asylums are those which come under this 

 head. 



"3. CATARRH OF THE STOMACH is responsible for many cases. 

 This is due to the direct effect of alcohol upon the gastric mucous 

 membrane. It is the source of the "next-morning headache," the 

 thirst, and loathing of food in one who is just getting over a de- 

 bauch. The temporary relief afforded by alcohol in these cases 

 induces many to continue their potations who would otherwise have 

 stopped. 



"4. CATARRH OF THE MOUTH : Although the gastric catarrh 

 has been generally mentioned by writers, it is singular that none of 

 them have called our attention to catarrh of the mouth. Observa- 

 tion shows that after a night's drinking there is great dryness of 

 the mouth, the secretions of the mouth and salivary glands being 

 suspended. I am convinced that in many cases the desire for drink 

 has no deeper origin than the mouth. 



"5. DEPRESSION: The depression due to the withdrawal of 

 the accustomed stimulus is, however, in nearly all cases, a powerful 

 incentive to a relapse into habits of tippling. 



"TREATMENT. The treatment of these varieties must necessar- 

 ily greatly vary. In the first and second classes the recognition of 

 the cause affords the indication for treatment. 



" In the third class, namely, that dependent on gastric catarrh, 

 the following treatment has proved most beneficial in my hands: 

 One hour before meals give a teacup of hot water in which has been 

 dissolved ten grains of bicarbonate soda. This dissolves and carries 

 off the tough adhesive mucus which coats the mucous membrane 

 of the stomach, and which besides hindering digestion, acts also as 

 a ferment. Half an hour later, drop upon the cleansed surface of 

 the gastric mucous membrane, a small dose of subnitrate or sub- 

 carbonate of bismuth, oxide of zinc or oxide of silver. In a few- 

 days the catarrhal symptoms will subside. If the digestive fluids 

 be not secreted in a healthy manner, minute doses of rhubarb and 

 ipecac will restore the normal functions much more certainly than 

 pepsin of any sort.'' 



"In the fourth and fifth classes I desire to recommend the ad- 

 ministration of Erythroxylon Coca. It is useless in the treatment 

 of delirium tremens, but to relieve the depression resulting from 

 the deprival of stimulants it has remarkable powers. Its effects in 

 relieving one from the sense of fatigue are too well known to re- 

 quire more than a passing notice. 1 have frequently returned to 



