194 THE PBINCIPLES OF HEREDITY 



evil consequences, make him feel very ill a few hours 

 afterwards. 



324. Within limits the passion for alcohol grows with 

 indulgence. But here again men vary. The growth is more 

 rapid and extensive in some individuals than in others. A 

 course of indulgence, which leaves one man almost indifferent 

 to the charm of drink, will fill another with furious desires. 

 After a more or less prolonged experience of alcohol many 

 men learn fairly accurately the amount of alcohol which will 

 produce the mental state that is most pleasant to them 

 just as after a certain amount of smoking they learn the 

 amount of tobacco which is most pleasant to them. With 

 such men, who constitute the great majority of moderate 

 drinkers, the growth of the craving does not continue in- 

 definitely. Having learned the limit they are able to stay 

 within it without much effort or difficulty. Other men 

 never reach the limit of growth. Their tendency is always 

 to drink to deep intoxication ; to drink to the point of coma. 

 Between the two extremes lie all shades of drinkers. 



325. Men differ, therefore, in their susceptibility to the 

 charm of alcohol, and as a rule indulge in it in proportion to 

 their desires. As might reasonably be expected, those who 

 are most tempted succumb, on the average, most and oftenest 

 to temptation. At any rate it is certain that all drunkards 

 are so constituted that they are greatly tempted, whereas all 

 or nearly all moderate men are so constituted that they are 

 comparatively little tempted. Judging from the diverse 

 effects of alcohol on different men, it is probable that it does 

 not awaken sensations or emotions of precisely the same 

 kind in all minds. It is very probable, therefore, that all 

 men are not tempted in identically the same way. For 

 example, one man may drink to procure a sense of exhilara- 

 tion, whilst another may drink to allay nervousness, irritability, 

 or insomnia. Some men are drunken during prosperity; 

 others only after they have fallen into misfortune. But all 

 these roads lead to the same goal. The fact remains that 

 some men are so constituted that they succumb much more 

 quickly and completely to the charm of alcohol than others. 

 They acquire the habit and the craving for intoxication with 

 much greater ease. Even if, ignoring obvious facts, we 

 attribute differences in drinking habits solely to differences 

 in powers of self-control, and insist that all men are equal 

 as regards their susceptibility, that central fact would still 

 remain. 



326. Now, we have just seen that alcohol, when taken to 



