EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 277 



and nervous defects, and the disease inebriety, an ungovern- 

 able craving for alcoholic drinks, is the result. 



" When a man drinks to excess, even though forced to do 

 so by a diseased nervous system, Christian communities usually 

 brand him as a criminal, as an outcast, and say, ' We have 

 no sympathy for you ; stop drinking and be a man/ when 

 in reality the man should be cared for, and treated as other 

 diseased human beings. The fact that the desire for alcoholic 

 drinks is often a disease which may be either inherited or 

 acquired is overlooked by those who condemn the drunkard. 

 Our ancestors have for ages been addicted to habits of intox- 

 ication ; and we, their descendants, are tainted with the disease 

 inebriety." 



MORAL DETERIORATION PRODUCED BY ALCOHOL. 



[FROM MARTIN'S The Human Body and the Effects of Narcotics.} 



" One result of a single dose of alcohol is that the control 

 of the will over the actions and emotions is temporarily en- 

 feebled ; the slightly tipsy man laughs and talks loudly, says 

 and does rash things, is enraged or delighted without due 

 cause. If the amount of alcohol be increased, further diminu- 

 tion of will-power is indicated by loss of control over the 

 muscles. Excessive habitual use of alcohol results in perma- 

 nent over-excitement of the emotional nature, and enfeeblement 

 of the will ; the man's highly emotional state exposes him to 

 special temptations, to excesses of all kinds, and his weakened 

 will decreases the power of resistance ; the final outcome is 

 a degraded moral condition. He who was prompt in the per- 

 formance of duty begins to shirk that which is irksome, energy 

 gives place to indifference, truthfulness to lying, integrity to 

 dishonesty; for even with the best intentions in making 

 promises or pledges there is no strength of will to keep them. 



