OF STIMULA NTS. 3 g i 



who did not know what they were taking, but were 

 quite satisfied that improvement resulted ; and I have 

 tested its usefulness in many different ways. It is 

 often extremely valuable in treating the diseases of 

 young children, and I believe that persons greatly 

 advanced in age may sometimes be kept alive by it. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF STIMULANTS. 



Alcohol. The mode of action of alcohol upon the 

 organism during the febrile state is very complex, and 

 before discussing the nature of the modifications- in 

 the pathological changes probably effected by it, it is 

 necessary to refer to the great distinction between the 

 two objects for which wine and other stimulants are 

 given during illness. Alcohol is prescribed I. For 

 the purpose of promoting digestion, improving the 

 appetite, and relieving unpleasant sensations about 

 the stomach ; and 2. With the view of directly influ- 

 encing those most active and serious abnormal changes 

 which are taking place in the blood and in the tissues 

 in all bad forms of fever, which, if they progress 

 beyond a certain degree, must necessarily lead to a 

 fatal result. 



I propose to defer the consideration of this latter 

 part of the subject until the action of alcohol in 

 moderate doses in the healthy state and in cases of 

 slight fever has been discussed. The forms in which 

 this substance is taken are very numerous, and nothing 

 is more remarkable than the capriciousness exhibited 



