SECT. XXI. 10. OF DRUNKENNESS. 29* 



no perfon afflicted with the gout, who has not drank 

 freely of fermented liquor, as wine and water, or 

 [mall beer : though as the difpofition to all the dif- 

 eafes, which have originated from intoxication, is in 

 fome degree hereditary, a lefs quantity of fpirituous 

 potation will induce the gout in thofe, who inherit 

 the difpofition from their parents. To which I rnuft 

 add, that in \oung people therheumatiimis frequent- 

 ly miftaken for the gout. 



Spice is feldom taken in fuch quantity as to do any 

 material injury to the fyftem, flefh meats as well as 

 vegetables are the natural diet of mankind ; with 

 thefe a glutton maybe crammed up to the throat, 

 and fed like a flailed ox ; but he will not be difeafed, 

 unlefs he adds fpirituous or fermented liquor to his 

 fooJ. This is well known in the diftilleries, where 

 the fwine, which are fattened by the fpirituous fedi- 

 ments of barrels, acquire difeafed livers. But mark 

 what happens to a man, who drinks a quart of 

 wine or of ale, if he has not been habituated to it. 

 He loies the ufe both of his limbs and of his un<- 

 derftanding ! He becomes a temporary idiot, and has 

 a temporary ftroke of the palfy ! And though he 

 {lowly recovers after fome hours, is it not reafonable 

 to conclude, that a perpetual repetition of fo power- 

 ful a poifon mud at length permanently affecl: him ? 

 If a perfon accidentally becomes intoxicated by eat- 

 ing a few muftirooms of a peculiar kind, a general 

 alarm is excited, and he is faid to be poifoned, and 

 emetics are exhibited ; but fo familiarifed are we to 

 the intoxication from vinous fpirit, that it occafions 

 laughter rather than alarm. 



There is however confiderable danger in too hafti- 

 ly difcontinuing the ufe of fo ftrong a ftimulus, left 

 the torpor of the fyftem, or paralyfis, mould fooner 

 be induced by the omiflion than the continuance of 

 this habit, when unfortunately acquired. A golden 

 pie for determining the quantity, which may with 



fafety 



