458 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



many cases is as follows : How far can the testimony of inebriates 

 or persons under the influence of spirits be trusted concerning 

 matters observed in this condition ? 



This question called for an answer in the following cases : 



1. An inebriate physician, partially intoxicated, witnessed an 

 assault, and swore to the identity and exact part which the accused 

 was supposed to have taken in the crime. 



2. A barkeeper, partially intoxicated at the time, swore to the 

 particular man who shot another in a crowd, where several shots 

 were fired by different persons. 



3. A man under the influence of spirits testified that he saw 

 the person accused put fire to a building which was burned 

 down. 



4. A man on his way home from a saloon, where he had spent 

 the evening drinking, identified a man in the courtroom whom 

 he asserted he had seen breaking into a house. 



In these cases the medical witness was asked, What, in your 

 opinion, as an expert, based on the statements of the witness, and 

 the circumstances of the case, was the condition of the witness's 

 mind as to the power of clearly observing and remembering the 

 facts and incidents to which he has testified ? Also, do you be- 

 lieve in these cases that the witness was competent to observe 

 and clearly remember the incidents to which he has sworn ? 



If the medical expert has formed no higher opinion of ine- 

 briety than that it is a vice in the moral sense, and alcohol pro- 

 duces a state of exhilaration, his answer will be unsatisfactory ; 

 but if he is a scientific student he will form a general conclusion 

 which will at least approximate very near to the real facts. In 

 arriving at the facts the medical witness must start from some 

 general principles which are recognized as established beyond 

 question. 



First, the action of alcohol is always that of an anaesthetic, 

 benumbing and paralyzing (1) the nerve function and the con- 

 sciousness of nerve impression; (2) the power of co-ordinating 

 and regulating these impressions ; (3) the reasoning or capacity 

 of comparing acts and events is disturbed. Thus both the sense 

 impressions and the power of analyzing and correctly estimating 

 them are impaired. This takes place in all cases, depending on 

 the amount and quality of spirits taken : where intoxication fol- 

 lows, these effects are very clear ; but where a smaller amount of 

 spirits is taken, and only partial intoxication is present, they are 

 not so prominent. It is present in those who use alcohol continu- 

 ously, and is noted as a general diminution of brain and sense 

 acuteness. In active life, brain workers, trained experts, and all 

 persons whose work requires delicate nerve adjustment and accu- 

 racy of brain and muscle work, soon find the use of alcohol im- 



