THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND ORGANS OF SENSE 415 



of his seventieth birthday is very interesting in this connection. He 

 spoke of the ideas flashing up from the depths of the unknown soul, that 

 lies at the foundation of every truly creative intellectual production, and 

 closed his account of their origin with these words : ' The smallest quan- 

 tity of an alcoholic beverage seemed to frighten these ideas away.' " 

 Dr. G. Sims Woodhead, Professor of Pathology, Cambridge University, 

 England. 



" Some people imagine that after the use of alcohol they can do things 

 more quickly, that they are brisker and sharper, but exact measurement 

 shows that they are slower and less accurate. Men believe that they are 

 wiser and brighter, but their sayings are more automatic and apt to be 

 profane. To quote Dr. Lauder Brunton, of Oxford University, England, 

 ' It produces progressive paralysis of the judgment,'' and this begins with 

 the first glass. Men say and do, even after a single glass of drink, what 

 they would not say or do without it, and therefore it clearly affects the 

 brain and diminishes self-control." Adolph Fick, Professor of Physiology, 

 Wurzburg, Germany. 



Professor Von Bunge (Textbook of Physiological and Pathological Chem- 

 istry} of Switzerland says that : " The stimulating action which alcohol 

 appears to exert on the brain functions is only a paralytic action. The 

 cerebral functions which are first interfered with are the power of clear judg- 

 ment and reason. No man ever became witty by aid of spirituous drinks. 

 The lively gesticulations and useless exertions of intoxicated people are 

 due to paralysis, the restraining influences, which prevent a sober man 

 from uselessly expending his strength, being removed." 



" The capital argument against alcohol, that which must eventually 

 condemn its use, is this, that it takes away all the reserved control, the power 

 of mastership, and therefore offends against the splendid pride 'in himselj 

 or herself, which is fundamental in every man or woman worth anything" 

 Dr. John Johnson, quoting Walt Whitman. 



The Drink Habit. The harmful effects of alcohol (aside from 

 the purely physiological effect upon the tissues and organs of the 

 body) are most terribly seen in the formation of the alcohol habit. 

 The first effect of drinking alcoholic liquors is that of exhilaration. 

 After the feeling of exhilaration is gone, for this is a temporary 

 state, the subject feels depressed and less able to work than before 

 he took the drink.' To overcome this feeling, he takes another 

 drink. The result is that before long he finds a habit formed from 

 which he cannot escape. With body and mind weakened, he 

 attempts to break off the habit. But meanwhile his will, too, 

 has suffered from overindulgence. He has become a victim of the 

 drink habit ! 



