HYGIENE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 325 



so deep and lasting that they not only persist through- 

 out the individual life, but also affect the brains and 

 nerves of his children, and his children's children, so 

 that they may have from their birth tendencies to act 

 as their parents or their grandparents have been accus- 

 tomed to act. They inherit a certain kind of nervous tem- 

 perament, we say, and their nerve cells have a natural 

 readiness to respond in certain ways to the influences 

 which come to them. This may be a powerful aid to the 

 development of upright and noble character, and it may 

 be an almost irresistible force urging in the opposite direc- 

 tion. It has been observed in many cases that the chil- 

 dren of criminals become criminal for generation after 

 generation. The inherited bent of their minds appears to 

 be evil, and as a rule their surroundings and associations 

 are also evil. The power of a bad inheritance may, how- 

 ever, be neutralized by a good environment. 



472. Influence of Alcohol on the Nervous System. While 

 the excessive use of alcoholic drinks works injury to every 

 part of the body, it is largely through the direct effect of 

 alcohol upon nervous tissue that the various evils are 

 accomplished. 



We will consider the physiological influence of alcohol 

 on the nervous system under two heads : (1) acute dis- 

 eases caused by alcohol; (2) chronic diseased conditions. 

 Afterward the moral effects will receive attention. 



473. Dipsomania (an acute disease) is the name given to 

 the morbid craving for alcohol which renders a person 

 utterly irresponsible for his acts while engaged in the mad 

 pursuit of that which he believes will satisfy his consuming 

 thirst. It is a distinctly diseased condition of the nervous 

 system, and may result from what is only a slightly ex- 

 cessive use of alcoholic liquors by the sufferer himself, or it 



