I02 A STUDY IN HEREDITY 



old were exceedingly drunken. An immense horde 

 of Visigoths conquered the Iberian peninsula and 

 setded there. Presumably they were as intemperate 

 as other Teutons. At the present time drunkenness 

 is very rare amongst their descendants. 



The lowest savages are unable to manufacture 

 alcohol. When a little civilised they are some- 

 times able to prepare very dilute solutions. Only 

 civilised men are able to manufacture really potent 

 beverages, such as spirits and the stronger wines. 

 Spirits are quite a modern invention. The civilisa- 

 tion of the Mediterranean littoral is extremely 

 ancient. Egypt has a recorded civilisation of 

 7000 years, and there is not wanting evidence 

 that an advanced state of society has existed in 

 the valley of the Nile for more than double that 

 period. Our oldest records tell of a civilisation in 

 Greece and Italy so high that a period of advance- 

 ment almost equalling in duration that of Egypt must 

 have preceded it. " Behind dim empires ghosts of 

 dimmer empires loom." The earliest records, even 

 the earliest myths, tell of the use of highly intoxi- 

 cating wines of many kinds. The number and 

 variety of the intoxicating beverages in turn give 

 evidence of a long established industry, and, con- 

 sequently, of a long course of alcoholic evolution. 

 We know nothing of the Greeks and Italians at 

 the beginning of their evolution. We first hear of 



