THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE 107 



continued to our day. Some part of it is doubtless 

 due to a moral uprising, especially in certain classes 

 of the community. But, as we shall see, by far the 

 greater part has resulted from evolution. Jekyll's 

 Act checked, but did not stop, elimination. That, 

 even to-day, is enormous. 



It is needless to pass the other European countries 

 and their colonies under review. Everywhere we find 

 evidence that the more a people has been afflicted by 

 alcohol in the past, the less does it suffer at the 

 present time. Thus in his " Wealth of Nations " 

 Adam Smith long ago observed that the French of 

 the wine-growing districts were much more tem- 

 perate than their Northern compatriots. 



Savages are proverbially intemperate. They 

 are furious drinkers, and are furious in their drink. 

 Their intemperance frequently takes a more violent 

 and homicidal form than is common amongst 

 modern Europeans, and to that extent hastens 

 their elimination. Doubtless ancient Europeans 

 displayed the same traits. It is only necessary to 

 supply a tribe of Esquimaux or Australian Blacks 

 with a plentiful supply of alcohol to secure their 

 extinction. But there are exceptions. West 

 African negroes have been declared by many 

 observers to be even more temperate than North 

 Europeans.^ For unnumbered generations they 



1 Vide Appendix H. 



