138 A STUDY IN HEREDITY 



the habit does no physical harm in moderation. ... I do not 

 wish to defend the practice of opium-smoking, but in the face of 

 the rash opinions and exaggerated statements in respect of this 

 vice, it is only right to record that no China resident believes in 

 the terrible frequency of the dull, sodden-witted, debilitated opium- 

 smoker met with in print, nor have I found many Europeans who 

 believe that they ever get the better of opium-smoking compradores 

 in matters of business." ^ 



It is clear then that while most of the Chinese — 

 at any rate the Chinese of the Coast, who have 

 been familiar with the poison for some two centuries 

 — do not, as a rule, indulge in opium to excess, yet 

 an appreciable number do take it in such amounts 

 as to place themselves at a disadvantage in the 

 struggle for existence. Probably in inland districts, 

 to which opium has more recently penetrated, ex- 

 cessive indulgence is much more common. 



Lastly, there is a consensus of opinion that 

 indulgence in opium is extremely harmful to the 

 Burmans, who have only recently acquired a know- 

 ledge of its use. 



In reply to the question — " Can you give us the reasons which, 

 in your judgment, actuated the Burmese authorities, and led to 

 the decision to prohibit the use of opium?" the Rev. J. S. 

 Adams, a missionary, said : " From conversation that I had re- 

 peatedly with Burmese elders, with the Governor of Bhamo, and 

 with the Buddhist Archbishop, I learned that the principal reason 

 was that the people themselves were so weak in the face of such 

 temptations as those offered by opium and liquor, and also that 

 the Buddhist law prohibited the use of intoxicants to the people 



^" First Report, Royal Commission on Opium,'' p. 139. 



