i62 A STUDY IN HEREDITY 



ing he ran into the house and cried : ' Get some rum. Get some 

 rum. My hand is off.' In the confusion and bustle of the 

 occasion a bowl of rum was brought, into which he plunged the 

 bleeding member of his body, then raising the bowl to his mouth, 

 drank freely, and exultingly exclaimed, ' Now I am satisfied ! ' 

 Dr J. E. Turner tells of a man who, while under treatment for 

 inebriety during four weeks, secretly drank the alcohol from six 

 jars containing morbid specimens. On asking him why he had 

 committed the loathsome act, he replied : ' Sir, it is as impossible 

 for me to control this diseased appetite, as it is for me to control 

 the pulsations of my heart.' " ^ 



Between such miserable beings, examples of 

 extreme reversion, and the Jewish residents of 

 the East End of London, who are temperate under 

 peculiarly difficult circumstances, lie all shades of 

 drinkers. Some resemble the "awful examples" 

 of Professor James, others more nearly resemble 

 the East End Jews. The upper classes of Eng- 

 land in this one respect approximate more nearly 

 to the Jews than do the masses. 



All the civilised world over men are drunken 

 or temperate in proportion to their delight in 

 alcohol. Coercive measures have proved useless 

 everywhere. Nevertheless, the hopes of reformers 

 continue as strong as they were a thousand years 



'^ " Text Book of Psychology," pp. 439-40- 



" I had a good instance of the strength of the drink-crave in South 

 Africa. My Kaffir surgery boy (aged 14) would steal spirits when he 

 could, but when he couldn't he drank Tinct. Columb. and Tinct. 

 Gentian C°. ! Unfortunately, not Tinct. Nucis Vomicis." — Letter to 

 i\he Author from Dr H. Laing-Gordon. 



