32 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY PART i 



ciently strong, you may leap on till you drop senseless. Alcoholic 

 stimulus is a parallel case, and is not seldom pushed to the same 

 extreme. Under its influence you never can tell when you are 

 tired ; the expenditure goes on, indeed, with unnatural rapidity, 

 only it is not felt at the time ; but the upshot is you have all the 

 original fatigue to endure and to recover from, j^Zms the fatigue 

 resulting from over-excitation of the system. Taken as a fortification 

 against cold, alcohol is as unsatisfactory as a remedy for fatigue. 

 Insensibility to cold does not imply protection. The fact is the 

 exposure is greater than before ; the circulation and respiration 

 being hurried, the waste is greater, and as sound fuel cannot be 

 immediately supplied, the temperature of the body is soon lowered. 

 The transient warmth and glow over, the system has both cold and, 

 depression to endure ; there is no use in borrowing from yourself 

 and fancying you are richer. Secondly, the value of any stimulus 

 (except in a few exigencies of disease or injury) is in proportion, 

 not to the intensity, but to the equableness and durability of its 

 efifect. This is one reason why tea, coflfee, and articles of corre- 

 sponding qualities are preferable to alcoholic drinks ; they work so 

 smoothly that their effect is often unnoticed, and they " stay by " 

 well ; the friction of alcohol is tremendous in comparison. A glass 

 of grog may help a veteran over the fence, but no one, young or 

 old, can shoot all day on liquor. I have had so much experience in 

 the use of tobacco as a mild stimulant that I am probably no impartial 

 judge of its merits : I will simply say I do not use it in the field, 

 because it indisposes to muscular activity, and favours reflection 

 when observation is required; and because temporary abstinence 

 provokes the morbid appetite and renders the weed more grateful 

 afterwards. Thirdly, undue excitation of any physical function is 

 followed by corresponding depression, on the simple principle that 

 action and reaction are equal ; and the balance of health turns too 

 easily to be wilfully disturbed. Stimulation is a draft upon vital 

 capital, when interest alone should suffice ; it may be needed at 

 times to bridge a chasm, but habitual living beyond vital income 

 infallibly entails bankruptcy in health. The use of alcohol in 

 health seems practically restricted to purposes of sensuous gratifica- 

 tion on the part of those prepared to pay a round price for this 

 luxury. The three golden rules here are, — never drink before 

 breakfast, never drink alone, and never drink bad liquor ; their 

 observance may make even the abuse of alcohol tolerable. Serious 

 objections, for a naturalist at least, are that science, viewed through 

 a drinking-glass, seems distant and uncertain, while the pleasure of 

 drinking is immediate and unquestionable ; and that intemperance, 

 being an attempt to defy certain physical laws, is therefore 

 eminently unscientific. 



