258 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



thermore, pain, sorrow and care are ever present in human life, making 

 the universality of the desire thus far intelligible. 



But clearly the narcotic theory encounters difficulties from the 

 same sources as the " demand for joy " theory. It fails first to account 

 for the lesser desire among women, who have certainly at all times had 

 their share of sorrow, pain and care. It fails likewise to account for 

 the increase of the desire in times of prosperity and activity, or in 

 times like the present of improved hygiene, increased longevity and 

 multiplied pleasures and comforts. Finally, the narcotic theory, if it 

 were true, would seem to be nature's checkmate upon itself, for pain 

 in all its forms is evidently purposive. Are we to suppose that nature 

 has discovered a way to tear down its own danger signals? The nar- 

 cotic theory would be available only in respect to times of degeneration 

 and national decay. Nordau, who explains the desire for alcohol in 

 this way, regards the present as such a time of degeneration, and Part- 

 ridge, who recognizes the narcotic motive as one of the elements in the 

 desire, seems to think that so far as it is present it betokens " old age 

 and disease in a nation." But since the desire flourishes most strongly, 

 as we have seen, in times of great national vigor, such for instance as 

 prevail at the present time in Germany, England and America, the 

 narcotic theory seems to fail. Nevertheless, it may appear below that 

 the narcotic motive is present, after all, only not in the form hitherto 

 recognized. 



Another writer, Beid, has broached the theory that the desire for 

 alcohol is a by-product of evolution, a specific craving which nothing 

 but alcohol will satisfy. It is coextensive with the human race and 

 harmful in its results, and is to be met in only one way, namely, by 

 the automatic action of " evolution against alcohol," by the action of 

 natural selection in gradually eliminating those not immune to the 

 desire. It is part of Beid's theory to maintain that the people of 

 southern Europe have become partly immune to alcohol, owing to its 

 abundant supply, and are therefore more temperate. Almost all the 

 facts upon which this theory is based are open to doubt. 



Partridge, while recognizing the narcotic motive in the desire for 

 alcohol, " the longing to escape from pain, to seek relief in inactivity 

 and rest, a turning backward from the strenuous life," apparently 

 believes that the so-called "intoxication motive" is more important. 

 It springs from the desire for states of consciousness of higher in- 

 tensity, for feelings of exaltation, for life and life more abundant, for 

 freedom and expansion, for states of higher tension. It is the erethic 

 impulse, a craving for excitement. But the evidence is overwhelming, 

 as we have seen, that alcohol, so far from contributing to the more 

 abundant life, contributes from every point of view to the less abundant 

 life, and as for the desire for states of higher tension, there is every 

 reason to believe, as will be shown in what follows, that alcohol pro- 

 duces states of lower tension and is desired for precisely this reason. 



