262 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



alcohol is narcotic, nevertheless the narcotic theory, as it has hitherto 

 been presented, is very one-sided, and the truth in the narcotic theory 

 as well as in the stimulation or intoxication theory is now brought into 

 proper relief. One would not say that play and sport are narcotics. 

 They seem to be very refreshing and stimulating. In the same way 

 alcohol is stimulating, not directly, for its physiological action is wholly 

 depressive, but indirectly by inhibiting the higher brain centers and 

 setting free the older and more primitive psychoses. Thus it appears 

 as a depressant of voluntary attention and effort, of logical associations 

 and abstract reasoning, of foresight and prudence, of anxiety and 

 worry, of modesty and reserve and the higher sentiments in general, 

 while, on the other hand, it acts indirectly as an excitant of speech, 

 laughter and song, of emotional feeling and expression, of sentimental- 

 ity, and in increased doses, of still older and more basic impulses, such 

 as garrulity, quarrelsomeness, recklessness, immodesty and, finally, of 

 coarseness and criminal tendencies. Thus under the progressive influ- 

 ence of alcohol we see the whole life history of the race traversed in re- 

 verse direction, for the criminal life of to-day represents the normal 

 life of primitive man. 



We thus trace the desire for alcohol to the inherent need of mind 

 and body for relaxation, a need normally supplied by all the varied 

 forms of play and sport. Physiologically it is expressed by the need of 

 rest felt by the higher brain centers upon which conditions of civiliza- 

 tion bring so severe a strain. Psychologically it is the expression of 

 the desire for release from the tension of the strenuous life. In a sense, 

 therefore, it is the strenuous life which is responsible for the alcohol 

 impulse, but it should be noted that the word " strenuous " is here used 

 in a broad sense. It does not refer necessarily to an exciting, active, 

 Ihigh-pressure life, but refers rather to any condition of unrelieved ten- 

 sion, where sustained effort is demanded with little opportunity for 

 complete rest and relaxation. While these conditions are perhaps best 

 encouraged by the high-pressure life of our cities, they are also present 

 in the unrelieved toil of the industrial worker. 



We are in this way able to understand some of the facts which, as 

 we have shown, must be considered in any theory of the alcohol motive. 

 We may understand not only the increased desire for alcohol in mod- 

 ern life, but also the lesser need for it on the part of woman. Woman 

 is less modified than man and presents less variation. Her life is 

 calmer and more even. She is more conservative, representing the 

 child type, which is the race type. Her life is less strenuous. She is 

 not keyed up to so high a pitch and hence has less need of relaxation 

 and feels less demand for play and sport. Man, on the other hand, 

 represents variation. The mental powers peculiar to advancing civili- 

 zation are more developed in him. He has to be in the vanguard of 

 progress. With him, therefore, the stress of life, the tension, the ex- 



