INTEMPERANCE UNSCIENTIFIC. 43 
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 bank- 
ruptcy in health. The use of alcohol in health seems practi- 
cally restricted to purposes of sensuous gratification 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 observ- 
ance may make even the abuse of alcchol tolerable. Serious 
objections for a naturalist, at least, are that science, viewed 
through a glass, seems distant and uncertain, while the joys of 
rum are immediate and unquestionable; and that intemper- 
ance, being an attempt to defy certain physical laws, is there- 
fore eminently unscientific. 
