ABSINTHE. 
31 
ciator of some crime he dreams he has committed. From these phantoms he flies to 
hide himself, or advances passionately towards them protesting his innocence. At this 
stage the result is certain, and dissolution is rarely delayed very long. The symptom 
that first causes disquiet to the habitual absinthe drinker is a peculiar affection of the 
muscles, commencing with fitful contractions of the lips and muscles of the face and 
tremblings in the arms, hands, and legs. These are presently accompanied by tinglings, 
numbness, and a distinct loss of physical power; the hair falls off, the countenance 
becomes wan and sad-looking, the body thin, the skin wrinkled and of a yellowish tinge, 
—everything, in short, indicates marked decline. Simultaneously with all this, lesion of 
the brain takes place; sleep becomes more and more disturbed by dreams, nightmares, 
and sudden wakings; ordinary illusions, succeeded by giddiness and headaches, eventually 
give place to painful hallucinations, to delirium in its most depressing form, hypo¬ 
chondria, and marked impediment of speech. In the end come entire loss of intellect, 
general paralysis, and death. There are two kinds of absinthe consumed in Paris, the 
common and the Swiss absinthej the latter of which possesses almost double the intoxi¬ 
cating properties of the former. A few years ago the consumption of the common 
absinthe was three times that of the Swiss; but now the proportions are reversed, and 
four times as much Swiss absinthe is drunk as of the common quality. According to 
official statistics, France receives from Switzerland nearly 2,000,000 gallons of the 
noxious compound annually; in addition to which an enormous quantity, made in Paris, 
is sold as the veritable Swiss production. Genuine absinthe is distilled from the leaves 
of major and minor absinthe, angelica roots, Calamus aromaticus, aniseed, dittany leaves, 
and wild marjoram, all of which have been previously bruised and soaked for a period 
of eight days in alcohol. A quantity of oil of aniseed is then added, and the whole is 
carefully mixed together. Occasionally fennel, mint, etc., enter into the composition. 
The utmost care is taken to obtain the right shade of colour, and to ensure the liquid 
expanding and whitening well when mixed with water. Should it prove to be deficient 
in these qualities the manufacturer does not hesitate to add indigo, hyssop, nettles, and 
even to have recourse to sulphate of copper to obtain the precise tint of green, or 
chloride of antimony to produce the milky-white precipitate, both of these chemicals 
being deadly poisons. Paris actually has its clubs of absinthe drinkers, the members of 
which are pledged to intoxicate themselves with no other stimulant, and even to drink 
no other fluid,—the only pledges, it is believed, which they do not violate. They 
assemble daily at some appointed place of rendezvous at a certain hour, and proceed to 
dissipate their energies and their centimes in draughts of that fatal poison which fills 
the public and private madhouses of Paris. These absinthe-drinking clubs are certainly 
not numerous, but liquor shops abound in all quarters of the city where absinthe may 
be said to be the staple drink, and lately several have sprung up which, to attract the 
youth of Paris to them, dispense the insidious beverage at the hands of pretty women. 
In the French army drinking of absinthe of the cheapest quality, and, as a matter of 
course, the most deleterious of all, used to prevail to such an extent that both military 
and medical commissions were appointed to report upon the practice and the effects 
resulting from it. The facts that came to light were so alarming that the Government 
not only formally interdicted its consumption, but made every endeavour to keep it 
beyond the reach of the soldiers. In Paris and other garrison towns these efforts were 
not particularly successful; but it fared hard with any camp followers of expeditionary 
corps in Algeria, or at Chalons or other parts of France where temporary camps were 
formed, who chanced to be detected in supplying absinthe to the troops. In the French 
navy its consumption is rigidly prohibited, not merely to the common seamen but to 
the officers as well.” 
The ‘ Lancet’ thus comments upon the above :— 
“ We think it time that an authoritative and exhaustive inquiry should be made as to 
the effects of excessive absinthe-drinking, about which a great deal is being said just 
now, not merely by medical men, but by the public. It is quite clear that a great deal 
of what has been said is mere nonsense, and will not bear a moment’s investigation. 
And when one reads carefully even the seemingly authoritative description of the symp¬ 
toms given by M. Legrand, and quoted the other day by the ‘Pall Mall Gazette,’ it is 
impossible.to fix on any definite peculiarities which clearly distinguish poisoning by ab- 
