358  ABSINTHE. 
enness  of  beer,  the  furious  inebriation  of  brandy,  nor  the  cx- 
hilarant  intoxication  of  wine.  It  is  an  ignoble  poison,  destroy- 
ing life  not  until  it  has  more  or  less  brutalized  its  votaries,  and 
made  drivelling  idiots  of  them. 
There  are  two  classes  of  absinthe  drinkers.  The  one,  after, 
becoming  accustomed  to  it  for  a  short  time,  takes  to  imbibing  it 
in  considerable  quantities,  when  all  of  a  sudden  delirium  declares 
itself.  The  other  is  more  regular,  and  at  the  same  time  more 
moderate  in  its  libations ;  but  upon  them  the  effects,  though 
necessarily  more  gradual,  are  none  the  less  sure.  Absinthe 
drinkers  of  the  former  class  are  usually  noisy  and  aggressive 
during  the  period  of  intoxication,  which,  moreover,  lasts  much 
longer  than  drunkenness  produced  by  spirits  or  wine,  and  is  fol- 
lowed by  extreme  depression  and  a  sensation  of  fatigue  which  is 
not  to  be  got  rid  of.  After  a  while  the  digestive  organs  become 
deranged,  the  appetite  continues  to  diminish  until  it  is  altogether 
lost,  and  an  intense  thirst  supplies  its  place.  Now  ensues  a  con- 
stant feeling  of  uneasiness,  a  painful  anxiety,  accompanied  by 
sensations  of  giddiness  and  tinglings  in  the  ears  ;  and  as  the 
day  declines,  hallucinations  of  sight  and  hearing  begin.  A  de- 
sire of  seclusion  from  friends  and  acquaintances  takes  possession 
of  the  sufferer,  on  whose  countenance  strong  marks  of  disquie- 
tude may  be  seen  ;  his  mind  is  oppressed  by  a  settled  melancholy, 
and  his  brain  effected  by  a  sort  of  sluggishness  which  indicates 
approaching  idiocy.  During  its  more  active  moments  he  is  con- 
tinually seeing  either  some  imaginary  persecutor  from  whom  he 
is  anxious  to  escape,  or  the  fancied  denunciator  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  dissolu- 
tion is  rarely  delayed  very  long. 
The  symptom  that  first  causes  disquiet  to  the  habitual  ab- 
sinthe 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 
