'■ V?.' &T *,%■*;.■ ■tiV,! ' -' |r;-.> /•■■-;; ' [/>:(,'■'f ■;■■:■ v ■„;■ ^'.;->l ■■...';'; : .•■'••%'I>.VT:'.S> »'4':? ■■' " - S; »,>• -v- .- . S3 . *. 4 *? ■■■■ -i „i -•>, S'- -IH.■:;■ ARMY MEDICAL LIBRARY FOUNDED 1836 WASHINGTON, D.C. '■■.•*:i:*-# , J?*"** INl'f THE EFFEC'l t of.'ifi|feNT SPIRITS. v% UPON THE ' . V HUMAN BODY AND MIND, : WITH AN ..." Account of the Means of Preventing AND OF THE Remedies for curing them. (tC BY BEN/AMm RUSH, M. D. " ^Professor ofMedicinfein the University of Pegu- /jijL s'ylvania. • , •„ ' THE EIGHTH EDITION, WITH AC* TIONS- " BROOKFIELD : printed By E. MERRIAM & Co- .......1814........ '••V /<^-"i**--.:--.-\ ' .—I jddy c >dEgg P- m, h ?0-;-~:' i— VH - I "rog-—Vfu.Jyand Wa- lter, /ifi and Shrub, Bitters infused in Sfiiritx and Cordials. Drhmt of -Gin, Brandy, and Rum, in the morning, The same morning and xing. The same dur- ing day' & night, VICES. DISEASES. PONISH- _ , MEKTS. Idleness, Sickness, Debt. Gaming, ~-~ r.rsvish- Tremors of the hands in Jail. ness, the morning, puking, quarrellmg bloatedness, Black eyes, Fighting, Inflamed eyes, red nose and Hags, H«,rse-Ra- andfac«, Hospital or cing, Sore and swelled legs JPoor house. Lying and jaundice, | Swearing, Pains in the hands, burn- ndewell. Stealing" & ing in the hands, and feet.J Swindling, Dropsy, Epilepsy, rtateprisow Perjury, Melancholy, palsv, appo j-i0. for Life. Burglary, piexy, Madness, Despair, Murder, Gallows. A MORAL AND PHYSICAL THERMOMETER. A scale of the progress of Temperance and Intemfierance.—Liquors with effects in their usual order. • 70 60 _ Water, Milk and Water, TEMPERANCE. Health and Wealth. 40,- 30— C-Serenity of Mind, Reputation,Long Life, & Happiness. Small Beer, J ~l Haider and Perry, "> _•! ■!» »*»«'» l Cheerfulness, Strength, and Nourishment, when —yp T taken only in small quantities, and at meals. Zj Strong Beei, J 2-J i7^,',*$J'J;>'! PAR T*£ *"' Ofthecfiectsof ardem ?puits, *<• they ap. pear in a fit of drunkenness. - - P'ige 9 Of the chronic effects of their hab'tua" use upon the body, ---------- - - - - 9 Of their effects upon the mind, - - - 11 Of their effects upon property, - - - 12 Arguments in favour of- their use answer- ed, - -...............13 Cases in which a small quantity of them may be taken with safety, ----- 1$ PART II. Substitutes for ardent spirits, ------ is Cautions and directions to sundry classes of people, with respect to the use of ar- dent spirits,........--------20 Means of preventing tjieir general use sug- gested to civil and ecclesiastical bodies of men,--------.....--.-. 2f PART III. Remedies for a fit of drunkenness, - - - 29 Remedies for preventing the pernicious ef- fects of the habitual- and intemperate use of ardent spirits. --r---r- 30 *■« ;;Jt';:AN INQUIRY, fte. PART I. XJY ardent spirits, I mean those liquors only which are obtained by distillation from ferment- ed substances of any kind. To their effects up- on the bodies and minds ot men, the following inquiry shall be exclusively confined. Ferment- , ed liquors contain so little spirit, and that so in- timately combined with other matters, that b they can seldom be drunken in sufficient quan- tities to produce intoxication, and its. subsequent effects.withoutexcitingadisrelish to their taste, jW^pain, from their distending the stomach. They are moreover, when taken in a moderate quantity, generally innocent, and often have a friendly influence upon health and life. The effects of ardent spiritsdivide themselves f into such as are of a prompt, and such as are of a chronic nature. The former discover them- selves in drunkenness ; and the latter in a r numerous train of diseases and vices of the w body and mind. £ I. I shall begin by briefly describing their prompt, or immediate effects, in a fit of drunk- enness. This odious disease (for by that name it should be called) appears with more or less of the following symptoms, and most commonly in the order in which I shall enumerate them. 1. Unusual garrulity. a 2 6 ON THE EFFECTS 01 2. Unusual silence. 3. ('apt- usness, and a disposition to quarrel 4. Uncommon good humour, and an insipid simpering, or laugh. 5. Profane swearing, and cursing. 6. A disclosure of their own, or other people's secrets. 7. A rude disposition to tell those persons in company whom they know, their faults. 8. Certain immodest actions. I am sorry to sav, this sign of the first stage of drunkenness, sometimes appears in women, who, when sober, are uniformly remarkable for chaste and decent manners. 9. A clipping of words. 10 Fighting; a black eye, or a swelled nose, often mark this grade of diunkenness. 11 Certain extravagant acts which indicate a temporary fit of madness. These are singing, hallooing, roaring, imitating the noises of brute animals, jumping, tearing off clothes, dancing naked, breaking glasses and china, and dash- ing other articles of household furniture upon the ground, or floor. After a while the parox- ysm of drunkenness is completely tormed. The face now becomes flushed, the eyes, project, and are somewhat watery, winking is less frequent than is natural ; the under lip is protruded,— the head inclines a little to one shoulder ;—the jaw falls;—belchings and hickup take place—; the limbs tetter ;—the whole body staggers:— The unfortunate subject of this history ne x t falls on his seat,—Ik* louks around him with a vacant countenance, and mutters inarticulate sounds to himself;—he attempts to rise and walk. In this attempt, he falls upoii his side, from which h« gradually turns upon his back. Ele now closes his eyes, and falls into a profound sU-eo, & ARDENT SPIRITS. 7 j '-* frequently attended with snoring, and profuse sweats, and sometimes with such a relaxation of the muscles which confine the bladder and the lower bowels, «)s to produce a symptom which delicacy forbids me to mention. In this condi- tion, he ottenlies from ten, twelve, and twen- - ty-feur hours, totwo%three, four, and five days, an object of pity and disgust to his family and friends. His recovery from this fit of intoxica- r ^ tion, is marked with several peculiar appear- ances. He opens his eyes, and closes them , again;—he gapes and stretches his limbs,—he then coughs and pukes,—his voice is hoarse,— he rises with difficulty,and staggers to a chair; ' his eyes resemble balls of fire,—his hands tremble,—he loathes the sight of food;—he calls r i for a glass of spirits to compose his stomach— now and then tie emits a deep-fetched sigh, or j groan, from a transient twinge of conscience, but he more frequently scolds, and curses eve- ry thing around him. In this state of languor and stupidity, he rem ains for two or three days, before he is able to resume his former habits of business and conversation. rj Pythagoras,we are told.maintained'that the ;* souls of men after death, expiated the crimes committed by them in this world, by animat- f * ing certain brute animals ; and that the souls v of those animals, in their turns entered'into EN men, and carried with them all their peculiar 4j qualities and vices. This doctrine of one of the \ wisest and best of the Greek Philosophers, was probably intended only to convey a lively idea of the changes which are induced in the body and mind of man bv a fit of drunkenness. In folly, it causes him to resemble a calt,—in stu- pidity, an ass,—in roaring, a mad bull,—in quarrelling and fighting, a dog,—in cruelty, a 8 ON THE EFFECTS OF tvger,—in fetor, a skunk,—in filthiness, a hog,—and in obscenity, a he-goat it belongs to the history of drunkenness to remark, that its paroxysms occur, like the par- oxysms of many diseases,at certain periods,and after longer or shorter intervals. They often begin with annual, and gradually increase in their frequency, until they appear in quarterly, monchly,weekly, and quotidian or dailv periods. Finally they afford scarcely any marks of remission either during the day or the night There was a citizen ofPhiladelphia many years ago.in whom drunkenness appeared in this pro- tracted form. In speaking of him to one of his neighbours, I said, " Does he not sometimes get drunk r" " You mean," said his neighbour, " is he not sometimes sober?" It is further remarkable, that drunkenness resembles certain hereditary, family and conta- gious diseases. I have once known it to descend from a father to four out of five of his children. I have 6een three, and once four, brothers who were born of sober ancestors, affected by it, and I have heard of its spreading through a whole family composed of members not originally re- lated to each other. These tacts are important, and should not be overlooked by parents, in deciding upon the matrimonial connexions of their children. Let us next attend tothe chronic effects of ardent spirits upon the body and mind. In the bodv, they dispose to every form of acute dis- ease ; they moreover excite fevers in persons predisposed to them, from other causes. This has been remarked in all the yellow fevers which hive visited the cities of'the United States. Hard drinkers seldom escape, and rarely recov- er from them. The following diseases are the AKDtHT SPIRITS. 9 usual consequences of the habitual use of ardent spirits, viz. 1. A decay of appetite, sickness at stomach, and a puking of bile or a discharge of a frothy and viscid phlegm by hawking, in the morning. 2. Obstructions of the liver. The fable of Prometheus, on whose liver a vulture was said to prey constantly, as a punishment for his stealing fire from heaven, was intended to illus- trate the painful effects of ardent spirits upon that organ of the body. 3. Jaundice and dropsy of the belly and limbs, and finally of every cavity in the body. A swelling in the feet and legs is so character- istic a mark of habits of intemperance, that the merchants in Charleston, I have been told, cease to trust the planters of South Carolina, as soon as they perceive it They very natur- ally conclude industry and virtue to be extinct in that man, in whom that symptom of disease has been produced by the intemperate use of distilled spirits. 4. Hoarseness, and a husky cough, which often terminate in consumption, and sometimes in an acute and fatal disease of the lungs. 5. Diabetes, that is, a frequent and weaken- ing discharge of pale, or sweetish urine. 6. Redness, and eruptions on different parts of the body. They generally begin on the nose, and after gradually extending all over the face, sometimes descend to the limbs in the form of leprosy. They have been called " Rum-buds," when they appear in the face. In persons who have occasionally survived these effects of ardent spirits on the skin, the face after a while becomes bloated, and its redness is suc- ceeded by a death-hke paleness. Thus the same fire which produces a red colour in iron. 10 ON THE EFFECTS O* when urged to a more intense degree,produc- es what has been called a white heat 7. A fetid tireath, composed of every thing that is offensive in putrid animal matter. 8. Frequent and disgusting uelchings. Dr. Haller relates the case of a notorious drunkard having been suddenly destroyed in coniequence of the vapour discharged from his stomach uy belching, accidentally taking iire by coming in contact with the flame of a candle. 9. Epilepsy. 10. Gout, in all its various forms of swelled limbs, colic, palsy, and apoplexy. Lastly, 11. Madness. The late Dr. Waters, while he acted as house pupil and apothecary of the Pennsylvania Hospital, assured me, that in one third of the p; .tients confined by this terri- ble disease.it had been induced by ardent spirits. Most of the diseases which have been enume- rated are of a mortal nature. They are more certainly induced, and terminate more speedily in death, when spirits are taken in such quanti- ties, and at such times, as to produce frequent intoxication; but it may serve to reineve an error with which some intemperate people con- sole themselves, to remark, that -oul a host of vices and crimes. A more affecting spectacle cannot be exhib- ited than a j ei sen into whom this infernal spir- it, generated by habits of intemperance, has entered. It is more or less affecting according to the station the person fills in a family, or in society, who is poss-essed by it Is he a hus- band r How deep the anguish which rends the bosom of his wife ! Is she a wife ? Who can measure the shame and a\ ersi( a minister of the gospel ? Here language fails me.—If angels weep—it Is at such a sight. In pointing out the evils produced by ardent spirits, let us not pass by their effects upon the estates of the persons whoare addicted to them. Are they inhabitants of cities ? Behold ! their houses stripped gradually of their furniture,and | pawned, or sold by a constable, to pay tavern ] debts. See ! their names upon record in the ^ dockets of every court, and whole pages of newspapers filled with advertisements of their J estates for public sale. Are they inhabitants of 1 country places ? Behold ! their houses with 1 shattered windows.—their barns with leaky I roofs,—their gardens overrun with weeds,— their fields with broken fences, their hogs with- i out yokes,their sheep without wool,—their cat- tle and horses without fat,—and their childrea 4 filthy and half clad, without manners, princi- : pies, and morals. This picture of agricultural J wretchedness is seldom of long duration. The I farms and property thus neglected, and depre- * dated, are seized and sold for the benefit ot a group of creditors. The children that were born with the prospect of inheriting them are bound out to service in the neighbourhood; I while their parents, the unworthy authors of their misfortunes, ramble into new and distant settlements, alternately led on their way by the hand of charity, or a little casual labour. Thus we see poverty and misery, crimes and infamy, diseases and death, are all the natural and usual consequences of the intemperate use of ardent spirits. ARDENT SPIRITS. 13 I have classed death among the consequences . «f hard drinking. But it is not death from the immediate hand of the Deity, nor from any of theuistruments of it which were created by him. It ft death from suicide. Yes—thou poor i the human body in which ardent spirits may be given ? I answer—there arc. 1st. When the body has beevi suddenly exhausted of its strength, and a disposition to faintness has b«'en induced. Here a few spoonfuls, or a wine-glass full of spirits, | * Inquiry into the causes which produce, and the mcan.t offirevsr-'tinq diseases among British * officers, soldiers and others in the West-Indies. I ARDKNT il'IRIRS. lj with or without water, may be administered with safety and advantage. In this case we comply strictly with the advice of Solomon, who restricts the use of " strong drink" only " to hirn who is ready to perish."—2dly. When the bodv has been exposed for a long time to wet weather, more especially, if it be combined with cold. Here a moderate quantity of spirits is not only safe, but highly proper to obviate debility, and to prevent a fever. They will more certainly nave those salutary effects, if the feet arc at the same time bathed with them, or a halfpint of them poured into the shoes or boots. These I believe are the only two cases in which distilled spirits are useful or necessary I to persons in health. * PART II. JJUT it may be said, if we reject spirits from ' being a part of our drinks, what liquors shall we substitute in their room ? I answer in the first place, 1. Simple Water. I have known many instances of persons who have followed the most laborious employments for many years, in the open air, and in warm and cold weather, who " never drank any thing but water, and enjoyed it unintermptcd good health. Dr. Mosely, who ■ ressdedm my yearsui the West-Indies, confirms " this remark. " I aver, (says the Doctor) from my own knowledge and custom, as well as the custom and observations of many other people, ^ that those who drink nothing but water, or [ make it their principal drink, are little affected 1 by the climate, and can undergo the greatest fatigue without inconvenience, and are never subject to troublesome or dangerous diseases " 16 C.\ THE EFFECTS OF Persons who are unable to relish this simple beverage of nature, may drink some one, or of all the following liquors, in preference to ardent spirits. J 2. Cyder. This excellent liquor contains a small quantity of spirit, but so diluted, and blunted by being combined witk a large quan- | t'rty of sugar matter, and water, as to he perfectly wholesome. It sometimes disagrees with persons subject to the rhenmatism, but it may be made inoffensive to such people, by ex- tinguishing a red hot iron in it, or by mixing it with water. It is to be lamented that the late frosts in the spring so often deprive us of the fruit which affords this liquor. The effects of these frosts have been in some measure obviat- ed by giving an orchard a north-west exposure, so as to check too early .vegetation, and by kind- ling two or three large fires of brush, or straw, to the windward of the orchard, the evening before we expect a night of frost. This last expedient has in many instances preserved the . fruit of an orchard to the great joy and emolu- ment of the ingenious husbandman. 3. Malt Liquors. The grain from which . these liquorsare obtained, is not liable, like the apple, to be affected by frost, and therefore they can be procured, at all times, and at a mod*-r- ate price.The) contain a good deal of nourish- j ment; hence we find many of the poor people in Great Britain endure hard labour with no other food than a quart or three pints of beer, with aiew pounds of bread in a day. As it will be difficult to prevent small beer from be* ! comingsour in warm weather, anexcellent sub- stitute may be made for it by mixing bottled poi-ter, ale, or strong beer, with an equal quan- tity of water; or a pleasant beer may be made ardent spirits. l.T by adding to a bottle of porter, ten quarts of water, and a pound of brown sugar or a pint of molasses. After they have been well nvxed, {wur the liquor into bottles and place them oosely corked, in a cool cellar. In two or three days, it will be fit for use. A spoonful of gin- ger added to the mixture, renders it more live- ly and agreeable to the taste. 4. Wines. These fermented liquors arc composed of the same ingredients ascyder.and are both cordial and nourishing. The peasants of France win drink mem in large quantities, arc a sober and healthy Iwxly of people. Unlike -ardent spirits,which render! lie temper irritable wines generally inspire cheerfulness and good humour. It is to be lamented that the grape has not as yet been sufficiently cultivated in our country, to afford wine for our citizens ; - but many excellent substitutes may be made for it, from the native fruits of all the States. If two barrels of cyder fresh from the press.are boiled into one, and afterwards fermented, and kept for two or three years in a dry cellar, it affords a liquor which according to the quality of the apple from which the cyder is made, has the taste of Malaga, or Rhenish wine. It affords, when mixed with water.a most agreeable drink in summer. 1 have taken the liberty of calling it Pomok a Wike. There is another method of making a pleasant wine from the apple, by adding four and twenty gallons of new cyder to three gallonsof syi-up made from the expres- sed juice of sweet ap;ilcs. When thoroughly fermented, and kept for a few years, it becomes fit for use. The blackberry of our fields, and the raspberry, and currant of our gardens, af- ford likewise annjjrveublc and wholesome wine, when presicdaml mixed with certain nropor- s 2 18 ©N THE EFFECTS OF tions ol sugar and water, and a little spirit, to counteract the imposition to an excessive fer- mentation. Ic is no objection to these cheap and h .me-made wines, that they are unfit for use until they arc two or three years old. The foreign winesin common use in our country, reqihit not i nly amuch longer time to bring them to perfection, but to prevent their being; disagreeable t ven to the taste. 5. Molases and Water, also Vinegar andWATER sweetene;' with -ugar or molasses, form an agreeable drink in warm weather. It is pleasant and cooling, and ter..ls to keep up those gentle and uniform sweats on which health and life often depend. Vinegar and n-ater cin- stituted the only drink of the soldiers of the Roman republic, and it is well known they marched and fought in a warm olimnte, and beneath a lead of arms which weighed sixty pounds. Bcrnj, r wealthy farmer in Palestine, we find treated his vpapcrs with nothing but bread dipped in vinegar. To such persons as object to the taste of vinegar, sour milk, or buttermilk, or sweet milk diluted with water, may be given in its stead. I have known the labour of the lougest and hottest days in sum- mer supported by means of these pleasant ard wholesome drinks with great firmness, r.i.d ended with scarcely a complaint of iViti«uc 5. The Sugar Maple affords a thin juice which has long been used bv the farmers in Connecticut as a cool and refreshing drink in the time of harvest The sr Ulers in the West- ern counties of the middle Statrs will f'■> well to kt a few of the trees which yield this ie.^aiit juice, remain In nil their fields. Thcv may prove the means not o:-ly of saving their chil- dren and grand-children many hundred pounds, ARDENT SPIRITS. 19 , but of saving their bodies from disease and m death, and their souls from misery beyond the W grave. 9 6. Coffee possesses agreeable and exhilar- !P ating qualities, and might be used with great ■ advantage to obviate the painful effects of heat, m cold and fatigue upon the body. I once knew W a country physicinn who made it a practice to B drink a pint < f strong coffee previous to his taking a long or cold ride. It was more cor- dial to him than spirits, in any of the forms in which they are commonly used. The use of the cold bath in the morning, and , of the warm bath in the evening, are happily calculated to slrensjihen the body the former part of the day, and to restore it in the latter from the languor and fatigue which are in duced by heat and labour. Let it not be sajd, ardent spirits have become necessary from habit in harvest, and in other seasons of uncommon and arduous labour. The habit is a bad le then i to support the waste of their strength, their stomachs should be constantly, but moderately ] stimulated by aliment, and tins is best done by their eating four or five times in a dav, during 1 the seasons of great bodily exertion. 1" he food J at this time should be solid, consisting chiefly of " salted meat. The vegetablesused with it should possess some activity, or they should be made savoury by a mixture of spices. Onions and J garlic are of a most cordial nature. They com- posed a part of the diet which enabled the Isra • elites to endure, in a warm climate, the heavy tasks imposed upon them by their Egyptian masters ; and they were eaten, Horace and Vir- gil tell us, by the Roman farmers, to repair the waste of their strength, by the toils of harvest There are likewise certain sweet substances which support the body under the oressui e of labour. The negroes in the West-Indies become strong.and even fat, by drinking the juice of the sugar cane in the season of grinding it The { Jewish soldiers were invigorated by occasion- , ally eating raisins and figs. A bread composed of wheat flour, molasses, and ginger (com- monly called gingerbread) taken in small quan- * titiesduring the day, is happily calculated to obviate the debility induced upon the body by constant labour. All these subitanccs^vhether ARDENT SPIRITS, &\ of an animal or vegetable nature, lessen the desire.as well as the necessity for cordial drinks, and impart equable and durable strength to every part of the system. 2. Valetudinarians, especially those who are afflicted with diseases of the stomach and bow- els, are very apt to seek relief from ardent spirits. Let such people be cautious how they make use of this dangerous remedy. I have known many men and women of excellent char- acters and principles, who have been betrayed by occasional.doses of gin and brandy, into a love of those liquors, and have afterwards fal- len sacrifices to their fatal effects. The different preparations of opium are much more safe and efficatious than distilled cordials of any kbid, in flatulent or spasmodic affections of the stomach ana bowels. So great is the danger of con- tracting a love for distilled liquors by accus- toming the stomach to their stimulus, that as few medicines as possible should be given in spiritous vehicles, in chronic diseases. A physi- cian of great eminence, and uncommon worth, who died towards the close of the last century, in London, in taking leave of a young physi- cian of this city, who had finish 'd his studies under his patronage,impressed this caution with peculiar force upon him, and lamented at the same time, in pathetic terms, that he had inno- cently made many sots by prescribing brandy and water in stomach complaints. It is diffi- cult to tell how many persons have been de- stroved by those physicians who have adopted Dv. Brown's indiscriminate practice in the use of stimulating remedies, the most popular of which is ardent spirits , but it is well known, several of them have died of intemperance in this city, since the year 1790. They were prob- 22 ON THE EFFF.CTS Of ably led to it, by drinking brandy and water to relieve themselves from the frequent attacks of debility and indisposition to which the laboun of a physician expose him, and for which rest, fasting, a gentle purge, or weak diluting drink'; r would have been more safe and more certain cares. None of these remarks are intended to pre- | elude the use of spirits in the low state of short, * or what are called acute diseases ; for in such | cases, they produce their effects too soon to I create an habitual desire for them. 3. Some people, from living in countries sub- g ject to intermitting fevers, endeavour to fortify 1 themselves against them, by taking two or three wine-glasses of bitters, made with spirits, every day. There is great danger of contracting habits of intemperance from this practice. Be- sides, this mode of preventing intermittents, is far from being a certain one, a much better se- j| curity against them, is a tea-spoonful of the Jesuits bark, taken every morning during a sickly season. If this safe and excellent medi- cine cannot be had, a gill or half a pint of a strong watery infusion of centaury, camomile, wormwood, or rue, mixed with a little of the calamus of our meadows, may be taken every grog and toddy, that men have been led to i; love them in their more destructive mixturesand in their simple state. Under the impression of !this truth, wereit possible for me tospeak,with !< a voice so loud as to, be heard from the river ' 3t Croix, to the remotest shores of the Missi- 1 smpi, which bound the territory of the United I States, I would say,—Friends and Fellow-Citi- S zcns! avoid the habitual use of those two sedu- | ting liquors, whether they be made with brandy, ' nun.gin Jamaica spirits,whiskey, or what is cal- •j led cherry bounce. It is true, some men, by lim- ' iting the strength of those drinks, by measuring ' the spirit and water, have drunken them for I many years, and even during a long life, whh- I out acquiring habits of intemperance or intoxi- ] cation; but many more have been insensibly led by drinking weak toddy, and grog first at their meals, to take them for their constant drink, in the intervals of their meals; afterwards to take f them, of an increased strength, before breakfast i in the morning, and finally to destroy them- selves by drinking undiluted spirits, during eve- ry hour of the day and night I am not singu- lar in this remark. "The consequences of £i drinking rum and water, or grog as it is called, *' (says Dr. Mosely) is, that habit increases the desire of more spirit, and decreases its effects; . and there are very few grog-drinkers, who long survive the practice of debauching with it with; ' out acquiring the odious nuisance ofdram-drink- 22 ON THE EFFECTS OF I ers breath, and downright stupidity and impo M tence."* To enforce the caution against the >1 use of those two apparently innocent and popu d lar liquors still further,Ishall select one instance ■ from among many, to shew the ordinary man- M ner, in which they beguile and destroy their vo- m taries. A citizen of Philadelphia, once of a fair 1 andsober character,dranktoddy formany years, 1 as his constant drink. From this he proceeded 4 to drink grog. After a while, nothing would Jj satisfy him, but slings made of equal parts of J rum and water, w ith a little sugar. From slin gs, jl he advanced to raw rum, and from common m mm, to Jamaica spirits. Here he rested for a ™ few months, but at length finding even Jamaica pj -pirits were not strong enough to warm his sto- j mach, he made it a constant practice to throw a table-spoonful of ground pepper into each glass of his spirits, in order, to use hisown words, " to take off their coldness." He soon after- wards died a martyr to his intemperance. Ministers of the gospel, of every denomination in the United States!—aid me with all the weight you possess in society, from the dignity and usefulness of your sacred office, to save our fellow-men from being destroyed by the great destroyer of their lives and souls. In order more successfully to effect this purpose, permit me to suggest to you, to employ the same wise modes oi instruction, which you use in your attempts to prevent their destruction by other vices. Vou expose the evils of covetousness, in order to prevent tlieft; you point out the sinfulness of < impure desires, in order to prevent adultery ; , And you dissuade from anger, and malice, inor * tier to prevent murder. In like manner, de \ * Treatise on Tropical Disease*. ARDENT spians 27 nouncc, by your preaching, conversation and ex- amples, the seducinginfluenee of toddy and grog, when you aim to prevent all the crimes and mis- eries which are the offspring of strong drink. We have hitherto considered the effects of anient spirits upon individuals, and the means of preventing tnem. I shall close this head of our inquiry, by a few remarks on their effects upon the population and welfare of our country, and the means of obviating them. It is highly probable, not less than 4000 peo- ple die annually, from the use of ardent spirits, in the United States. Should they centinne to exert this deadly influence upon our population, where will their evils terminate ? Thi6 question may be answered by asking, where are all the Indian tribes, whose numbers and arms formerly •pread terror amongtheircivilized neighbours? ' I answer in the words of the famous Mingo Chief, "the blood of many of them flows notinthe veins of any human creature" They have per- ished, not by pestilence, nor war, but by a great- er foe to human life than either of them,—'Ar- dent Spirits. The loss of 4000 American citi- zens, by the yellow fever, in a single year, awak- ened general sympathy and terror, and called forth all the strength and ingenuity of laws, to prevent its recurrence. Why is not the same zeal manifested in protecting our citizens from the more general and consuming ravages of dis- tilled spirits ?—Should the customs of civilized life,preserve our nation from extinction,and even from an increase of mortality, by those liquors; ' they cannot prevent our country being governed by men, chosen by intemperate and corrupted voters. From such legislators, the republic would s«on be in danger. To avert this evil,—>. <*. letgood men of every class unite and besiege the 28 ON THE EFFECTS U* general and state governments, with petitions to 'j limit the number of taverns—to impose heavy duties upon ardent spirits—to inflict a mark of disgrace, or a temporary abridgement of so ue civil right, upon every man, convicted of drunk- enness ; and finally, to secure the property of habitual drunkards, for the benefit of their fam- ilies, by placing it in the hands of trustees, ap- pointed for that purpose, by a court of justice. To aid the operation of these laws, would it not be extremely useful for the rulers of the dif- ferent denominations of Christian churches to unite.and render the sale and consumption of ar- dent spirits a subject of ecclesiastical jurisdic- tion i—The Methodists, and society of Friends, ( have for some time past, viewed them as contra-1 J band articles, to the pure laws of the gospel,and have borne many puhhc and private testimonies against making them the objects of com- merce. Their success in this benevolent entcr- prise,affords ample encouragement for all oth- « er religious societies to follow their example, < PART III. It E come now to the third part of this In- ' quiry ; that is, to mention the remedes for the j evils which are brought on by the excessive use of distilled spirits. These remedies divide themselves into two kinds. L Such as are proper to cure a fit of drunk- « enness; and II. Such as are proper to prevent its recur- rence, and to destroy a desire for ardent spirits. I. I am aware that the efforts of science and ] humanity,in applying their resources to the cure of a disease induced bv an act of vice.wul meet with a cold reception from many people. But ARDENT SPIRITS. 29 let such people remember, the subjects of our remedies are their fellow creatures, and that the miseries brought upon human nature, by its crimes, are as much the objects of divine com- passion,(which we are bound to imitate)as the distresses which are brought upon men, by the crimes of other people,or which they bring upon themselves, by ignorance or accidents. Let us not then pass by the prostrate sufferer from strong drink,but administer to him the same re- lief.wewould afford to a fellow creature,in a sim- ilar state.from an accidental and innocent cause. 1. TThe first thing to be done to cure a fit of drunkenness, is to open the collar, if in a man, and remove all tight ligatures from every other part of the body. The head and shoulders should at the same time be elevated, so as to fa- vour a more feeble determination of the blood to the brain. 2. The contents of the stomach should be dis- charged,by thrusting a feather down the throat. It often restores the patient immediately to his senses and feet Should it fail of exciting a puk- ing, 3. A napkin should be wrapped round the head, and wetted an hour or two with cold wa- ter, or cold water should be poured in a stream upon the head. In the latter way, I have some- times seen it used when a boy, in the chy of Phil- adelphia. It was applied, by dragging the pa- tient, whenfounddrunk in thestreet,to a pump, and pumping water upon his head for ten or fif- teen minutes. The patient generally rose, and walked off", sober and sullen, after the use of this remedy. Other remedies, less common.but not less ef- fectual for a fit of drunkenness are, c 2 JO ON THE EFFECTS OF 4. Plunging the whole body into cold vnt't. A number ot gentlemen who had drunken to in toxication, on board ot a sliip in the stream near Fell's point, at Baltimore, in consequence of their reeling in a small boat,ou their way to the shore, in the evening, overset it, and fell into the water. Several boats from the shore hurried to their re- lief. They were all picked up, and went home, perfectly sober, to their families. 5. Terror. A number of young merchants, who had drunken together,in a coinpting-house, on James river, above thirty years ago.until they were intoxicated,were carried away by a sudden rise of the rivei, from an immense fall of rain. They floated several miles with the current, in their little cabin, half filled with water. An isl- and in the river arrested it. When they reached the shore thatsaved their lives, they were all so- ber. It is probable terror assisted in the cure of the persons who fell into the water at Baltimore. 6. The excitement of a fit of anger. Tlie late Dr. Witherspoon used to tell a story of a man in Scotland, who was always cured of a fit of drunkenness, by being made angry. The mean chosen fcr that purpose, was a singular one. It was talking against religion. 7. A severe whipping. This remedy acts by exciting a revulsion of the blood from the brain, to the external parts of the bod}'. ' 8. Profuse sweats. By means of this evacu- ation, nature sometimes cures a fit of drunken- ness. Their good effects are obvious in labourers whom quarts of spirits taken in a day will sel- dom intoxicate, while they sweat freely. If the patient be ur.able to swallow warm drinks, in order to produce sweats, they may be excited by putting him in a warm bath,or wrapping his body in blankets, under which should b- pearances of rain, while he was in market. His nay was cut, and ready to be housed. To save it,' he returned in haste to his farm, before he ,::< on the Errcci 'ji- had taken his customary dese of grog. Upon coming intohis house, one of his children, a boy of six years old, ran to his mother, and cried out, "O ! mother, father is come home, and he is not drunk." The father, who heard this exclamation, was so severely rebuked by it, that he suddenly became a sober man. A noted drunkard was once followed by a favourite goat, to a tavern, into which he' was invited by his master, and drenched with some of his liquor. The poor animal staggered home with his master, a good deal intoxicated. The next dav he followed him to his accustomed tav- ern. When the goat came to the door, he paus- ed : his master made signs to him to follow him into the house. The goat stood still. An at- tempt was made to thrust him into the tavefn. He resisted, as if struck with the recollection of what he suffered from being intoxicated the' night before. His master was so much affec-.. ted by a sense of shame, in observing the con- duct of his goat to be so much more rational than his own, that he ceased from that time to drink spirituous liquors. A gentleman in one of the southern states, who had nearly destroyed himselfby strongdrink was remarkable for exhibiting the grossest marks of folly-in his fits of intoxication. One evening, sitting in his parlour, »he heard an uncommon noise in his kitchen. He went to the door, and peeped through the kev-hole, from whence he saw one of his negroes diverting his fellow-ser- vants, by mimicking his master's gestures and conversation when he was drunk.—The sight overwhelmed him with shame and distress, and instantly became the means of his reformation. 4. The association of the idea of ardent spirits, with a painful or disagreeable impression pon !>* if' ARDiNT SPIRIT5. 33 , opart of the body, has sometimes cured the love of strong drink. I once tempted a negro man, who was habitually fond 01 aident spirits, to drink some rum (wi.xh 1 placed in his way) and in which I had put a few grams of tartar emetic.—The tartar sickened and puked him to such a degree, that he supposed himself to be poisoned. I was much gratified by observ- ing he could not bear the sight not smed of spirits for two years afterwards. I have heard of a man, who was cured of the love of spirits, by working off a puke, by large draughts of brandy and water ; and I know a gentleman, who, in consequence of beirg affec- ed with a rheumatism,immediately aiter di ink- ing some toddy, when overcome with fatigue and exposure to the rain, has ever since loathed that liquor, only because it was acciden,tuljv .as- fe^Ciated in his memory with the recollection of thepain he suffered from his disease. ' This appeal to that operation of the human mind, which obliges it to associate ideas, acci- dentally or otherwise combined, for the cure of vice, is very ancient It was resorted to by Mo- ses, when he compelled the children of Israel, to drink the solution of the golden calf (which they had idolized) in water. This solution, if made asit most probably was, by means of what is called hepar sulphuris, was extremely bitter, and nauseous, and could never be recoltofted af- . ■ te rwards, without bringing into equal detestation, the sin which subjected them to the necessity of * drinking it. Our knowledge of this principle of association upon the minds and conduct of men,should lead us to destroy, by means of other impressions, the influence of all those circum- stances, with which the recollection and desire of spirits are combined. Some men drink only » 34 C>N THE EFFECTS OF , somes in the mor/u/igYsoifle at noon, and some Some men drink only on a.mwketday, somtat one tavern only, and some only in one kind o. company. Now by finding a new and interest- ing employment, or subject of conversation for drunkardsat the usual times in which they have been accustomed to drink, and by restraining them by the same means from those places and companions, which suggested to them the idea of ardent spirits, their habits of intemperance may be completely destroyed. In the same way the periodical returns of appetite, and a desire of sleep have been destroyed in an hundred in- stances. The desire for strong drink, differs from each of them, in being of an artificial na- ture, and therefore not disposed to return,after being chased for a few weeks from the system. 5. The love of ardent spirits has sometimes been subdued, by exciting a counter passion in the mind. A citizen of Philadelphia, had made many unsuccessful attempts to cure his wife of' drunkenness. At length, despairing of her ref- ormation, he purchased a hogshead of rum, and after tapping it, left the key in the door of the room in which it was placed, as if he had for- gotten it. His design was to give his wife an op- portunity of drinking herself to death. She suspected this to be his motive, in what he had done, and suddenly left off drinking. Resent- ment here became the antidote to intemperance. 6. A diet consisting wholly of vegetables cu- red a physician in Maryland of drunkenness. probably by lessening that thirst, which is al'< ways more or less excited by animal food. 7. Blisters to the ankles, which were follow- ed by an unusnal degree of inflammation, once suspended the love of ardent spirits, for one month, in a lady in this city. The degrees* off a..j_ . i FIH>TS. 3S ' fWr intemperance may be conceived of -when I r add,that her grocer's accomptfor brandy alone, [' amounted annually, to one hundred pounds, : Pennsylvania currency, for several years. 3. A violent attack of an acute, disease, has sometimes destroyed a habit of drinking distill- ed liquors. I attended a notorious drunkard, in the yellow fever, in the year 1798, who re- toveredwith the loss of his relish for spirits, ' which has, I believe, continued ever since. 9.A salivation has lately performed a cure of drunkenness in a person in Virginia. The new disease excited in the mouth andthroat,while it rendered the action of the smallest quantity of spirits upon them, pafciful,was happily calculat- ed to destroy the disease in the stomach which prompts to drinking, as well as to render the recollection ot them disagreeable, by the laws (lv (^association formerly mentioned. ! ',' 10.1 have known an oath taken before a mag- istrate, to drink no nore spirits, produce a per- fect cure of drunkenness. It is sometimes cur- "E^Sll in this way in Ireland. Persons who take oaths for this purpose, are called affidavit men. 11. An advantage would prebably arise from frequent representationsbeingmadete drunk- ards, not only of the certainty, but of the sucWew- ness of death, from habits of intemperance, I haveheard of twopersohs being cured of the love of ardent spirits,by §eeing death suddenly induc- ed by fits of intoxication ; in the one case in a stranger, and in the other in an intimate friend. 12. It has been said, that the disuse of spirits *''■"' Aould be gradual; but my observations author- ise me to say, that persons who have been ad- dicted to them, should abstain from them sud- denly and entirely . " Taste not, handle no.t, 0 36 ON THE 'EFFECTS OF,^t. 1 1 touch not," should be inscribed upon every v^. sel that contains spirits in the house of a maji who wishes to be cured of habits of intemptr- a» ce. To obvkte f«>r a while, the debility whfch ai ises from the sudden abstraction of the stimu- lus of spirits, laudanum, or bitters infused in water, should be taken, and perhaps a larger .1 3uantity < f beer or wine thap is consistent with $ le strict rules of temperate living. By the temporary use of these substitutes for spirits, I h*ve never known the transition to sober habil to be attended with aay badefferts, but often wi permanent health of body, and peace of mind rv THE END. . **•: