and then float on their sides or back to the surface, incapable of retaining their proper position in the water. The effects of alcohol have also been tried on dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, and guinea-pigs. Four drachms injected into the jugular vein of a dog, coagulated the blood, and caused instant death, (Orfila.) Introduced into the stomach of cats, dogs, or rabbits, it produces an apoplectic condition, preceded by a strong excitement of the brain, (Brodie and Orfila.) In such cases, the mucous membrane of the stomach, is found highly inflamed. The local effects of alcohol on man, vary with the strength of the liquid, the substances with which it is combined, the quantity taken, and the constitution of the patient. In all cases it acts as a powerfully irritant and caustic poison. Wherever it is applied, it causes contraction and condensation of the tissues, and gives rise to pain, heat, redness, and other symptoms of inflammation. These effects depend on the chemical influence of alcohol over the constituents of the tissues; for its strong affinity for water, causes it to abstract the latter from soft living parts, with which it comes in contact; and when these are of an albuminous or fibrinous nature, it coagulates the liquid albumen and fibrin, and thus increases the density of the tissue. Dr. Thomson sup poses that the irritation and inflammation set up in parts to which alcohol is applied, depend partly on the resistance which the living tissue makes to the chemical influence of the poison; in other words, that it is the reaction of the vital powers, brought about by the chemical action of alcohol. The first effects of alcohol, therefore, we find to be a condensation and thickening of the coats of the stomach; but long continued irritation and inflammation, cause complete disorganization, breaking down the tissues into a soft, pulpy mass, bearing no resemblance whatever to the original healthy mem brane. It is therefore to be expected, that the inebriate should have no appetite for food; and that the stomach should reject it, until the spplication of the wonted stimulus, has raised its sensibility.-A. ED. CHAPTER XV. INTOXICATING LIQUORS CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THEIR EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM. Ebrietas est voluntaria insania.-SENECA. THE brain and its functions rank above all other portions of the animal economy in importance. Its compli cate and delicate structure combined with its intimate connexion with the faculties of the mind, renders it a matter of peculiar necessity that it should be guarded from all such injury and improper excitement as might tend to interfere with its exquisite harmony, or in the slightest degree derange the order of its healthful operations. • We have shown that the first effects of alcohol are local; inflaming and destroying the vitality of the coats of the stomach; but the shock is soon communicated through the nerves, to the brain and spinal marrow, and hence propagated to every fibre in the system. But alcohol not only affects the brain sympathetically, but is also absorbed, and thus directly applied through the medium of the blood, to the delicate structure of the brain. In 1824, M. Flourens having laid bare the skull of a sparrow, administered six drops of alcohol to the bird. In a few minutes, the animal began to be unsteady, both in walking and flying; after some time, a dark-red spot appeared on the skull, in the region of the cerebellum, and became larger and deeper coloured, in proportion as the alcohol more powerfully affected the animal. In some other experiments, M. Flourens observed that alcohol produced the same effects on the movements of birds, as the removal of the cerebellum occasioned; but that when alcohol was adininistered, the animal lost the use of his senses and intellectual faculties; whereas, when the cere bellum was removed, no a.cohol being given, he preserved them. From these experiments, Flourens concludes, that alcohol, in a certain dose, acts specifically on the cerebellum; that in larger doses, it affects other parts also, and that its physical action on the cerebellum, is the same as a mechanical lesion. That alcohol reaches the brain through the blood, has been generally believed by physicians, for a long time; but it has not been shown by satisfac tory experiments till lately. Mr. John Percy, a late graduate of the University of Edinburgh, states in his Prize Essay, (London, 1839,) that after poisoning dogs with alcohol, he has obtained it by distilling portions of the brain; and concludes, from the fact, that he obtained a larger quantity of spirit from a certain weight of the cerebral mass, than from an equal weight of blood, taken from other parts of the body, that there is some peculiar Apoplexy, Palsy, Epilepsy, and Hysteria, are among those diseases of the brain, which are not unfrequently brought on by intemperate indulgence.* Dr. Trotter relates an instance, of a gentleman, an acquaintance of his, who was subject to what he terms periodical apoplexy, and who had so frequent a recurrence of the disease, that he could foretell to his relations the exact period of a new paroxysm. After each attack, certain paralytic affections commonly remained. This gentleman had not the apoplectic make, was upwards of seventy years of age, was accustomed to much country exercise, and always very moderate in the use of wine. At this time, however, he could not take two glasses without defect of voice and speech, and stupor coming on. In this situation, he had upwards of thirty distinct fits of apoplexy, the greater part of which Dr. Trotter himself witnessed. In one of them the patient died.† Many of the diseases, in the present day, peculiar to females, may be attributed to the use of intoxicating liquors, and in particular those which are found among the poor. These evils, however, are not unknown among the higher ranks of society.‡ annity between the brain and the spirit. He also obtained alcohol, by distilling portions of the urine, bile, and liver. These are important results, and a step in advance of our previous knowledge on this subject.-AM. ED. "In seven cases out of ten," observes Dr. Macnish, "malt liquor drunkards die of apoplexy or palsy." Dr. Trotter remarks, that he knew a number of persons of both sexes, but particularly seamen, who were subject to epilepsy, and never got drunk without a fit coming on.-Essay on Drunkenness, p. 116. Attacks of this description frequently arise in persons, who do not indulge to great excess. "" Many persons cannot get slightly intoxicated without having an epileptic or other convulsive attack. These fits generally arise in the early stages, before drunkenness has got to a height." -Macnish's Anatomy of Drunkenness, p. 150. Essay on Drunkenness, p. 114. "Females," he remarks, "affected with hysteria, with scarcely an exception, consume, three, four, or five glasses of wine in the day, their inconsiderate fathers, husbands, or brothers, ever pressing them to take wine. When I prescribe a regimen for such patients, I generally prohibit the use of wine, and this promotes their recovery more than ammonia, valerian, assafoetida, or any of those remedies which are thought to act powerfully on the nerves, and which certainly do act powerfully on the first pair (olfactory.) Very often will the patient ask if she must of necessity drink wine, as her friends seem anxious to make her a drunkard; and when I reply, that she must not have wine, nor any kind of strong liquor, she expresses the utmost gratification, declaring that she had all along felt that wine disagreed with her stomach, causing flushing, and a degree of feverish irritability, and aggravating every distressing symptom of her complaint, and that it will be the greatest relief to her possible to be allowed to give it up. membered also," remarks the same experienced physician, "that in men, and more especially in studious men, that species of nervousness, which so much resembles hysteria, is often maintained by the daily use of fermented liquors, even in a moderate quantity."-Letter on Wine and Spirits, p. 6. "Be it re Delirium tremens, or delirium with tremor, forms one of the most dreadful and appalling of the catalogue of diseases brought on by intemperance. Its synonyme, paraphrosyne, is derived from Tapa erroneously, and pove I understand, an erroneous state of the mind. This disease is more or less fatal in its consequences, in proportion to the previous habits and constitution of its victims. Those persons are the least likely to recover, whose systems have, for a considerable period, laboured under incessant excitement from the free use of spirituous liquors. To produce this condition of the system, it is not necessary that an extreme degree of intoxication be superinduced. It is not unusual for individuals to be capable of attending to the concerns of life with some degree of propriety, and yet be in such a state, that at some favourable opportunity, this terrible disease shall suddenly display itself in all its terrific characters. By some medical writers delirium tremens has been looked upon as forming a sort of connecting link between mania and fever." Armstrong remarks, that “in persons whose constitutions have been broken down by the long use of ardent spirits, the simple typhus is now and then accompanied with fits of wild and almost maniacal delirium."* Pale countenance, extreme anxiety about the most trivial circumstances, combined with frightful dreams, stomachic derangement, and irregular pulsation, are among the most prominent of those distressing prognostic symp toms, which stamp the character of this disorder, and indicate its awful approach. The mind becomes indescribably harassed with phantasies of the most hideous and unnatural description. Objects most calculated to produce loathsome and horrifying feelings, keep the unfortunate sufferer in a state of inexpressible disquietude and anxiety. At one period, for example, they imagine disgusting vermin to be creeping about the body; at other times, dangers of an appalling description, are looked upon as holding out pros pects of momentary destruction-while the most alarming suspicions are entertained, even of those, who, under dif ferent circumstances, were esteemed as valued relations and friends. Under judicious medical treatment, this disease is, often controlled. When neglected, however, or improperly treated, it is almost certain to have a fatal termination. The patient, in this event, is not unfrequently carried off in convulsions. Delirium tremens, however, * Armstrong on Fever. may terminate, either in decided madness, or confirmed idiotism; to either of which, perhaps, death would be a preferable alternative. A modified species of this disease is exceedingly common among those who are habitually addicted to intemperate habits. It is attended with considerable nervous derangement, and spectral illusions peculiarly of an unpleasing character. The same symptoms, although in a diminished degree, are often witnessed after even moderate vinous indulgence, as the nervous depression, and tremulous appearances which follow, clearly demonstrate.* Madness and Idiocy are, in the present day especially, familiar and deplorable consequences of intemperate drinking. A fit of intoxication is in reality an exhibition of temporary madness, followed as it usually is, by striking imbecility. The diseases in question are the result only of a similar and permanent action on the brain and nervous system.† Seneca wisely observed-Ebrietas est voluntaria insania.‡ • The proportion of insane in Scotland, was some years • Dr. Copland of London, between the years 1820 and 1832, had about nineteen cases under his care. Dr. S. Jackson of America states, that he has treated upwards of two hundred cases. Dr. Carter of Philadelphia makes a similar statement. Dr. Ware has seen more than one hundred, and Dr. Wright asserts, that he has received in the Institution at Baltimore, from sixty to seventy cases annually. Dr. Copland, however, thinks many of these cases have not been the true delirium tremens, but those delirious affections which immediately follow after intoxication. The amazing consumption owing to their cheapness, of spirituous liquors in America is, it may readily be supposed, a sufficient reason for the appalling prevalence of this disease in that country, a striking example of which, is also found in a statement made by Dr. Bailey, founder, and one of the medical officers to Somerset Hospital, Cape Town. During the first two years of the establishment of that hospital (1819 and 1820,) there were admitted six hundred and twenty patients, out of that number, only four were cases of delirium tremens; from the 26th of May, 1827, to the 30th March, 1830, a period of two years and ten months, during the administration of Dr. Bailey's predecessor, Mr. Lang, there were thirty-three cases of that disease during the last year and nine months, dated from January, 1832, there had been admitted 1050 patients, of which there were (arising chiefly from drunkenness) of delirium tremens, 55; diseased livers, 400; ulcers, 200; pulmonary consumptions, 60; maniacs, 21; making a total of 763 cases. During the period stated, there were 83 deaths; eight out of ten, by post mortem examination, showed that their deaths were occasioned by intemperance. "Think what happens to a man who drinks a quart of wine or ale, if he has not been habituated to it. He loses the use both of his limbs and of his understanding. He becomes a temporary idiot, and has a temporary stroke of the palsy."-Dr. Darwin, Zoonomia. The connexion between physical disease of the brain, and mental insanity, has been universally observed by medical and other writers. Reference in particular may be made to the works of Morgagni, in his justly cele brated treatise, De causis et Sedibus Morborum; also to numerous other authorities cited by Brigham, in his Essay on Mental Cultivation. |