result, of disease in these several organs. But there is no need that I should describe its pathological relations. Whenever dropsy occurs in the intemperate, whether in the chest, around the lungs, or around the heart, in the abdominal cavities or in the general cellular tissues, as seen in the lower limbs, or in the bloated face, we are admonished that more latent disease in the heart, the liver, or in the kidneys is at work, and have grounds to apprehend the most serious consequences. "More circumstantial details of altered structure might be given you, and other parts be noticed, inasmuch as pathology is enriched with truths derived from an acquaintance with the malign changes wrought on the human economy by alcohol: but I should exceed my prescribed intentions to detail them on this occasion. It may justly be said that not a blood-vessel, nor a nerve, nor a tissue escapes the influence of the poison: the whole animal machine is the theatre of its display. "With sentiments of regard, I remain most truly your friend. "To C. A. LEE, M. D. "JOHN W. FRANCIS." C. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.-PROVERBS. Here's that which is too weak to be a sinner-honest water, which ne'er left man i' th' mire.-SHAKSPEARE. Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty: For in my youth I never did apply Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood; Nor did not, with unbashful forehead woo The means of weakness and debility. 1. Evidence in approval of water as a common beverage. 2. Testimonies of individuals who have abandoned the use of intoxicating liquors. 3. Temperance favourable to longevity. 4. Statements relative to the health of certain tribes who abstain from the use of strong drink. 5. Illustrations of the effects of Intemperance. 6. Fffects of intoxicating liquors during lactation on the health both of parents and children. 1. EVIDENCE IN APPROVAL OF WATER AS A COMMON BEVERAGE. "My father was a weakly child; he was taken early to Geneva, where a celebrated medical professor, who had formerly been a pupil of the great Boerhaave, was consulted on his case. He advised that he should use much exercise, and drink nothing but water. He adhered strictly to that advice; and when, in after years, his habits became sedentary, he still used only water. He became clear and vigorous in his various energies of body and mind, and exerted his faculties almost to the last moment of his life. My grandfather was also a water drinker, and was vigorous and active in body and mind; and even at the age of seventy-two, devoted several hours a day to abstruse mathematical studies. My grandmother, whose health for years was weak and feeble, drank only water; but she enjoyed to an extreme old age the use of her ordinary faculties; nor did she feel uncomfortably exhausted, when near her dissolution, which took place when she was ninety-three years of age."-Earl Stanhope and Family. "I adopted the practice of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors toward the close of the year 1831, when I suffered, as I had done occasionally, from a weakness of the stomach and a want of appetite. Since that time, I have steadily adhered to that habit, and I find that my general health has, in consequence, been very much improved, and that it has very rarely been requisite for me to take any medicine, and then only such as is mild in its nature, and moderate in its quantity. The powers of my digestion are vigorous, as well as my appetite, and I never feel heavy or heated after dinner, but am as fit for bodily and mental exertion in the evening as I am in the morning. Althougn I often expose myself to all varieties of weather, I hardly ever catch cold, and the complaints, to which I am sometimes, though very seldom subject, never assume an inflammatory character. My bodily strength is increased, instead of being diminished, by drinking only water, and I consider that my mental faculties are far less liable to be disturbed than was formerly the case. From the numerous advantages I have received, notwithstanding my advancing years, I cannot too much recommend water drinking for the health and strength, both of the mind and of the body, and consequently for the enjoyment of life, and for the performance of its duties. I am aware that spirituous liquors may seem to give a temporary stimulus to the strength and to the appetite, but in both these respects they are very injuri ous, for the body is thus urged to exertions which are beyond its powers, and which are followed by exhaustion and debility; and the stomach may thus receive more than it is well able to digest. It is a very salutary, and, as I have found, a very important precept, not to eat to the full extent of the natural and usual appetite, and of course then more caution is necessary, when the appetite is factitious and exceeds the powers of digestion. The stimulus which such liquors may, for a time, give to the spirits, is also prejudicial, and is followed by corresponding depression, but I have derived very great benefit by taking an effervescent powder, like that of lemon and kali, when in a state of lassitude, or when the spirits require to be revived."-The Right Hon. Earl Stanhope. "If drink be merely required for allaying thirst and dryness, and diminishing the tenacity and acrimony of the fluids, then is cold water, when limpid, light, and without smell and taste, and obtained from a clear running stream, the best drink for a robust man. Food, not too fat, or gross, and water as a drink, render our bodies the most firm and strong."-Boerhaave, The duties levied upon liquors distilled within the United States Iceased after the 1st Dec. 1817; we have therefore no means of ascertaining the extent of the manufacture in this country since that period. According to the Marshal's returns there were within the United States in 1810, 14,191 distilleries, which produced from fruit, grain, and molasses 25,704,625 gallons of spirits. During the same year, 608,843 gallons were exported, leaving 25,096,049 gallons for the consumption of the year. At the average of 10 years, from 1800 to 1810, inclusive, 7,512,415 gallons of foreign spirits were imported into the country; it thence appears, that 32,608,464 gallons remained within the United States for consumption in 1810, the population at that period being 7,239,903. If the increase in the production of spirits, and the importations of the article had kept pace with the increase of population, the quantity of spirits made in the country and imported should now be about 58,000,000 gallons. But there is no good reason to believe that the ratio of increase has been as great. In 1815 the number of distilleries was 15,000, and from official data it appears that they gradually increased up to 1829, when they received a powerful check from the establishment of temperance societies. Since that period, the importation, manufacture, and consumption of distilled liquors have rapidly diminished. This will appear from the temperance statistics of our own state. From 1810 to 1825, the distilleries in the State of New York, increased from 591 to 1,129. In 1835, the Secretary of State reported that the number had been reduced to 340, and at present (July 1840) they are estimated to be less than 200. In the State of Pennsylvania in 1810, it appears that there were 3,594 distilleries in operation, in the State of Kentucky the same year 2000, and although the population since that period has about doubled, the number of distilleries has very much decreased. By an inspection of the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury, it appears that for 10 years preceding 1812, the average quantity of imported spirits annually amounted to 7,512,415 gallons; but for the last ten years, the average is but about 3,000,000 gallons. The returns of the Inspector-General of domestic spirits in the city of New York, also within a few years past exhibit a decrease, compared with previous years of more than 33 per cent. With respect to the manufacture of beer in the United States, we have at present no data by which to form an estimate; but in the year 1810, the returns gave 5,846,144 gallons, since which time its con'sumption has greatly increased.* * For these facts I am indebted to that most able and indefatigable Secretary of the New York City Temperance Society, R. M. Hartley, Esq. TABLE I, Showing the amount of ardent spirits imported into the United States in each year from 1790. Year. Gallons. 4,051,136 1829 3,423,884 6,052.453 1830 1,692,344 Year. Gallons. Year. Gallons. Year. Gallons. 1790 4,143,385 | 1802 7,889,482 | 1814 597,414 1826 3,718,152 1791 3,603,861 1803 8,525,217 1815 3,913,081 1827 3,537,426 1792 4,567,160 1804 9,855,792 1816 4,941,732 1828 5,102,599 1793 3,428,391 1805 7,694,258 1817 1794 5,545,681 1806 9,916,428 1818 1795 5,018,562 1807 9,770,795 1819 4,477,628 1831 2,491,528 1796 5,599,760 1808 5,842,896 | 1820 1797 6,819,728 1809 3,854,754 1821 1798 4,648,743 1810 4,504,530 1822 1799 7,302,297 1811 4,026,486 1823 3,946,224 1835 3,394,439 1800 4,785,937 1812 4,519,726 1824 5,577.774 1836 3,524,288 1801 8,413,314 1813 1,044,344 1825 5,091,170 1837 2,672,288 TABLE II, 3,928,996 1832 2,810,140 3,658,150 1833 2,954,288 5,088,989 1834 2,511,354 Showing the quantity of domestic spirits annually distilled in the United States from 1790 to 1800. The difference between the amount of the two columns was exported. B. THE MORBID ANATOMY OF DRUNKENNESS. The most The morbid appearances presented in the bodies of drunkards on post-mortem examination, are varied and striking. marked changes are, however, to be found in the stomach and liver; those great vital organs, which first receive the impression of the unnatural stimulus. The stomach has three distinct coats or membranes; the outer one is thin, and transparent, and is called the peritoneal coat-the second is the muscular, which, indeed, forms two separate layers, the fibres of one, running longitudinally, and those of the other cir cularly; the contraction of the first, shortening the stomach, and those of the other lessening its diameter. The inner coat is called mucous, or villous, from its soft, shaggy or velvet-like appearance. This is of an extremely delicate structure, and thrown into folds or ruge, which are so disposed as to resemble in appearance, a fine net-work. The villous coat is entirely made up of innumerable blood-vessels and nerves, and beneath it, are situated those mucous follicles or glands, which secrete that glairy fluid, by which the inner surface of the stomach is defended. Now, when alcoholic drinks are swallowed, this delicate expansion of nerves and blood-vessels becomes unnaturally irritated, and an increased quantity of blood, as well as nervous energy, is sent into it—but in a short time, from a law of our natures, to which there is no exception, increased action is succeeded by collapse and want of tone-the dose is increased-the collapse becomes still greater, and the deluded victim goes on, until the main-spring of the animal machine gives way, and the system sinks under the unnatural abuse. On examining the stomach we find extensive marks of the ravages of the destroyer. The mucous coat, is often, almost entirely destroyed; a mere softened, pulpy shred remaining, which may be removed with the finger nail with the greatest facility. The inner surface generally presents a dark, mottled appearance, the colour varying from a dark brown or livid, to a florid red. In some instances, it is of deep red or almost purple colour; but in others, it is of an ashy paleness, the blood-vessels having apparently been corroded and destroyed by the alcohol. In a case of a drunkard whom we lately examined, by request of the Coroner, we found not only the mucous, but also the muscular coat, nearly destroyed; its texture being completely broken down, presenting a soft pulpy mass, in which muscular fibres could not be detected. On rubbing the inner surface of the stomach gently with the end of the finger, nothing seemed to remain but the thin membraneous peritoneal coat, not thicker than the thinnest letter-paper. It requires no arguments to prove that such a stomach could not well discharge the function of digestion. And we have frequently found the same appearances in other similar cases, indeed, we may say invariably, where the drink of the inebriate had been chiefly distilled liquor. Where fermented drinks have been chiefly used, the local ravages will not be found so extensive; but the consequences to the system generally, are no less deleterious and fatal. In these cases the mucous membrane of the stomach may even be found thickened. Where an animal is poisoned by a large dose of alcohol, the villous coat is always of a bright cherry-red colour. In the case above alluded to, where we found the coats of the stomach destroyed, there was a deposite of fat nearly two inches thick, surrounding the abdominal muscles. This was a morbid accumulation, and in such subjects fat should be regarded rather as a mark of disease than of health. As its ultimate elements are almost the same as those of alcohol, it is very probable that the latter becomes changed into the former. We have usually found the liver of inebriates enormously enlarged, and changed from a healthy purple to an orange or pale yellow. The tissue is, also, very often softened, so that the mass |