ABSTRACT
Mankind, ever in pursuit of pleasure, have reluctantly admitted into the catalogue of their diseases, those evils which were the immediate offspring of their luxuries. Such a reserve is indeed natural to the human mind: for of all deviations from the paths of duty, there are none that so forcibly impeach their pretentions to the character of rational beings as the inordinate use of spirituous liquors. Most instances of casual or sudden death, and suspended animation, have obtained rules for recovery; while the drunkard, exposed in the street and highway, or stretched in the kennel, has been allowed to perish, without pity and without assistance; as if his crime were inexpiable, and his body infectious to the touch. Drunkenness is the delirium occasioned by fermented liquors. It is true that other narcotics, particularly opium and bang, produce nearly the same phenomena and their habitual use almost the same diseases.
