ALCOHOL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1653, 3 September 1887, Page 2

ALCOHOL

Three-qaattera of au ounce of alcohol introduced into the stomach of a large and robust dog kilted him In three and a half houTB. In large quantities this same substance has proved immediately fatal to men. It is a poison. Do yon lay that many drink eplrltß for years and are not destroyed ; and do you hence inquire how they can be poiuoHOUB t So, I reply, not a few take small quantities of other poisons every day for yean and continue alive. A horse, indeed, may take the eighth part of an ounce of arsenic every day and yet be thriving. But how many are there, do yon suppose, who habitually drink ardent spirits and yet suffer no bad effects therefrom 1 Have they no stomaoh oomplalnts, no nervous maladies, no headaches ? Do they live to a great age % Not one of a hundred of those who dally drink ardent spirits escapes uoinjured } though their sickness and premature decay resulting from this cause are generally Imputed to other causes ; and as many as this would e?o»pe if araante were used m moderate quantities instead of spirits. We repeat it— the penon who gives himself up to the habit of dally measuring out to himself his glaci of alcoholio liquor, ia destroying himself ai surely as if he were swallowing arsenic or bad the pistol applied to his head. He may smile incredulous at onr prediction— the fire of disease may for a while be concealed ; but the hour of retribution will ooma, and the consequences will be \ terrible,—" Leaflets for the Times,"