MECHANIC'S INSTITUTE.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 91, 13 June 1843, Page 2

MECHANIC'S INSTITUTE.

The following Lecture on Alcohol, was delivered by Dr. Hansard, to a. numerous and highly respectable audience at the above institution, on Friday the 2d June.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Though I have selected Alcohol and its effects as a lecture, I am not a member of either the teetotal or total abstinence society, yet, let me, especially at the onset, endeavour to obviate misunderstanding. I do not mean to imply the disposition that directs some of the members of these societies may not tend to good. Thus, suppose the heads of a family were to abstain from the use of Alcoholic preparations for the sake of example, to instil in early life a disinclination for that which has slain its thousands, who will not use caution in condemning such. But to the subject. Alcohol is procured by distillation after the fermentation of vegetable substances and infusions of a saccharine nature. It is inflammable, burning with.a blue flame, has an agreeable odour and a strong pungent taste. Common Alcohol, or proof spirit, contains about half its weight of water, still it may be concentrated till its specific gravity becomes as low as 0.825 and contains

only 11 per cent, of water. By redistillation, or .certain additions of such substances as readily attract water, as the carbonate of potash or chloride of calcium, it may he obtained of a specific gravity as low as 0.791, water being as 1000. The boiling point of Alcohol is 176 deg., of anhydrous Alcohol 168£, that of water being 212 of Fahrein. It has never been frozen, hence its use in the construction of thermometers for measuring low temperatures. It is used in the arts as a solvent of various resins for varnishes, and its various economical uses are extremely numerous —to the chemist it is a most valuable species of fuel, as illustrated by the spirit lamp which gives much heat though little light, while it produces no smoke or soot —its medicinal and pharmaceutical employment is also important; and as an exhilirating stimulant it is also used in wines, beer, and other fermented liquors. The average proportions of absolute Alcohol in the more common preparations are, gin, 57.60 per cent.; Scotch whiskey, 54.32; Irish, 53.90; ram, 53.68; brandy, 53.39 ; raisin wine, 25.12 ; port wine, 22.96; Madeira, 22.27; currant, 20.55 ; sherry, 19.17; claret, 15.10 ; champagne, 12.61 ; hock, 12.08 ; gooseberry wine, 11.84 ; orange, 11-26; elder, 8.79 ; cider, 8.04 ; Burton ale, 8.88 ; Edinburgh, 6.20 ; brown stout, 6.80 ; London porter, 4.20 ; small beer, 1.20 ; I quote these to give you anidea.df the relative strength of the liquors in common use, but you must not be led astray and believe the good derived from them is in like proportion.

Each Alcoholic preparation has an aroma peculiar to the substance from which distilled ; so marked is this,, that some individuals can directly distinguish from which country different kinds of the same liquor are imported. This peculiar taste is commonly owing to the combination with a volatile oil.

Gin is procured from wheat, malt, or rye, it is flavoured with juniper berries or oil of turpentine, and frequently rendered biting by caustic potash, &c. That from Schiedam, also called Hollands, though it is not so generally preferred, « purer than the English. Whiskey, the national spirit of the Scotch and Irish people, is a corn spirit distilled generally from barley, but sometimes from wheat and maize. It differs from gin in not being flavoured with oil of turpentine. Rum is a species of vinous spirit prepared principally in the West Indies, by distillation from a mixture of the skimmings, molasses, or dregs from the sugar cane. Brandy is extracted from wine and other liquids by distillation. In America it is distilled from the juice of peaches, apples, Ac. In London large quantities are made from beetroot, but such preparation, as regards its constitutional effects, is a very inferior article. The colour of common brandy is given by the addition of burnt sugar, the object is to imitate the colour it sometimes derives from the cask by age. Wine is exclusively derived from the juice of the grape, though other fermented -liquors are so called. They are most of them named from the .places where they are prepared. The soil and country vary them in an extraordinary degree, though prepared from the same kind of grape, for example, Port and Burgundy. The colour is varied by chemical additions, as tent wine, hence its name. Ale is prepared from pale malted barley, and porter is brewed in the same way, hut the malt >is higher dried, or somewhat scorched.

Of spirits I believe brandy is the best preparation, it is bracing and stomachic. Rum, -even when good, is not fitted for the bilious temperament. Brandy and water is for some constitutions to be preferred before wine, since it is not disposed to acidity. When the indulgence in the use of spirits is excessive, the effects are far more injurious than those from wine, and those from wine more so than those from beer-, for 'the effects of spirits are greater, proportioned to the strength and quantity of the liquor drank, and as regards beer, stupor succeeds more rapidly after the excitement and therefore a check is sooner received. But these effects are often aggravated by mixing them, as also by the impurity of the articles.

The adulteration or doctoring, as it is called, of these liquids produces a great increase of the injurious effects, so much so, that no one can fancy the boon he would confer upon society by selling the article pure. 1 anticipate what would be the reply, that persons would grudge the money which then would be required to afford them an equal profit with that at present obtained. Will any one, however, question the advantages of a glass of home-brewed ale over that which is supplied by public houses in England, when we read that-most publicans, by drugsand mixtures increase twobuttsto three, and use copperas to produce the head of draught porter., which used to be considered an indication of strength, and was observed when a quart of such beer contained six ozs. of spirits instead of four as at the present date, and when I assure, that in defiance of the law against the use of vitriol quassia , cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, guinea pepper, and opium, the brewers' drug-gist-sells more Opium than all the medical men consume? Likewise, is there any comparison between the effects of a well apportioned quantity of pure cognac over that of the commonly sold brandy ? Again, when travelling through the highlands of Scotland, the mountain dew will renovate and strengthen after a day's walk, but,, perhaps, at the house you next visit the whiskey is of a. character half the quantity will do as much injury as the other did good. The fact is, with some, the mind is so perverted it would ‘ rather support any than the fair dealing man. Look to the ; gin palaces in London, how they thrive, supply 500 drains in an hour, and yet the adulteration there practised 1 W frequently tobe exposed at the public Thus vitriol has been used to effect the twang as is called, for the taste becomes, so deadened by constant dissipation ah additional stimulus is requisite to render the palate sensible of thedifference between it and water. So far has this addition been made, it was proved at one of these Londongin palaces such a proportion of vitriol had been mixed the liquid falling upon the dress injured the texture of the garment. When thedifferentpreparations can be depended on for purity, I would not discourage the use of public-houses, but I would discourage the drinking to the extent it is. carried, of such on the premises, and the so great readiness to trust for through these, persons, instead of living within, or even up to, their means, are frequently in, debt, the amount of a week’s wages, when due. I may be told, I should thus diminish the public revenue. I. am aware of that, but the health of the public, would be improved, the appetite would be greater for more nourishing diet; and/thus, at the same time,. I would, coin-, pensate by encouraging the butcher and. baker. I wish, to encourage the growth of the of money in this part of the Colony, end, put,a.check to-, the withdrawal of so much to other quarters, wbiek-has-.: lately by us been so grievously felt.. If it was not for.-public-houses, the poor classes would* be obliged to keejp larger supplies at home, and there, would be thus a\ greater drain from their income; for* most probably, it; Would be the same as with other commodities, if the stock on hand is great, there is less caution as to the expenditure—friends would arrive,, the bottle be produced ; then it would be, only one glass’ more, and just finish the bottle, until the habit of drunkenness would

be established: but when the nloney is daily counted out, even if no account is kept of expenditure, there is at least some idea as to the amount of cash left. The question next to be considered, is, how far we are justified in the use of these alcoholic preparations ? They may be serviceable to many, but they are likewise substances which' are the root of an infinite number of diseases. If the match is injudiciously applied to the -stomach it not only inflames the neighbouring texture, but as the fires of the warm climates, when once excited, it spreads far and wide, even to the most distant parts of the body. Ask the midnight debauchee if his head do'es not feel the effect on the following morning, if his whole system is not unnerved. Ask the medical man whence he derives his support ? and it will be strange if be does not reply, the improper use of alcohol is the source of many of the diseases he is called upon to prescribe for. Suppose for instance, there may be hitherto latent disease, this, through the excitement of the stomach, is sympathetically affected, arid the active stage produced, the fatal progress of which cannot then be checked. Look to consumption —with caution it is believed this disease, though it has lain dormant, has notdis played its ravages throughout the lives of two or three generations, yet by such over-excitement it may re-appear. I do not mean to imply that othef; causes of excitement, such as a cold, do not often re-produce it, but that this is a frequent cause I do not hesitate boldly to assert. Besides this, as one of the medical profession, 1 assure you, of the numerous cases of derangement of r the stomach an immense majority are produced by this species of excitement, still not by it alone, but by the combined influence of pampered appetites with regard to diet, and the deceptive methods of cooking, whereby a person eats more than nature requires, and derives not half the benefit from the same. Another common symptom, when alcohol is used without caution, is thirst. I cannot agree with the person ■who, when asked what made him an habitual drunkard, replied, habitual thirst; for if the enquiry had been pursued further, I think the truth would be ascertained ; if he was asked, whence then the habitual thirst, in many cases, the proper reply must be, the inordinate use of spirituous potations. But let us look more particularly to the broken constitution, both of mind and body, which point to the dram drinker and habitual drunkard. The following description will mark the progress of intoxicating effects. We observe, first, excitement, especially marked upon the brain, then there is a loss of control of mental faculties, thus we hear incoherent addresses followed by loss of mental influence over the muscles, and we note what is called clipping Of the Queen's English—at first an altered gait, then a degrading position, the persons semetimes wallowing in the mire, and at length becoming totally insensible ; thus he is subjected to robbery, and degraded in character—there is also perhaps sickness and the following morning headache, loathing of food, fetid breath, and general languor of system. When this display is frequently repeated, we have the nervous system so debilitated, the frame is so shattered, that the limbs are all but useless, and ultimately the mental influence is so uncontrollable, we have what is called delirium tremens. It is not alone the stomach and brain that suffer, for we hear of white livers, dram-drinkers livers, nutmeg livers, grog blossoms, brandy legs, carbuncle noses, &c. Nor is it alone delirium tremens that follows the affection of the brain, for Dr.' Crawford observes, “ I feel confident that I am keeping within strict bounds of truth in stating, that’ at least dne out' of two cases now in the Lunatic Asylum have become insane in consequence of the abuse of ardent spirits, and I know that the same has been observed in the other public Lunatic Asylums of Ireland. Alcohol, when cautiously U3ed, is a powerful cordial; it strengthens the tone of the stomach, and promotes digestion. Nevertheless, even in health, the effect varies, much; thus the preparation that will suit at one time, is not adapted for the same individual at another. In disease, the prescribing of such should always be left to the medical attendant: for how necessary is it to adapt to peculiar epidemics. At one season, and in a certain climate, a disease may prevail, and the prescribing of stimulating drinks might cause death ; yet when it pre- ; vails at another season, and in another climate, it requires such not only for the support of the vigour of the constitution, but actual life, until the disease has exhausted itself. I Have seen some epidemics where the mortality has been great among one physician’s patients, because on a former occasion he bad succeeded without stimulants, and therefore thought it was not then requisite, while the mortality was comparatively small in another physician’s practice, because it was cautiously prescribed in larger quantities, To show the necessity of adapting to the climate, I may add—A gentleman observed to me, that when he joined the mess in India, he was told by his messmates, if he did not partake as freely as they, he certainly would risk his life. He, however, persisted, and he was the only one who returned to England. As our. food should be varied with the climate, so should the kind of beverage; thus light ■wines are not so injurious , in tropical climates, though not adapted for colder ones; while porter, ale, and other malt liquors, are more serviceable in cold climates. But. remember there is no rule without an exception ; •therefore this is not applicable to every case. In health there are also idiosyncrasies. . I know one individual who never can partake of a single glass of wine without suffering for it: I also know persons who require a .moderate quantity. We have then, when in health, to •observe the limit, the climate, the peculiar preparation . . .adapted to the individual constitution, and likewise the purity of the ’article. To show how necessary it is to* adapt to individual cases, I may observe—At the time the cholera prevailed, I was on board a steam vessel, and summoned to attend a man with cholera : I found he was one of the engineers who, that voyage, had been deprived of hi» beer, and two glasses of spirits had been substituted as a daily portion; the effect of this change ■was, the spirit being drank in the morning neat, when throughout the remainder of the day he was to drink to compensate for the great perspiration: : they are exposed to what ? Cold water. The consequence of which, he was attacked with severe colic —not '- cholera; the same, hours, occurred to two > of his companions. J therefore recommended the owners to return to their former regulation. But I would not 1 recommend you to follow the plan I heard they afterwards ..adopted, viz., to allow both beer and spirits. I am •■well aware- the American sailors are not allowed any .grog at.sea; but we well know such seamen do not ab- . stain ;from it on shore. They will then enjoy themt#elvcs; and then from such abstinence for months tduring a voyage, I feel confident the state of intoxication on shore is more injurious to their constitutions than it would be if they were allowed it occasionally in stormy weather. Besides, I am informed that one of the chief shipowners in London has tried the effect of :such withdrawal, and the result has been, he has resumed the use of it. Suppose even that such allowance as I "have recommended is injurious, as we knpw it would be almost an impossibility to restrain them from the use ,pn sjiofe, far better must it be to allow this poriion j /or how different is the effect of a large potation fit an unaccustomed stimulus to that which habit has

reduced the system to submit to. In the' one base, we look for sudden death ; in the other, lingering disease: so that, you observe, while I think it requisite, in this extreme case, to adapt, I cannot justify his' inordinate encouragement of such potations on shore ; for in both these cases.it produces distressing effects,. (To be continued.)