RESEARCHES ON ALCOHOLIC EXCESS. (Lancet.)

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 132, 11 March 1873, Page 3

RESEARCHES ON ALCOHOLIC EXCESS. (Lancet.)

THR profession is under deep obligations to,Pr D!eken«on for his recent attempt to trace, somewhat more fully and accurately than h*d been previously possible, the morbid effect* of alcoholic excess ; and we fool the more bound to make thii public acknowledgment, since nn attemnt has been made in certain quarters to get rid of the unwelcome facts which they appear to es^ablUh. It i§ not our intention on th(» present opension to entea into the very large subject of alcoholic morbid changes in general ; we shall linvt our attention to the remarkable proportion advanced some little time «ince bv Dr Dioltansin, and now reaffirmed on the basis of hii recent post-morten inquiries— that drinking habits are not, on. the whole, bv any means powerful contributors to the central montai'tv from kHnev disease. We need not say that th<* common tradition I in the profession is quite the reverse of this ; and that the I average prnctmonpr, if called upon to state tlio principal sources of kidney diseases amontrst allots, would unhesitat* ingly name drink in the yerv first line, even if he did not place it before every other cause. Dr Dickinson, and those who think with him, are thus placed in diametric opposition to a. wide-spread medical belief, and one, moreover, which is h'ghlv important in its consequences [t might b- little mutter whether the genenl notions about the distinctive action of alcohol upon tbe kidney were true or not, if its only result were to exaggerate the horror of drunJrenne«s which <)he profession «o justly feels. Everyone who considers the matter carefully, however, must see that far wider issues are concerned-. If we are not to view in alcoholic excess a principal source of the most prevalent kidney diseases of adults, it is evident that we must attribute * new »nd unsuspected morbidpower to certain other influences, which have attracted little or no attention, as possible causes of these degenerative diseases. We shall religiously abstain from attempting to prej'udsre thw quMtion, whioh will have to be patiently worked opt, on the larae scale, by numerous observers. But, considering the contempt with which some persons have treated the new doctrine, ft is quite necessary in order to fair play, that we should point out certain fallacies of Mtumption which undoubtedly help to strengthen the hold which the ordinary opinion has on the profession, and which ninit be set aside before the subject can be approached with *ny chance of coining to * reasonable couohuion There ii, in tbe first place, the special belief— which is held by Dr. George Jolnstone, *nd which be has persuaded ft urge number of English medical men, to aconiesce in that kidrev disease of all sorts and kinds tak* their starting.point from tbe epithelial hniag of tbe xmmfemn* tubes We have not the lea«t wish to be disrespectful to T)r JohnHon, bnt we must say that even his twentv-fiva veers' elaborate work at renal pathology cannot get rid of the fact that amonc pathologista of any rank be stands alone iv thi» belief. We do not say that he m»v not rtPßgibly b« ri^'bt ; but at least we decline altogether to admit that his views of the generally tnbal origin of renal disease represent the general opinion of patbologists JSpcondl_y, there is the tact a««uinj>tir>n lin^criner in mnnv minds that the kidneys are the ereat channel for the elimination of alcihol, nnd that in drunkard* the excreting epithH'al cells are hibitnully overtaxed in this work of elimination This is now known to be entirely untrue; cvpn those (eg, Sulibotin) wlio still hold tlint a considerable quantit vof alcoliol is eliminated by other c'lanncl* nrtmit that onlj a rerj small quantity pusses oft" by the kidneys The third failucious awumption that is continually made ii, thnt an ample series of dirert clinical obserrations hare eitnhlishcd the fact of a connection between alcoholic cxcphs and kidney disctso "Soy tbo truth ih that nothing approach-

ing tho ctiartcW rol such- proof exista We can ivr n n . ' lh . it upon ournelTL's to affirm that nowhcro in the mi it'\' literature of Euiope enn lhor*> bo found any tabulati ,1 ay iKms of actuql renal casts mid their rarioui poseible cuu-«s wli.oli can for a m<vnent be sa.d to allortl soientific proof of especial dependence on drink. Tlds much, of course, would be instantly admitted by eyeryone— that the Bame classes of persona among the poor nnd wretched, who suffer especially from kidney diseases, an- also much given to dxmk ; and, consequently, drunken habits not unfrequently appear in tliß history of a patient with lenal disease But, we repeat it, strange as the fact may beom, it has not yet boen proved, by any evidence worthy the i^tne, that there is a decided tendency of alcoholic exceas to produce kidney disease The whole subject requires to bo looked into in a thoroughly judicial spirit ; and it it nat by mere loud and confident assertions that the question *uU fee fettled, '

A correspondent of the Woherhampton Chronicle vouches for the correctness of the following anecdote • — '' During the visit of her Majesty the Queen to Dunrobin Castle, tho seat of tho Duko ol Sutherland, not long ago, an incident occurred which has not yet been made public. The duko is having a shaft sunk on his ostate for the purpose of proving some valuable mines, and there nro engaged in the work several colliers from Shropshire, servants to the Lilleshall Company The Queen being told of the mining operations, expressed a desire to visit the spot, whither she wna accompanied by the Duke, Whilst standing on the bank inspecting the work it commenced to rqin,. A few yavd,s off one of the men, named Cooper, was sawing some timber for the shaft, and not beir.g aware of the immediate presence of Royalty, heedless of the rain t continued his work without » coat. Presently lie was su/prupd to fcol a light touch, arc! ,on looking up perceived tho Duke, who laid a costly rug over his shoulders, at the same time exclaiming, "The Queen requested me to present you ' with her own rus ; you may keep it and wear it." The I man's Bii?p~isc <uid the. remainder of the 6t;ory may bo more easily imagined than described. The proof of the affair, to wit, the ' rug 1 in the possession of the jjoor mnn, mil not be soon overlooked among the humblo but loyal colliers of Shropshire " Samuel Lee, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge, England, was]7years of age beforn lie eona." «e<l the idea of learning a foreign language. Out of the i-emit \ pittance of his -weekly earnings as a carpenter tie pure used a book, and when tins was read he exchanged it for another, and thus advanced in knowledge He. hirl not o\en the privilege of balancing between reading and rcla\V'n ' t was obliged to pass directly from bodily fatigue t; »ieiiun exertion. During the six years previous to his 2oth year, lv omitted none of the hours usually approprmU-ii to manual labour, and lie retired to ml regularly at 10 o'clock m the evening, and yet at the age of 31 years he had actually taught huntelt' uventeen languages Thu illustrates that "" where there is a will there is a way." Lately, a farmer residing nine mile* from Chri*tchurch, and who had engaged men to thrash his ciopa, wai astonished about seven o'clock ia the 11101 nuijj by the sudden ad\ ent in front of his home of a Hansom cab ; hastening out with all speed under the impression that some serous accident had occurred, he waa aitouished to find that ont of the newly ougaged harvesters had taken this singular and somewhat expensive mode of going foilh to Ins daily labour. Finding that his mates had not anived according to pioinise, the new irrival declined to work by himstlf, and returned to town by the same conveyance 111 search of them.