The same opinions have been equally strongly urged by other medical men. Objections to this plan have been offered by Dr. Macnish, in a comment which he makes on some observations of Dr. Trotter. They have, however, been ably refuted by Dr. Cheyne, and require no further notice, inasmuch as their fallacy has been unquestionably demonstrated by numerous experiments of a decisive character, some of which will be adverted to in the present place. The following statement is made on good authority. "In the prison of the State of Maine, North America, an important experiment has been made of cutting off habitual drunkards, at once, from the use of ardent spirits, in every form, and confining them to water, and it has been found universally beneficial. Mr. Powers, the intelligent keeper of the prison at Auburn, New York, affirms, that the most besotted drunkards in that prison, have never suffered in their health, by breaking off at once from the use of ardent spirits, but that, almost as uniformly, their health has been improved. They seem to be very uneasy, and somewhat lost for a few days, and with rather a poor appetite, after which they eat heartily, and improve in health and appearance. It is worthy of remark, that, in all the persons where entire abstinence from ardent spirits is practised, the convicts enjoy a better average of health than is seen in the country at large."

The subjoined statement is extracted from the report of the physician of the Connecticut state prison, dated April 1st, 1829. "In health, no prisoner is allowed any other drink than water. Coffee, tea, milk, and other proper food, and drink, are furnished to the sick and indisposed. The opinion which has so long and so extensively prevailed, that spirituous liquors could not be suddenly abandoned with safety, has, in the experience of this Institution, been completely refuted.

soon think of killing a horse, by leaving off the whip and spur, as to kill a man by leaving off rum. I know more than forty cases in my own practice, where great drinkers have quitted it suddenly, and not one has been injured. And I never knew any other way. When men leave it off, they are, at first, feeble, and their appetite fails, then their appetite becomes ravenous, and then they get well."

Of 106 convicts, committed to this prison since its establishment, 90 have acknowledged themselves to have been intemperate, or are known to have been so. Some of these were veteran drinkers, and one, in addition to spirits, had, for seventeen years, used large quantities of opium. The prisoners were deprived of spirits at once without a substitute. Those individuals in whom the habit was long confirmed, suffered a temporary loss of appetite, and almost overwhelming anguish for the want of the accustomed stimulus, which seemed for the time to supersede every other evil connected with their confinement. But, by attentive watching, the use of coffee, and nutritious and wholesome diet, the appetite was soon improved, and, after a while, greatly increased-the craving of spirits gradually subsided; and, after some time had relapsed, they acknowledged an improvement in their feelings, increase of bodily strength, and vigour of mind.

These facts are important, and it is hoped will have an influence in correcting a very general mistake that is prevailing, that the peculiar diseases of drunkards are liable to come on suddenly, if spirits be suddenly abandoned. With this erroneous impression many have resorted to substitutes and preventives, which only changed the stimulus without removing the habit.”*

* A communication to the same effect, from M. C. Aubanel, Director of the Penitentiary of Geneva, dated 25th November, 1837, to Dr. Fauconnet, of London, has been recently published. The writer states, as follows: "During twelve complete years that I have been at the head of an establishment, in which all the prisoners only receive wine in the very rare exceptions which I have just mentioned, I have constantly remarked, without any exception, that the privation of wine has occasioned no inconvenience to those who drank it with more or less moderation; and, that, in all cases where this privation had been preceded by an improper consumption of wine or liquors, (without speaking of confirmed drunkards,) the change of diet has presented remarkable advantages to the health of individuals. I have heard a great number of them express their astonishment at being accustomed so easily to such an abstinence, and being able to persevere in hard daily works without experiencing the want or feeling the privation of that pretended vehicle of strength." "I believe I can safely affirm that the opinion that a man cannot do without wine or spirits, is a great error, and that more particularly the changes from the abuse to a sudden and complete abstinence are followed by injury to health or to life, is an opinion without any foundation, except in some very rare occurrences."

That persons who have been accustomed to excessive and long continued habits of inebriety may venture, without fear of dangerous consequences, to abandon at once the use of intoxicating liquors, is demonstrated not only from the experiments made on so large a scale in America, but from numerous facts at present occurring in our own country. Two only will be related among hundreds which are continually taking place among similar establishments. A greater part of the inmates of a country jail at Wilton, previous to their committal, have been in the practice of using intoxicating drinks, and many of them to excess. On entering the prison, however, they are reduced to water diet; and, with scarcely a single exception, their health improves, from this change of diet. In most cases, this improvement is of a very decided character. * The same practice is almost uniformly observed throughout the United Kingdom.

The same statements, also, may be made in regard to the lunatic asylums of this country. The following brief quotation is made from the Report of the Lincoln lunatic asylum, for 1837, an institution which has been pronounced by an eminent writer to be "one of the best conducted establishments in Europe." "A decidedly improved state of health," says the report, "has been found to follow the total disuse of fermented liquor, and the more generous diet which has been substituted." The patients, at this period, amounted to one hundred and fifteen. In the treatment of persons who have altogether abandoned the use of intoxicating liquors, several considerations ought to be attended to, as likely to promote their more effectual recovery. These are such subsidiary remedial measures as will tend to the restoration of the natural state of the functions of exhausted nature, and may be separately considered, as they relate either to the mind or the body.

With regard to the mental state of the sufferer, it is easily seen that such amusement will be the most beneficial, as will, in some degree, elevate the patient from the temporary anxiety and depression which usually accompanies the change in question. Cheerful society, scenes

* Bristol Temperance Herald.

in the country, and kindness manifested on the part of those who are interested in his recovery, tend, in a considerable degree, to promote this object. The patient must, in fact, be, as much as possible, prevented from falling into those melancholy and desponding states of the mind, which are the natural result of intemperate habits, and which, in too many cases, have induced the unfortunate victim irrecoverably to fall again into his former condition.

The following are the most important physical remedial measures-Pure air, and if the patient lives in the town, removal into the country, forms a powerful aid by its invigorating influence; aided with moderate exercise, proportioned, as will be necessary, to the strength of the individual. To this treatment may be added occasional baths, accompanied with gentle friction to such an extent, as will occasion an agreeable glow of the skin. The diet of the patient must be nutritious, but strictly proportioned to the peculiar constitution and state of the system. In many cases some state of disease may exist, which, of course, must be submitted to judicious medical treatment. Dyspeptic affections and constipation of the bowels are, perhaps, amongst the most common of those symptoms which medical men are called upon to remove in the cases under consideration. A few days, weeks, or months perseverance, however, in the plan recommended, with the assistance of the most simple medicinal treatment, always attended of course with entire abstinence from alcoholic stimulants, will by far in the greatest number of cases completely restore the disordered functions of nature, and bring with it the delightful and animated sensations of restored health and strength.

PART VI.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE TEMPERANCE OF THE HEBREWS.

"But herkeneth, lordings, O word I you pray,
That all the soveraine actes, dare I say,
Of victories in the Old Testament,
Thurgh veray God that is omnipotent,
Were don in abstinence and in prayere;
Loketh the Bible, and there ye mow it lere."
CHAUCER'S Pardoneres Tale.

O madness! to think use of strongest wines
And strongest drink, our chief support of health,
When God, with these forbidden, made choice to rear
His mighty champion, strong above compare,
Whose drink was only from the limpid brook

MILTON.

AN inquiry into the nature and qualities of the wines mentioned in the Scriptures, forms an interesting and highly important subject of investigation. Much obscurity overhangs the subject, even in the present day, and there is reason to fear that mankind have too frequently interpreted the language of Scripture with a view to extenuate sinful practices, and to gratify sensual desires.

An investigation of this subject ought to be entered into with appropriate caution, lest the purity of the Almighty should be impeached, in representing him as sanctioning or approving of a practice which has a direct tendency to produce sin. The whole tenor of the Scriptures is strikingly opposed to every species of sensual