If we finally try to persuade ourselves that alcohol is a necessary aid to the encouragement of happiness and sociability, it will be found that the experiences of total abstainers prove the contrary. Mankind would be in a sad state if pleasure and enjoyment could not be generated without the excitation secured by the use of alcohol. It would require too much space to discuss in detail all the measures which have been proposed for the pur pose of combating and preventing this habit. Legal restriction cannot be formulated until the public becomes converted to a different view regarding the value of alcohol. The necessary understanding and support of laws directed against alcoholism cannot be secured until this has been accom plished. Preparatory to this, it is now possible, however, to institute certain reform measures which will tend to bring about the ideal. Among them may be mentioned stricter requirements in granting licences to taverns. forbidding the sale of intoxicants before working hours, favouring inns which do not dispense alcoholic beverages, and the erection of a better class of dwellings for the working people. A great service can, moreover, be rendered by everyone who undertakes to break down the old mistaken notion that alcohol is gifted with wonder-working powers. As has been set forth, alcohol does not increase the strength or stimulate the body-heat ; nor does it favour digestion. It is a well-known fact that in training for athletic feats, the use of alcohol is strictly prohibited. North Pole explorers, and those engaged in whale fisheries, deny themselves any indulgence in alcohol. Abstinence is also required of those who reside in the tropics. In the cases of so-called frenzy of the tropics, over-indulgence in alcohol probably plays an important role.
In recommending alcohol as a nutrient or stimulating agent, it should not be forgotten that there is an abundance of such agents which are not harmful. Alcoholic beverages have only a limited application in medical treatment, and in most cases they can well be omitted. The custom of bringing along a bottle of strength-giving port, or some medicinal wine, when visiting the sick, should be given up and the patient regaled by other friendly attentions, such as flowers, fruits, etc. Especially harmful is the giving of wine to children. Up to the twentieth year, wine and beer should be strictly prohibited.
If by these means the taste for alcoholic beverages is overcome or at least diminished, the question naturally arises, " what shall be substituted for them ? " It is a well-known fact that an abstemious individual gradually loses the desire to drink, finally ingesting only an ordinary amount of fluid, sufficient to satisfy his natural thirst. Drinking does not come from
increased thirst, but, on the contrary, the thirst may be said to be due to the drinking. In order to furnish the opponents of alcohol a variety in their beverages, a number of substitutes free from alcohol have been placed on the market, including non-alcoholic wine and beer, unfermented apple and grape juice, and a host of others. The abstainers are satisfied, but the drinkers do not find them to their taste, because the alcohol has been omitted.
At present there is no efficient substitute, and the evil cannot be checked by this means. Education and the force of example are now the only agencies by which any favourable results can be attained. One should not bow down to the almost universal social custom, which prescribes the use of alcohol on every possible occasion and stamps those who refuse to indulge as eccentric or weak. Moreover, a drink should not be ordered for appear ances merely, and then nipped. If a person does not care for alcohol, or finds that it disagrees with him, he should neither be misled by custom nor tempted by the scoffers. To overcome this custom is the main factor in the fight against alcoholism. Education with reference to the uselessness and harm fulness of alcohol must be addressed to the public in the widest conception of this term, rich and poor, high and low. The campaign of education, and the organisations which further it, should be materially supported by the Government. It is essential that the Avork be begun in the common schools, and that the dangers of alcoholic indulgence be impressed on the minds of the children.
The treatment of the bodily and mental disturbances resulting from the abuse of alcohol must be carried out by the physician. Until the arrival of the latter, a deeply intoxicated person should be wrapped up in warm blankets, hot-water bottles placed in the bed, and strong coffee, without any milk, administered. Artificial respiration may sometimes be necessary. Delirious cases should be sent to the hospital ; if they remain in the house, force in restraining them should be avoided as much as possible, as this greatly increases their restlessness and resistance.