IS THERE ANY GOOD IN ALCO, HOL.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 11 August 1880, Page 2

IS THERE ANY GOOD IN ALCO, HOL.

■ — ♦ J It is urged against total abstinence from intoxicating liquors that if men would but drink moderately there would be no need for total abstinence ; that drink, if taken moderately, is good; that it is a " eood creature of .God ;" that alcohol is found abundantly in the vege table productions of the earth (and this is a proof that alcohol is good for man), and that it is only the adulterated suff that hurts men when moderately taken ; that good liquors, like all God's other gifls are useful, unless taken immoderately ; and that the evil arising from their excessive use is similar to that ars ising from gluttony. Now, it has been proved over and over again, that alcohol is nowhere found in sound vegetable pro- ! duci ion, and tbat it is produced by the decomposition of the saccharine matter contained in those vegetables and that it is no mpra a. natural product than putri dity in meat, or acidity in milk; and that it is not, therefore, by this view of- the. matter, entitled to be regarded as useful for dietary purposes. Then again, it has been shown most conclusively that even the moderate use of those drinks is totally unnecessary ; and more than that, their use is hurtful in proportion to the quantity in which they are taken. Defeated on this point, also, liquor men re* tire to what may be called their fortress —the medicinal use; and here temper« ance reformers are met with a bold challenge. The rank and file of medical practitioners are confronted against the Templar ranks to prove — that were it not for the excellent medicinal properties of! alcohol, disease, in its diverse and deadly j forms, could not be successfully dealt with ; so that when the doctor said, 'drink double stout, pale ale, brandy, or port wine,' temperance men's argumen'B wero unheeded and people argued. ' If drink is good in sickness, it must be good in health,' thus drinking has been kept up, almost solely from tbe pretentious and foolish advice of medical men. But in order that people may see that this subject has more sides than one, the fols lowing quotations are appended .— 1 Beer, wine, spirits. &c, furnisb no elements capable of entering into tbe composition of the blood, muscular fibre, or any part which is the seat of tbe vital principle. 730 gallons of the best Bavar* j ian beer contain exactly a3 much nourishment as a five-pound loaf-or three pounds of beef.' — Baron Leibeg. 'One hundred ports of ordinary beer or porter contain 9J parts of solid matter ; and of this only six tenths consists of flesh-forming matter ; in other words it takes 1666 parts of ordinary beer or porter to obtain one part of nourishing matter. To drink beer or porter io nourish us, is tantamount to swallowing a sack of chaff for the sake of a grain of wheat.'— Professor Lyon Playfair. 'So far as the physical action is concerned, Ido not know tbat we can say anything good of alcohol at all.' — Dr E. Liukester, FR.S. •We are in conscience bound to say that, science has found that alcohol is not good, and tbat being simply a stimulant to tbe nervous system, its use is hurtful to the body of a- healthy man.'— Dr Markham. ' ' Stimulants do not create nerrous power ; t'uey only enable you to use up that which is left, and then they Jeare you in more need of rest than you were before.'— Sir Benjamin Erodie. 'It is a mistaken notion tliat ale, wine, or spirits communicate -strength ;■ and it is disgraceful to see medical men propa" gate the error. Intoxicating liquors are neither necessary nor useful as a hever* agc'—Br O'Sulliyan, in the Medical Times. 'No wedinal man should prescribe alcohol without a sense of grave responsibility.'—lhcbard Quaio, F.R.S. ' Mon do well without alcoholic drink.' —Sir John Forbes, F.E.S. 1 A sample of ale contained, in one hundred gallons, ninety-two of water and five of alcohol, and little else.'— Notes on Beer aud Brewing.