TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19966, 7 December 1926, Page 3

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

\_lne matter under this heading is pub Jisliecl at the request of, cad is sup plied by, the United Temperance Reform Council in pursuance of the desire to inculcate the principles of temperance.] i 3 ALCOHOL A MEDICINE? By Sir Alfred Peace Gould, K.G.V.0., 0.8. E., consulting surgeon to Middlesex iiospital. 11. Is there accurate and incontrovertible knowledge of the influence of alcohol upon the human organism'' Of tradition, custom, prejudice, interests wo have more than enough. Have tve exact experimental knowledge 1 Wo certainly have not full, complete knowledge of’the action of alcohol, nor have wo of anything, not oven the law of gravitation, it uould seem, but lack of pertect knowledge of this Jaw docs not lead any teacher of physics to neglect to make snre that there is a chair beneath him when ho attempts to sit down! As regards alcohol, t. e know without any doubt that a moderate consumption of alcohol is not necessary for the healthiest and most vigorous Hfe—t he millions of teetotallers are evidence of that. The result of wide and long, continued observation, uncontradictod by any opposing observations, is to the etiect that total abstinence favours and does not prejudice longevity. The experienced business man who compose the boards of life assurance offices know this, and they accept risks on the Jives of teetotallers more readily than they do those on the lives of moderate drinuers. . . . , , , . We certainly know that alcohol is not a stimulant, but that in all cases in which its influence upon the functions of the healthy body has been determined it has been found to lessen output and to be a narcotic. We know that the narcotic influence of alcohol is exerted earliest and most upon the latest acquired and most highly endowed cerebal functions, and it has been demonstrated in the laboratory that this narcotic influence results from doses universally recognised as “moderate,” and therefore we are as fully justified in speaking definitely upon the impairing effects upon human life of moderate doses of alcohol as we are upon tho value of food, of fresh air, or of exer-cise-facts upon which tho whole of us feel bound to speak with no uncertain voice. . Are we as a profession and as individuals doing our best for the State in this matter? Are we taking all reasonable measures to acquaint ourselves with the facts on this subject? Are we personally willing to follow the teaching of science in this matter, in spite of the pressure of special custom, of tno force of habit, or of other “interests, just as faithfully as wo do in regard to the prevention of tuberculosis, diphtheria, or yellow fever, or in regard to tho securing of asepsis and (he prevention of puerperal septicaemia? I venture to appeal to my colleagues in the profession ot medicine nut to come short of their highest in this matter. ... „ Wo must not be afraid of using all our influence upon the side of scientific truth in every detail of life, and not least, suiely, in the case of a national habit that is the parent ot so much failure, so much reappointment, so much sorrow, so much that mars the beauty of human life as does the drink habit. A simple, clear, faithful witness to scientific truth in this matter will win a great reception and response; the time is ripe for it, the need is most urgent. I» 'there any really exact knowledge on the'matter? If there is, are we each of us, realising not only our personal responsibility to guide our own lives thereby, but aro we using all our influence in order that that knowledge shall be also the guide of others in controlling their lives? . . • The British Medical Journal, of August 7 1926, said; —“Some months ago we noted the appointment of tho Academie de Meclictne on Paris o£ a committee to investigate tho increase of alcoholism in France. . • . The report of tho committee, presented to the Academie by Dr Marcel Labbe is an interesting document of some length writton with a fair measure of restraint. It appears that before the war many _ were becoming concerned at the increase in al‘ooholism in France. During the \var restrictions were imposed on the manufacture and sale of strong alcoholic beverages, with the result that their consumption was considerably reduced. The reduction of alcoholism which followed has not been maintained and statistics' show that the admissions to asylums for lunacy due to alcohol, which during the war had decreased enormously, liflve since 1919 increased until they now exceed the figures of 1914. The committee attributes this increase in alco* holism very largely to the home manufacture of brandy. The privileges of the bouilliers de cm were greatly restricted in 1916; they were restored in 1923, with the result that in some villages, as one speaker put it. every school child carries in his basket food that has been flavoured with brandy; meanwhile the villagers declare that their spirits must be harmless since they are a * ‘natural product’ made at home.” . Speaking generally, the consumption of strong distilled liquors is tending to bo replaced by fermented liquor. The committee finds, however, that there has been considerable change in the classes of people who now drink to excess. There are fewer really heavy drinkers than formerly; there arc more people, and of a different class, who take too much, and the report deplores the extension of tho drinking habit to women. Drinking to excess is as common now among middle-class women as it used to bo among washer-women, cooks and prostitutes; cirrhosis of the liver, it is stated is now twice as frequent among female hospital patients in Paris as among male. Tho encouraging fact is noted that the drinking habit is becoming rare among the younger workmen, from 25 to 40 years of age. This is attributed to tho growing love of sports and to better conditions in tho home. The peasant, owing perhaps to the revival of the home manufacture of brandy, does not show the same improvement. The recommendations of the report, unanimously adopted by the Academie are: . . that the use of “cocktails" should he regarded as dangerous to health ; . . . that temperance should be helped by the construction of healthy dwellings and the provision of popular resorts where only non-alcoholic beverages would be sold; . . . that tho utilisation of grapes and nonfermented grape juice for food, and of alcohol education and propaganda should bo organised among all classes. At tho meeting of the Academie on June 29, Dr M. Lcfulle made a spirited attack op aperitifs, which he described as “infernal drugs” and classed with the medicated wines (as he said, “horresco-referens’T with which in his youth the venerable family doctor used to torture his stomach. . . .