stomach give rise to reflex impulses, which involuntarily excite the
animal faculties to the gratification of the appetite. That the stomach
has an intimate connection with the rest of the organism is evident from
the fact that when it is inflamed the body is completely prostrated.

We have already alluded to the perverting tendencies of alcoholic
stimulants. Their peculiar influence upon the cerebellum causes the
subject to reel and stagger, as though a portion of that organ were
removed; the group of energetic faculties is stupefied, and mental as
well as corporeal lethargy is the result. The reaction, which inevitably
follows, is almost unbearable, and relief is sought by repeating and
increasing the poisonous draughts, the primary influence of which is
stimulating, the ulterior, depressing. Alcoholic stimulants unduly
excite the nervous centers, the heart, and the arteries, and,
consequently, the blood is carried to the surface of the body, where it
counteracts the influence of cold and exposure, the frequent attendants
upon drunkenness. The use of alcoholic beverages perverts the appetite,
interrupts habits of industry and destroys all force of character.
Pecuniary, physical, and mental ruin, therefore, are sure to follow as
the consequences of habitual, alcoholic intoxication.

That ordinary alimentation, which includes the process of digestion, the
subsequent vital changes involved in the conversion of food into blood,
and its final transformation into tissue, causes mental languor and
dullness, as well as bodily exhaustion, is attested by universal
experience. A torpid condition of the liver, one of the most inveterate
of chronic derangements, is indicated by sullenness, melancholy,
despondency, loss of interest in the affairs of life, sluggishness,
etc., and the ultimate tendency of this morbid state is towards
_suicide_. A broad and deep development of the middle lobe of the brain,
shown by a fullness under the chin, and of the adjacent portion of the
neck, denotes tendencies to somnambulism, delirium, and insanity. If
such characteristics of the organization do not culminate in mental
derangement, they exhibit childishness, helplessness, and great
dependence. Age abates the vigor of the executive faculties, and old
people manifest not only bodily infirmities, but the relaxing and
enfeebling influences proceeding from the lower portions of the brain.
They totter about in their second childhood, mentally and