eplies received at that time are given
in this book. There was not room for all.

She wishes also to acknowledge kindness and much help received from
pharmacists and druggists in the fight against dangerous patent
medicines and drug drinks sold at soda fountains. The _Druggists'
Circular_, of New York, deserves special mention in this connection.

It has been necessary to make many changes in this edition because of
the changing views on alcohol and the publicity on patent medicines.
Physicians will find Chapter XVI entirely new, and of great interest.

M. M. A.

* * * * *

ALCOHOL.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF ALCOHOL.

The only intoxicating drinks known to the ancients were wines and beers.
That these were used for medicinal as well as beverage purposes is
evident from sacred and secular history. About the tenth century of the
Christian era, an Arabian alchemist discovered the art of distillation,
by which the active principle of fermented liquors could be drawn off
and separated. To the spirit thus produced the name alcohol was given. A
plausible reason cited for this name is that the Arabian for evil spirit
is _Al ghole_, and the effects of the mysterious liquid upon men
suggested demoniacal possession.

Medical knowledge at this time was very limited: there was no accurate
way of determining the real nature of the new substance, nor its action
upon the human system. It could be judged only by its _seeming_ effects.
As these were pleasing, it was supposed that a great medical discovery
had been made. The alchemists had been seeking a panacea for all the
ills to which flesh is heir, indeed for something which would enable men
even to defy Death, and the subtle new spirit was eagerly proclaimed as
the long-looked-for cure-all, if not the very _aqua vitae_ itself.
Physicians introduced it to their patients, and were lavish in their
praises of its curative powers. The following is quoted from the
writings of Theoricus, a prominent German of the sixteenth century, as
an example of medical opinion of alcohol in his day:--

"It sloweth age, it strengtheneth youth, it helpeth digestion,
it cutteth phlegme, it cureth the hydropsia, it healeth the
strangurie, it pounces the stone, it expelleth gravel, it
keepeth the head from whirling, the teeth from chattering, and
the throat from rattling; it keepeth the weasen from stiffling,