ity. Turning from the field of experimentation to
the sick-room, my search for evidences of the power of alcohol
to sustain the force of the heart, or in any way to strengthen
the patient has been equally unsuccessful. I was educated and
entered upon the practice of medicine at a time when alcoholic
drinks were universally regarded as stimulating and
beat-producing, and commenced their use without prejudice or
preconceived notions. But the first ten years of direct clinical
or practical observation satisfied me fully of the incorrectness
of those views, and very nearly banished the use of these agents
from my list of remedies. While it is true that during the last
thirty years I have not prescribed for internal use the
aggregate amount of one quart of any kind of fermented or
distilled drinks, either in private or hospital practice, yet I
have continued to have abundant opportunity for observing the
effects of these agents as given by others with whom I have been
in council; and simple truth compels me to say that I have never
yet seen a case in which the use of alcoholic drinks either
increased the force of the heart's action or strengthened the
patient beyond the first thirty minutes after it was swallowed.
* * * * *

"Nothing is easier than self-deception in this matter. A patient
is suddenly taken with syncope, or nervous weakness, from which
abundant experience has shown that a speedy recovery would take
place by simple rest and fresh air. But in the alarm of patient
and friends something must be done. A little wine or brandy is
given, and, as it is not sufficient to positively prevent, the
patient in due time revives just as would have been the case if
neither wine nor brandy had been used."

In the _Medical Pioneer_ of November, 1895, Prof. E. MacDowel Cosgrave,
Professor of Biology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, says:--

"The result of all recent investigation is to show that the use
of alcohol when a stimulant effect is desired, is an error; and
that, from first to last alcohol acts as a narcotic."

Dr. Edmunds, of London, said in an address given in Manchester:--

"By giving alcohol as a stimulant in exhausting diseases, I
believe we always do as we should in giving a dose of opium and
brandy and water to comfort a half suffocated patient; i. e.,
increase his