the
lambent blue flame," he says, "characteristic of the poison, playing on
the surface of the spoon for some seconds."

It produces also, in the children of those who use it freely, a
predisposition to intemperance, insanity, and various diseases of both
body and mind, which, if the cause is continued, becomes hereditary, and
is transmitted from generation to generation; occasioning a diminution
of size, strength, and energy, a feebleness of vision, a feebleness and
imbecility of purpose, an obtuseness of intellect, a depravation of
moral taste, a premature old age, and a general deterioration of the
whole character. This is the case in every country, and in every age.

Instances are known where the first children of a family, who were born
when their parents were temperate, have been healthy, intelligent, and
active; while the last children, who were born after the parents had
become intemperate, were dwarfish and idiotic. A medical gentleman
writes, "I have no doubt that a disposition to nervous diseases of a
peculiar character is transmitted by drunken parents." Another gentleman
states that, in two families within his knowledge, the different stages
of intemperance in the parents seemed to be marked by a corresponding
deterioration in the bodies and minds of the children. In one case, the
eldest of the family is respectable, industrious, and accumulates
property; the next is inferior, disposed to be industrious, but spends
all he can earn in strong drink. The third is dwarfish in body and mind,
and, to use his own language, "a poor, miserable remnant of a man."

In another family of daughters, the first is a smart, active girl, with
an intelligent, well-balanced mind; the others are afflicted with
different degrees of mental weakness and imbecility, and the youngest is
an idiot. Another medical gentleman states, that the first child of a
family, who was born when the habits of the mother were good, was
healthy and promising; while the four last children, who were born after
the mother had become addicted to the habit of using opium, appeared to
be stupid; and all, at about the same age, sickened and died of a
disease apparently occasioned by the habits of the mother.

Another gentleman mentions a case more common, and more appalling still.
A respectable and influential man early in life adopted the habit of
using a little ardent spirit daily, because, as he thought, it did him
good. He and his six children, thre