Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 34.djvu/546

530 I was called to give an opinion. An examination indicated that this was some condition of shock, or sudden congestion, in which symptoms of intoxication appeared; also his assertion of not having drunk was literally true. A history of moderate and excessive drinking was noted in his parents.

—A clergyman, with a marked history of heredity. He was under my care for five months, when, one day, a brother clergyman paid him a visit, and no doubt talked very severely to him of the sin of drinking. I found him a short time after, in bed, with all the symptoms of intoxication. He had a childish, idiotic expression, and was in a semi-delirious state. He remained in bed two days, and had all the appearance of one who had suffered from alcoholic poisoning. This was the first pronounced case I had seen, and could not be mistaken. The sudden emotional excitement precipitated him into the pathological state of intoxication.

—This case was sent to me for an opinion as follows:

A noted temperance lecturer, formerly an inebriate, for ten years or more had been an abstainer. One evening, while lecturing, he was given a dispatch from his wife, announcing the fatal illness of a child. He drank a glass of water, and attempted an explanation to the audience, became confused, staggered, and acted like a man rapidly becoming intoxicated. He was finally led from the stage, and laughed and shouted in a maudlin way. The audience supposed that he was drunk, but all the circumstances showed clearly that no spirits had been taken.

These cases are most strikingly confirmed in many ways, and especially in circles of temperance reformers. One man of my acquaintance, after an eloquent lecture of an hour, during which he most dramatically portrays the conduct and manner of an inebriate, will go to his room and be practically intoxicated for some time, or until he can procure a few hours' sleep. This man has been an inebriate, but for the past five years has been lecturing on inebriety with great power and skill. He has been in the Prohibition campaign, and lectured for months incessantly. These phases of drunkenness are called "queer spells" by his friends, and are guarded from observation. When the lecture is over, he retires at once to his room, and will not be seen until next morning. In another case a man of talent and genius of a high order, who had drunk to great excess for ten years, stopped and became a lecturer. He told me that often the impulse to drink was so strong that he could only resist it by having an audience and opportunity to talk or plead for temperance. He was really intoxicated in his extravagant enthusiasm and dramatic portrayals of the evils of drink. After the lecture was over, he was greatly