IN everyday life we are exposed to worry and disappointment; and also, as many of us easily tire after work, we frequently feel an inclination to take something to cheer us up and to incite us to further exertions; thus we take stimulants, such as alcohol, tea, coffee, tobacco, etc. We may fairly compare these stimulants to a whip with which we urge on a horse. A short reflection, however, will teach us that rest would be the best stimulant for a tired horse; but, unfortunately, physiological thinking is not yet the commonsense view of all. A willing horse requires no whip, and many of us are able to attain a good old age without requiring any stimulants. The grandfather of the author of this work has attained the age of 105 without taking any stimulants. As our numerous friends, both in America and England, know, we do not take any alcohol, not from principle, but because we find no pleasure in so doing. Still we don’t feel inclined to follow the anti-alcohol fanatics in their crusade, because we detest fanaticism of any kind, whether displayed by Chinese, by Mohammedans in Bochara or Morocco, or by Christians in England or America. We also do not uphold such narrow-mindedness as prohibiting even the smallest amount of alcohol to those who only take it in the greatest moderation, solely on the ground that there are some good-for-nothings who can never take it without getting drunk. With equal justice might we take away the fortune from a man who has gained it by his labor, on the ground that there are others starving because they will not work. We are not prepared, either, to accept the dictum of the anti-alcoholics that alcohol is a poison even in small quantities. We do not deny that there are many among them who cannot stand even small quantities, which is a probable reason why they are so clamorous against it; but they do not possess normal health, physically or mentally; and the supposition is not unjustified that there is in some of them a lessened tolerance for alcohol owing to their previous immoderate libations. The truth is, as shown by many physiologists, such as Atwater and Benedict, and also by Professor Tigersted,[309] even at the Anti-Alcoholic Congress at Stockholm, that alcohol may be regarded, but in small doses only, as a precious gift, for by it we may preserve important parts of the bodily tissues—carbohydrate and fatty substances, which may be economized by the use of certain quantities of alcohol. The nourishing effect can be attained only if not too much be taken, for in over-abundance a decomposition of albuminous substances can be produced as a toxic effect. Footnote 309: Quoted after Dr. Hollitscher, Präger med. Wochenschrift, 1907.