The effects of ardent spirits divide themselves into such as are of a
prompt, and such as are of a chronic nature. The former discover
themselves in drunkenness; and the latter in a numerous train of
diseases and vices of the body and mind.
I. I shall begin by briefly describing their prompt or immediate effects
in a fit of drunkenness.
This odious disease--for by that name it should be called--appears with
more or less of the following symptoms, and most commonly in the order
in which I shall enumerate them.
1. Unusual garrulity.
2. Unusual silence.
3. Captiousness, and a disposition to quarrel.
4. Uncommon good-humor, and an insipid simpering, or laugh.
5. Profane swearing and cursing.
6. A disclosure of their own or other people's secrets.
7. A rude disposition to tell those persons in company whom they know,
their faults.
8. Certain immodest actions. I am sorry to say this sign of the first
stage of drunkenness sometimes appears in women, who, when sober, are
uniformly remarkable for chaste and decent manners.
9. A clipping of words.
10. Fighting; a black eye, or a swelled nose, often mark this grade of
drunkenness.
11. Certain extravagant acts which indicate a temporary fit of madness.
Those are singing, hallooing, roaring, imitating the noises of brute
animals, jumping, tearing off clothes, dancing naked, breaking glasses
and china, and dashing other articles of household furniture upon the
ground or floor. After a while the paroxysm of drunkenness is completely
formed. The face now becomes flushed, the eyes project, and are somewhat
watery, winking is less frequent than is natural; the under lip is
protruded--the head inclines a little to one shoulder--the jaw
falls--belchings and hiccough take place--the limbs totter--the whole
body staggers. The unfortunate subject of this history next falls on his
seat--he looks around him with a vacant countenance, and mutters
inarticulate sounds to himself--he attempts to rise and walk: in this
attempt he falls upon his side, from which he gradually turns upon his
back: he now closes his eyes and falls into a profound sleep, frequently
attended with snoring, and profuse sweats, and sometimes with such a
relaxation of the muscles which confine the bladder and the lower
bowels, as to produce a symptom which delicacy forbids me to mention. In
this condition he often lies from ten, twelve, and twenty-four hours, to
two, three, four, and five days, an object of pity and disgust to his
family and friends. His recovery from this fit of intoxication is marked
with several peculiar appearances. He opens his eyes and closes them
again--he gapes and stretches his limbs--he then coughs and pukes--his
voice is hoarse--he rises with difficulty, and staggers to a chair--his
eyes resemble balls of fire--his hands tremble--he loathes the sight of
food--he calls for a glass of spirits to compose his stomach--now and
then he emits a deep-fetched sigh, or groan, from a transient twinge of
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