XVII. _Sterility._—This is a state to which confirmed drunkards are very subject. The children of such persons are, in general, neither numerous nor healthy. From the general defect of vital power in the parental system, they are apt to be puny and emaciated, and more than ordinarily liable to inherit all the diseases of those from whom they are sprung. On this account, the chances of long life are much diminished among the children of such parents. In proof of this, it is only necessary to remark, that according to the London bills of mortality, one-half of the children born in the metropolis die before attaining their third year; while, of the children of the Society of Friends, a class remarkable for sobriety and regularity of all kinds, one-half actually attain the age of forty-seven years. Much of this difference, doubtless, originates in the superior degree of comfort, and correct general habits of the Quakers, which incline them to bestow every care in the rearing of their offspring, and put it in their power to obtain the means of combating disease; but the main-spring of this superior comfort and regularity is doubtless temperance—a virtue which this class of people possess in an eminent degree. XVIII. _Emaciation._—Emaciation is peculiarly characteristic of the spirit drinker. He wears away, before his time, into the “lean and slippered pantaloon” spoken of by Shakspeare in his “Stages of Human Life.” All drunkards, however, if they live long enough, become emaciated. The eyes get hollow, the cheeks fall in, and wrinkles soon furrow the countenance with the marks of age. The fat is absorbed from every part, and the rounded plumpness which formerly characterized the body soon wears away. The whole form gets lank and debilitated. There is a want of due warmth, and the hand is usually covered with a chill clammy perspiration. The occurrence of emaciation is not to be wondered at in persons who are much addicted to ardent spirits, for alcohol, besides being possessed of no nutritive properties, prevents the due chymification of the food, and consequently deteriorates the quality, besides diminishing the quantity of chyle. The principle of nutrition being thus affected, the person becomes emaciated as a natural consequence.