frequent reference has been made are tolerated and sanctioned in our own country, that our people abroad as well as at home are stigmatised as—the words come most reluctantly from the pen of one who is proud of his nationality—as a nation of drinkers; and it is the duty of men in every rank and station to express their disapproval of intemperance and the causes which lead to its prevalence, and so to influence public opinion in favour of sobriety. And now let us say, in conclusion, that if the perusal of these pages should have removed any misconceptions, or have suggested any important truths, in connection with the subject of which they have treated; if it should induce any who have hitherto been calculating, or timid, or indifferent, to extend a warm and disinterested support to the cause of temperance reform; or if it should afford help and encouragement to those who are already labouring to raise the standard of morality and to ameliorate the condition of the poor and ignorant, their publication will not have been in vain, and we shall certainly have no cause to regret having invited our readers to bear us company in this cursory and imperfect glance over the history of drink in every age. FOOTNOTES [1] On the Action of Alcohol on the Mind, pp. 11, 12. W. Tweedie. [2] Results of Researches on Alcohol, p. 6 (“An Inbred Enemy”). W. Tweedie. [3] Descent of Man, i. 12. [4] Brehm, Thierleben, b. i. 1864, a. 75, 86. Also on the Ateles, s. 105, and elsewhere. [5] Morewood’s Inebriating Liquors, p. 55 and subsequent pages, which contain numerous references. Dublin: W. Curry, jun., & Co. 1838. In referring to this work, we shall in future simply say “Morewood.” An earlier but much less perfect edition was published by Longmans in 1824. [6] Researches in South Africa, p. 411. Murray. [7] Researches in South Africa, pp. 186, 630, &c. [8] The Malay Archipelago, vol. ii. p. 102. [9] Striking instances will be found in the chapter on America in the present work. [10] Morewood, p. 65, where Malte Brun, Whittington, and other travellers are referred to as authorities on the same subject. [11] The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 13. Sampson Low & Co. [12] Heart of Africa, vol. i. p. 183. [13] Morewood, who quotes authorities, p. 349. [14] Ibid., p. 350. [15] History of Europe, vol. i. 7th ed. p. 21. [16] This will be further strikingly shown in the chapter which relates to the habits of the tribes on the River Plate. [17] Herodotus, iii. 20-22. [18] Keller’s Lake Dwellings, p. 344, Longmans; and Nilsson’s Stone Age, edited by Sir J. Lubbock, pp. xxiii., xxix., Longmans. [19] For full information, see abstract of the treatise on the plants of the lake-dwellings in Keller’s book (cited), p. 336, where illustrations will be found of a great variety of plants in use at that early age. [20] Keller’s Lake Dwellings, pp. 41, 342.