Physiological reflections on the destructive operation of spiritous and fermented liquors on the animal system / by Thomas Forster.

  • Forster, T. (Thomas Ignatius Maria), 1789-1860.
Date:
1812
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Physiological reflections on the destructive operation of spiritous and fermented liquors on the animal system / by Thomas Forster. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    is a doctrine frequently alluded to by the poets of old; and its origin seems lost in the night of history. Modern physiologists have developed the counterpart of this im- portant branch of the ancient pathology, and have pointed out the immediate sym- pathy of the viscera with diseases and in- juries of the head, and with anxiety and agitation of the mind. This is, perhaps, the proper place to introduce to the reader’s notice a habit which is often productive of the most calamitous consequences, as it tends to illustrate what has been said above. A person suft'ering from a temporary loss or disappointment, has recourse to the use of wine or spirits, the stimulus of which alfords a momentary relief from mental sufferings. A disordered state of the digestive organs is, however, invariably the consequence of such practices, which, reacting on the sensorium, increases the mental disorder, and gives it a peculiar character. The patient, now, is not only distressed about the original sub- ject of grief, but takes atrabiliary views of every surrounding object. The constant habit of drinking, by weakening the diges- tive powers, j)iedisposcs the viscera to dis-