The effects of alcohol as a medicine : an essay read before the Fifth National Convention, held at Saratoga, August 1, 2, and 3, 1865 / by Charles Jewett, M.D.

  • Jewett, Charles, 1807-1879.
Date:
1865
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The effects of alcohol as a medicine : an essay read before the Fifth National Convention, held at Saratoga, August 1, 2, and 3, 1865 / by Charles Jewett, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    EVENING SESSION. Prof. A. B. I*ALMER, of Mich., chairman of the committee ap- pointed on Dr. Jewett's essay, submitted the following resolutions: Resolved, That we regard the paper presented by Dr. Jewett on the use of alco- holic stimulants a very able one, and would recommend its publication. Resolved, That while this Convention, composed largely of non-medical men, does not presume to judge critically of questions of a strictly medical character, and while it particularly does not deny the powers of alcohol and alcoholic liquors as medicines in certain cases, any more than it denies the power of other articles of the materia medica, such as opium, quinine, or arsenic', yet, in view of the incalculable evils arising from the use of such liquors in health, and the gi-eat danger of habits of intemperance being established by their frequent use for medicinal purposes, this body, assembled from different parts of our country, for the sole purpose, and with an anxious desire, to arrest those evils, respectfully, but earnestly, request the members of the medical profession to carefully recon- sider the subject of so freely prescribing these drinks as is now the prevailing fashion, especially in chronic cases and in slight ailments, and to substitute other articles so far as the interests of their patients will allow. Resolved, That this Convention begs of medical men, in arriving at conclusions on this subject, to consider the remote as well as the immediate effects of their prescriptions, and their effect upon the moral and social as well as the physical conditions of their patients. Resolved, That the growing evils of intemperance at the present time induce this body to resort to every proper measure to abate them, and induce this appeal to the members of a profession for which it has great respect, knowing they have immense power and commensurate responsibility in molding public sentiment and practice in the use of alcoholic beverages. Resolved, That these resolutions be signed by the officers of this Convention, '^ and sent, with a request for publication, to each of the medical journals in the country. Prof. Palmee, in an eloquent speech, advocated the sentiments expressed in the resolutions.