A discourse on intemperance : delivered at Cincinnati, March 1, 1828, before the Agricultural society of Hamilton county, and subsequently pronounced, by request, to a popular audience / By Daniel Drake.
- Daniel Drake
- Date:
- 1828
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A discourse on intemperance : delivered at Cincinnati, March 1, 1828, before the Agricultural society of Hamilton county, and subsequently pronounced, by request, to a popular audience / By Daniel Drake. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
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![can increase for a time the generation of heat in the body; but the law of the animal system is, that if actions are rais- ed above their natural degree by artificial means, they after- wards fall below it—so that he who can brave the cold, in the hour of intemperate indulgence, sinks under it in the period of weakness that follows. He is alternately less and more vulnerable than the man, who, mounting to no delusive ele- vation, suffers no dangerous depression; but moves forward on a uniform and safer level. 2. Exposure to intense h<>at. This is always attended with danger; but ardent spirits cannot diminish the hazard.' When too much heat is retained in the sj'stem, because the hot atmosphere conducts off too little, why should we in^ crease its production by a stimulating drink ? The true pre- ventives are water, vegetable food [abundant in warm climates] and rest in shaded situations, during the heat of !he day. With these, -ardent spirits are, at least, super- fluous—without them, decidedly pernicious. 3. Exposure to moisture. Wet clothes, a dampatmos'- phere, fogs, moist ground, and water, conduct off the heat of our systems with great rapidity, even if the weather and water are not actually cold. Under this kind of exposure, the exciting influence of ardent spirits is thought by almost every body, to be indispensable to the preservation of health. The remarks just made are applicable, with but little varia- tion, to these cases. If the exposure be slight and casual, a single draught may do good; but if prolonged, or constantly recurring, the system must be supported by other agents, less transient, and less irritating, in their effects. Of these, active exercise, a diet of animal food made savoury with salt and other condiments, strong coffee or tea, and the ap> plication of great warmth to the feet at night, are the means on which we may rely with the greatest confidence o 9](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2102683x_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
