If the extensive or even universal practice of a thing proves its necessity, then has there been justification, either now or in the past, for war, lying, avarice and other vices.  It is strange that drugs differing so greatly in their immediate and obvious effects as, for example, alcohol and opium, or coffee and tobacco should be used.  Should it he said that only some of the much used stimulants are useful, there is an end to the argument based on their universal use.  There is no doubt that the use of stimulants in more than very small quantities is distinctly injurious, and it is difficult to see what physiological advantage there can be in their habitual use, to what is vaguely called a moderate extent.  Sometimes they are taken for a supposed medical necessity, and where taste attracts, little evidence satisfies.  Those in the habit of taking them, if honest, must confess that it is chiefly on account of the apparent enjoyment.  The ill-nourished and the depressed in body and mind crave most for stimulants.  A food creates energy in the body, including the nervous system, and this is the only legitimate form of stimulation.  A mere stimulant does not create but draws on the reserve forces.  What was latent energy—­to become in the natural course gradually available—­under stimulation is rapidly set free; there is consequently, subsequent depletion of energy.  There may occasionally be times when a particular organ needs a temporary stimulus to increased action, notwithstanding it may suffer an after depression; but such cases are so rare that they may be left out of our present argument, and stimulants should only be used, like other powerful drugs, under medical advice.  In the last 25 years the use of alcohol by the medical profession has steadily diminished, its poisonous properties having become more evident.

There is a general similarity in the effects of stimulants on the digestive and nervous systems.  The most largely used stimulant is ethyl alcohol, and as its action is best known, it may be useful to name the principal effects.  Alcohol in the form of wine and spirits, in small quantities, first stimulates the digestive organs.  Large quantities inflame the stomach and stop digestion. (Beer, however, retards digestion, altogether out of proportion to the alcohol it contains.) Alcohol increases the action of the heart, increases the blood pressure, and causes the vessels of the whole body to dilate, especially those of the skin; hence there is a feeling of warmth.  It the person previously felt cold he now feels warm.  The result of the increased circulation through the various organs is that they work with greater vigour, hence the mental faculties are brightened for a time, and the muscular strength seems increased.  The person usually feels the better for it, though this is not always the case; some have a headache or feel very sleepy.  It has been repeatedly proved that these good results are but transitory.  The heart,