the nearest cabaret, where he would drink incessantly, until ten or eleven o'clock. He would then stagger home, go down into his cellar, bring up some large bottles of wine, and drink night and day, seldom sleeping, and very rarely eating. During the early period of the attack, he would go to the cabaret, forenoon and afternoon; but, during the last eighteen or twenty days, he never went from home. Then he became reserved, passionate, avoiding the light, and seeking the darkest corner of the kitchen. He was never observed to be delirious, nor deranged in mind, but would answer questions correctly, and follow the train of conversation. The paroxysm ended in a profound sleep, from which he would awake in his sober senses, and resume his avocations as if he had just quitted them the preceding evening, being unconscious, or pretending to be so, of anything that had occurred.1

§ 553. It can scarcely be doubted, that the above cases originated in pathological changes; and there is also another class of cases which strongly point to the same origin, and present a close affinity, both in this respect and in that of their symptoms. In the cases referred to, the persons, who are habitually sober, are irresistibly" impelled to indulge in the reckless, unlimited use of intoxicating drinks, whenever agitated by strong moral emotions. The author was once acquainted with a very amiable, intelligent, and virtuous young seaman, who, by means of strict attention to his duties, his staid deportment, and his knowledge of navigation, rose to the command of a ship at a very early age. During his second voyage as captain, while in a foreign port, in a hot climate, some circumstances occurred which subjected him to considerable fatigue, exposure, and great anxiety of mind, and seriously affected his health. By this, and some other things which took place on the passage home, his mind

was so disturbed that this young man, who hardly knew the taste of ardent spirits, suddenly abandoned himself to the wildest excesses. The fit continued till within a few days of their arrival at port, during which time he was totally unconscious of what was going on, and the first officer took charge of the vessel. The same scenes again occurred the next voyage, and he lost his employment; but, with these two exceptions, no man living practised more rigid abstinence from every kind of intoxicating drink. Nothing could tempt him to the slightest indulgence, and he evinced the strongest repugnance to all spirituous liquors of whatever kind. The author also knew another young man of similar character, who rose in a similar manner to the command of a ship; but no sooner did he reach this reward of his merits than he began to drink with all the recklessness of an old toper. As soon as he was degraded to an inferior station no man could be more temperate, and this appearance of reform each time encouraging his friends with the hope that he had abandoned his bad habits altogether, they would restore him to the station he had lost, to be again and again forfeited by his mad propensity. In these cases, it seems as if the anxiety arising from a sense of heavy responsibility, and from adverse circumstances, produced an irritation, if not inflammation, of some portion of the brain, — of that which, if phrenology be true, is connected with the appetite of hunger and thirst.

§ 554. Esquirol mentions the case of a servant girl in the Salpt'tri^re, who upon the slightest cross or contradiction began and continued to drink until prevented by strict seclusion. If not prevented in time, she got drunk, became furious, and attempted suicide.1

§ 555. Marc observes that dipsomania sometimes occurs in women at the turn of life, as it is called, as a result of the important physiological changes, which, at that period, take place in the female constitution. He has. met with many examples of it in women who previously had exhibited ail the virtues of their sex, and especially temperance.1

CHAPTER XXVII.

Lii;al c«'!W4ii-KNrw» or DarMCESsnw.

§ .V.»j. Burnt* wo undertake to estimate the legal re•l».imi'iliti<-» of drunkard*, it will be necessary to retrace our step* for a moment, in order to ascertain what is the eiact state of the miud while under Uie immediate influence of intoxicating drinks; and for this purpose we sliall diatiiiguish, wiili HofThauer, three degrees or periods of drunken !.<•*». In the first degree, to use in some measure the Un/ustre of thi« writer, Uie ideas are simply uncommonly in armus; cons<<qucnlly Uie empire of the understanding <>**r the actions is so little weakened, that the individual per&vtlr retains Uie consciousness of his external condition, snd in fact may be said to be in complete possession of his sr.,+•*. Still this rapid flow of ideas is uufarorable to rcflecti ii, and there also accompany it great irritability, and aotivitr of the moral emotions. It must l>e remembered, howei<-r. tliat anger is more rare in tliis decree of drunkenness, in oiii«e.|urnoo of the self-satisfaction which tlte person en_, >ts. and which rendera him more patn-nt; but, on the c>th«T hand, so ii 10 previous circumstance** that may have increased his susce|>tiinlity, cv*<n U»e sallies of a wild gajely, or a simple dispute of words, though conducted with courtesy, strongly di«|w>se him to transports of passion. St.II. aa long as drunkenness d<«*s not exceed the first degree, the |*»«ions can l>e repressed. In Uie second degrr* of dninkei>n<*«a a man has still tl.e use of his seusm, though they are remarka'ily enf«-»il.d; hut he is cntirvly licaide himself, memory and judgment haviug abandoned lum. lie acta aa if he lived only for the present, with no idea of the consequence* of his actions, nor their relations to one another. The past has gone from his mind, and he cannot be influenced by considerations which he no longer remembers. He conduct* himself as if no control over his actions wore necessary. The slightest provocation is sufficient to awaken the most asbounded rage. He is, therefore, not unlike the maniac, mud can be responsible for his actions only so far as he is for h;* drunkenness. In the last degree, he not only loses the possession of his reason, but his senses are so enfeebled that he is no longer conscious of his external relations. In this condition he is more dangerous to himself than to others.

§ 557. In the first stage of drunkenness, it is obvious that the legal relations of tlte individual cannot be affected, inasmuch as he has lost none of the ordinary soundness of his judgment. In the second and third stages, so much are the soundness of his understanding and clearness of his perceptions impaired, and his passions excited, that he acts more or leas unconsciously and without deliberation. But since drunkenness is itself a sin, it becomes a question how far a person's liability for the consequences of his acts in that state can be affected by a condition which is itself utterly inexcusable.

§ 558. The common law of England has shown but little disposition to afford relief from any of the immediate consequences of drunkenness, either in civil or criminal cases. It has never considered mere drunkenness alone a sufficient reason for invalidating a deed or agreement, except when carried to that excessive degree which deprives the party of all consciousness of what he is doing. Courts of equity, also, have strenuously refused their relief in moderate drunkenness, unless it were procured by the contrivance of the other party, or were made the means of obtaiuing some unfair advantage.1 The general doctrine to be derived from modern English decisions is, first, that moderate drunkenness does not necessarily deprive the 1 Story, Commentaries on Equity, 1, § 232.