mad bull--in quarrelling and fighting, a dog--in
cruelty, a tiger--in fetor, a skunk--in filthiness, a hog--and in
obscenity, a he-goat.

It belongs to the history of drunkenness to remark, that its paroxysms
occur, like the paroxysms of many diseases, at certain periods, and
after longer or shorter intervals. They often begin with annual, and
gradually increase in their frequency, until they appear in quarterly,
monthly, weekly, and quotidian or daily periods. Finally, they afford
scarcely any marks of remission, either during the day or the night.
There was a citizen of Philadelphia, many years ago, in whom drunkenness
appeared in this protracted form. In speaking of him to one of his
neighbors, I said, "Does he not _sometimes_ get drunk?" "You mean," said
his neighbor, "is he not _sometimes_ sober?"

It is further remarkable, that drunkenness resembles certain hereditary,
family, and contagious diseases. I have once known it to descend from a
father to four out of five of his children. I have seen three, and once
four brothers, who were born of sober ancestors, affected by it; and I
have heard of its spreading through a whole family composed of members
not originally related to each other. These facts are important, and
should not be overlooked by parents, in deciding upon the matrimonial
connections of their children.

II. Let us next attend to the chronic effects of ardent spirits upon the
body and mind. In the body they dispose to every form of acute disease;
they moreover _excite_ fevers in persons predisposed to them from other
causes. This has been remarked in all the yellow-fevers which have
visited the cities of the United States. Hard-drinkers seldom escape,
and rarely recover from them. The following diseases are the usual
consequences of the habitual use of ardent spirits:

1. A decay of appetite, sickness at stomach, and a puking of bile, or a
discharge of a frothy and viscid phlegm, by hawking, in the morning.

2. Obstructions of the liver. The fable of Prometheus, on whose liver a
vulture was said to prey constantly, as a punishment for his stealing
fire from heaven, was intended to illustrate the painful effects of
ardent spirits upon that organ of the body.

3. Jaundice, and dropsy of the belly and limbs, and finally of every
cavity in the body. A swelling in the feet and legs is so characteristic
a mark of habits of intemperance, that the merchants in Charleston, I
have been told, cease to tru