"The thirsty man's desire for water is healthy; and if you withhold
it, you create a disease that will destroy him," was answered. "Not
so the craving for alcohol. With every new supply the craving is
increased, and the man becomes more and more helpless in the folds
of an enslaving appetite. Is it not true, doctor, that with few
exceptions all who have engaged in treating inebriates agree that
only in entire abstinence is cure possible?"

"Well, yes; you are probably right there," Dr. Angler returned, with
some professional reserve. "In the most cases isolation and
abstinence are no doubt the only remedies, or, to speak more
correctly, the only palliatives. As for cure, I am one of the
skeptics. If you have the diathesis, you have the danger of exposure
always, as in consumption."

"An occasion like this," remarked the other, "is to one with a
dypso-maniac diathesis like a draft of cold, damp air on the exposed
chest of a delicate girl who has the seeds of consumption in her
lungs. Is it not so, doctor?"

"Yes, yes."

"There are over three hundred persons here to-night."

"Not less."

"In so large a company, taking society as we have it to-day, is it
likely that we have none here with a hereditary or acquired love of
drink?"