In reply to your letter of the 7th February, I have the honour to recall you the opinion which is current to-day among doctors of the highest authority, namely, that the abuse of alcohol and tobacco offers the greatest inconvenience from the point of view of health. Alcoholism produces a state of disorder of the organism to which a great number of maladies attach themselves. It is not a question of the moderate use of excitants, but the limit between use and abuse is difficult to trace, because it varies according to the country, the climate, and the habits of the individual constitution.

A. WURTZ.
March 14, 1882.