In the history of British Medicinal Science, use of alcohol in medicine pills, and herbs for curing diseases have been there for hundreds of years. One drop of Gin was advised to get rid of the plague, and sometimes to clean up our body wine gargle and to kill the worms present in our stomach a sip of absinth was advised. But as the 19th century approached human came to know about the ill effect of liquor.
Few days back, in an exhibition of the Royal College of Physicians in London it was shown that how in the past, people associated with the medical science, used alcohol in a deadly manner. Among the several books binded with leather, in the exhibition, an English translation of the book of a 13th century British philosopher and writer Roger Bacon was also there. Baker used to write on alchemy and medicine.
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According to this translation printed in 1683, Bacon suggested that wine keeps the stomach fresh, maintains heat in the body, is helpful in digestion, prevents the body from being polluted and digest food until it dilutes in the blood. But he was also aware of the danger of using high quantities of ethanol. If taken in high quantities, it will prove to be very harmful, will affect the brain, and can also blur the eyes .
In the handwritten domestic cookery books of the 16th and 18th century, there are references to the methods of food cooked in general, as well as things made from wine. In fact, wine was considered as a powerful tonic in history, but liquor was seen otherwise.For example, for many years absinth extracted from herbs like nagadun was used to kill stomach and intestinal worms. But in the 18th century, Gin was considered to be responsible for the rising addiction, poverty and crime.
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Unrestrained habits
In 1725, the Royal College of Physicians expressed concern over ‘the lethal effect of the increasing use of liquor’ in its first petition. As the law got relaxed on the ways of distillation as compared to wine and beer, in England, people love towards Gin grew . It also meant that liquor had now reached the common people.
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According to a research of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, liquor was seen as a major problem until the 19th century. As Britain’s industrialization and urbanization grew, demand for more skilled and punctual workers was also there, and restraint was considered as an attribute. Movement demanding self restraint started, some initially advised the ban on certain beverages, but over time, they started demanding a complete ban on them. By the middle of the 19th century, physicians themselves started joining such movements.
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Along with the progress of science, as new substances were discovered, the opinion of society and the medical community regarding liquor began to change, one of the reason was to emphasize on the efficiency of work at the beginning of the First World War. Gradually environment against liquor was created, and after a law made in Great Britain in 1941, it was made mandatory for the drug producers to enter the list of alcohol content and other ingredients contained in their medicines.