| Description Of Item | Press cutting from an unknown publication, published in February 1868. Relates to the number of deaths in England and Wales due to ‘excessive drinking’, ‘intemperance’, or alcohol intoxication, as found in the Returns of the Registrar-General. It notes that from 1856 to 1865, a total of 8160 deaths linked with drunkenness were reported: of these 3238 from intemperance, and 4922 from delirium tremens. The article supposes that heat is an aggravating factor in producing delirium tremens, since high temperatures increase thirst and make the effects of alcohol more dangerous. It notes that delirium tremens seems ‘more fatal in the hot than in the cold months’ due the variance in the number of deaths linked to it recorded. However, the numbers of deaths by intemperance show less variance over the months.
From the collection of Thomas Laycock. |