Possibly the title superscribed to this short article may prove misleading; if so, I must crave your indulgence, as the subject to which perhaps such a title is more applicable could scarcely be done justice to within the short limits of time allotted us. I merely wish to skim over the surface of this question of alcoholism and indicate some special features which have appealed to my interest in this connection, prefacing my remarks on the geographical distribution of alcoholism and insanity with a cursory review of the physiological action of alcohol upon heatformation and its effects on those centres presumably operant in muscular sense discrimination.