Chapter XVIII: Part 18

Skin or parchment only acquires the elasticity requisite to produce vibration by tension; the vibrations of the parchment are taken up by the air enclosed in the receptacle, which thus reinforces the sound produced by the parchment. The _tone_ of the instrument whether definite or indefinite depends upon the dimensions of the vellum, the shape of the resonant receptacle, and the method of percussion. The _intensity_ of the sound depends upon the degree of percussive force used and the diameter of the vellum in proportion to the dimensions of the resonant receptacle; the material of which the latter consists has little or no influence on the tone of the instrument. The _pitch_ of the sound is determined by the dimensions of the vellum taken in conjunction with the degree of tension, the pitch varying in acuteness directly with the degree of tension and inversely with the size of the vellum.

The _bass drum_ or Turkish drum (Fr. _grosse caisse_; Ger. _Grosse Trommel_; Ital. _gran cassa_ or _tamburo grande_) consists of a short cylinder of very wide diameter covered at both ends by vellum stretched over thin hoops, which in turn are kept in place by larger hoops fitting tightly over them. At regular intervals in the two large hoops are bored holes through which passes an endless cord stretched in zig-zag round the cylinder and connecting the two hoops. The tension of the vellum is controlled by means of leather braces which are made to slide up and down the zig-zag of cord, slackening or tightening the large hoops, and with them the vellum, at the will of the performer. Systems of rods and screws are also used for the purpose. The bass drum is mounted on a stand when used in the orchestra. The sound is produced by striking the centre of the vellum on the one end of the drum with a stick having a large soft round knob composed of wood covered with cork, sponge or felt. The bass drum cannot be tuned since it gives out no definite note, but the pitch may be varied, according as a rich full tone or a mere dull thud be required, by tightening or loosening the braces; the instrument can, moreover, be muffled by covering it with a piece of cloth. The music for the bass drum is generally written on a stave with a bass clef, , the C being merely used to show the rhythm and accents. Sometimes the stave is dispensed with, a single note on a single line being sufficient. The bass drum has a place in every orchestra, although it is used but sparingly to accentuate the rhythm. It is possible to make gradations in _forte_ and _piano_ on the bass drum, and to play quavers and semi-quavers in moderate _tempo_. A roll is sometimes played by holding a short stick, furnished with a knob at each end, in the middle and striking in quick succession with each knob alternately; two kettledrum sticks answer the purpose still better. It is understood that the cymbals play the same music as the bass drum unless the composer has written _senza piatti_ over the part. Wagner did not once score for the bass drum after he composed _Rienzi_, but Verdi, Gounod, Berlioz and Sullivan used it effectively. The bass drum was formerly known as the _long drum_, the cylinder being long in proportion to the diameter.

The _side_ or _snare drum_ (Fr. _tambour militaire_; Ger. _Militartrommel_; Ital. _tamburo militare_) is an instrument consisting of a small wooden or brass cylinder with a vellum at each end. The parchments are lapped over small hoops and pressed firmly down by larger hoops. As in the bass drum, these and the vellums are tightened or slackened by means of cords and leather braces, or by a system of rods and screws. Across the lower head are stretched two or more catgut strings called snares, which produce a rattling sound at each stroke on the upper head, owing to the sympathetic vibration of the lower head which jars against the snares. The upper head, set in vibration by direct percussion from the sticks, induces sympathetic vibrations in the air contained within the resonating receptacle, and these vibrations are communicated to the lower head. The presence of the snares across the diameter of the latter produces a phenomenon which gives the side drum its peculiar timbre, changing the nature of the vibrations, now no longer free: the snares form a kind of nodal contact, inducing double the number of vibrations and a sound approximately an octave higher than would be the case were the heads left to vibrate freely. Moreover, the vibrations of the upper head being weaker, the latter is compelled to vibrate synchronously with the lower vellum.[1]

The side drum, so called because it is worn at the side, is struck in the centre by two small wooden sticks with elongated heads or knobs of hard wood, producing a hard rasping sound when the drum is played singly and in close proximity to the hearer; when, however, several drums are played simultaneously or with other instruments the effect is brilliant and exhilarating. The roll is produced by striking two blows alternately with each hand quite regularly and very rapidly, the result being a rattling tremolo. This roll ("daddy-mammy") is very difficult to acquire, and requires long practice. The side drum can be muffled by loosening the snares or by inserting a piece of silk or cloth between the snares and the parchment. An impressive effect is produced by a continued roll on muffled drums in funeral marches. The notation for the side drum is similar to that in use for the bass drum; the value of the note is alone of importance; the place of the note on the staff is immaterial and purely a matter of custom. In orchestral scores, a single line is often used, or the part for side and bass drum is written on the same staff. A great variety of rhythmical figures can be played on the side drum, such as

The _tenor drum_ (Fr. _caisse roulante_; Ger. _Roll-_ or _Ruhrtrommel_; Ital. _tamburo rulante_) is similar to the side drum but has a larger cylinder of wood and no snares; consequently its timbre lacks the brilliancy and incisiveness of the side drum. It is used for the roll in military bands, in some theatre orchestras, and on the stage.

The _tambourin de Provence_ is a small drum with a long cylinder of narrow diameter used in the Basque provinces with a small pipe (_galoubet_) having three holes. The drum is beaten with one stick only, the performer steadying it with the hand which fingers the pipe. The tambourin and galoubet are in fact a survival of the pipe and tabor (q.v.).

The popularity of all kinds of drums in the most ancient civilizations is established beyond a doubt by the numerous representations of the instrument in a variety of shapes and sizes on the monuments and paintings of Egypt, Assyria, India and Persia. The _tympanon_, under which name seem to have been included tambourines and kettledrums, as well as the dulcimer (during the middle ages), was in use among Greeks and Romans chiefly in the worship of Cybele and Bacchus; it was introduced through the medium of the Roman civilization into western Europe. It is often said that the drum was introduced by the crusaders, but it was certainly known in England long before the crusades, for Bede (_Musica practica_) mentions it in his list of instruments, and Cassiodorus (ii. p. 507) describes it. The side drum was, until the reign of Elizabeth, of a much larger size than now and was held horizontally and beaten on one head only. It is not known at what date snares were added; Praetorius (_Syntagma musicum_, 1618) and Mersenne (_L'Harmonie universelle_, Paris, 1636) both mention them. A drawing of a side drum showing a snare appears in a book[2] from the printing press of J. Badius Ascensius (1510); the instrument also has cords and braces. Another woodcut of the same century is given as frontispiece to an edition of Flavius Vegetius Renatus.[3] An actual side drum with two curved drumsticks belonging to the ancient Egyptians was found during the excavations conducted at Thebes in 1823.[4] It measured 1-1/2 ft. in height by 2 ft. in diameter; the tension of the heads was regulated by cords braced by means of catgut encircling both ends of the drum, and wound separately round each cord so that these could be tightened or slackened at will by pulling the catgut bands closer together or pushing them farther apart. The Berlin Museum possesses some ancient Egyptian straight drumsticks with handle and knob. Drums were used at the battle of Halidon Hill (1333). An old ballad celebrating Edward III.'s victory on this occasion appears in a chronicle of the 14th century, preserved in the British Museum (Harl. MS. 4690),

"This was do with merry sowne.
With pipes trumpes and tabers thereto.
And loud clariones they blew also."

A prose account of the battle in the same MS. states that the "Englische mynstrelles beaten their tabers and blewen their trompes and pipers pipenede loude and made a great schowte upon the Skottes."

Froissart, under date 1338, gives details of the means taken by the Scots to intimidate the soldiers of Edward III.[5] Having mentioned their great horns, he adds, "ils font si grand' noise avec grands tambours qu'ils ont aussi." The same chronicler, describing the triumphal entry of Edward III. into Calais (1347), gives the following list of instruments used: "trompes, tambours, nacaires, chalemies, muses."[6]

Drums were used in the British army in the 16th century to give signals in war and peace-side drums by the infantry and dragoons, and kettledrums by the cavalry.[7] In the reign of Henry VIII. two drummers were allowed to every company of 100 men. The chief drum beats used by the infantry in the 17th century[8] were _call_, _troop_, _preparative_, _march_, _battaile_ and _retreat_; these were later[9] changed to _general_, _reveille_, _assembly_ or _troop_, _tattoo_, _chamade_, &c. The side drum was admitted into the orchestra in the 17th century, when Marais (1636-1728) scored for it in his opera _Alcione_. (K. S.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Victor Mahillon, _Catalogue descriptif_ (Ghent, 1880), vol.
i. pp. 19 and 20.

[2] Joannes Mauburnius, _Rosetum exercitiorum spiritualium et
sacrarum meditationum_ (Paris, 1510), Alphabetum, ix.

[3] _Vier Bucher der Ritterschaft; mit manicherleyen gerusten_, &c.;
(Augsburg, 1534).

[4] Carl Engel, _The Music of the Most Ancient Nations_ (London,
1864), p. 219.

[5] _Chron._ ii. p. 737, see also Grose's _Military Antiquities_, ii.
41.

[6] See Froissart in J. A. Buchon, _Pantheon litt._ (Paris, 1837),
vol. i. cap. 322, p. 273.

[7] Sir John Smythe, _A Brief Discourse_ (London, 1594), pp. 158-159.

[8] Lieut.-Col. W. Bariffe, _Militarie Discipline, or the Young
Artilleryman_ (London, 1643).

[9] Sir James Turner, _Pallas armata_ (1685), xxi. 302.

DRUMMOND, HENRY (1786-1860), English banker, politician and writer, best known as one of the founders of the Catholic Apostolic or "Irvingite" Church, was born at the Grange, near Alresford, Hampshire, on the 5th of December 1786. He was the eldest son of Henry Drummond, a prominent London banker, by a daughter of the first Lord Melville. He was educated at Harrow and at Christ Church, Oxford, but took no degree. His name is permanently connected with the university through the chair of political economy which he founded in 1825. He entered parliament in early life, and took an active interest from the first in nearly all departments of politics. Thoroughly independent and often eccentric in his views, he yet acted generally with the Conservative party. His speeches were often almost inaudible but were generally lucid and informing, and on occasion caustic and severe. From 1847 until his death in 1860 he represented West Surrey in parliament. Drummond took a deep interest in religious subjects, and published numerous books and pamphlets on such questions as the interpretation of prophecy, the circulation of the Apocrypha, the principles of Christianity, &c., which attracted considerable attention. In 1817 he met Robert Haldane at Geneva, and continued his movement against the Socinian tendencies then prevalent in that city. In later years he was intimately associated with the origin and spread of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Meetings of those who sympathized with the views of Edward Irving were held for the study of prophecy at Drummond's seat, Albury Park, in Surrey; he contributed very liberally to the funds of the new church; and he became one of its leading office-bearers, visiting Scotland as an "apostle" and being ordained as an "angel" for that kingdom. The numerous works he wrote in defence of its distinctive doctrines and practice were generally clear and vigorous, if seldom convincing. He died on the 20th of February 1860.

DRUMMOND, HENRY (1851-1897), Scottish evangelical writer and lecturer, was born in Stirling on the 17th of August 1851. He was educated at Edinburgh University, where he displayed a strong inclination for physical and mathematical science. The religious element was an even more powerful factor in his nature, and disposed him to enter the Free Church of Scotland. While preparing for the ministry, he became for a time deeply interested in the evangelizing mission of Moody and Sankey, in which he actively co-operated for two years. In 1877 he became lecturer on natural science in the Free Church College, which enabled him to combine all the pursuits for which he felt a vocation. His studies resulted in his writing _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_, the argument of which was that the scientific principle of continuity extended from the physical world to the spiritual. Before the book issued from the press (1883), a sudden invitation from the African Lakes Company drew Drummond away to Central Africa. Upon his return in the following year he found himself famous. Large bodies of serious readers, alike among the religious and the scientific classes, discovered in _Natural Law_ the common standing-ground which they needed; and the universality of the demand proved, if nothing more, the seasonableness of its publication. Drummond continued to be actively interested in missionary and other movements among the Free Church students. In 1888 he published _Tropical Africa_, a valuable digest of information. In 1890 he travelled in Australia, and in 1893 delivered the Lowell Lectures at Boston. It had been his intention to reserve them for mature revision, but an attempted piracy compelled him to hasten their publication, and they appeared in 1894 under the title of _The Ascent of Man_. Their object was to vindicate for altruism, or the disinterested care and compassion of animals for each other, an important part in effecting "the survival of the fittest," a thesis previously maintained by Professor John Fiske. Drummond's health failed shortly afterwards, and he died on the 11th of March 1897. His character was full of charm. His writings were too nicely adapted to the needs of his own day to justify the expectation that they would long survive it, but few men exercised more religious influence in their own generation, especially on young men.

DRUMMOND, THOMAS (1797-1840), British inventor and administrator, was born at Edinburgh on the 10th of October 1797, and was educated at the high school there. He was appointed to a cadetship at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1813; and in 1815 he entered the Royal Engineers. In 1819, when meditating the renunciation of military service for the bar, he made the acquaintance of Colonel T. F. Colby (1784-1852), from whom in the following year he received an appointment on the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain. During his winters in London he attended the chemical lectures of W. T. Brande and M. Faraday at the Royal Institution, and the mention at one of these of the brilliant luminosity of lime when incandescent suggested to him the employment of the lime light for making distant surveying stations visible. In 1825, when he was assisting Colby in the Irish survey, his lime-light apparatus ("Drummond light") was put to a practical test, and enabled observations to be completed between Divis mountain, near Belfast, and Slieve Snaght, a distance of 67 m. About the same time he also devised an improved heliostat, and in 1829 he was employed in adopting his light for lighthouse purposes. In 1831 he entered political life and was appointed superintendent of the boundary commission. Four years later he was made under-secretary of state for Ireland, where he proved himself a most successful administrator, and did much to promote law and order. It was he who in 1838 told the Irish landlords that "property has its duties as well as its rights." In 1836 he proposed the appointment of a commission on railways in Ireland, and took a large share in its work, which resulted in the recommendation, not, however, carried out, that the state should construct a system of lines throughout the island. Drummond's health was undermined by overwork, and he died at Dublin on the 15th of April 1840.

See _Life_ by J. F. M'Lennan (1867); _Life and Letters_ by R. Barry
O'Brien (1889); and Sir T. A. Larcom in _Papers on the Duties of the
Royal Engineers_, vol. iv. (1840).

DRUMMOND, WILLIAM (1585-1649), called "of Hawthornden," Scottish poet, was born at Hawthornden, near Edinburgh, on the 13th of December 1585. His father, John Drummond, was the first laird of Hawthornden; and his mother was Susannah Fowler, sister of William Fowler (q.v.), poet and courtier. Drummond received his early education at the high school of Edinburgh, and graduated in July 1605 as M.A. of the recently founded university of Edinburgh. His father was a gentleman usher at the English court (as he had been at the Scottish court from 1590) and William, in a visit to London in 1606, describes the festivities in connexion with the visit of the king of Denmark. Drummond spent two years at Bourges and Paris in the study of law; and, in 1609, he was again in Scotland, where, by the death of his father in the following year, he became laird of Hawthornden at the early age of twenty-four. The list of books he read up to this time is preserved in his own handwriting. It indicates a strong preference for imaginative literature, and shows that he was keenly interested in contemporary verse. His collection (now in the library of the university of Edinburgh) contains many first editions of the most famous productions of the age. On finding himself his own master, Drummond naturally abandoned law for the muses; "for," says his biographer in 1711, "the delicacy of his wit always run on the pleasantness and usefulness of history, and on the fame and softness of poetry." In 1612 began his correspondence with Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, afterwards earl of Stirling (q.v.), which ripened into a life-long friendship after Drummond's visit to Menstrie in 1614.

Drummond's first publication appeared in 1613, an elegy on the death of Henry, prince of Wales, called _Teares on the Death of Meliades_ (_Moeliades_, 3rd edit. 1614). The poem shows the influence of Spenser's and Sidney's pastoralism. In the same year he published an anthology of the elegies of Chapman, Wither and others, entitled _Mausoleum_, or _The Choisest Flowres of the Epitaphs_. In 1616, the year of Shakespeare's death, appeared _Poems: Amorous, Funerall, Divine, Pastorall: in Sonnets, Songs, Sextains, Madrigals_, being substantially the story of his love for Mary Cunningham of Barns, who was about to become his wife when she died in 1615. The poems bear marks of a close study of Sidney, and of the Italian poets. He sometimes translates direct from the Italian, especially from Marini. _Forth Feasting: A Panegyricke to the King's Most Excellent Majestie_ (1617), a poem written in heroic couplets of remarkable facility, celebrates James's visit to Scotland in that year. In 1618 Drummond began a correspondence with Michael Drayton. The two poets continued to write at intervals for thirteen years, the last letter being dated in the year of Drayton's death. The latter had almost been persuaded by his "dear Drummond" to print the later books of _Poly-Olbion_ at Hart's Edinburgh press. In the winter of 1618-1619, Drummond had included Ben Jonson in his circle of literary friends, and at Christmas 1618 was honoured with a visit of a fortnight or more from the dramatist. The account of their conversations, long supposed to be lost, was discovered in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, by David Laing, and was edited for the Shakespeare Society in 1842 and printed by Gifford & Cunningham. The conversations are full of literary gossip, and embody Ben's opinion of himself and of his host, whom he frankly told that "his verses were too much of the schooles, and were not after the fancie of the time," and again that he "was too good and simple, and that oft a man's modestie made a fool of his witt." But the publication of what was obviously intended merely for a private journal has given Jonson an undeserved reputation for harsh judgments, and has cast blame on Drummond for blackening his guest's memory.

In 1623 appeared the poet's fourth publication, entitled _Flowers of Sion: By William Drummond of Hawthornedenne: to which is adjoyned his Cypresse Grove_. From 1625 till 1630 Drummond was probably for the most part engaged in travelling on the Continent. In 1627, however, he seems to have been home for a short time, as, in that year, he appears in the entirely new character of the holder of a patent for the construction of military machines, entitled "Litera Magistri Gulielmi Drummond de Fabrica Machinarum Militarium, Anno 1627." The same year, 1627, is the date of Drummond's munificent gift (referred to above) of about 500 volumes to the library of the university of Edinburgh.

In 1630 Drummond again began to reside permanently at Hawthornden, and in 1632 he married Elizabeth Logan, by whom he had five sons and four daughters. In 1633 Charles made his coronation-visit to Scotland; and Drummond's pen was employed in writing congratulatory speeches and verses. As Drummond preferred Episcopacy to Presbytery, and was an extremely loyal subject, he supported Charles's general policy, though he protested against the methods employed to enforce it. When Lord Balmerino was put on his trial on the capital charge of retaining in his possession a petition regarded as a libel on the king's government, Drummond in an energetic "Letter" (1635) urged the injustice and folly of the proceedings. About this time a claim by the earl of Menteith to the earldom of Strathearn, which was based on the assertion that Robert III., husband of Annabella Drummond, was illegitimate, roused the poet's pride of blood and prompted him to prepare an historical defence of his house. Partly to please his kinsman the earl of Perth, and partly to satisfy his own curiosity, the poet made researches in the genealogy of the family. This investigation was the real secret of Drummond's interest in Scottish history; and so we find that he now began his _History of Scotland during the Reigns of the Five Jameses_, a work which did not appear till 1655, and is remarkable only for its good literary style. His next work was called forth by the king's enforced submission to the opposition of his Scottish subjects. It is entitled _Irene: or a Remonstrance for Concord, Amity, and Love amongst His Majesty's Subjects_ (1638), and embodies Drummond's political creed of submission to authority as the only logical refuge from democracy, which he hated. In 1639 Drummond had to sign the Covenant in self-protection, but was uneasy under the burden, as several political squibs by him testify. In 1643 he published [Greek: Skiamachia]: _or a Defence of a Petition tendered to the Lords of the Council of Scotland by certain Noblemen and Gentlemen_, a political pamphlet in support of those royalists in Scotland who wished to espouse the king's cause against the English parliament. Its burden is an invective on the intolerance of the then dominant Presbyterian clergy.

His later works may be described briefly as royalist pamphlets, written with more or less caution, as the times required. Drummond took the part of Montrose; and a letter from the Royalist leader in 1646 acknowledged his services. He also wrote a pamphlet, "A Vindication of the Hamiltons," supporting the claims of the duke of Hamilton to lead the Scottish army which was to release Charles I. It is said that Drummond's health received a severe shock when news was brought of the king's execution. He died on the 4th of December 1649. He was buried in his parish church of Lasswade.

Drummond's most important works are the _Cypresse Grove_ and the poems. The _Cypresse Grove_ exhibits great wealth of illustration, and an extraordinary command of musical English. It is an essay on the folly of the fear of death. "This globe of the earth," says he, "which seemeth huge to us, in respect of the universe, and compared with that wide pavilion of heaven, is less than little, of no sensible quantity, and but as a point." This is one of Drummond's favourite moods; and he uses constantly in his poems such phrases as "the All," "this great All." Even in such of his poems as may be called more distinctively Christian, this philosophic conception is at work.

A noteworthy feature in Drummond's poetry, as in that of his courtier contemporaries Ayton (q.v.), Lord Stirling and others, is that it manifests no characteristic Scottish element, but owes its birth and inspiration rather to the English and Italian masters. Drummond was essentially a follower of Spenser, but, amid all his sensuousness, and even in those lines most conspicuously beautiful, there is a dash of melancholy thoughtfulness--a tendency deepened by the death of his first love, Mary Cunningham. Drummond was called "the Scottish Petrarch"; and his sonnets, which are the expression of a genuine passion, stand far above most of the contemporary Petrarcan imitations. A remarkable burlesque poem _Polemo-Middinia inter Vitarvam et Nebernam_ (printed anonymously in 1684) has been persistently, and with good reason, ascribed to him. It is a mock-heroic tale, in dog-Latin, of a country feud on the Fifeshire lands of his old friends the Cunninghams.

Drummond's _Poems_, with _Cypresse Grove_, the _History_, and a few of
the minor tracts, were collected in 1656 and edited by Edward
Phillips, Milton's nephew. _The Works of William Drummond, of
Hawthornden_ (1711), edited by Bishop Sage and Thomas Ruddiman,
contains a life by the former, and some of the poet's letters. A
handsome edition of the _Poems_ was printed by the Maitland Club in
1832. Later editions are by Peter Cunningham (1833), by William R.
Turnbull in "The Library of Old Authors" (1856), and by W. C. Ward
(1894) for "The Muses' Library." The standard biography of Drummond is
by David Masson (1873). Extracts from the Hawthornden MSS. preserved
in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland were printed
by David Laing in _Archaeologia Scotica_, vol. iv.

DRUNKENNESS, a term signifying generally a state resulting from excessive drinking, and usually associated with alcoholic intoxication, or alcohol poisoning. It may represent either an _act_ or a _habit_, the latter consisting in frequent repetitions of the former. As an act it may be an accident, most usually arising from the incautious use of one or other of the commonly employed intoxicating agents; as a habit (as in the form of chronic alcoholism) it is one of the most degrading forms of vice which can result from the enfeeblement of the moral principle by persistent self-indulgence.

What appears to be "intoxication" may arise from many different causes (e.g. epilepsy, fractured skull, intracranial haemorrhage, and the toxaemic coma of diabetes and uraemia), and the close resemblance between the pathological and the toxic phenomena has been the cause of many untoward accidents. Cold alone may produce such peculiar effects that Captain Parry said in his _Journal_, "I cannot help thinking that many a man may have been punished for intoxication who was only suffering from the benumbing effects of frost; for I have more than once seen our people in a state so exactly resembling that of the most stupid intoxication, that I should certainly have charged them with the offence had I not been quite sure that no possible means were afforded them on Melville Island to procure anything stronger than snow water." The same confusion is frequently found in cases which come before the police-courts, people being arrested as "drunk and disorderly" who can prove that the symptoms were not due to over-indulgence in drink at all. Some individuals have, moreover, a special idiosyncrasy or susceptibility to alcohol, due to heredity or to one of the sequelae of sunstroke or cranial injury. The children of drunkards are usually very susceptible to the poison, becoming intoxicated by a far smaller quantity than is needed by a normal person.

But, as a rule, the phenomena of drunkenness are actually due to excessive consumption of some intoxicating liquid. The physiological action of all such agents may be described as a cumulative production of paralysis of various parts of the nervous system, but this effect results only in doses of a certain amount--a dose which varies with the agent, the race and the individual. Even the cup so often said to "cheer, but not inebriate," cannot be regarded as altogether free from the last-named effect. Tea-sots are well known to be affected with palpitation and irregularity of the heart, as well as with more or less sleeplessness, mental irritability and muscular tremors, which in some culminate in paralysis; while positive intoxication has been known to be the result of the excessive use of strong tea. In short, from tea to haschisch we have, through hops, alcohol, tobacco and opium, a sort of graduated scale of intoxicants, which stimulate in small doses and narcotize in larger,--the narcotic dose having no stimulating properties whatever, and only appearing to possess them from the fact that the agent can only be gradually taken up by the blood, and the system thus comes primarily under the influence of a stimulant dose. In certain circumstances and with certain agents--as in the production of chloroform narcosis--this precursory stage is capable of being much abbreviated, if not altogether annihilated; while with other agents--as tea--the narcotic stage is by no means always or readily produced.

No subject in modern times has led to more extreme opinions than this of indulgence in "intoxicants" to any degree whatever. It is well to remember that (in spite of apparently authoritative modern views to the contrary) there is not a shadow of proof that the moderate use of any one of these agents as a stimulant has any definite tendency to lead to its abuse; it is otherwise with their employment as narcotics, which, once indulged in, is almost certain to lead to repetition, and to a more or less rapid process of degradation, though there are many exceptions to this latter statement. It is interesting to know that a former English judge, who lived to nearly ninety years of age, believed he had prolonged his life and added greatly to his comfort by the moderate use of ether, which he was led to employ because neither wine nor tobacco agreed with him; while the immoderate use of the same agent has given rise to a most deleterious form of drunkenness, both in parts of Ireland and in some of the large industrial centres in Great Britain.

Various modern biologists have discussed, with more or less acceptance in certain circles, the historical conditions in various races and in different countries as to the use and abuse of intoxicants, and have drawn varying conclusions from their theories. It has even been contended, with much show of learned authority, that since drunkenness leads to disease and early death, the proneness to strong drink in the long run causes the elimination of the unfit, and results in a general sobering of the community, a race being therefore temperate in proportion to its past sufferings through alcohol. But on this subject it may be said that, at least, no agreement has been reached.

The effects of intoxicants are variously modified by the temperament of the individual and the nature of the inebriant. When that is alcohol, its action on an average individual is first to fill him with a serene and perfect self-complacency. His feelings and faculties are exalted into a state of great activity and buoyancy, so that his language becomes enthusiastic, and his conversation vivacious if not brilliant. The senses gradually become hazy, a soft humming seems to fill the pauses of the conversation, and modify the tones of the speaker, a filmy haze obscures the vision, the head seems lighter than usual, the equilibrium unstable. By-and-by objects appear double, or flit confusedly before the eyes; judgment is abolished, secretiveness annihilated, and the drunkard pours forth all that is within him with unrestrained communicativeness; he becomes boisterous, ridiculous, and sinks at length into a mere animal. Every one around him, the very houses, trees, even the earth itself, seem drunken and unstable, he alone sober, till at last the final stage is reached, and he falls on the ground insensible--_dead drunk_ (alcoholic coma)--a state from which, after profound slumber, he at last awakes feverish, exhausted, sick and giddy, with ringing ears, a throbbing heart and a violent headache.

The poison primarily affects the cerebral lobes, and the other parts of the cerebro-spinal system are consecutively involved, till in the state of _dead-drunkenness_ the only parts not invaded by a benumbing paralysis are those automatic centres in the medulla oblongata which regulate and maintain the circulation and respiration. But even these centres are not unaffected; the paralysis of these as of the other sections of the cerebro-spinal system varies in its incompleteness, and at times becomes complete, the coma of drunkenness terminating in death. More usually the intoxicant is gradually eliminated, and the individual restored to consciousness, a consciousness disturbed by the secondary results of the agent he has abused, which vary with the nature of that agent. Whether, however, directly or indirectly through the nervous system, the stomach suffers in every case; thus nutrition is interfered with by the defective ingestion of food, as well as by the mal-assimilation of that which is ingested; and from this cause, as well as by the peculiar local action of the various poisons, the various organic degenerations are induced (cirrhosis of the liver, &c.) which in most cases shorten the drunkard's days.

The primary discomforts of an act of drunkenness are readily removed for the time by a repetition of the cause. Thus what has been an act may readily become a habit, all the more readily that each repetition more and more enfeebles both the will and the judgment, till they become utterly unfit to resist the temptation to indulgence supplied by the knowledge of the temporary relief to suffering which is sure to follow, and in spite of the consciousness that each repetition of the act only forges their chains more tightly. From this condition there is no hope of relief but in enforced abstinence; any one in this condition must be regarded as temporarily insane (see INSANITY and NEUROPATHOLOGY), and ought to be placed in an inebriate asylum till he regain sufficient self-control to enable him to overcome his love for drink. Numerous "cures" have been started in recent years, which have often succeeded in individual cases. An anti-alcoholic serum obtained from alcoholized horses has been advocated by Dr Sapelier.

For the law concerning drunkenness the reader is referred to INEBRIETY, LAW OF. Its prevalence as a vice has varied considerably according to the state of education or comfort in different classes of society. In considering the extent to which intemperance has prevailed, the statistics of prosecutions upon which such comparisons are usually based are far from being completely satisfactory, but, inasmuch as they constitute the only possible data for such comparisons, we are compelled to accept them. The following table gives the average number of persons per 1000 of the population proceeded against for drunkenness in England and Wales for quinquennial periods, dating from 1857, the first year of the Judicial Statistics:--

1857-1861 4.28
1862-1866 4.78
1867-1871 5.47
1872-1876 7.83
1877-1881 7.25
1882-1886 6.90
1887-1891 6.19
1892-1896 5.84
1897-1901 6.42
1902-1906 6.51

The figures, it will be seen, show a steady decline from 1872-1876 (when the consumption of alcohol was quite abnormal) to 1892-1896. After that year, however, the figures again rose. The increase was especially marked in 1899, when a tide of exceptional prosperity was again accompanied by great drunkenness. It is also disquieting to discover that the average number of prosecutions for drunkenness in the three years 1897-1899 was 51% higher than the average for 1857-1861, and 35% higher than the average for 1862-1866. That the increase was partly due to more efficient police administration is probable, but that this is not a complete explanation of the figures is made evident by an analysis of the general statistics of crime during the same period, from which it may be seen that, while crime generally (excluding drunkenness) decreased 28% in England and Wales since 1857-1861, drunkenness increased 51%. Speaking generally, it may be said that in the United Kingdom drunkenness appears chiefly prevalent in the seaport and mining districts. If a line be drawn from the mouth of the Severn to the Wash, it will be found that the "black" counties, without exception, lie to the north-west of this line. The worst counties in England and Wales in the matter of drunkenness are Northumberland, Durham and Glamorganshire, while Pembrokeshire and Lancashire follow close behind. The most sober counties, on the other hand, are Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. Averages based upon the returns of entire counties do not, however, afford a complete guide to the distribution of drunkenness, inasmuch as offences are not equally distributed over the whole area of a county. A heavy ratio of drunkenness in a small district may often give a county an unfavourable position in the general averages, notwithstanding favourable conditions in the rest of its area.

Analysis of the prosecutions for drunkenness shows that about 24% of the total number of offences are committed by women. In the larger towns the proportion, as a rule, is higher. In London, 38% of the drunkenness is attributable to women; in Manchester, 36%; in Belfast and Glasgow, 32%. In Liverpool, on the other hand, the proportion is only 24%. The much-controverted question as to whether intemperance is increasing among women can hardly, however, be decided by an appeal to the criminal statistics. So far as these statistics throw any light at all upon the question, they suggest important local differences. A more direct clue is afforded by the registrar-general's annual returns of deaths directly attributed to intemperance. The figures are given below. In order to eliminate accidental variations, the comparison is based upon the average mortality during consecutive periods:--

+---------------+----------------------+----------+----------+
| Years. | Average No. of deaths| Males | Females |
| | (England and Wales). | per cent.| per cent.|
+---------------+----------------------+----------+----------+
| 1877-1881 | 1071 | 69 | 31 |
| 1882-1886 | 1320 | 66 | 34 |
| 1887-1891 | 1710 | 64 | 36 |
| 1892-1896 | 2044 | 61 | 39 |
| 1897-1899 | 2577 | 61 | 39 |
| 1899 | 2871 | 60 | 40 |
+---------------+----------------------+----------+----------+

For the ten years ending 1904, out of 26,426 deaths from alcoholism, 59.34% were males and 40.66% females.

The figures are certainly striking. They show, it will be noticed, that out of every 100 deaths from alcoholic excess in England and Wales women contributed nine more at the end of the century then they did in 1880. If, instead of taking the total number of deaths, we take the ratio per million persons living, the increase is seen even more clearly:--

+------------------+----------------+----------------+
| Years. | Males per | Females per |
| | million living.| million living.|
+------------------+----------------+----------------+
| 1877-1881 | 60 | 25 |
| 1882-1886 | 67 | 32 |
| 1887-1891 | 79 | 42 |
| 1892-1896 | 86 | 51 |
| 1897-1899 | 103 | 63 |
| 1899 | 112 | 70 |
+------------------+----------------+----------------+

It appears that, while the ratio of mortality from alcoholic excess increased 87% among males during the last two decades of the century, among females it increased by no less than 180%.

See also LIQUOR LAWS and TEMPERANCE.

DRURY, SIR WILLIAM (1527-1579), English statesman and soldier, was a son of Sir Robert Drury of Hedgerley in Buckinghamshire, and grandson of another Sir Robert Drury (d. 1536), who was speaker of the House of Commons in 1495. He was born at Hawstead in Suffolk on the 2nd of October 1527, and was educated at Gonville Hall, Cambridge. Fighting in France, Drury was taken prisoner in 1544; then after his release he helped Lord Russell, afterwards earl of Bedford, to quell a rising in Devonshire in 1549, but he did not come to the front until the reign of Elizabeth. In 1559 he was sent to Edinburgh to report on the condition of Scottish politics, and five years later he became marshal and deputy-governor of Berwick. Again in Scotland in January 1570, it is interesting to note that the regent James Stewart, earl of Murray, was proceeding to keep an appointment with Drury in Linlithgow when he was mortally wounded, and it was probably intended to murder the English envoy also. After this event Drury led two raids into Scotland; at least thrice he went to that country on more peaceable errands, during which, however, his life was continually in danger from assassins; and he commanded the force which compelled Edinburgh Castle to surrender in May 1573. In 1576 he was sent to Ireland as president of Munster, where his stern rule was very successful, and in 1578 he became lord justice to the Irish council, taking the chief control of affairs after the departure of Sir Henry Sidney. The rising of the earl of Desmond had just broken out when Sir William died in October 1579.

Drury's letters to Lord Burghley and others are invaluable for the
story of the relations between England and Scotland at this time.

DRUSES, or DRUZES (Arab. _Druz_), a people of mid-Syria (for the derivation of the name see HISTORY section below), distributed nowadays into three isolated groups, of which the most numerous inhabits Jebel Hauran (Jebel Druz), E. of Jordan (about 55,000); the second, the _cazas_ of Shuf and Metn in Lebanon (about 50,000); the third, the _cazas_ of Hasbeya, Rasheya, W. al Ajem, Homs, Hamadiyeh and Selimiyeh in Anti-Lebanon and Hermon (about 45,000). The first group, which has been greatly increased by migrants from the second, since the establishment of the privileged Lebanon province (1861) under Christian auspices, lives apart from other peoples in semi-independence. The second is now confined to the southern Lebanon, and even there is greatly outnumbered by Maronites, who, in the whole "Mountain," stand to Druses as 9 to 2. The third is counterbalanced everywhere by a large population of Moslem and Orthodox Syrians. The Hauran, therefore, has become the stronghold of the Druses, offering nowadays the best field for studying their peculiar customs and religion; and the group there still increases at the expense of the other groups, despite efforts on the part of the Ottoman government to check Druse migration by both conciliatory and repressive measures. The actual distinction of the Druses, as a racial unity, despite their dispersion, depends so exclusively on the peculiarity of their common religion, that it will be well at once to give an account of Druse creed and practice as they are understood to stand at the present day. How this religion may have grown up and come to be theirs will be considered later.

_Religion._--Druse religion is a secret faith, and the following account is given with all reserves. There are many indications that a more primitive cult, containing elements of Nature worship, preceded it, and still survives in the popular practices of the more remote Druse districts, e.g. in the eastern Hauran. The _Muwahhidin_ (Unitarians), as the Druses call themselves, believe that there is one and only one God, indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, passionless. He has made himself known to men by successive incarnations, of which the last was Hakim, the sixth Fatimite caliph. How many these incarnations have been is stated variously; but seventy, one for each period of the world, seems the best-attested number. Jesus appears to be accepted as one such incarnation, but not Mahomet, although it is agreed that, in his time, the "Universal Intelligence" (see later) was made flesh, in the person of Mikdad al-Aswad. No further incarnation can now take place: in Hakim a final appeal was made to mankind, and after the door of mercy had stood open to all for twenty-six years, it was finally and for ever closed. When the tribulation of the faithful has reached its height, Hakim will reappear to conquer the world and render his religion supreme. Druses, believed to be dispersed in China, will return to Syria. The combined body of the Faithful will take Mecca, and finally Jerusalem, and all the world will accept the Faith. The first of the creatures of God is the Universal Intelligence or Spirit, impersonated in Hamza, Hakim's vizier. This Spirit was the creator of all subordinate beings, and alone has immediate communion with the Deity. Next in rank, and equally supporting the throne of the Almighty, are four Ministering Spirits, the Soul, the Word, the Right Wing and the Left Wing, who, in Hakim's time, were embodied respectively in Ismael Darazi, Mahommed ibn Wahab, Selama ibn Abd al-Wahal and Baha ud-Din; and beneath these again are spiritual agents of various ranks. The material world is an emanation from, and a "mirror" of, the Divine Intelligence. The number of human beings admits neither of increase nor of decrease, and a regular process of metempsychosis goes on continually. The souls of the virtuous pass after death into ever new incarnations of greater perfection, till at last they reach a point at which they can be re-absorbed into the Deity itself; those of the wicked may be degraded to the level of camels or dogs. All previous religions are mere types of the true, and their sacred books and observances are to be interpreted allegorically. The Gospel and the Koran are both regarded as inspired books, but not as religious guides. The latter function is performed solely by the Druse Scriptures. As the admission of converts is no longer permitted, the faithful are enjoined to keep their doctrine secret from the profane; and in order that their allegiance may not bring them into danger, they are allowed (like Persian mystics) to make outward profession of whatever religion is dominant around them. To this latter indulgence is to be attributed the apparent indifferentism which leads to their joining Moslems in prayers and ablutions, or sprinkling themselves with holy water in Maronite churches. Obedience is required to the seven commandments of Hamza, the first and greatest of which enjoins truth in words (but only those of Druse speaking with Druse); the second, watchfulness over the safety of the brethren; the third, absolute renunciation of every other religion; the fourth, complete separation from all who are in error; the fifth, recognition of the unity of "Our Lord" in all ages; the sixth, complete resignation to his will; and the seventh, complete obedience to his orders. Prayer, however, is regarded as an impertinent interference with the Creator; while, at the same time, instead of the fatalistic predestination of Mahommedanism, the freedom of the human will is distinctly maintained. Not only is the charge of secrecy rigidly obeyed in regard to the alien world, but full initiation into the deeper mysteries of the creed is permitted only to a special class designated _Akils_, (Arabic _'Akl_, intelligence), in contradistinction from whom all other members of the Druse community, whatever may be their position or attainments, are called _Jahel_, the Ignorant. About 15% of the adult population belong to the order of Akils. Admission is granted to any Druse of either sex who expresses willingness to conform to the laws of the society, and during a year of probation gives sufficient proof of sincerity and stability of purpose. There appears to be no formal distinction of rank among the various members; and though the amir, Beshir Shehab, used to appoint a sheikh of the Akils, the person thus distinguished obtained no primacy over his fellows. Exceptional influence depends upon exceptional sanctity or ability. All are required to abstain from tobacco and wine; the women used not to be allowed to wear gold or silver, or silk or brocade, but this rule is commonly broken now; and although neither celibacy nor retirement from the affairs of the world is either imperative or customary, unusual respect is shown to those who voluntarily submit themselves to ascetic discipline. While the Akils mingle frankly with the common people, and are remarkably free from clerical pretension, they are none the less careful to maintain their privileges. They are distinguished by the wearing of a white turban, emblematic of the purity of their life. Their food must be purchased with money lawfully acquired; and lest they should unwittingly partake of any that is ceremonially unclean, they require those Jahels, whose hospitality they share, to supply their wants from a store set apart for their exclusive use. The ideal Akil is grave, calm and dignified, with an infinite capacity of keeping a secret, and a devotion that knows no limits to the interests of his creed. On Thursday evening, the commencement of the weekly day of rest, the members of the order meet together in the various districts, probably for the reading of their sacred books and consultation on matters of ecclesiastical or political importance. Their meeting-houses, _khalwas_, are plain, unornamented edifices. These have property attached to them, the revenues of which are consecrated to the relief of the poor and the demands of hospitality. In the eastern Hauran, there are hill-top shrines containing each a black stone, on which rugs, &c., are hung, and these seem to perpetuate features of pre-Islamic Arabian cult, including the sacrifice of animals, e.g. goats. They are held in reverence by the Bedouins. The women assemble in the _khalwas_ at the same time as the men, a part of the space being fenced off for them by a semi-transparent black veil. Even while the Akils are assembled, strangers are readily enough admitted to the _khalwas_; but as long as these are present the ordinary ceremonies are neglected, and the Koran takes the place of the Druse Scriptures. It has been frequently asserted that the image of a calf is kept in a niche, and traces of phallic and gynaecocratic worship have been vaguely suspected; but there is no authentic information in support of either statement. The calf, if calf there be, is probably a symbol of the execrable heresy of Darazi, who is frequently styled the calf by his Orthodox opponents. Ignorance is the mother of suspicion as well as of superstition; and accordingly the Christian inhabitants of the Lebanon have long been persuaded that the Druses in their secret assemblies are guilty of the most nefarious practices. For this allegation, so frequently repeated by European writers, there seems to be little evidence; and it is certain that the sacred books of the religion contain moral teaching of a high order on the whole.