Stephen,

I have nothing to report about temperance dispensaries or the London
Medical Temperance
Society est about 1845, but I can say that most medical periodicals
of the same period in America could also be considered temperance
periodicals. American physicians generally recommended dietary reform
in their publications.

To cite a major example, from 1829 to 1833 "An Association of
Physicians" published _The Journal of Health_ in Philadelphia. This
was the first American medical journal "mainly intended" for "the
public at large" and it was widely copied, quoted, and cited in
literary miscellanies of the same time so its articles had a wide
circulation and much discussion in print. The Journal of Health did
not advertise itself as a temperance paper and it was not the
production of a temperance organization. But it is not hard to read
this as a "temperance paper." As the editors wrote in the prospectus:

The value of dietetic rules shall be continually enforced, and the
blessings of temperance dwelt on, with emphasis proportionate to
their high importance and deplorable neglect. (JH 1:1 [September 9,
1829], 1).

Though non-partisan, the journal described daily, moderate drinking
as a form of "intemperance":

By this word intemperance, we do not mean merely drunkenness, but the
practice of daily stimulating beyond their healthy and regular beats,
the heart and blood vessels, by potations of vinous, malt, or
distilled liquors. (from "Intemperance--Insanity," JH 1:1 [September
9, 1829], 13-14.)

Note that the journal is not advocating "total abstinence" in that
paragraph. Perhaps the physicians wished to reserve the right to
prescribe brandy as a restorative from fainting. There are many
articles on the subject - I did a quick survey of the approximately
600 articles in the first two volumes (1829 and 1830) and found about
70 alcohol-related entries.

For more on medicine and antebellum temperance, in his 1999 SHEAR
paper Scott Martin recommends James Cassedy, "An Early American
Hangover: The Medical Profession and Intemperance 1800-1860,"
Bulletin of the History of Medicine 50 (1976): 405-413, and Thomas A.
Horrocks, "'The Poor Man's Riches, The Rich Man's Bliss': Regimen,
Reform, and the Journal of Health, 1829-1833," Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society, 139:2 (1995), 115-134. Here's a link
for Scott's paper:
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~shear/s99abs/ScottMartinPaper.htm

Jon
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