Abstract–In the year 1834 Dr. V. Lipic published a monograph on Alcoholism under the heading “Main Characteristics of Dipsobiostatics”. The book is interesting not only because it is–according to Pintar–one of the first monographs on this problem, but also on account of its thoroughness and detail. Many of the observations are identical with our modern research findings or present useful material for the specialist who wishes to follow up the historical development of alcoholism and its dependence upon sociopolitical conditions. It is in fact in this sense that the author provides a survey of the time and conditions in which Dr. Lipic lived and worked. He was at first physician in Ljubljana and afterwards professor of internal medicine in Padua a