A person given to ebrlety or the excessive use of intoxicating drink, who has lost the power or the will, by frequent indulgence, to control his appetite for it Ludwlck v. Com., 18 Pa. 174; Gourlay v. Gourlay; 16 R. I. 705, 19 Atl. 142; Miskey’s Appeal, 107 Pa. 626; Richards v. Richards, 19 IU. App. 467; McBee v. McBee, 22 Or. 329, 29 Pac. 887, 29 Am. St. Rep. 613.
One who has the habit of indulging in intoxicating liquors so firmly fixed that he becomes intoxicated as often as the temptation is presented by his being in the vicinity where liquors are sold is an “habitual drunkard,” within the meaning of the divorce law. Magahay v. Magahay, 35 Mich. 210.
In England, it is defined by the habitual drunkards’ act 1879. (42 & 43 Vict c. 19,) which authorizes confinement in a retreat, upon the party’s own application, as “a person who, not being amenable to any jurisdiction in lunacy, is, notwithstanding, by reason of habitual intemperate drinking of intoxicating liquor, at times dangerous to himself, or herself, or others, or incapable of managing himself or herself, or his or her affairs.”