Smyrna times., 1855-09-19
Is Alcohol Food?

The last number OF the Westminster Repieto
contains an elaborate defense of the moderate
use of alcoholic liquors as beverages, which is
valuable as the ablest exposition yet offered of
that side of the question. There Is in reality
little in the article to disturb the advocates OF
total abstinence, for it almost, in go many words
concedes their whole ground. We quote tne
following passage.
"Let lis confess at once that there is pecu-
llarty IN alcohol VIII ch justtes in some dcgr"-
It's bad reputatnn--a PECULIARLY upon whch
all the mischief Of intoXlcaton depends, aud
which Causes all the miSer.eS 81 feellngly ldId
To It's door. Aud what is this prculary -
Nothing less than the fascination Of It's virtue,
the potency of It's effect. Were t less allur-
ing 1t wound not lure to excess; we're II less
potent 1t would not leap into such flames of lie
ry exaltdtIon." Ii IS very dangerous, trek
sy spirit" lie Who drinks VIII drink again,
aud moderation, We know, oils the hinges ot
The gate leading 10 excess. No one can doubt
the danger. The only absolute preservation
against tGktne too much is to tahe AO&e."
This is certainly sound doctrine-the very
cornerstone otthe abstalner's talth-and what
ever speculative op 'ons the writer may Ell
tertain Oil scientific pOinls, It Is obvious that
even in his own mind they do not affect the
fundamental conviction that alcohol is an agent
Of peculiar power and anger, from vi hich there
Is safety alone in total abstinence. Yet he Is
unwil ng to make this sentiment the hesr> rt
practcc, and Is ,uucn disturbed at the "pruba-
bl, dagger OF legislative interference in some
imitation OF the Haiac Liquor Lam VIII ch We
s1e with greet ana alarm making rapid progress
IN the United States.
The gument OF the Westminster Is char
acterzed by ingenuity and plauslbilty, and al
though quite behind the age in several of It's
objections, which were exploded in ;h!s coun-
try by the past generation, yet the author brings
together materials furnished by the latest pro-
gross Of physOog zeal and chemical science 10
construct new defense Of alcohol. Passing
by such points as were long ago put to undis-
turbed rest in the public mind, we propose to
examine that portion of his statement which is
of Importance from its apparent move ty
The attempt Of the writer, so far as the sci.
CDlinC lutSllUD 70 CplSSIuGus 10 " GstdUllSl
such definition of foods as will include alco
hol aud having, as he supposes, got it regu.
iarly Inducted into the class of aImentary sub
stances, he iuilrs that It cannot be a polson.-
THIS l- the gis OF his effort. Alcohol, pure, ii
It's seperate state, or alcoholic liquors taken II
excess, he does not deny to be poisonous, bu
affirms that drank in moderation they are no
poison but food. He favors US with his ide,
OF what moderation is. The reader we ad
dress is a type of the moderate man. II,
drinks beer or wine at dinner, is not accustom
ed to anyih ny approaching mtoxicatlon, al
though he may occasionally take 'more tha
is good for him. which access he sleeps o.
that night or pays for by headache next NOR
ming and hears no more of it." This, and SIM
lar effects OF moderate drinking we are grave
iy requested, for scientific reasons, to attribut
10 the action of food within the system. Le
US look at the reasoning upon which this re
quest is made. We quote again:
, "Scence teaches us that food has TO be COZ
sldered under three aspects. l, II repairs til
waste OF tissue consequent upon the wear an
tear of life. 2. 1t furnishes food Ior respiration
the maine source of animal heat and 3. Umdt
both these heads 1t is the generator "t fOrcr.-
The only simple detention of food lis that whlc
II, looking at the aim and end of food, pronounce
1t TO be force"
Assuming then what we do not deny, tn,
alcohol is burned in the system by the oxyge
ofrcspiration, with the production of heat whlC
is forced, ii is also RANKED as a force produce
or food. The reader has already outrun OF
:. conclusion that iffood is force and alcohol
force, then alcohol must necessarily be fond
We will agree with the Reviewer that the G
sental purpose of food in the system is to
destroyed by oxidation or slow burning for Il
development OF iorce, and that in this sense
may be pronounced simply force: but 1t lher
fore by no means follows, and we totally del
that hat winch may produce or develop tor
! wIIhin the body Is always and properly foe
Alcohol Is force but not food. The writer
J, conception OF what constitutes food is lar t
vague and incomplete, while be overlvoks t
distinction between natural nutriuve force a
artificial stimulent foice. Il has been beti
given by writer upon the opposite side Of t
y question. In a little work entitled Alcot
: and the Constitution of Man." by MIR. Yc
= mans, we 6nd the following II
SNOW alimentary substances like all otl
d parts OF vegetation, consist of atoms which ha
ne been arranged into groups by the acton of so
ed light and the other imponderdble agents;
-- they are also endowed with the capabllity
becoming parts of animal systems. and the
I. in regulated and peculiar manner, relapsl
lls into the decomposed or inorganic form W
or the evolution OF heat and force. The gr