Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-06-13
Aleohol ana .he human system.

10 eStaoil>n It's claim 10 De ranked among AZ
tlcies OF food. A writer in The Westminster
Reries0. In an article published some five
years since. entitled "Tbe Psychological Err
rors of TeetOtalism," made an ingenious and
| plausible plea for its alimentary character,
| which was widely circulated and applauded.
| The Tribune exposed the falIacies of the argu-
ment at that time. Meanwhile, Science mas
been busy pushing forward the Investigation,
and has lately reached results which so d. CT
sively settle the point against the alimentary
properties OF Alcoholic Liquors, that Tie
Hesfmihster Reries0, ''faithful To the revelations
''of &C ence, rather than mindful of conssten-
cy. retractS its former vie~s.sand publishes
an extended account of the recent expert
ments bearing upo the subject. The new
Facts were developed ia an elaborate expert
mental inquiry into the mode of action of
anasthetic substances, Chlorofs-m, E her.
Amyl ene and Alcohol. by Messrs Lallemand,
Perrin aud DurOy of Puts.
Liebig's doctrine that Alcohol is burned or
oxidized in the body, bias not rested upon
demonstration, nor any direct or positive ev-
idence, but ha- been IA her deduction from
us extreme combusIibility. Inductive science,
however. takes nothing for granted. She is
constantly chall nging be validity IF receiv-
ed opinions, and manfiug their rigorous
proof. When Alcohol is OK died out of the
body, it passes through successive steps OF
liar products or derivatives, namely: aide
byds and Rcetic acid. These Derivatives the
evidence OF the OK dating process. cannot be
detected in the blood after the ingestion of
alcoholic liquors. Traces of acetic acid have
been found IN the stomach, but a. a coDse-
gu nee OF gastric fermentation of sugar and
-iarch. and wholly independent OF the intro
duciiOn OF Alcohol. The ultimate products
oil the oxidation OF Alcohol are carbonic acid
md nIs4F h1F hGN. n fr..r
oxidation of food. and are thrown incessant-
ly from the lungs, day and night, whether
Alcohol be taken or nof. There is no evil
d-nce, therefore, that Science can accept,
showing that Alcohol is destroyed in the
body like common alimentary substances.
In this stale of the Gaze, the French Swans
addressed themselvrs to the Inquiry What
does become Of alcohol when taken into the
body W Tw' nty years ago DIR. Percy proved
that when introduced into the sy stem il seeks
the brain by preference and local affinity,
more of 1t being found there han in an equal
weight OF blood it is therefore attracted out
OF the blood into the cerebral substance. He
proved it by distIlling the brain and blood of
tue men and animals that had died from in
toxlcaton, and separating the alcohol in
-uch quantity that 1t could be identified by
tile double test of inf1an inability and power
OF dissUlving camphUT, and, although salts |
GENTLY nice for the u cessiIies of severe |
scientific inquiry. The French investigators
employed IL at first, but wIthOut success |
They could no. prove he presence of alcohol |
by distIilIug the condensed vapor of the |
breath where brandy had been taken. In this |
emergency they Were So fortunate as to dIs |
cover a new aud must delicate Test, solu- |
zion OF blchrOmate OF poyass in sulphuric |
acid-a red quur which il turned to an en-
erdld green by The alcoholic vapor OF the ex-
pi ed air. They found that persous who had /
taken no alcohol for some hours previously,
might tXpIre for any length of time through |
The solution without producing the least dis
celebration OF II and, furthermore, so exact
was the reaction that, by employing test
liquid of Certain known strength, they could
estimate the quantity OF alcoholic vapor given
of in different experiments and at different
times. In this way they have proved that al
cuhnl unchanged Is thrown from the system
hy three great routes OF eXcretion, the lungs.
skin, and kidueys, and that il is EXPELLED at
decreasing rate after il is iaken. Thus. in
one OF the experiments, man having taken
at breakfast "a quart of wine containing ten
per cent of alcUnUl, and his meal having ter
inmate at 104 a m, his breath was fund at
noon and at one p. M, To convert a ceniime
tire of the test-liquid in t1oo minutes: al 2
p m, in four minutes {; at p m. in ten min
utes and at p. NJ, in tf cen minutes while
at p. M, after fifteen minubs, the color
was partially changed. aud at Z M, no con-
version whatever took place. The same grad
nal diminution was observed 10 the renal ex
erection. From The results of these expert
ments, multiplied and dversif d. the inve<-
tigatOrs conclude that alcohol undergbes no
action in the living body, bul
that The whole uf what H. taken il thrown off
unchanged. They admit they have not been
able to recover from The - rrrfinns the UhnlP |
amount taken, and justly state that in the
nature of he case, this is not to BE- expecte l..
Tue Results show he important fact, that it
Is not the mere excess of alcohol which the
system cannot probably use up that is ex
creted Tor th ingesIion OF only one Ordina-
~ bottle of weak wine gave rise to a con
tinued elimination OF alcohol by The lungs
curing eight hours, and by the kidneys du-
ring fourteen hours
A striking proof of the length of time du
ring which alcohol remains unchanged IN the
system, after being taken in considers biz
amount is afforded by the fact that it was
found in Abundance ia the brain. liver, and |
blood of a vigIr man who bad d, d ni the
remote results of alcoholic pcisuniag. thirty
two hours after drinking quart of brandy.
notwithsl anding the early administration of
emeiics and other remedies.
The great point established by this investi-
CATION is, that there is perfect accordance
between Alcohol and the ne5Ihptics in their
acIiOn or behavior in The living system
When ChlOrOform ia absorbed through the
lungs into the blood. like Alcohol. 1t is with
drawn from the circul alton mainly into the
brain and liver. by far the lager proper ticn
entering the brain, four times more Chloro-
form being Iouud in the cerebral substance
han in EQUAL weight Ot blood. The brain
and liver, moreover, serm to hold il more |
tenaciOusly than tn blood. as il could b. de-
lect.d in Ihes. organs alter il had disappear
ed from the circulating fluid. So also with
Ether and Amy lene- Tn y fasten upon the
brain by elective affinity, and only release the
system from their paralyizing influence as
they gradually escape back unchanged, into
the air by expiration. The most volatile are
got lid of the most rapidly by lung-exhala-
ton. More time j. required tor the removal
OF Alcohol from the body, partly through its
inferior volatility, partly because il is solu-
ble in water and the bCdily fluids. but chiefly
because 20 much larger quantity is required
20 p oduce docId d perversion of the nerv
Gus tuncIions-the duration of that perver-
lion being accordingly prolonged. The i'm
portant conclusions warranted by these re-
searches may be best stated in the language
Ut The Westminster RtVietc:
"fhe strikiDg accordance which has thus
been shown 10 exist in every fundamental
particular between Alcohol and tue anae tibet
les The differences in their behavior being
only of a secondary char acter, aud being OBJ
yiOusiy referable To heir chemical and phys
zeal propertirs-must surely be regarded as
must strIkiDgly con6rms DRY of the position
taken up by the aul hOrs of this treatise in (
antagUnism TO the Liebigian doctrine that al I
cobOl is food. For there is not single point
vi difference in their acIion. which can iusti-
fy their being placed IN diff rent caIegories.
Their physiological eff cIs in large doses are
essentially the same Their sp cial affinity
Tor The substance of the brain and of the Iiv-
er is a most striking point Of conformity.
Whether alcohol De taken into the stocmacn,
OF the vspOr Oi chloroiurm or ether be in
hailed through the lungs, no sooner has it
been r, ceiv, Into the circulating curren;
than it il treated as a sub,t iuce altogether
foreign to the boiy which Is To be- removed |