Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1868-10-21
Alcohol :..Its Nature and ENeC cts

Alcohol :--Its Nature and Effect,
Alcohol is product Of putrefactiou. l
is to liquids what carrion is to meat 1t bc
gins with tho death Of the grain it ends i,
the death Of the drinker. All process o
distillation'arc forms Of decay and DEATH
This alcohol, thus obtained by abnorma
processes, is tho intoxicating element in al
int oxicating". drinks. The chief difference
between beer and whiskey is in the percent
age Of alcohol. We ore told that it is thu
abuse, mot the use, Of alcoholic drink,
against which We should guard the com.
munity. CIR anted. The question still re
mains: WHAT'S the psc..of scoholLi
It certainly is not food. The experiment.
Of Messrs. Lallemend, Perrin, and Duroy
cmonstrate that beyond pcradventure. Il
passes .out Of the stomach in the same con
dition in which it entered unassiminated
foreign substance. The body can make
out Of it neither bone nor sincw, nor muscle,
nor blood, norsAesh. 1t hates to rid itseli
Of the thunder. Part is carried.to the kid.
neys, where it is the prolific cause Of Bright's
disease. PartEis carried to the skin, which,
irritated by its presence, breaks out in boils
and blotches Every part of the body be.
comes impregnated with it. The topper is
called rightly on old soakcr."
The first effect Of alcohol is thus to SPUR
the system up to strenuous efforts to cast
out its foe. 1t stimulates. 1t does not,
cannot strengthen. 1t is never truly tonic.
But, if it promotes some activities, it de-.
lays Others. The excretory organs arc
so busy getting rid Of this intruder that
they are prevented from pursuing their legit.
innate business. The old, effect, worn.out
tissues, therefore, remain. Men drink to
gain flesh. This flesh Of the topper is carrion,
Alcohol never makes new flesh nor new
muscle. 1t simply hinders waste, and so
forbids repair. This is itsrsecond effect
But, as all men know, its chief effect is on
the brain. Every poison has its special af.
fnity. That of alcohol is for the nervous
system. But it is the base and not the top
Of the brain i; stimulates. 1t paralyzes the
will. 1t dethrones the reason. 1t yivitates
the affections. 1t gives prodominance to
the brute. A drunkard is like great city
under the law of the mob.
Such are the effects Of alcohol in its best
estate. But alcohol in its best estate is a
rarity. Strychnine, stramonium, belladon-
ma, tobacco, cocculus, and opium are all
employed to cheaper and to strengthen. it.
Adulteration IS universal. DR.. Hiram Cox,
chemical inspector of Ohio in 1855, after
an analysis Of the products Of six hundred
different stores, reported over thirty per
cent. adulterated. Sulphuric acid, red pep
per, pclitory, caustic, potash, bruciue, and
strychnine were among the articles used for
adulteration. Let no man think that his
liquor is pure because he got it directly from
custom house. The merchants of Oporto
ship yearly five times as much wine as is
produced in the Douro Valley. One drug
house in London last year sold to one liquor
firm in that city more strychnina than the
whole medical profession of the city would
require in the same time. St. Louis and
Chicago alone sell nearly as much California
wine as the whole Pacific coast produces.
OF these liquors-distillcd, brewed and vim
ous-we are consuming in the United States
five hundred and forty million gallons per
year; or nearly twenty gallons to every man,
woman and child. We have drinking sa-
loon to every three hundred inhabitants.
And We employ in the making and sale of
these drugs, three hundred and thirty.fvc
thousand workmen. This, in brief is the
liquor traffic in the United States. It's re-
suits in disease, crime, taxation, and men,
tai and moral disorder cannot be summed
up in statistics nor given in halea column
epitome.