The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-01-28
Di>casc Dne to AicohoE.


'">S' 49, ~, argument in favor Of total ab'
"',, ",,,,,cc from intoxicating drinks:
n,.casc Due to Alcohol.
,,.,, ,yyEs r,GArloS OF THE EFFECT
,,nrop.pEALFRS OF DRINKING THEIR
,wN BEVERAGES.
,,o,c- bv Nr. Dickinson, upon the NOR
,'n.!c,S resulting from drinking alcohoilc
u'' 49,. .ho,vn in 3crsonS who trade IN
MG,',> annryrs in the 56th volume Of the
,F"I3, Je8ico- Cti,urgicai Transactions,
!'",,'il;.h.d The writer starts with the
- ,,.,;nn that those who have alcoholic
'',c.'..I.r.< =. their command at any time
...I,It hcrg called upon to pay for 1t. Will
WHY t,hc more Of il than those who are
Xxx. 10 incur expense or go to some de
..,- { ,roEhlc 10 satisfy their craving. The
;-"r,.-Egblc ard suggestive conclusions
,.>'.,,ri hy the author are given in his own
words. lie says:
v.oarr led 70 conclusions which are mann
J., with, ,hcu.h in some respects aeainst, oio
In the present state of medicine 1t
,,'.,. nc o> useful TO fortify old truths rs TO
'''..,,,. old errors. The results may De thuS
"..,,.,,sd no; Persons who trade IN liquor
,i,;.. on au ayersge more than those who
y, MI and their morbid pccularities are
,,..,,iv dine 10 that excess. Estimating the
IH...I, of alcohol on this basis, by means OF
'.,,,,,,,.r>pn between The class described and
,....'os similarly situated save i'll relation 10
ia,or. the following conclusions nave neen
reached: .iIcoto! Shorte"S NE; 10 rdde an
I.,,r costs &i'4e a"l halt gears.
r.yirwinx the morbid results which the
ov,otinatiou Of each organ has revealed, they
,,rr,,ut : consistency which is IN some sort
;N.ir warrant Alcohol causes fatty Inhitra-
i:a, and tibrod eucroachment it eDgenders
,uh.Icic. encourages suppufailon, ana re-
,ayG> healing; it produces untlmeiy athe-
r,nl. invites hemorrhage, and antlGpa'es
49,, The most constant fatty change, re-
,lgrr:nr:it l.y oil Of tie material OF epithe-
i;ql cells and muscular tibcrs, though prooa-
nix nearly universal, is most noticeable in the
ly,r the heart. and the kidney. The tibroid
increase is little evident in the simply
,;f,r,u> structures, such as faSciR and ten
Gou>. but occUrs about the vascular channels
and superficial investments OF the vlscera,
,yl.-c il cluScS organic atrophy, cirrho$lS,
and rrauuialion. vi this the liver has The
lars. share. The lungs are often similarly
ia6u.h less simply affected, the change being
yagi9..ly complicated with or simulative OF
,ujrrcc. The kidneys suffer in like manner,
III. N 4 more reno degree.
Alcohol also causes vascular dcteriorations
which are akin both TO the fatty and the
tb?c;d. BESIDES tangible athcroma, there
a.r minute dct"rio.ationS of the arteria
walls. which show themselves by cardiac hy'
,.rtroi,by ana cerebral hemorrhage. DlinB
,,,,,c> tuAcrcu' cS;>. which is evident not
on: in tie lung rut in every organ which
j, amc.gll". Ii nuSt be observed, however.
t,a. from the tendency Of tubercle to dis
>r,Miua,ion il is only necessary that 1t be
rIgn,ri in oAc organ 10 he found in many.
D.iak promotes the suppuratiye at the eN-
J,N>c OF the adhesive process. This Is suf-
,.c:rnlly seen in the results of pneumonia.
Of riruri>y and OF pericardltis, Ill ditfusc in
Gannation after injuries, and i'll the sloth
ami insecurity Of the healing process.
descending from general conditions to in
Givl,!ua organs, the effect of alcohol upon
;ntE.rvou> system must be looked upon as
special and taken by itself, since nervous
matter presents to this agent singular en-
ci'ahi!i,y of functi0E. or, IN other words, a
singular >liSccptltilitg Of structure, for the
purpose of acting upon which mankind in
AL countries and in all ages have sought and
used alcoholic drinks. Passing over those
effects OF iutcmperance which, like deliriunl
i,mr,S. arc manifest rather during life than
ar.cr death. we find that the brain pays a
large reckoning in the shape of inflamma.
ton. atrolhy, and hemorrhage. Alcohol
Mul,pIicS iutllnmal0ry states OF the brain
Of every kind, both of the substance and the
envelopes, whether tubeIcular or not. 1t
occasions gradual shrinking Of the brain,
IL cyinccd by the accumulation of fluid in
spaces once filled by cerebral substance. 1t
causes liability 10 cerebral hemorrhage by
mc,ns OF tic arterial deterioration common
10 the greater part Of the body.
With regard to other organs, they are
damaged by alcohol much as they stand in
It's line of absorption. Passing over the
s,omch-the changes in which, however
numerous, are, save when it is liberated,
more prominent during life than after death
We come to the liver. This organ suffers
more than any other, Chiefly by way oI
cilrho>s and fatty impregnation. Next the
stress falls upon the lung, probably less
heavily than upon the liver, certainly more
heavily than upon any other part of the body
with the exclusion of the nervous system.
TIE mischief in the lung takes apparently
every shape Of phthsis. 1t is probable that
the change most often is OF kind to which
the term tubercular would strictly apply,
while there is evidence, not comprised
III the present tables, of fibroid
oyergrowth, which apparently may
either accompany or stimulate tu-
bercle. The arterial deterioration need not
be further mentioned than to assign its rela'
tive frequency. Judging by its tangible re-
su!ts-atheroma, hemorrhage, and cardiac
hypertrophy-we should assign to this
change large SHARE in the pathology Of in
temperance, though, unless the connection
between alcohol and tuberclc has been much
o'erratcd, it would seem to play less fatai
part than disease of the tubercular kind
Lastly, The kidneys, more remotely exposed,
nave smaller participation in the common
damage Of alcoholism. They undergo con.
srstNe enlargement, fatty and fibroid change.
lhey DO not suffer, however, commensu-
ra'ely with the blood-yessels, or with the
same frequency as other viScera.
Soiaf, we have seen only the i'll which al
rohol produces; it may be asked, Is there
none which it obyiates? Apart from any
nleuicinal or curative action which the eyi.
dehc" before us does not touch, has it no
per contra Of prevention? 1t is difficult to
answer this inquiry. Some active inhamma.
i.ohs, sucn a3 pneumonia and endocarditis,
are diminished IN the alcoholic trades, but
II must at once be seen that the increase OF
Tue alcoholic disorders must necessarily pro-
ouee ali apparent d,minution OF all which are
.t.aaec'ed tn,a,s by this agent. A man may be
s1seu IRON pneumonia or acute rheumatism
Nv. Nv. because aleobd antasonizes such diseases,
pu' because 1t kids him prematurely. He
aan uie but once. Therefore, though under
.icohol a some forms of disease are com para.
.;s'S ihfequent, We must use much eau.
,'un III concluding that it has directly