New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-01-21
How Drunk Comes.

In 4 late number of the Edlnburg ne
rie,c is an exhaustive and carefully wrltten
paper upon ''the physiological influence OF
alcohol" It is calm and scientific. not
formation.
According to this article, when spirit
nous drink is taken into the body 1t does
not simply run through the digestive cavity
of that body, but it runs through the blood
before it an find any escape, and 1t clings
to that blood for considerable Period.
flowing with it. round and round through
the circlng stream of its unceasing pro-
eress. 1t goes everywhere in each fibre.
membrane and tissue, and ILLS and satu-
rates each vital organ-hesh, brain. heart,
liver. lung, kidney, skin and secretinR ap-
psratus Wherever there should be blood.
under the natural arrangements OF lie,
there is now blood mingled with the al
cOholic spirit.
built up from simpler elements by the effort
of vegetable life" Alcohol is not such .
complex substance but it is product OF
the downward degradation and decay OF
euch n complex principle" The foods
which furnish substance to the living etruc-
lures are, for the most part, composed with
the aid Of nitrogen. and have therefore an
structure. The fibrin of the blood, the
muscular flesh. the cartridges and tendons'
| the membranes and the ekin, the soft nerve
pulp and the brain are all so many ex-
amnles of nitrOgenized matter" But Ell
cohol is entirely devoid of nitrogen in any
| form. In the exceptional cases Whero al
cohol has been found useful as medicine
an unnatural condition OF the BODY exists
| and physicians should determine wnen
| stimuiants as q medicine are necessary.
The parts OF the body which possess the
most energetic vitality-the brain. the
nerves and the nervous material OF the
SPINAL cord-are principally composed OF
matter of the most pulpy consistence, 81
soft that it may be almost termed melting.
| This nerve pulp ia packed into minute piiny
| sacks and tubes discernible only by micro
scopic aid. Through these tiny and almost
invisible films the blood is Uttered Tie
| nerve pulp appropriates such qualities OF
the blood as nourieh life and build up the
structure and at the same time reject ana
throw back into the stream their own waste
particles. Large quantities OF water enter
into the composition of this pulpy matter,
and the first evil effects of alcohol is to
W;thdrsw this water. For alcohol has an
:uncontrollable impulse" to draw water
into itself Excessive use of alcohol hard.
| ems and dries up the nerve pulp in such
| wav "a to impair if not spoil it for its proper
Office. When excessive drinking does not
| nrodnca intoxicatiOn it is because the nerve
pulp has become in.ensible as An "oiled
eponge."
in the want of command over the lower lip
and lower limbs The nerve pulp of the
sninal cord is touched. The muscles feel
the torpor. Trembling and shuddering fol
low. Next the nerve pulp of the brain
comes under the evil influence. and the con
troll of the iud gment and the will disappear
When a man is what is termed 'dead
drunk" the paralysis of the higher nerve
centres and of the brain is carried to it's full
end. All inlets of the senses are closed; al
Consciousness and sensation are destroys cd
and eli power of voluntary movement II
effaced, The heart-the seed of .ife-tollf
on. If an enormous quantity OF alcoho! II
swallowed at once, as is the case OF foolisf
wsoers the tJil of the heart soon ceases
and tho man is dead indeed. But in or
binary instances the tOrpor saves lie, as II
stops the drinker just at the point when
further drinking would kill him outright.
With this general view OF the effects
alcohol, and the manner in which they ar
produced, it is easy to understand WI.
headache, sleeplessness, nausea, paipitatloi
of the heart and the trembling deirium
accompany and follow the excessive use o
Alcohol. A poison in the stomach can o.
numned out or voided. A poison in thu
Hood must wait removal till the efforts o
nature effect it, But when nature itself
abused or impaired, its recuperative power
soon become destroyed. The effects OF cor
tinued Adjudication upon the liver. kic
| mans and stomach it ia unnecessary to az
scribe, az they are we'll understood. bu
| There the mischievOus process begins an
how II ia continued are points new to tn
| most non-medical readers.