Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1881-08-31

quently more, some wines containing a,
hign rs 20 per cent and some less than IL
Z Fort wine contains usually over 20 pc
cent of alcohol, sherry from 20 to 25 pc
cent champagne contains from 10 to |
per cent. In spirits the per cent of alcoho
is greater, and these drinks are NOR,
dangerous and ruin one more quickly thai
those which contain less alcohol. Gin i
the weakest spirit, yet contains from 80 I,
: ~ per cent of alcohol. Whisky contains
from As to 46 per cent; rum from 4S to 4!
per cent brandy from so to 81 per cent o
alcohol. Beer in the percentage of alcoho
contained resembles more nearly the ligh
wines, containing from TO II per cent o
alcohol Alcohol is the agent in all these
drinks that does the mischief. Let us en-
deavOr to learn its effect upon the body
First, it excites desire for itself Even a
small quantity regularly taken will create
sensations and effects which seem to be-
come necessary plrt of life, and which
soon demand an increase of the dose in
order to satisfy the desire created. You
have noticed that you ctn take regularly
your necessary food and that no unnatural
craving is thereby created. The quantity
of meat and bread that satisfied you ten
years ago satisfies you to-day. This, how
ever, is not the case with alcohol. An
increased quantity must be taken to satisfy
the demand which the alcohol itself has
created. If man begins to-day with a
wine OF beer that has 10 per cent of alcohol
in it, in one year he will either drink more
Of that same liquor or he will require a
stronger kind OF liquor to satisfy his wants.
1t is fact that men who begin with a
wine which has 10 per cent of alcohol
usually get at last up to whisky which
has 45 per cent of alcohol. So it is that
the ranks of the drunkards are recruited
from the ranks of the moderate drinkers.
| 10 become moderate drinker of the
lighter drinks is to take per cent of alco-
hol with every portion sufficiently large to
create an unnatural desire, and thus the
moderate drinkcr of to. day is the drunkarti
"f to morrow. Our observation teaches us
that this Is true. A little squib cut from
the print illustrates the point: "Mlior,
said one, | see two cocktails carried to
your room every morning rs though you
had some one to drink with you" Yes,
sir" replied the major; one cocktail
makes me feel like another man, and of
course I'm bound to treat the other man )"
ateIy finds its way to the blood and by it is
carried all over the body. Its action on
the blood itself is always injurious, even
when the quantity is so small as one part
IN 3OOi when the quantity exceeds one part
IN oOO serious arrangement will occur,
Alcohol affects the red corpuscles of the
blood; under its influence they undergo a
process OF shrinking from the extraction
OF water from them, and lose some of
tter power to absorb oxygen from the
air Ii is impossible for the b'oot of A
moderate drnker to be in natural and
healthy state. Because of this drinking
men wear a different complexion from that
they had before they acquired drinking
habits. In spirit drinkers the process of
aion of the blood is impeded to uu
extreme degree by the presence ofalcohol.
such people are sensitive to cold, and are
more subject to affections ofthe lungs than
water drinkers. Their vital organs, the
lungs, liver, kidneys, brain are more easi
ly congested in severe weather, because
the blood vessels are deficient in power
and the course of the blood through them
more readily checked and also because he
blood itself cannot take up the vital mir in
II natural degree.
Ii is thought sometimes that lquor
drinkers will endure II greater degree OF
cold than water drinkers, but experience
proves the contrary. 1t is a fact, however
that glass of liquor in cold we ,ther will
for little make one feel warmer. Why is
this? Because the alcoholic liquor drives
the inward heat to the rtace, and lust
while it is being driven to the surface a
spnSntinn of ,,aru,las h.,
But having arrived at the surface of the
body the heat escapes, and then the BODY
contains less heat than before. The drinker
under the delusive idea that he must drink
to keep him warm pours down more fluid,
thus repeating the operation until the
bodily heat is SO wasted that he will aclu-
ally freeze to death in temperature to
which Il water drnker would easily bid
defiance. If a man must ride ten miles in
bitter cold night, perhaps the mercury
down to ~ degrees below zero, the very
worst thing he could do would be to take IL
glass of liquor. He would be much better
off to drink glass of ice water.
But again, the effect of alcohol upon the
blood when large quantities are taken Is
very dangerous. 1t then causes the cor
puscles which are rendered smaller and
irregular from loss of water to adhere to.
gett tr in masses. When this occurs these
little masses of corpuscles interfere with
the passage OF the blood through the min.
ute blood vessels. This frequently leads to
congestion of the blood in the organs where
1t takes place, and produces disease at
those parts. If it be taken in great excess
it causes coaguation of this part of the
| blood, sometimes the blood become by the
presence of alcohol so clotted as to stop the
circulation and cause immediate death.
In the case of regular drinkers of inloxi-
eating liquors, the blood becomes 80
charged with alcohol that all the little
blood vessels throughout the extent of the
body will have minute clots of blood in
them, Thus the healthy action ofthe system
is hin .1red. Sometimes these little clots
occur in the brain, and the way is prepa ed
for paralysis; in many cases the action of
alcohol upon the brain in this manner is
serious that the person has apoplexy.
Hard drinkers die in great numbers from
this cause. 1t is not always that alcohol
causes thckening OF the blood. Perhaps
in most persons who drink freely of al.
cobolic liquor the blood is watery and thin.
Alcohol has great affinity for water, hence
! liduoI uilhhtIS dIe uSudlly great water
drinkers. The b Iod being poor and dis
eased the person cannot endure accident
or exposure to disease like water drinkers.
1t Is well known that cholera finds its
easiest victims among liquor drinkers,
But alcohol in the system directly inter
feres with the action of the heart. In a
| grown healthy man the heart beats on IN
average 100000 times in "a hours. By
this continuous beating of the heart over
five thousand ounces of blood are pumped
over the system in "a hours. The value
OF this work may be represented by saying
that a weight of over | 15 tons has been
raised one foot. This work the heart does
IN every "A hours in full grown person.
Now if that person takes IA little alcoholic
liquor what change shall we noteP-that
the heart beats are increased in number -
so that the heart must work faster and
consequently harder for the presence of
alcohol If the quantity of alcohol taken
were equal to four fluid ounces in "a hours
the number OF heart beats would be in
creased from 100000 strokes in "a hours
up to ll2. 1926 So that four fluid ounces of
alcohol taken into the system in "a hours
| compel the heart In dnlivpr 2 D1h axtrn