The Evening critic., 1882-05-16
Alcohol physioiogicaiiy Considered.

seem" Tho liquor-sellor Is ashamed OF tho
product Of his own business. The poor ineprl-
ate never intended 10 become q drunkard.
He only meant to indulge his appetite for
drinking, but, alas In doing this he has
become a drunkard. The victim OF q deluslonl
He thought, Verify can take fro in my bosom
and not be burned. Have I not the dignity
ana glory Of self-control Can not drink,
and when / Will, refrain from drinking Is
not every creature OF God good and 90 be
received with Thanksgiving Thus mon are
decelving and being deceived. Gradually tho
habit OF drinking Is acquired, and II is only
when strength is wasted, property squandered
and reputation gone that they are awakened
out Of their dreamy slumbers 10 a conscious
ness of the fact that they are poor, miserable
drunkards. "Whosocvcr is deceived thoreby
is not WISE" Many have been thus deceived,
and In turn have deceived others. All liquids
containing alcohol have been regarded as n
cordial or stlmulant supporting and strength.
ening life. This deception Is largely tho
resultof the teachings OF Baron Liebig and hls
follow chomico-physiologists. They develop
the theory that all alimentary substances were
capable OF being arranged into two classes
the nitrogenous and carbonaceous. They very
naturally adopted the theory that when tho
former were taken into tho system they wore
appropriated TO the nourishment of the
tissues, while the latter united with oxygen.
by q species OF combustion, resulting in tho
development of animal heat and carbonic acid
gas, and were "resplratory food" Alcohol
being one OF the purest OF tho carbonaceous
class, rich I'm carbon and hydrogen, was as
signed first on the list OF "respiratory food
When taken into tho body II was supposed
10 unite rapidly with the oxygen received
through the lungs, evolving heat and leaving
as tho resultants carbonic acid gas and water.
This theory was not sustained by n single ex-
pertinent, but tho vitiated appetites OF mon
were such as to secure n general acceptance
OF the theory. With the name OF Professor
Liebig In support of this theory, IL Is not sur
prising that tho drinking usages of society
have continued.
DR.. Prout, OF London, took up the subject in
scientific and searching manner, and asccr-
taincd, by direct experiment., that tho pres
ence Of alcohol In the human system directly
diminished tho amount Of carbonic acid gas
exhaled from the lungs, and consequently
there could be no combustion or oxidation of
the alcohol by which 1t was converted into
carbonic acid and water. DR.. Percy, and other
distinguished gentlemen of tho medical pro-
fession, by examination and careful expert
ments, confirmed the views of Dr.. Prout, that
alcohol, taken in diluted form into the
stomach, was taken up without change OF
composition and carried with the current of
that its presence could bo detected by tho
proper chemical tests. Its patrons, however,
continued to claim that alcohol being q hydro
carbon, must necessarily be used for main
tnining temperature and respiration, and sug-
gested that a union of Its elements with oxygen
would result in forming aldehyde or ascetlc
acid, instead OF carbonic acid gas, and hence
they continued to advocate the belief that
alcoholic drinks were capable Of generating
heat and increasing tho temperature and
strength of the human body.
Dr. Boxer, OF Germany, who was more in
terested IN the promotion of true science than
the drinking usages of society, came 10 the
rescue, and by a well-devised and carefully
executed series of experiments, proved that
the presence OF alcohol in tho living body
actually diminished the sum total of the
elimination OF effete or waste matter, and CON
sequently that Its presence must retard those
molecular changes by which nutrition, secre-
tion and elimination are effected, the result of
which is the deposit Of cheesy or Gaseous mat
ter In the cellular tissue and causing capillary
congestion, producing hypertrophied condi-
tlon of body, which is mistaken by the laity
for healthy Increase Of adipose or fatty tissue,
The extent and duration of temperature are
contingent on the quantity OF alcohol taken.
The rise OF temperature continues for about
a half hour, and then, as rule, declines for
the ensuing two or three hours, resting below
the normal standard. The experiments OF
Lallemana, Duroy and Perrin have proved
conclusiyely that alcohol, when taken into the
stomach, was not only carried with the blood
into all the tissues of the body but also that 1t
was eliminated as alcohol, unchanged chemi-
cally, from the lungs, skin and kidneys.
Alcohol cannot be assimilated, and for this
reason can in no sense be food, neither fur
nishing material for the tissues nor fuel for
nervous or muscular force. Its effects
are demonstrated to be those of an
an@sthetic-an organic sedative. Like ether
and chloroform, Its presence diminlsheS the
sensibility of the nervous system and brain,
thereby rendering the individual less con-
scious of outward and exterior impressions.
This diminution OF senslbility is in proportion
to the alcohol taken, as previously indicated,
and may be seen In ali Its stages, from the
slightest degree of intoxication to that OF the
entire suspension OF all muscular and nerve
force.
This anasthetic effect OF alcohol unveils to
us its deceptive character. The alcoholic VIC
Tim drinks to warm him In winter; TO protect
him from heat in summer; TO strengthen him
when weak, weary and exhausted, and to
soothe and cheer him when afflicted in body or
distressed in mind. So infatuated have some
become for this supposed panacea for life'S
weaknesses that II has been resorted to as an
aid in intellectual, oratorical and devotional
exercise. This is explained on the principle
already developed. His consciousness is sus-
pended, a degree of mental halluclnation is pro-
duced-this is all. The alcohol does not relieve
the cold by increasing the temperature nor
from heat by cooling him, nor from WEAKNESS
by strengthening him, nor from affiiction by
y nerve R0w - nor fr1m
sciousness as TO the facts of his condition Is
suspended, ana his judgment correspondingly
impaired. He is cold, but he knows It not; he
is suffering but he feels not the affiiction; his
| grief remains, but he awakens not to his rea
| situation until he is sobered; he prosumes
| knows 1t not; he is poor, howeverrlch he may
| feel, but when he breaks the spell
thatis upon him, alas! he is poorer still
sedative eSA and annshetc % eects tis 9S(
| produced when taken into the system
| / answer that 1t is in consequence OF its
| strong affinity for water and albumen which
| exist in the blood and tissues. When IL IL
| present 1t attracts the water from the blood
cOrpuscles, causing them to become CORFU
| gated or wrinkled and inclined to fiatten out
| and adhere to one another, lying together
| like waters one upon another, in such close
proximity as to diminish tho capacity of the
| blood for absorbing oxygen from the air IL
the lungs, and by Its strong affinity for the
| albumen Of the tissues 1t retards the play OF
| vital affinity between that substance and the
other materials, thereby preventing the
molecular changes so essential to the Vita
| processes.
The paralyzing effect on the vaso.motor
as we'll as cerebrospinal nerve structures, by
| which sensibilityis impaired, is owing partly
| TO &hs direct an@sthetic properties OF the
| alcohoI, and partly to the diminished inter
| change of oxygen for carbonic acid gas in the
| process OF respiration. That portions o
| alcohol may remain Indefinitely In the system
| affords no proof that II is either appropriated
| as food or for the generation OF force, but the
| contrary, inasmuch as IL retains alcohol un
| changed. Thus we are forced TO question It,
| nourishing character and TO simply regard Il
as an an@sthetic and sodative, though II may
| not have been go regarded. And II this vlcw
| be correct 1t cannot be used in health without
| injurious effects, proportlOned by the guam
| tity and frequency Of its use. So far as l have
| been able 10 understand the secret element o
| danger In tho use of chlorOform as an amos
thetic II is this That while II circulates In tn,
| blood tits not dissolved In the blood plasma
| but remains foreign element unasslmilatet
| in form and substance, and this is exactly
| the nature of alcohol. 1t Is a foreign elemen
| which cannot be assimllated. 1t atrophies
| the corpuscular clements OF the blood, con
gests the capillaries, obstructs circulation ant
| paralyzes The onflow Of human life, causing
| sickness where there might have been health
| poverty where there might have been wealth
| and death where there might have boen life
| hell where there might have been Heaven.
Scientific demonstrations appear TO have
| conclus!Yely shown that alcohol when takeI
| into the system, is rapidly absorbed without