Arkansas weekly mansion., 1883-11-17
The Effects Of Alcohol on the System.

.
as whole, results from a natural abil-
itv, from the stimulus of nutrition
by which an increased strength is legiti-
mately secured-an activity as natural
as the growth of the trees. all artificial
and stimulated labor must waste real
power, and be followed by debility and
disease, This is well illustrated by the
influence of alcohol on the action and
labors of the heart. This small organ
-four inches in length is estimated to
do the work of raising 122 tons one
foot, in twenty-four hours. Such enor-
nous labor is increased from 18 to "a
tons daily by the use of ardent spirits.
! OF course this is additional labor, for
which nothing is received in return. 1t
is waste of vital energy.
1t is estimated that the heart beats
IO0,O00 times in twentv-four hours,
! sending more than 312 pounds of blood
| through the system. 1t has been asccr-
tanned by actual experiments that
when four fluid ounces are taken, of
alcohol, in twcnty-four hours, the
strokes are increased to 112, 226, or 12,-
| 226 extra beats, equaling 500 extra ones
each hour, or more than eight for each
minute. If the alcohol is increased to
! six ounces the beats are correspond
ingly increased. 1883 extra ones. or
twelve per minute extra. When eight
ounces were taken, it was observed that
/ the increase was 24,Oi5 beats, OF seven
teen extra ones per minute, indicating
quite a fever
1t has been ascertained that what is
called a very moderate use of spirits
or a winc-glaSs three times in twenty
four hours increases the labor of the
heart E, 900 extra beats, or the equiYa-
lent of fitting seven tons one foot!
This extra labor is the equivalent of
raising half pound one foot, twenty
times each minute for twcnty-fOur
hours, a toll which would tax even the
hand if continuous. Something of the
importance of the mission of the heart
may he inferred when we remember
that it propcls the entire blood of the
body through the system about once
in three minutes, and that from this
blood all parts of the body are mysteri-
ously formed. If, therefore, the heart
ia Is to perform its duties it ceases to
nourish the body just as certainly as
if the supply of food should be dimin-
ished to that extent. If, there forc, the
hearts power is reduced by this extra
labor. Just in that ratio the sustenance
of the body will be diminished, and
health impaired.
1t is also true that the impaired circu-
lation of the vital fluid implies impaired
acration. The blood is pu;'ie in the
lungs, partially, and if the heart-power
is reduced, it is plain that n diminished
amount viii be sent to the lungs for
publication. Hence, the blood circu-
lated Will be of an inferior quality.
Still more: If the heart propcls less
than the natural amount of blood, and
that is of an inferior quality, it follows
that the digestive and assimilating
organs will be but imperfectlv nOurishcd
and less able to secure the greatest
amount of nourishment from the food
taken. All of this implies a degcner-
ated state of the system, a preparation
for disease, since debility always in
cape some of the most contagious all
mentS, even eEidemics.
There is Il popular not:on-not de-
serving of the term idea-that alcoholic
are particularly demanded
in heart diseases, taken incidentally.
Common-senSe, as it might seem, will
show the utter absurdity of this nOliOn.
1t should be remembered that alcohol
is alcohol, whether taken as 4 medicine
or Il ''dram;' that it is a poison under |
any and all circumstances; that it has |
definite results, not ''warming" at one |
time and ''cOOlng'' at another; that it |
always increases the labor of the heart, |
always irri. ates and intlames the coats |
of the stomach and any fiber of the body |
with which it comes in contact. i never, |
therefore, should order dny alcoholic |
in n true hcart-disease.-I
DR.. j. III. Hanndtord, IN Go!ctf1s;
Exercise
A :H Writes as follows: "A little
IL, ir,o a |