The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-04-20
Alcohol in the Light of Recent studies.

AAA ACtO OLACAO w DO q SOIuCWuIb HCCu~
liar attempt to throw overheard many
of the views which had been enter
tanned as to alcohol, and to assume for
it food value, which insisted that it
must have recognition in the list of
ailments. The Contemporary ReUieaU,
Harper'S Magazine. the New York
Times, ETC., put forth these views, as if
the army of Temperance reformers had
been overthrown, so far as this part of
the subject was concerned. The sani-
tary articles of this paper July and
July II of 1879 considered the grounds
for such conclusions. The new views
had been based upon some utterances
and experiments of Prof Binz, which
did, indeed, contradict some of the con-
clusions of Lallemand, Duroy and Per-
rim; but were not capable of applica-
ton to the extent to which they were
pushed.
The address of DIR. Baer on "The
Abuse of Alcohol, at the ninth annual
meeting of the German Society of Pub
lie Health, while it attempted to con-
denim spirits and vindicate beer,
brought forth an array of facts and.
series of limitations which showed how
unduly these views had been quoted in
favor of a more liberal use of alcohol.
But still more important is the
fact that Prof. Binz has again
been heard from in further ex-
pertinent and in his own ex-
preston as to the significance of the
views expressed. In response to an
invitation of the Congress of Hygiene,
held in Vienna, September, 1881, he laid
down these two theses: 1. That alcohol
in any form is to be recommended as q
means of diminishing tissue waste only
1'ader abnormal circumstances. 2. That
alcoholic drinks frequently contain, by
products of fermentation or of distilla-
ton, more hurtful than ethyl alcohol
itself. To the question whether alcohol
can be considered as food he answers
No, as well as Yes. He then defines
his Yes. If a body is in disease and
nutrition has failed, and ''the tissues
themselves, especially the fat, are so
far consumed as not to maintain the
animal heat essential to the working Of
the machine; when this limit is reached
the oxidation of alcohol in the cells acts
directly in restoring the energy of the
respiratory and circulating centers."
He further adds that on the relation |
between the consumption of alcohol |
and the elimination of carbonic acid |
and absorption of oxygen we must con-
fess to gap in our knowledge. Al
though his views are disputed as to this |
oxidation of alcohol, yet he, in defining
and claiming its value under these a6- |
normal circumstances of disease,
adds that here we have reached the
limits of its legitimate domain.
Whatever may be said as to the possible
value of alcohol as a possible food
Is based upon the assumption that
alimentation in its usual form is impos-
sible, that the tissue and fat-food in re-
serve is about exhausted, and that thus
alcohol may aid in the emergency. So |
narrow even is this agency that the |
good physician will not trust to any |
such hypothetical use, but bids you to
watch very closely the effect. If it is
claimed that, by reason of overwork, of |
undue exposure, or of imperfect foods, |
very many are in condition of ap- |
preaching ill-health, in view of the |
perils of alcohol, the answer is that we |
should seek the remedy of these, and |
also add "the aromatic constituents of |
tea and coffee, which stimulate the |
heart and nerve centers and straited
muscles, without the subsequent ex-
haustion that follows the use of ALCOHOL
1t is sorry excuse to say that, though |
they might thus appear to be valuable |
substitutes for it, they must, to obtain
these effects, be taken in such quaint |
ties as, on the ground of cost, can not |
be INDUCED in by the poorer classes. 1t
is delightful to see how this evidence
claimed in favor of alcohol is dwindling |
With all that we are finding out as to
the power of real foods and the methods
of their use it is more and more evil
dent that alcohol must be confined
strictly to the domain of medicine,
and must not be accredited as an ali |
ment for all the little ailments that may |
occur.
1t is very important, too, that Prof.
Binz does not at all accept the usual |
distinctions between spirituous and fer
mented liquors. While he can not but
lament the disastrous consequences,
both to the individual and to socie ty, of |
excessive indulgence in spirits, he main |
tains that ''the confirmed beer dtinker |
is no less an alcoholist than the spirit |
drinker, though the outward effect on
his bodily frame may be different. "
The dire effects of beer drinking is at
tracing the attention of the German
Government, and the resulting race de- |
terioration is making itself felt The
other point stated by Prof. Binz is no
less important. He urges the hurtful |
effects of the by-products, and does not
confne his view to fusel oil. ''It is the
duty of science to acquire more exact
knowledge of these by-products, of art
to eliminate them from alcoholic drinks, |
and of the State to repress the sale of |
impure alcohols. Every gain in sani~
tary knowledge and in study of the
conditions of perfect health tends to |
drive alcohol from use and to find in |
those foods which correspond with the |
human system the ailments which sus.
tain human life.-M K,,Independeas