Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-03-15
A WARNING TO MODERATE DRINK.
ERS.

]
WARNING TO MODERATE DRINK
ERS.
| The man who never was drunk in his
life. who is respectable member of So
| ciety, and vei is 4 Ill ;dcratc user OF al
| cohol. is nevertheless laying up for
| himself quantity of material which
| ouyht not to remain in his system, and
which is interfering with the healthy
performance of some one or more func-
tiOnS. 1t is sufficient to deprive HIM
of his right to the retention OF his 1acul-
ties in his old age, as well as lead ng to
blocks in the circulation through the
affected organs, which bring on disease
at disagrccablc and inconvcnient times.
Healthy physio,o yical change is inter-
fcrcd with, and pathological change is
established, for | hold that every cell
which DOES not freely interchange the
debris vii ch is the result of its ordinary
action and which keeps that debris
back. or sends it out only half altered,
is commencing pathological state
which i disease. The line between the
two conditions is somewhere. L con-
tend that it commences rs soon aS the
Interference with cell action is greater
than the power of repair, and a very
moderate dose of alcohol daily will not
be long in most instances before II com-
menceS pathological change some
where But it is not only with cell
action, as evidenced by altered endos-
nose, that alcohol interfercs with nu-
triton Its action is shown in its in
tlucncc upon the gastric juice; it pre-
cipitatrs the peptones which are neces-
sarv for digest ION, renders them in
active. and deprives the stomach OF 4
portion of its digestive power. 1t Is
true that its paralyling influence on the
blood vessels gorgcs the mucous MEM
branc with more blood. and leads to Il
fresh secretion of gastric juice, and
with it more Of the peptoneS, but surely
it can not be the right course to dam
age an organ for the purpose of in
creasing its action To cOn@cst its
Vessels must be damage which II
porsororod in will certainly lead
to dyspepsia, and all its concomitants,
instead OF helping the digestive power
Ii may be right for special purpose
to do this, but TO continue TO do 1t Is to
whip the tired horse too long. But it
not only precfpitateS the peptOncs OF
the stomach, but it coaTulateS the al
bumen of the food, rendering it less dl-
gestiblc: it alters the tibrfne so that the
most impo. tanl ingredients for the pro-
duct:on of force are made less capable
of assmilation; and yet, in spite of
these manifest disadvantages. alcoholic
liquors continue to be used by sensible
men, and even by men highly educated
in physiological knowledge, but who
decline to carry out physiological and
pathological facts to their legitimate
conclusion. They are emily in the same
category as a large mass of so-called
Christians, they forget the Prccepts of
our faith when they see that those pre-
ceptS are antagonistic to their worldly
interest; or else they have never
thought seriously upon the teachings
of physiology in connection with the
daily use of alcoholic liquors. Just as
sO-called Christians have never recoG-
nzed the antagpnism of n faith in the
Gospel with their daily habits of life.
They either do not know or they do not
recognize the fact that they are level
ing downward their powers of life. that
they are reducing them to lower
capacity for pur.ticat:on, or TO dimin-
i>hed ability to resist evil influences.
They say that liquor does them good,
and that they feel the better for its use.
The very confession that they feel all
the better for it shows that there is
fault in their system which is already
bearing fruit To those l would say
most earnestly: Face the mischief.
The natural tendency which is inherent
in the human economy to revert to
health should be allowed full sway.
Let the defective organ get up to the
level of the rest of the body. and do
not bring all down to the level of the
weak one.
When men or women aver that alco-
hol is necessity to them, and that they
get on better with it than without it,
Of
tinouishing the danger signal which
Nature is exhibiting. This is revealed
to them by the feeling which arises
| when they do not take it. This is q
warning that they are damaged alrc ady,
| and that it is high time for them to
make an effort to recover themselves. L
am satisfied by an experience which has
neither been too limited, either by time
| or numbers, that no possible evil to
their bodily health will ever arise from
| the action, if it be guided by common
| sense and good Judgment.
The human body is not unlike to a
great city. There are sewers, furnaces,
| fires and water supply; chimneys, roads
and deposits OF fuel and food If the
sewers a, allowed to choke up, if the
| ashpit> are not cleansed, if the CHM
news ere not swept, if the water supply
| is foulcd, if the depotS are not replen-
| ished, there is discomfort and suffering,
want, disorder and disease. The teem-
| ing population of a great city requires
that the sanitary arrangements shall be
kept in order, the roads open, and the
food supply satisfactory. if business is to
prosper. and sickness be kept at low
point. 1t is precisely the same in a
single individual. No man can live for
a single minute without producing ex-
creta, which, if it be not removed, will
choke up his patural sewers, foul his
| bood-stream, diminish the draught in
his furnace of life, and interfere more
or less with the activity of every func-
ton and every faculty which he pos
sesses 1t is possible that the minute
particles which make up the sum of ex-
cretory product may be some,
times dried up, so to speak. and
form very microscopical points
| living dormant for years: out when
some change takes places. some micro
cosm is introduced which lives upon
these dormant particles, they spring
| into activity, and it is, discovered but
| too late that the whole structure is per
| meated with a condition like 70 that
which sometimes we see in an apparent
| " noble forest tree which is suddenly
prostrated in a mode rate gale of wind,
4 9<,n nE - m q