The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-09-01
THE WAY 1T WORKS.
The Effects Of Alcoholic Liquors ON the
Human System.

1ho EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC Liquors ON the
Human System.
In reply to a correspondent who
wants to know the effect of alcoholic
liquors on the human system the To-
ledo Blade says:
Whether induced by fermented
liquors or by distilled spirits, it is
through the alcohol contained in either
that the effects of intoxication ensue.
The effects of alcohol, in a single act
of intoxication, vary according to the
way in which the spirit has been taken.
If swallowed rapidly, in large guam
titles, or in concentrated form, the
agency is that of a powerful narcotic
poison. The mode of action here is
partly through direct impression by
the alcohol on the nerves of the stom-
ach, and partly BY its absorption into
the blood, and its transmission thus to
the brain, which is proved to take
place with great rapidity. The action
of any kind of alcoholic drink, in mod
crate doses, is that of somewhat rapid
stimulant. The bodily and mental
powers are for time excited beyond
their ordinary strength, after which
there is corresponding depression.
Although the alcohol which is intro
duced into the system can not act as a
true food for in that case it would not
pass through the system unchanged),
it indirectly takes the place of food, BY
diminishing the wear and tear of the
system, and thus rendering less food
sufficient. In animals destroyed when
intoxicated, the portions of the brain
and Of the liver are found to yield, weight
for weight, considerably more alcohol
than blood. The fact Of the retention
and accumulation of alcohol in the
nervous centers and liver tends to
throw much light on the special dis.
eases of drunkards, where the appe-
lite for ordinary food fails, the diges.
ton is impaired, the sleep is disturbed
and the vlgor of frame and capacity
for exertion sink accordingly, the
limbs often aching and trembling, and
the heart dropping with a miserable
feeling of nervous exhaustion. Even
prior to this the drunkard is often liza
bic to those minor illusions which end
in the full development of what is
known as the drunkard's delirium, or
delirium tremens. form of temporary
insanity characterized by a state of alb
| ject terror, with shaking Of the limbs,
the sufferer fancying that he is sur
rounded with monstrous phantasms,
or that he is devoted otherwise to hor-
rOrs, disasters or crimes. In this state,
if the miserable man does not take his
own life, he is ready, without any
prOvOcation, to take the life of any
one with whom he comes in con.
tact. One effect, and a leading
one, of the customary presence
of alcohol in the blood of the drinkel
is to reduce the vitality of that
fluid, so that it tends to sustain only
the lowest forms of nutrition and ami
malization, and deposits, in great part
merely an inert fat within those organs
where it should minister to the growth
and maintenance of delicate con
struction, destined for uses essential t
life. Thus we have fatty deposits, OF
changes of higher structures into fat
in the heart, the liver and in thu
blood-vessels. the coats of the last be
coming easily ruptured. Hence, liabil
ity to diseases of the heart and of thu
liver, often followed by dropsies, or tt
affections of the other intestines. or t,
attacks of apoplexy and palsy. If no
cut off abruptly in his career, the lif,
of the drunkard becomes one long NAL
, ady towards its close, the final condi
tion being usually one of imbecility o
mind and body, yet with throes Of sui
fering to the last 1t has been authori
tatively shown that, while the averag
expectation of future life to the tenn
perate man at fifty may be reckonc'
at twenty years, that of the drunkar'
; at the same age is only four years
, Again, between the ages Of twenty -on
and thirty, the deaths among drunk
, ards have been found to be more thai
} five times. and between thirty-one an
fifty, more than four times what occu
among the general community at tn
like ages. ''. fh"