The Washington critic., 1888-05-19
BEER AND DIGESTION,
what DIR. Hare of the University of
Pennsylvania Says AboutIt

DR.. II, A. Hare, demonstrator of expert
mental therapeutics and instructor In physi.
cal diagnosis m the University Of Pennsyl-
vania, says the physician Is frequently puzzled
when prescribing for a convalescent as to
which alcoholic beverage Of a mild and pleas
ant character he can recommend with tho
least fear Of "upsetting" the stomach. The
writer has, therefore, attempted TO decide
this question.
Before passing to a direct consideration of
the methods employed and the results OBJ.
tanned IL Is necessary that few physiological
and therapeutical points be brought forward.
Every one knows that alcohol retards diges-
tion In the test tube but aids II in the
stomach and while these facts seem some.
what paradQxlcal,, they are, in reality, per-
fectly. logical, for the following reasons,
In the test tube wo have a given quantity of
and we cannot have any increase In the quan.
tity OF that fluid, because II Is surrounded by
glass walls. In the stomach the alcohol acts
quite as much on the digestive ferment as IL
does on the test tube, but IL also by the pres.
ence of that viscus, ,excltes the gastric glands to
such an extent that an excess of gastric juice
Is seereted sufficient to counterbalance any
antidigestile Q Influences In other words
the action of the spirit on the living tissue Is
greater than its action on the digestive fer
ments
Theoretically alcohol should never be used
In indigestion or in conditions of gastric weak
ness; practically, every physician of expert
ence or education gives. alcohol under just
these circumstances, and, very properly, too,
gives the stronger alcoholic preparations in
stead of the weaker. In typhoid fever we
give brandy or whisky In the first stages al
most solely for tho purpose of increasing
digestion.
II is also known, by those Interested in such
matters In the profession, that beer aids di.
gestion but little, or at all, by means of its
alcohol, since that constituent Is present in
SO diluted form and in such small quantity
| that II can neither aid digestion to any extent
| by acting on the coats of the stomach nor
retard II by influencing the digestive fluid.
| 10 should not be forgotten that while all alco.
holic fluids theoretically retard gastric dges-
tion, that beer does so much less than brandy
or whisky owing to its small amount Of alco-
| hol, and while, as has already been shown,
| this fact rather obtains against its practical
| use, that this Is overcome by the earbonic
| acid and bitter principles of the beer, which
| stimulate, excite and act as bitter tonics on
! the gastric glands.
Beers, to be wholesome, should, therefore,
contain carbonic acid and bitter principles to
| q fair degree, the alcohol taking subservient
and almost useless role so far as digestion is
| concerned.
To sum up the results of these experiments,
| we find that the beers examined varied In
| and that while most beers do not retard di.
| gestion in oil probability in the stomach, that
| others, such as those mentioned In the first
part OF the table, aid digestion very materi
| ally.
Thus. in the case of the BERGNER & EN-.
| GEL BREWING COMPANY'S Tannhaeuser Il
| will be noted that even In the test tube the
average delay in gastric digestion equaled but