The Washington critic., 1888-07-07
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 in the University of Pennsyl-
vania, says the physician IS frequently puzzled
when prescribing for convalescent as TO
whioh alcoholic beverage OF mild and pleas
ant character no can recommend with the
least fear Of "upsetting" the stomach. The
this question.
Before passing to direct consideration of
the methods employed and the results OBJ
tanned II 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 Il in the
stomach; aud while these facts seem some
what paradoNical, they are, in reality, per-
fectly logical, for the following reasons,
In the test tube we have given quantity of
digestive iiuid on which the alcohol may act,
and we cannot have any increase In the guam
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 II
does on the test tube, hut II also. by the pres
ence of that viseus cxcites the gastric glands to
such an extent that an excess OF gastric Juice
Is secTeted sufficient TO eounterbalance any
anttdigestile 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,
1
stead OF the weaker In typhoid fever we
give brandy or whisky In the first stages al
most solely for the 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 a form and In such small quantity
that II can neither aid digestion to any extent
iby acting on the coats of the stomach nor
retard II by influencing the digestive fluid.
| II should not be forgotten that while all alco-
holio fluids theoretically 'retard gastric diges-
tlon, 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 carbonic
aoid and bitter principles OF the beer, which
stimulate, excite and act as bitter tonios on
the gastric glands.
beers, to Be Wholesome, should, therefore.
contain carbonic acid and bitter principles to
| a fair degree, the nlcohoi taking O slbservient
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
| their action as much as, ffty-nine minutes,
| and that while most beers do not retard d.
| gestion in all 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 BERGNRR & EN-
| GEL BREWING C0MPARY'S Tannhaeuser II
| will be noted that even In the test tube the
| average delay In gastric digestion edualed but