The freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1886-18??, 1888-07-04
,nea7t. IN MODERATE DRINKING.

DEATH IN MODERATE DRINKING.
= Physician's Calm View of Temper
ance,'-AIcohol Always q Poison.
although all persons who indulge In
acoholic istimulants well within the mar
Elm of actual drunkenness speak of them
Elves as moderate drinkers" there are
no special classes Of them, which bear
&p resemblance to each other, except In
fhe one solitary circumstance that they
&ever at any time take sufficient to intoN-
GIte themselves The one class is that
Which only partakes of stimulants while
&Eting; the other INDUCES In them be-
Utyeen meal times And this Is the most
6ernicious of all forms of drinking, from
The fact that stimulants taken without at
the same time partaking of food, though
only imbibed in small quantities at n time,
have most deleterious effects on the in
ternal organs.
I The proportion of deaths from liver
diseases is in reality six times greater
among men who are exposed to the temp
tation of "nipping" than in that of all
the other industries combined, the actual
figures being: For brewers, 1851; for
Nntners and other statesmen of wines,
spirits and beers, 1,521; and for walters
and barmen Chose most exposed to temp
tation), no less than 1905; whereas, for
fnaltsters, who are only concerned with
Che materials from which mtoxicants are
manufactured, and not with the intox-
icating liquids themselves, the death rate
is only $50. Nothing could be more SON
elusive of the de4eterious effects Of so
called moderate drinking on the human
constitution than this.
1t is now we'll known fact that the
continuous excitement of the liver, kept
up by continual "nipping," is far more in
furious to it's functions than an occa-
sional outburst of drunkenness followed
by intervals of strict sobriety. Itequally
accounts for the fact that the liver Is not
alone the first organ of the body that be-
comes affected, but is at the same time
the one most seriously disordered by mod
crate drinking.
That intemperance Is a fruitful source of
Right's disease has long been known, and
the reason of this is not far TO seek, see
trg that it is the special duty of the kid
nays to eliminate alcohol from the gen.
erd1 circulation--as they do all other
foreign materials. And the more work
that n thrown upon an organ the more
prone are its tissues to become. degener-
ated. Besides all this, however, there is
aispecia1 reason why the kidneys should
become diseased in so called moderate
drinking, and that is on account Of the
Ejaculation being necessarily increased in
T. sm, as it is elsewhere, from the accel-
Grated heart aetien induced by the re-
peated inbibation of stimu1ants in small
quantities.
Alcohol acts on the heart, believe, in
precisely the same manner as atropia does,
although less strongly; that Is to say, it
quickens the heart's action, as well as APP
parently increases it's power, by paralyz-
ing its restraining or inhibitory nerve
mechanism. Alcohol taken in the form of
spirits-brandy, whisky gin or rum
even in teaspoonful doses, by increasing
the heart s action has quite as per1icious
an effect on the organic structural dis
ease, be its form what it may, as bella.
donna itself ''
- think it may be said that the various
facts adduced appear to prove: l. That
alcohol when INDUCED in, even well with
In the limits of intemperance, has most
prejudicial effect on heart disease. 2.
That sudden spurts of muscular exertion
act most deleteriously on all forms of or
ganic cardiac affections. g. That mental
excitement is a cause of rupture of ather-
0matous blood vessels. L. That mere
extra distention of a stomach by wind
may suffice to fatally arrest diseased
heart s action The knowledge of these
facts has for some years past led me to
make it an invariabie rule to impress
upon all patients laboring under diseases
Of the circulatory system, who desire to
minimize the effects of their complaints
and ward off as long as possible the inev-
itably fatal termination, to pay strict at
tention to what call the following three
golden rules: /, Take exercise without
fatigue; 2, nutrition without stimula-
tion, and 5, amusement without excite
ment.-George Harley. M D.. in London
Lancet.
Alcohol Is King.