The Grenada sentinel., 1888-06-23


latter that Of the exciting or acteleratng
nerve agency Destroy or paralyze tho
inhibitory nerve-center, or arrest its
power of communicating with the heart
by dividing the vagus, and instantly its
controlling effect on the cardio motor
mechanism is lost, and the accelerating
agent, being no longer under its normal
restraint, runs riot The hearts action Is
Increased, the pulse is quickened, an excess
of Hood is forced into the vessels and from
their becoming engorged and dilated the
facs gets flushed and the retina congested
al the usual concomitants OF a general
enlargement Of the circulation being the
result. Instead of paralyzing the vagus Dy
section, and thereby arresting It's lnhlD-
ito.y cardiac nerve-power, paralyze IL
Though the instrumentality OF a toxic
agent, and precisely the same chain OF phe-
nonena will Of necessity be the result.
The most powerful paralyzer OF the vagus
weat present know of is atropia; and What
happens when it is given in full
doel Nothing more or less than
the effects we have here attributed to
the section Of the vagus-tumultu-
Gus hearts action, quickened pulse,
contested face and eyes, etc Alco-
holacts on the heart, believe, in precisely
the same manner as atropia does, although
less strongly; that is to say, it quickens
theheart's action, as well as apparently in
creises its power, by paralyzing its re-
staining or inhibitory nerve mechanism.
ThY, however, is only the primary action
of alcohol on the cardiac organ, for no
sooner is the quantity administered sufti'
ciently increased than all it's at first appar.
entity stimulating effects vanish From its
now possessing adequate power to paralyze
the accelerating as well as the retarding
cardiac nerve mechanism, the hearts ac-
tion, therefore, now becomes diminished
pari passi with the amount Of the paralyz-
ing agent employed, until at length Qf q
suff1ciency be given) the cardiac move
ments aretotally arrested, and death closes
the scene.
INTEMIERANCB AND HEART DISEASE.
| 1t being we'll known that intemperance
Is most fruitful cause not only Of all the
various forms Of heart disease, but like
wise of thedegenerations of the coats OF
the blood vessels, all | at present require
| to do is to prove that even what is called
moderate drinking has a much greater
share than isgenerally supposed in not only
greatly increasing heart diseases in cases
where they already exist, but also in in
ducing their development in the constitu.
tionally and the hereditarily predisposed
to become affected by them. The reason
why moderate drinking should induce
not only hypertrophy and dilatation,
but likewise valvular disease OF
the heart, is not far to seek-from its be-
ing recognized fact that every increase
in muscles activity is associated with an
increase in its development, as well as its
tension on the parts with which it is con
nected The truth of the foregoing state
ments will, by little reflection, be CLEANED
from the results of drinking small quan
titles of alcohol frequently during the day
as manifested by the figures in the sub
joined table of mortality | have drawn W
from the Registrar Generals reports, Of
the relative frequency Of diseases of the
circulatory system among men between the
ages Of twenty-fv and sixty-tive EN-
ployed in different industries. Fol
it not only shows the effects OF so
called moderate drinking per Sc bu
likewise the still more pernicious ef
fects of it when it is associated
|
to say, when the stimulus of alcohol upol
the heart has superadded to it an increas'
in the hearts activity necessitated by oft
repeated sudden muscular efforts; fo
which it shows that all exposed to the par
taking of alcoholic stimulants in small
quantities at time are much more FIRE
quently affected with the fatal forms o
cardiac diseases than others, it in al
equally unmistakable way shows that mel
who like brewers, require in the course o
their trades to tax their muscular strength
and thereby throw additional work upol
their hearts, are far more often attacked
with the fatal forms of diseases affecting
the circ ulatory system than men equal,
addicted to imbibe alcoholic stimulants, bu
who are not called upon to make simila
kinds of straning muscular efforts.
The relative proportions of deaths fror
diseases of the circulatory system in tn
different classes are:
Those not tTDossd 10 the Those exposed by hei
temptation oyfOrinking. rocation TO The tenptC
ton of drinking.
Diapers and ware Commercial travel
| hOusemen. ...........ioI erS... ....-........... ~
Gardeners and nur. Winters, waters and
serymen ............S! Darmen. -. ..... ..ll
Printers 10 BreWeTS. ..... IL
Moreover it is equally known that II
temperance is most active agent in tn
induction of atheromatous fatty granular
degenerations in the coats of the arteris
system, and as such fruitful source nc
only of death by cardiac syncope, but like
wise by apoplexy, from the cerebral vessel
being quite as frequently and as severel
affected with the degeneration as those {
the heart itself, and the coats of the on
= set being as liable to sudden rupture g
those of the other, if not, indeed, even MOI
so, from the less solid nature of the brai
Surroundings.