New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-01-04
.aleahol in compost

| ". The chief constituent of most fusel
oils is a mixture of several pentyl and
|isopentyl alcohols but propyl, isopro:
|pyl, butyl. isobutyI and higher alcohols
are also contained in fusel oil, together
with ether and acetic acid. The fusel oil
ofcommerce consists principally Of pen
tyl and lsopentyl alcohols, andis gener-
ally called amyl alcoho. 1t is color
less, has an unpleasant odor, and does
not mix with water. 1t is produced in
manufacturing Whiskey from potatoes
and grain.
10. ALCOHOL AS A PoIso soN.---The
poisonous effects of5&the #alcohols vary
greatly with the. kind of alcohol, the
dose, and the organise u into which the
alcohol is introduced. I The statement
that froos have been killed by the in
halation OF alcoholic Yap is correct !;
but the value of general statements like
this becomes painfully app parent when
the details of the experiments in ques-
ton are examined. ItSWas found, for
instance, that a two per cent. aqueous
solution of ethyl (common) alcohol
was not injurious to frogs a two per
cent aqueous solution Of 5isopropyl al
cohol killed them after several hours !;
q two per cent. aqueous solution OF
propyl alcohol killed frogs in one hour;
q two per cent. aqueous solution of PEN
tyl alcohols killed them Instantly by its
yapors. The.vapors OF AIN aqueous So
luton containing but one-t -tifth per cent
sofpentyl alcohols produced symptoms
of poisoning in frogs.
Dujardin-B -Beaumetz has found that,
beginning with ethyl alcohol, the poi
sso.nous son properties of the alcohols in
crease rapidly with the value Of n in
the chemical symbol. n. s8
Alcoholic drinks containing less than
10 per cent. by volume (8 per cent. by
.Weight) of pure ethyl alcohol, do not
influence digestion # taken in moderate
quantities. II taken in larger quanti.
Mes, they retard digestion. Alcoholic
drinks containing more than 10 per
cent. by volume Of ethyl alcohol. inter
fere with and weaken digestion. Hager
As a medicine, fusel oil is given in
1ternally in doses of from 1to3 drops,
several times day. An internal dose
of 40 drops may produce death. Du-
jardin- Beanmetz, Rabuteall, Audige,
.Hager. @ B 5.Z RI.
# Mrs. Hunt says: 5 '.'''The juice Of
crushed apples, YOU know, is called ci-
der. AS soon rs the cider begins to
turn souri,. hard ' as people say,
alcohol begins to form III it. Pure wa
ter is good, and apples are good But
the apple juice begins to be !; poison as
soon as there Isl the least drop Of alco-
holm it. In ider.mak king, the alcohol
forms in theSjuiee, you know, in q few
hours after it's pressed outtof the ap.
.ples.'' .5.. s.s5.l 535zl /
S. Webster defines poison as e ny SUBJ
stance which, when introduced into. the
animal organism, is capable Of produc-
ing a morbid, oxious, or deadly effect
upon it. IS Mrs. Hunt makes the term
poison include also those products
which contain the least drop Of a
poison. ii the word poison is to be
used in Mrs Hunt S sense Of the term.
IL may beWell 10 call attention to va
rious other ''polsons'' which unsuspect-
ing people have been in the habit Of in
Producing into their systems.
In Mrs. Hunts, sense of the term,
is a poison; for Bechamp has
shown that ethyl alcohol is contained
as a normal constituent in the muscles
OF animal bodies. But aside from this,
smoked meat is a poison, as it contains
creosote and carbolic acid; and pre-
served meats are poisonous whenever.
saltpetre has been used as a preserva-
tive. Fresh yeast bread is aggpeison,
because iBscontalns on an average, one
third per cent. Of ethyl alcohol. ine-
gar is a poison, SIS it usual cor ans
from tso tso q per CEN, .ef acid, the.
latter being capable Of prod cling coma
and death. Grapes are poison because
there is tartaric acid in their juice. In
fact, if the element of quantity were to
be disregarded in the application Of the
term poison, the use Of ''poisons' could
only be avoided by living on distilled
WAGER.
No person who desires to be consis-
tent in his statements can call cider a
poison and enroll vinegar among the
substances that are on-peisonous; and
if we|do not want the term poison to lose
all the horrors which the youthful mind
is wont to associate with it, we should
use it only in its Websterian sense. Ci-
der is no poison; but it contains a GER
tain percentage Of ethyl alcohol, and
ethyl alcohol as such is q poison. The
effects Of every poison depend upon the
kind Of poison, the degree of dilution
and the quantity introduced into the
system. We must, therefore, distin-
.guish between the effects of cider and
those Of whisky, in which there is from
fie to ten times more ethyl alcohol than
in cider; and we must also notice the
difference between drinks containing no
other than ethyl alcohol, and those in
which are found the extremely poison
Gus fusel oil alcohols. The composition
of the various alcoholic drinks will be
considered later.
IL. ALCOHOL AS a FooD Quite a
number OF years ago, the eminent
chemist Liebig advanced the. view that
the alcohol introduced into the system
is oxidized in the blood and finally
changed to carbonic acid and water