The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1888-06-21
TEMPERANCE READING.
MODERATE DRINKING.


death-rate statistics of drinkers and
non-drinkors, makes the following
statements respecting the evil effects
Of alcohol on the human system:
EFFECTS on THE LIVER.
Notwithstanding the familiarity Of med
teal men with the fact that many cases of
hepatitis, chemically enlarged liver and
cirrhosis arc directly traceable to inebriety,
few, i fancy. can have been prepared,
without some special acquaintance with
the subject, for the information furnished
by the foregoing mortality tables of the
potent action of alcohol on the liver, when
only taken in small quantities at time.
And, although il may at first sight appear
strange that the liver, of all the organs of the
body, should be most potently affected by
moderate drinking, | think one can scarce
" be surprised at this if he is acquainted
with the peculiar action of alcohol intro
duccd into the liver by the portal vein.
For il requires, think, but a small amount
of reflection on the part of those acquaint-
ed with the mechanism of digestion to UNI
derstand how alcohol, when taken into the
stomach, even in small quantities at time,
is powerful agent in the production of
hepatic disease Seeing that most of the
liquid products of our food is carried di-
rcCtly from the inteStincs to the liver by
the portal vein it consequently follows that
almost every drop of the alcohol, be
it small or be il great, taken into the
stomach must be directly conveyed by the
portal vein to the liver, and compelled to
filter through its tissues before il can pos
sibly get into the general circulation and
reach any of the other organs Of the body.
The knowledge of the fact that all the i'm
bibed alcohol is directly conveyed to the
liver by the portal circulation not only
gives a Cew to why alcoholic stimulants
are so prone to induce hcpatitis, as well as
to increase the formation of sugar and az
gravate diabetes, but to bring about an at
tack of govt, seeing that the liver is rec
garded as the main source of both sugar
and uric acid-the supposed govt forming
material. In addition to which, the direct
conveyance of alcohol to the liver affords
us a reasonable explanation of why alcohol
taken along with the food is so much less
detrimental to the constitution than when
il is taken on an empty stomach More
over, it is now well known fact that the
continuous excitement of the liver, kept up
by habitual "nipping," is far more injuri-
Gus to its functions than an occasional out
burst of drunkenness followed by intervals
of strict sobriety. 1t equally accounts for
the fact that the liver is not alone the first
organ of the body that becomes affected,
but is at the same time the one most seri-
ously disordered by moderate drinking.
EFFECT on THE KIDNEYS.
The effects on the kidneys of moderate
drinkers are far less apparent than upon
the liver; nevertheless, they are sufficient
ly marked to merit attention. The reason
why the kidneys suffer so much less from
the imbibed alcohol when it is taken in only
small quantities at time is sufficiently OBJ
viOus, seeing that a large quantity of what
passes through the liver never reaches the
kidneys at all, from considerable part of
1t having been eliminated by the breath
during its passage in the blood through the
lungs. That intcmpcrance is a fruitful
source of Bright's disease has long been
known, and the reason of this is not far to
seek, seeing that it is the special duty of
the kidneys to eliminate alcohol from the
general circulation, as they do all other
foreign materials. And the more work
that is thrown upon an organ, the more
prone are its tissues to become degCnCrated.
Not only however, do we know that kid
ncys eliminate the imbibed alcohol from
its being met with in urineD, but
we likewise know that alcohol as
alcohol saturates the renal tissue to such
an extent that l and others have been able
to obtain pure alcohol from the kidneys of
persons who have died intoxicated by the
simple process of distillation. Besides all
this, however, there is a special reason
why the kidneys should become diseased
in so-callcd moderate drinking, and that
is on account of the circulation being in
cCssantly increased in them, as it is else
where, from the accelerated hearts action
induced by the repeated imbibation of
c n small
doubt the diameter of the renal blood
vessels is augmented by their engagement
and consequently they exert a deleterious
pressure on the mtervascular tissues,
which will interfere with their proper nOur-
ishment. While, further, this engorge
ment of the renal vessels will render the
kidneys more liable to the injurious
effects of chills: and chills are as
is we'll known, the most fruitful cause
of kindney disease. This view of
the case appears to me to give not only the
clew to the reason why Bright's disease is
so particularly common among the inc
briate, but likewise why transient attacks
of albuminuria are so frequently met with
in moderate drinkers. among both men and
women. Sprit-drinking is said to be main
ly instrumental in inducing the variety of
renal disease named glanular kidney;
while beer-driRking is, on the other hand,
thought to be most potent in bringing
about fatty degeneration of the renal It's
sues. Be that as it may, well know from
a long experience of urinary affections, that
even small quantities of alcohol habitually
INDUCED in sometimes bring on most
troublesome forms of albumnuria, with
out there being any wcll-marked symptoms
of the existence of either granular or fatty
degeneration of the tissues of the kidneys.
ALCOHOL AND THE HEARTS ACTION.
Alcohol, when taken in small quantity,
is in general said to act as direct cardiac
stimulant, and it's stimulating effect is
faculty of increasing the muscular power
of the heart. i take an entirely different
view of the matter, and shall now endeavor
to show how the increase in the force of
the hearts movements, the quickening of
the pulse, the flushing of the face, the con
gestion of the retinal blood vessels, as well
as all the other visible appearances of ac
CELEBRATED cardiac functional activity, are
in reality in no wise due to the stimulating
action of alcohol, either on the heart S
muscular tissue or the nerves supplying it,
but actually to the very reverse, viz. Its
paralyzing effect on the cardiac nerve
mechanism. This may appear a strange
idea to those unfamiliar with the advanced
theories regarding the accelerating
and restraining hearts nerve forces.
Nevertheless, it is quite consonant with
the results Of modern physiological in
vestigations, which go far to prove that
every function of organic life-no matter