The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-09-11
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
GOOD FOR NOTHING,
The Action OF Alcohol Ii That OF q Dl

- y
GOOD FOR NOTHING,
rhs Action OF Alcohol Ii That Of . Dis.
turbsr and . Destroyer.
True science is the voice of nature.
What nature Says must be right If a.
cohol is really poison. nature will no,
alter her laws because we are ignorant
or prejudiced, and, regard it as food
What does nature say as to the relation
of alcohol to the human body?
Food is required to supply two great
wants of the body. The first great want
of the body is material for its structure;
the second is fuel to maintain its tenn
perature. The simplest action we can
perform. even thought passing through
the mind, occasions the wearing away
Of some tissue of the body. The body
!" being constantly worn down and
must be constantly built up. This pro.
cess can go on only when the body is
kept at its natural temperature of about
9s degrees. Nature supplies the two
wants by providing two kinds Of food.
The one kind is called nitroy .nous. and
supplies all the substances of which the
body is composed. The other kind is
called non-nitrogenous or respiratory
foods, which are burnt up in the body
to maintain its temperature. The egg
is type of all the food in nature The
white, or albumen, is the material for
building; the yelk is the fuel for
warmth. The body has one other
want. 1t requires solvent by which
the food can be liquefied and carried to
every part of the body. For this pur-
pose nature supplies but one fluid, and
that is water.
Now. nature having supplied these
two kinds of food for the two great
wants how can they be made available
for the body's USE? The answer is:
"'They must all he converted into
blood" No food can be used in the
body, either for building up it's struc-
ture or maintaining its temperature
until it has been converted into blood.
Bearing this fact in mind we shall be
prepared to Judge whether alcohol
can be of use in sustaining the human
body.
Carbonate of lime and chloride of
sodium Common salt) are constituent
parts of the blood, and become part of
the substance of the body. They are,
therefore, foods. Arsenic is not con-
stituent of the blood, and can never be-
come part of the body. Therefore it is
not food. Alcohol is just as truly
as arsenic foreign substance which
can never be changed into blood nor
become part of the body. In support of
this the highest medical authorities
may be quoted:
; DR.. Edward Smith, F. r. S., England:
"Alcohol is not true food, and it
neither warns nor sustains the body
bv the elements of which it is COM
posed.''
Liebig: "Beer. wine,> spirits, etc, fur
nish no element capable of entering
into the composition Of the blood. mus
cular fiber. or any part which is the seat
of vital principle
DR.. T. K. Chambers: cit is clear
that we must cease to reg ,rd alcohol as
goes out as it goes in, and does not, so
far as we know. leave any of it's sub
stance behind it.
Many such testimonies from high
scientific authorities may be quoted 10
prove that alcohol is substance entire
Nv foreign to the human body, and can
never become constituent part of it.
Therefore, the idea of noursh ng or
guiding up the body with alcohol is a
pure delusion. Various parts of the
body require starch, sugar, lime or
iron, but no part ever requires alcohol.
10 dream of building up the BODY with
alcohol is as irrational as to at,em.,t to
build brick house with smoke A
further revelation of science. the result
of most careful observation and expari.
ment. is the following: Tie dction of
alcohol IN the human system IL mrarlab y
that Of a d sturber anil Il destroyer.
There is no part of the bod y ut it
does not lnjure. 1t influences every
membrane. it initiates every tissue, and
deadens every nerve. 1t also affects the
other f1uids-a most serious matter. It
precipitates the pepsin of the gas ric
juice, and it Injuries the corpuscles in
the blood. Unlike food, which builds
up, alcohol always pulls down. 1t turn !,
and destroys every structure with which
it comes in contact 1t also interfrres
with the healthy performance of every
function, its presence everywhere in
the body causing excitement. and neces-
stating extra work in every organ for
its expulsion. 1t passes out of the sys-
tenn as it went in; but its passage
through the system calls for increased
action OF the heart and 9th er organs.
and this increased action to cxpel the
poison is fatally mist lken for increase
strength.
While it rritates and destroys, aico-
hol also prevents the creation of new
blood and the proper assimilation of
food. 1t also retains in the system the
waste matter that nature would expel,
thus preventing those changes on which
the health and life Of the body depenl.
In support of every one of these stote-
ments the opinions of the highest med
ical and scientific authorities NAV be
quoted. Let me briefly present the con-
trast which science establishes between
food and alcohol.
Food is changed into blood and used
to build up the body: alcohol never is.
Foods such as oils and sugars warm the
body; alcohol never does. For the cir
culation by which the prepared food is
carried to every part of the system,
water is absolutely necessary; alcohol
for this purpose is not only injurious
but positively fatal. Healthy elimina-
ton Of effete matter is promoted by ex-
ercise; it is retarded by alcohol. And
alcohol never restores, like rest Or
sleep. On entering the stomach it un-
dergoes none of the processes to which
food is subjected but flies immedia tel Y