The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-05-07
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
NATURE OF ALCOHOL.

NATURE OF ALCOHOL.
How 1t Is Transmitted Through the
y Blood to All Parts Of tho Body.
When we use the word alcohol" we
require to be clear as. to the meaning
Of the word and the thing. We know
now that the term is employed by the
chemists to indicate q long series Of
chemical bodies having certain prop
critics in common and exhibiting the
same chemical constitution in respect to
the elements which enter the compost
ton OF them. These elements, three in
number carbon, hydrogen and oxy-
gen-never vary except in quantity Of
amount, and one Of them, the oxygen,
remains always the same, even in
amount, in every member of the family.
The other two elements, the hydrogen
and the carbon, invariably present, ex-
list In different quantities in different
members of the family and it is on this
difference that the family differences
depend. In the first, or primary men,
Der OF the family, the elements stand in
the following form: There is one pro-
portion or part Of carbon, four of hydro
gen and one Of oxygen. This alcohol,
called metAyhe alcohol or wOod-spirit, is a
light fluid which boils at 140 degrees
Fahrenheit, and Is SO far volatile that
have succeeded in putting warm-blood-
ed animals to sleep by making them in
hale its vapor.
We have in this methylic alcohol the
lightest of the family group. II we pass
to the thirtieth of the group we find q
solid alcohol called melytic, or by
some, melissic, really . wax-like sub
stance. The proportion of oxygen is
just tie same in this variety as in the
last named, but the proportion Of car
bon and of hydrogen have so greatly
changed that the change in the quality
of the substance need not to be won
dered at The heavy element, carbon,
has increased from one part in the
aethyHc alcohol to thirty in the meytic,
and the hydrogen has risen to sixty
one. sgcr.
II we 60 back in the series we shall
find another alcohol, the fifth from the
methylic, called usually amylie alcohol,
fusel oil, or, sometimes, pOtato-spirit.
This is heavy oily fluid of disagree
able odor and Of high boiling point, go
degrees Fahrenheit Itdiffers from the
wood-spirit in its weight, being very
much heavier. 1t is composed OF five
parts of carbon and twelve Of hydrogen,
with the usual unit of oxygen. ls
The variations here noticed extend
all through the series, and all through
in regular sequence, the carbon increas-
ing one part and the hydrogen two
parts each STEP If we could add one
more of carbon and two more of hydro
gen to methylic alcohol we should get
another alcohol composed of two parts
of carbon, six parts of hydrogen and
one part oxygen, and this would be the
common alcohol of commerce-ethyhc-
alcoh0l-the spirit which forms the sta
pie Of all the wines, spirits, ales and
other so-called spurious drinks supplied
in such large quantities to our com.
munities for drinking purposes.
4. All the alcohols are products or re.
suits of fermentation of one or other
fermentable substance. The common
or ethylic alcohol is the product Of the
fermentation of grain and of fruit, and
is by far the largest product of any
because, by what has become the almost
universal consent Of the civilized world
it has been and is demanded as bev
erage and stimulant. We may say of il
practically that it alone is the alcoholic
drink of those who indulge in the use
of stimulant; for although it is true
that amylic alcohol and some other al
cohols get mixed by accident or care
lessness or it may be sometimes by de
sign, with common alcohol, they are
not supposed to be present in it, and thu
general effects Of alcoholic drinking ar'
attributable to it alone.
With the few facts above stated clear
ly before us on the position of common
alcohol, from chemical point of view
we may turn 10 the study of the effect
Of it on man and other living thing
subjected to its influence. For all liv
ing things it has certain physical al
flnity, for the simple reason that all liv
ing things contain, and, as a rule, ar
largely made up Of acater, for which tn
alcohol has strong affinity. Itself
mobile fluid, 1t mixes with water in al
proportions, and with the utmost readi
ness; in fact, it is by virtue of this read
mess that it is received into the body
No one would ever learn to drink alec
} hol under any circumstances, unless i
were first largely diluted with water, a
it is in wine, beer, brandy, rum, gin
whisky and other spirits. When in an,
of these, it is present in great strength
it is again diluted by the addition O
more water, because if it were not s.
diluted it would create burning sensa
ton in the mouth and throat and woul
, tnfict serious injury on the stomach
Diluted with water it enters the bod
Of man or animal with the water, an
J soon diffuses through the body whereve
{ there is water in the tissues Thus
for short time after portion Q
! alcohol has entered the body, and befor
+ it has had the opportunity Q
being removed, it can be dc
tected in all the fluid secretion.
The late DR.. Percy discovered
: present in the fluid Of the ventricles q
4 the brain. have found it in the sam
fluid, in the blood, in the urine, in tn
fluids which have the Serious men
1 branes; and, in short in all the fluid
= derived from the blood. With some {
0 the tissues it maintains very clos
: affinity, especially with the tissues {
: the liver and the brain. So close is i,
afinitu for the brain -su hstanca that