The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-06-19
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL.


! in it, and alcohol Every person
! knows that the latter is the only thing
that causes men to drink any kind of
liquor. A quart of Madeira wine, for
instance, consists of two pounds and a
little over four ounces of water; two
ounces of gummy and tartareous mat
| ter: little over two ounces of an oily,
resinous matter; and two ounces and
over of alcohol. Take out the alcohol
and the remainder of the Madeira
wine is a nauseous mess, which no one
would think of drinking. Take the al
cohol out of beer, and it is a sour slop,
which no sane man would dream of
| taking into his mouth. Whisky con-
sists of nearly equal parts of water and
impure alcohol, the latter containing
fusel oil and some essential ellis de-
rived from the grain, which give it
flavor. 1t is the alcohol which pro-
duces INVESTIGATION, if imbibed in suf-
ficient quantity. There is nothing else
in any intoXicant which would COM
mend it to the palate of any man.
Now, the scientific verdict as to alco-
hol is that it is poison, no more, no
less; and we propose in this article to
show the manner in which it acts upon
the human system. Alcohol. as a poi
son, acts upon the nerve centers. Its
effects in the opening stages are mod
flied in various ways by the tempera-
ment of the individual. It's action is
generally at first to fill the person with a
serene and perfect self-complacency
| SC g, Ia
more intense from the stimulation of
the nerves by the poison. With most
persons this is shown by increased
vIvacity of language and tendency to
talk much more than is usual.
AS lntoXication progresses. the senses
gradually become hazv, a soft hum
ming seems to fill the pauses in the
conversation, filmv haze obscures the
vision, the victim finds it difficult to
preserve his equilibrium; next, objects
appear double, or fit confusedly before
the eyes; the drunkard becomes bois-
ferrous, ridiculous; articulation becomes
difficult, and he finally falls to the
ground insensible-that is, he is dead
drunk" From this state, after period
of deep slumber, he awakes exhausted,
feverish, sick and giddy. with throb-
bing head, ringing ears and bloodshot
eyes.
The poison first affects the lobes of
the brain, and the other nerve centers
of the cerebro-spinal system are sue
cessively brought under the influence
OF the poison until, in the state COM
monty known as dead drunk" the
only nerve centers that are not par
alyzcd are those which are known as
the automatic centers, which regulate
and keep up respiration and the circu-
lation. Enough alcohol can be taken,
However, to paralyze these, in which
case the deep sleep of drunkenness be-
comes a stupor, and then passes into
death.
There is parallel between apoplezy
and intoXication. To be drunk is sim
ply to be apoplectic. Such is the action
of alcohol upon the nervous system. and
its action upon the other parts of the
body are no less injurious. When an
alcoholic drin k is taken into the stom-
ach the alcohol is rapidly absorbed
through the coats of that organ and
passes directly into the circulation.
Experiments have been tried in which
wine was administered in capsules, so
that not one particle touched the in
terror of the mouth or throat: vet in
two or three minutes the odor of alco-
hol was noted on the breath, showing
that in that short time it had been alb
sorbed, passed into the blood and was
being expelled by the lungs.
Getting into the circulation it is car
ried with the blood to every part of the
system. That which goes to the brain
produces successfully the symptoms
enumerated above: that carried to the
lungs begins to be expelled with the
expired breath of these organs. The
blood loaded with alcohol, in passing
through the liver sets up an irritation
which frequently causes an incurable
disease to that very important organ
cirrhosis of the liver, better known as
''hobnail liver'-the kidneys are stimu-
lated and irritated, and long indulgence
in the drin king habit leads to incurable
disorders. The skin is also affected and
does its part in eXpelling the alcohol
IL Jill tAiN' ~ StSiii' III punt VI IdCl all
the eycretory organs set at work as
soon as the alcohol gets into the sys-
tenn, in the cndeavor to rid the body of
the poison. The liver kidneys. lungs
and skin are all overstimulated in this
effort.
We hope we have made it clear in
this brief resume of the action of al
cohol that it is absolutely and entirely
a poison. 1t is in no sense q food. 1t
Injuries the brain, the nerves, over
eXcites the heart. initiates the stom-
ach, liver and kidneys; never does any
good, but always harm. There is no
reason against and every reason for
putting its sale and use under the same
restrictions and precautions as the sale
Of any other poison.
Why, then, is this not done? Simply
because there is too much money in
the business of selling rum. 1t is the
gain that comes to those whose occu;;a-
ton it is to manufacture and sell it,
that has thrown together for mutual
protection all these people. They use
their influence, and their wealth, and
the power they have over the besotted
victims of drink. to prevent as far as
possible any interference by the state
with their dabasing and soul-destroying
occupation
There is vast amount of ignorance
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