The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1891-06-18
TEMPERANCE NOTES.

TEMPERANCE NOTES.
ALCOHOL IN THE SYSTEM.
A Scientific Analysis OF Liquors and Their
Intoxicating Properties. -. ~.s
All intoxicants consist Of water,
number of other substances dissolved
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 .
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 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 intoxication, If imbibed in suf-
ticient 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 q 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 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. Its action is
generally at first to fill the person with q
serene and perfect self-complaccncy
His feelings and faculties are rendered
more intense from the stimulation of
the nerves by the poison. With most
persons this is shown by increased
vivacity of language and a tendency to
talk much more than is usual.
AS intoxication progresses, the senses
gradually become hazy, soft hum
ming seems to fill the pauses In the
conversation, a filmy 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 a 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-
alyzed 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 stupor, and then passes into
death.
ACA q 10 pol dAAC1 O0V"ccu ApOplCAY
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; yet 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 incura BILE
disorders. The skin is also affected and
does it's part In expelling the alcohol
from the system. In point of fact all
the excretory organs set at work as
soon as the alcohol gets into the sys-
tenn, in the endeavor 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 food It
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
O0CduSO tAcE0 ~ wv AUCU LUOucY IN
the business of selling rum. It is the
gain that comes to those whose occupa-
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 debasing and soul-destroying
occupation.
There is vast amount Of ignorance
among the people as to the real nature
Of alcohol. It is the fewer number of
our people, even at this date, who are
convinced that alcohol is poison; and
this ignorance of the masses is one of
the bulwarks of the traffic. We need
more education, especially in the fam
lily, in the church, and in the common
schools, as to the real nature and effect
L. NJ