The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-02-15
ALCOHOL AND HEALTH.
A Mistaken Belief that Liquor InviGorates
the SYstem.

the System.
Intimately associated with the sub
ject of health of both mind and body is
that of temperance, and the use and
abuse of Intoxicating drinks and the
wise physician in his endeavor to solve
the problem for the benefit of himself
and mankind generally, will calmly
and studiOusly try to understand the
human organism together with the
nature and action of the fruits of the
earth upon it, as well as that of alcohol
and its compounds; so that his con-
illusions may be scientific, so far as
present knowledge permits, and not
merely popular or general. Now the
human body is composed of both solids
and fluids, the former receiving their
support from the latter, or from the
blood itself, as the product of the vari-
Gus ''food-stuffS'' which are received
into the stomach for the purposes of
nutrition, there to- be liquefied for as
similation and the healthy main
tenance of the organs and tissues, and
the performance of their several func-
tions in the animal economy. Looking
back to the primitive condition of hui
man life, before even the use
of the still" had become known,
we see the Importance of, and
necessity for, fruits" in the hui
man system, while their abundant pro-
vision, especially in all hot countries,
is proof that they We're given to us
as bot&l real food and drink in them
selves. and not for conversion by the
agency of the still into alcohol, wine
and malt liquors to disturb healthy
functional activity, and by their use or
excess brutaliZe our nature. Before.
then, we advocate the use of alcohol,
let us ascertain if it is q natural
product, and as such provided for our
consumption like other fruits of the
earth; and, if not, the sources from
which it is derived, its properties and
actions in the system. In this way,
and this only, we may hope to arrive
at something like accuracy of judg-
ment in regard to it.
Does alcohol exist ready-made in
nature, or is it found within the body
as the result of changes in the food
taken for nutrition? The only scien-
tific answer to these questions must
be, no. 1t is not found ready made in
nature, nor is it found in the body as
the result of decomposition of the food
stuffs taken; on the contrary, nature
would seem to have especially guarded
herself against such possibility, for
any sugar formed in the process of
digestion is not converted into alcohol,
but passed out of the system through
the usual channels. If we look to the
properties of alcohol we find scientists,
both home and foreign, agreeing that
in large doses it is narcotic poison,
killing by suffocation through its par
alyzing influence on the respiratory
nerve-centers, and in smaller but cen
tinuous doses by the structural changes
which it eXerts in the several organs
and tissues of the body. Chemically. it
is hydrocarbon, devoid Of nitrogen,
hence can give no real or permanent
strength. BY its action on the blood
cells it checks oxidation by limiting
their power of absorbing oxygen and
eliminating carbonic acid, and by its
strong affinity for water it dries up the
tissues, causing thirst; hence its own
renewed and repeated consumption
Alcohol, therefore, in any quantity, in
terferes more or less with the puritca-
ton of the blood and the healthy oxi-
dation of the tissues. Such an action
can not but be cause of disease, and
injurious in many diseased conditions.
Now food is that which nourisheS, re-
pairs waste and builds up tissue, and
must therefore contain products or ele-
mcnts allied to those ,of the body that
it is intended to nourish; our bodies and
our foods consisting essentially of the
same materials. BY the oxidation of al
cohol in the body it is without doubt
source of energy, but it does not there
fore follow that it is a source of food.
To establish such proposition, it must
be shown that the energy thus liber-
ated is used to aid the performance of
a normal function. 1t is not enough
that chemical potential energy is trans
formed into kinctic energy; the trans
formation must occur at the right time,
in the right place, and in definite parts
of the tissues, which themselves are
IDJ 81 bIJhlCb Ill0} Cdll Dc leu
with any and every combustible ma
terial.
1t is a common idea that alcohol pro-
duces warming effect in cold weather.
this feeling of warmth depends, in the
first place, on the fact that the paraly-
sis of the central nervous system
causes an increased blood-supply to the
surface of the body; and, secondly, in
all proba bility, on the bunting of the
sensibility of the central organs which
are concerned in the sensation of cold.
The stimulating action which alcohol
appears to exert on the physical func-
tions is also only a para!ytic action.
Again, there is strong belief that alco-
hol gives new strength and energy after
fatigue has set in the sensation of
fatigue is one of the safety-valves of
our machine. TO stihe the feeling of
fatigue in order to be able to work on,
is like forcibly closing the safety
valve so that the boiler may be over
heated and explosion result. The be-
lief that alcohol gives strength to the
weary is particularly dangerous to the
class of people whose income is al