The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-07-18

The Guinea Pig Drunk on Absinthe.
this is the annually increasing tribute
which alcohol continually demands"
Since these words were written, nearly
thirty years ago, the situation has be-
come yet more grave.
The ruin by the phylloxera of many
of the French vineyards led the chem
lists of commerce to devise numberless
alcoholic LIQUORS whose bases are pOis-
onous, and whose moderate use, even,
is more disastrous in their effect upon
the human organism than would be
the excessive consumption of unadul-
terated stimulants.
1t costs the French people 377 200
francs per hour to be governed, and in
the carefully balanced budget the re-
ceipts from taxes on alcoholic bever-
ages is a great item. If drinking were
stopped there would be a deficit.
The most eminent scientists in
France were therefore called upon,
and of late have done much toward
establishing the comparative harmful
ness of various products of distillatiOn.
the next step will be to prescribe
those alcoholic beverages which have
been shown to be venomous in their
effects, and to encourage the sale of
others by guaranteeing the purity of
their ingredients.
1t would take many columns of
space to explain in detail the re-
searches of these French savants-
researches which represent years of
study and superintendent the results
which they have arrived at may be
summarized as follows:
POisOns i'm AIcOhOls.
All badly distilled alcohOls contain
poisonS, of which the most terrible are
pyrOmacic aldehyde and furfurol. AL
dehyde is produced by the oXodation
of ordinary alcohol. When exposed to
the air or to oxygen it is converted
into acetic acid, the powerful cOrro-
sive qualities of which are well known.
Furfurol is a volatile oil produced by
the action of dilute sulphuric acid
upon wheat, bran sugar or starch. AL
dehyde is also the general name of q
class of compounds intermediate be-
tween alcohols and acids.
In the order of harmfulneSs the
three kinds of alcohol are ranged thus,
commencing with the least hurtful:
Alcohol obtained from grapes, alcohol
produced by the fermentation Of
grains, and lastly that manufactured
from the beet root, which vegetable
is largely cultivated in France and but
little in this country.
All w~ell-rectified alCohols-that is.
those that are restored to a high de-
gree of purity-are hardly nor Harm
full than that which from the
grape. The savants naturally o II
clude from this that the danger to the
public health would be much de-
creased if the purity of alcOhOls could
be assured.
Those compounds of herbs and alco-
hol, called %liQueurs, for which France
is famous, are, generally speaking,
more poisonous tEan simple alcoholic
wines, because to the liqueu-s are
added various chemical ingredients
to conceal the taste of the herbs used.
The most deadly and most generally
used of these poisons is a compound of
calicylic acid and aldehyde.
TO practically illustrate the truth of
these conclusions, Dr.. Laborde has
made a series of experiments upon
guinea pigs. DR.. LabOrde has taken
three of these little animals, each
about $50 grammes about II ounces
in weight, and injected into the veins
of the first a cubic centimeter of
ethylic alcohol, which is the purcst oh,
tainable. Ethyl is the radical of ordin-
AIRY alcohol and ether. 1t has never
been obtained in a free state. Pure
alcohol is hydrate of ethyl.
Into the veins of the second guinea
pig was injected a similar quantity of
amylic alcohol, which is the kind
found in adulterated wines and badly
distilled liquors. Its chief constituent
is fusel oil, which is contained in the
crude spirit, and whose presence even
in a small quantity impairs the quail