Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1899-09-16

Views Held fan Regard to Alcohol
Sh0wn By study TO BE without
a SHADOW OF Truth.

The various forms of strong drink In
common use have a splendid character
with many people. The working maR
thinks a great deal about his beer, and
believes that he gets strength and vigor
from its use to enable him to do his
hard work; that he Is warmed by It,
that 1t is almost as good as food, and
ahat it brings him cheer and comfort
The business men. and those in the bet
Ser stations of lie, think that wine IN
good thing. they look upon its use as
sign OF hospitality. they imagine that
II gives them energy and vigor, and that
1i<e would be very,dui If they did not
have this particular thing to drive away
their cares and Worries and help them
20 lead pleasant 'time.
A close study Of the question reveals
she fact that. a. a beverage, strong
drink is G mistake from every point Of
view.
A very common error Is tho belief
chat alcohol Is q nerve restorer, q tonic.
or q ''pick-me-up," shat can revive and
pull together the lost, and scattered en-
ergies of the nervous system. The
truth is that alcohol IS. a narcotizer and
n nerve psralyzer. his work is that of
aeadening sensation, and of lessening
senssbiIity. Hence the popular belief
arises that because the body is less
capable of feeling and Hess able to per
ceiVe, that a certain. amount OF restora-
sion is going on.
Pain may be deadened, and grief and
care may be drowned, hut that does
mot mean that we are being made more
able to stand against these things.
Very delicate experiments have been
made 20 show that even small quaint
ties of alcohol lessen in some degrees
our perceptive powers. The amount OF
alcohol contained in a. quartersof pint
D1 beer is very small. hut it can be shown
that the faculties of seeing. Testing and
precision are distinctly lessened by this
amount.
A man taking n lot of strong .drinh
becomes "dead drunk" that is, he is in
capable of seeing. feeling. he@~ing
smelling or tasting. The whole sf hi.
nerves are asleep. nareOtized by alco
hol. The man is dead to all that is go
ing on around him. The question arises
when did this paraiyz1ng OF the brasz
and nerves begin. 1t began with tn
first glass. This necessarily follows. Il
might have been impossible to tell b!
any test that the hrst glass had done
any harm, but number of glasses d.
the harm, and the first one must hav'
contributed its quota.
Another common error is the belle
that alcohol Is an aid to digestion. Her
again the drinker is trusting to feelin.
rather than to fact
Alcohol. like anything else passinI
into the stomach, causes flow OF gas
trio juice, and the inference has bee;
made that If alcohol makes gastri
juice flow, because Of its irritant actor
on the lining OF the stomach, there mus
be more Of the digestive fluid present
and. therefore. there must be better di
gestion, but the great and importan
fact is overlooked that 1t IS the activ
principle In gastric juice, called pepsin
shat is the digestive agent, and tina
the pepsin is thrown out OF solution b,
alcohol, and is. therefore. less capabl
OF doing its work. Whilst, therefore
less digestive Juice may be made to fox
more quickly, it Is doing really les
work in digesting food than II it fiowe'
at q slower rate. Experiment has show