The times., 1899-04-09
FOOD QUALITIES IN ALCOHOL.
Arguments Pro and Con by Dis
tinsui=i:-d Scientists.
(From the New York Tribunel


Some assertions regarding the effects oil
alcohol upon the human body which will
be new to many Tribune readers were
recently made before committee of the
| Massachusetts Legislature which had un
der consideration bill to provide for in
struction on the subject in the public
schools.
Two or three of the arguments adduced
by the men who protested against the pro
posed enactment would have little weight.
perhaps, with people who were gifted with
a Judicial instinct. The mere fact tha, a
canvass of the teachers of the State show
ed that only IL were in favor of it, "A were
neutral and $500 were opposed, out of a
| total OF nearly 200, would not prove that
the Dill was Il bad one. Certain other sta
tistics as to the use of alcoholic beyer-
| ages by representative business and pro-
| tessional men might also be thought TO
nave no bearing on the main question,
which was the desirability of a certain
sort of instruction.
1t should be observed moreover. that the
opponents of the measure did not ra Sc
( any question as TO the moral evils which
/ attend an Incorporate indulgence in drink.
This was not the issue at all Probably the
men who fought the so-called Hunt bill
| are as much alert to this aspect of the
matter as other intelligent folk But the
/ two points which they urged were these:
| first that the question ON which il was
proposed TO give instruction was scientific
I not moral; and second. that recent inves-
/ legations of the matter by scientific ex-
I perts had wrought marked changes of
opinion in the medical profession as to the
! eHects OF alcohol on the human mechan-
| ism.
of course. If the vital point was moral
} one then the scientists would feel that
they ought not to meddle but should leave
the discussion to those who are charged
with the duty OF conserving the morality
OF the rising generation. But when il
comes to saying whether or not a given
substance is poison, a stimulant or a
food, it seems to be better policy to rely
I on the testimony of scientific men only.
ana II, as might be expected. there should
De a difference of opinion among those
| VINO made pretensons to belonging to this
class, then some regard should be had to
the relative eminence of the witnesses. 1t
might be wise, too, to consider whether
the testimony offered was the fruit of an
cient enquiry.
The remonstrants in this hearing were
represented by DR.. Henry p Bowditch
Professor of Physiology in the Harvard
Medical School. part OF his argument
was designed TO show the inexpediency of
trying TO teach the younger children of the
public schools the physiological effects of
a drug when the subject was a commit
Gated one and when the text books EMPLOY
ed were misleading. He wanted to have
large discretion in the matter left to
school committees, instead of having a
compulsory system OF instruction. He
made this rather striking statement about
the literature disseminated by advocates
OF the Dill under consideration: Il once
uled 10 discuss one of these books with a
writer OF them. i don't want to talk over
my books with you, he said; L am a prac-
ueing physician, and | don't want Won to
think | have fallen so low as to believa
all the statements l have put in them.
DR.. Bowditch declared that at recent
conference of the leading Psychologists of
the world in Berlin the conclusion reached
was that the physiological effects of alco-
moi, taken IN moderate doses had NOT vet
been determined clearly. They had decid-
ed that at present no physiologist had a
rlsnt 10 say to a man who wished to take
glass OF beer or wine with his dinner
that 1t would do him harm. He quoted
from two of the most eminent physiolopi-
cal chemists in the world Kuhne of Hell
delburg. and Won Volt, of Munich The
former held that nutrition, especially
among prisoners. is aided by the use of
certain things as relish and included all
coholic drinks in his enumeration of proper
articles OF this class He deprecated their
use by children, however. The other ex-
pert insisted that a moderate use of beer
is not injurious to the health. A third
authority went so far as to say: Alcohol
must be classed as an article of food No
physician can faithfully perform his duty
10 his patients who excludes alcohol from
their diet"
1t will be observed that the last quota
ton, from letter of DR.. Arthur Gamer
goes further than any of the others 1t
puts alcohol on the basis of foods Pre-
limnary experiments by a well-known
American expert Prof W. o. Atwater. of
Wesleyan College. Middletown Conn, have
led him TO think that when alcohol is taken
in small doses about % per cent of it is
used in the body. The old notion was that
the compound in question is only stimu-
liant, and that il all eliminated from the
body in a short time after being drunk
Some scientific men have been disposed to
go step further and say that alcohol tenn
pOrarily checks the waste of tissue in sick
ness. But Prof. Atwater. like Dr. Gamer
is inclined to believe that the tissues are
actually built up from the elements of the
alcohol. Prof. Atwaters preliminary in
vestisatlon led him to think that with a
measured diet and measured amount of
labor the starches OF the system might be
replaced by alcohol.
Many OF the tribune 8 readers Will re-
call the fact that Prof. Atwater has for
some time past been conducting a lot of
tests for the United States Government as
to the nutritive values of various foods
His methods are in some respects original
He cOops man up in a box for days at
a time and analyses his food and the air
he breathes, and then makes a chemical
investigation of his eXcretions even exam
lining the expired air TO insure accuracy in
his conclusions Not long ago a committee
of fifty prominent men in this country
raised the money necessary TO cover the
cost of "A thorough enquiry into the food
value of alcohol, and Professor Atwater is
doing the work.
The results thus far secured are not final
but they have their value. DR.. Bowditch
thinks that they ought not TO be disregard
ed by any progressive body of legislators
The completion of the investigation should
be awaited he thinks, before any new
enactments 20 onto the statute books. Dr.
Bowditch himself observes that alcohol can
never be looked upon an important food
stuff. because, when taken in large guam
titles, its ill-effects would counterbalance
the good ones. But if 1t is a food al a.
then caution should be exercised in dissem-
mating the doctrine that it is nothing but
poison.