New-York tribune., 1899-07-11
IS ALCOHOL A FOOD?
PROFESSOR ATwATER's THEORY THAT
1T rs SUCH CRITICISED.
MRS. HUNT. OF THE woMAN's CHRISTIAN TEN

Sir: There is going the rounds OF the press re-
port OF the experiments OF Professor Atwater OF
Middletown. Conn, OF the effects OF alcohol on
shut up from four 10 twe.ve days IN small
air-tigh, metal chamber. Here. in addition 10 an
ordinary diet he was fed with alcohol to the
amount usual in three glasses OF whiskey day
and all his bodily processes werSwatehed From the
effect OF the alcohol noted in this experiment In
conditions wholly outside OF ordinary human ex-
perence broad deductions and generalizations are
drawn which Professor Atwater thinks should
change the present temperance teaching OF the
pulpit the platform. the sunday-school and public
school.
Happily. IN the abstract OF his report he tells
what he thinks the errors In the present teach
Ing which call for correction to make taiiy
with the case OF this man in the box lie says
THE errors are in insisting that alcohol Is not
food but poison and that In any quantity large
or small It is necessarily harmful and not useful
He further states: The question OF alcohol being
. called a poison depends on the definition OF the
term poison" II so, any teaching on the question
OF whether alcohol is poison or not shouid ne
based on a correct definition OF a poison. AFTER
admitting that much depends on the dehhl'loh
Professor Atwater fails to give his definition OF a
poison except as the following statement apphed
10 alcohol may be considered one. lie says Aico-
hol used in quantities and ways which cause no
Injurious effects cannot be called poison.
Would he say that no substance which can be
furious effects can he called poison? II So ne"
classification Of nearly all substances known 10 the
scientific and popular mind poisons would be
called for. A long list would have to be taken out
OF the catalogue Of polsons such as strychnia'
arsenic, belladonna opium and others USED ny
physicians as medicines in quantities and ways
which they claim cause no injurious effects but
benefit rstead. II the possibility Of these sub
being used in ways which are not Injurious
does not take them out OF the poison list why
should the same possibility. II such possibility ex-
lists take out alcohol?
STANDARD DEFINITIONS OF A POISON.
Professor Atwaters definition OF a poison. II
definition II may be called. differs essentially from
that which appears in such standard authorities
medical dictionaries, encyclopedias and the writ
ings OF eminent medical men. The instruction con-
cerning alcohol as a poison given In the indorsed
physologes used in the public schools Is based on
these standard definitions. Professor Atwaters )
criticism Of this instruction is based on concep-
ton Of a poison which is entirely different from the
definitions OF the standard dictionaries
"A poison is a substance which when absorbed
into the blood Is capable OF seriously affecting
health or OF destroying life" says Dr. Alfred Swain
Taylor. lecturer on medical jurisprudence in Guys
Hospital. London. His definition is virtually the
used by the scientific world OF to-day, and IS
the orc followed in the foregoing public school In
struction Dr. Taylor classes alcohol a poison.
may be defined as a substance having inherent
deeterious property which renders It capable OF
destroying ife by whatever avenue e. is taken into
the system" And among such posons It enumer-
ates alcohol.
DR. Adolf Fick. professor Of physiology IN tho
University OF Wurtzburg, Germany. says From
an exhaustive definition. shall have 10 class
every substance poison which, on becoming
mixed with the blood. causes disturbance in the
function Of any organ. That alcohol is such sub
stance cannot be doubted"
II will be found examination that the defni-
tons OF a poison given In the Endorsed temperance
manuals for the public schools in harmony with
the foregoing authorities and that in calling alco
hol poison the school textbooks teach that alcohol
is a substance with inherent properties which
render It capable OF injuring health and destroying
life. Who deny that Il has this capability?
In the indorsed manuals for public school use
definition in substance Ike the foregoing is given
in nearly every case in direct connection with the
statement that alcohol Is poison Thus there is
no occasion for misconceptlon to wnat is meant
by this term. Whoever is taught from the pulpit
the platform, the sunday-schoo or public school
that poison Is a substance which has the inherent
power when introduced into the circulation 20 in
Jure health and destroy life. and that alcohol is
such a poison. is learning truths he viii not have
10 unlearn
The question whether alcohol as a medicine can
be used in quantities and ways which cause in
but for medical Colleges The nature and eTects
Of alcoholic drnks-that is OF alcohol as a bever-
age, not as medicine-are what the laws OF forty
one States and the National Congress require
taught all pupils in all public schools part OF
physiology and hygiene. Therefore the effects OF
alcohol when used as a medicine are purposey
omitted in the indorsed school physiologies.
WHAT CONSTITUTES A FOOD
Professor Atwater says: Whether alcohol Is N
be called food not depends upon the definition
OF food" We wish he had given the public his
definition OF food. that might know whether
he ube TI,-
understood by t. The common idea OF a food IS a
substance which can he depended on 10 nourish the
body without doing II immediate or ultimate IN
jury. Professor Atwater apparently considers that
anything that can be oxidzed In the body and
yield energy should b classed as a food This may
be proper chemical definition Of a food but It IS
not the ordinary definition. II II were many vio-
lent posons. as, for instance muscarine the active
principe Of the poisonous mushroom plants which
IS oxidzed in the body and thus liberates energy,
purposes frames a definition OF a food which
VIII admit such known posons together with alco-
food f. does not mean nutritious substance that
VII nourish without harming the body.
mere ability oxdize and yield energy must enter
into a consideration OF food values from any
rational or practical point Of view. Alcoho Is a
narcotic and. Ike other narcotics II has the power
10 create an uncomfortable desire FOR itself Sugar
and fats narcotics. and have not this power.
On the contrary. the desire for them is soon salts
fed and then no more is relished Professor At
water himself admits that many begin with the
moderate use of alcohol. which leads 20 disastrous
moderation viii result i'm In eTSess o@ 'oo be S eS Of this
excess" Professor Atwater admits. is one OF the
most serious facts with which the physiologists,
socloogists and moraiists OF to-day have 70 deal"
Truth. the whole truth be trusted IL will not
begule to destruction The whole truth in regard
10 alcohol stated n It's proper relations will not
leave the false idea that alcohol IS food in the
same sense that Fat and sugar are foods
In conclusion We submit that inasmuch as Pro
fessor Atwater says the classification of alcohol a;
a food a poison depends upon the definition ~
these terms, and inasmuch he has not proves
the standard definitions OF poison Inaccurate. no.
the popular ideas Of a food wrong therefore ne has
not sustained his charge that the pulpit. pat
form Sunday-schOOl and public school are IN error
when teaching in accordance with these definitions
and ideas. "
world will accept Professor Atwater Is able %
claim that alcohol r. a food reply by quoting
the following from Woods Therapeutics con-