Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-06-28
Professor A,w.ter confut.d.

A,oieeSor atWdter, OF tnOSe VINO nave
spoken for him, have declared that one
and one-half to two ounces of alcohol,
taken in divided doses during the day are
oxidized, and seem" to do no harm.
The subjects of his experiments were
adult males, some OF whom were accus.
ing some kind of alcoholic beverage. It is
further stated that those experimental
upon were not under observation, in an
experimental way. long enough to deter.
mine what might have been the result of
imbibing, this amount Of alcohol for long
be called is that no definite measures were
instituted TO- determine whether the or
ganism at all suffered in its functions by
the taking Of these small daily quantities
OF alcohol. 1t will not satisfy the earnest
investigator to be told that they seemed"
self with this answer. Others have deter.
mined that, arriving at definite results
DIR. Herman Frey, in Sahli's clinic in
Berne, Switzerland. in 1896, undertook to
determine the effects of small quantities
OF alcohol upon m muscular work. We can
these experiments in detail. Suffice it to
say that they were carried out with the
utmost care and all apparent sources of
error eliminated. Alcohol was given in
fhe form, of cherry brandy, cognac, wine,
beer and diluted water, not more than
five to ten grams of alcohol being admins.
tered at one dose. The strength of the
muscular contractions was measured by
Mosso's ergograph. AS result of his ex-
periments DR.: Frey found that alcohol in
these quantities decreased both the
strength of the individual contractions
and the amount of work which the muscle
was capable of doing before being fatigued,
in some cases the decrease amounting to
nearly fifty per cent. Of many expert
ments these were only two which did not
show this result, and these, the expert
menter thinks, were influenced by sug-
yestion, as they were hysterical subjects.
Concerning the effects of alcohol upon
mental processes we have only to recall
che work of Kraeplin and his co-laborers.
These eminent and careful investigators,
after many experiments, 1850 in one group,
announced without reservation that s'aii
the intellectual functions examined suf-
cred marked depression after the inges-
lion of small, moderate and large doses of
alcohol, and this depression makes its APP
Pearaance Immediately after the alcohol
has been ingested Among the mental
processes tested were the 0ower to add
figures and to commit to memory. In
these there was a constantly decreasing
power with the continued ingestion of al
cohol,, followed by an immediate rise when
che alcohol was withdrawn. Nor should
It be forgotten that the quantity used was
exactly that which Professor Atwater and
others say seemed to do no harm.
As. to the heat producing power of al
.ohol that is another fallacy; for, in spite
2f the fact that really more heat is pro-
1uced in the body by the oxidation of al
:ohol, the heat radiation by reason of the
iilatation of the peripherA vessels is in
creased in a still greater degree. and the
sum total of the effects is an actual de-
crease of bodily temperature.
Let any one consider these facts, which
have been established by the most care
eul possible methods and with mathemati
cal precision, and he must deny in toto
that alcohol deserves a place in the list
Of carbohydrate or any other class of
'oods.-New York Independent.