The Savannah morning news., 1901-08-24
A USE FOR DRUNKARDS.
In Demand by Scientists as Subjects
of Experiment..


of Experiment..
From the Cincinnati ENQUIRER.
At last some mighty good use has
been found for the drunkard He is
jlst now in great demand as a labora-
tory subject. Science is becoming rap
idly more economical and is allowing
nothing, good or bad, to go to waste.
Sometimes she shocks the humanitari-
an element by her proposition to vivi-
sect condemned criminals and helpless
lunatics. But even the hyper chicken
hearted cannot take exception to the
newly-devised laboratory tests through
which the inebriate is being put
The new scheme of man-study is one
in which mans own observation is lit
tie trusted. Diagnoses are machine
made. The new man-study laborato-
ries, fast being established all over the
world, are equipped with scores of au-
tomato mechanical scientists who do
the work with an accuracy which defies
human competition. They feel the
pulse, count the breathing, keep tally
of the minutest trembling, gauge the
acuteness of the senses and even time
the brains action. They write their
own records in hieroglypical language
of curves and angles, all their own.
The tippler returning in the wee, small
| hours of the early morning, to face his
| better quarters may chance to
conceal his true condition from her But
the automatic scientists of the modern
| man-study laboratories are all-perceiv-
ing and cannot be fooled.
The timing of the alcoholic brain and
comparing it's speed with that of So
ber-thinking organs is an experiment
now engaging the attention of labora-
tory investigators throughout the
world.
You can try a very simple brain
timing test upon your friends by form
ing them into an endless chain, of
which you are link, all taking bold
of hands. Place a watch before You,
and when the second hand reaches the
60 mark press the hand of your neigh
Dor to the right, he being instructed
to communicate the message imme
diately to his neighbor. and so on
around. Note by the watch when the
signal comes back to your left hand.
The number of seconds divided by the
number of persons gives the time re-
quired by the brain of the average per-
son in the ring to receive signal and
obey it. Were you to make this expert
ment upon a number of people who
had not tasted alcohol for week, and
then repeat it after they had each i'm
bibed, even a small amount, you would
note some interesting results.
Brain-timers, comprising stop clocks,
which measure time in thousandths of
a second, falling disks which give the
mind a signal, and electric attachments
which note the instant it Is carried
out, have been devised for making this
test upon a solitary individual. The
clock is set in motion by the signal
and stopped. by an electric key in the
hands of the subject. These instru-
ments have recently been applied to
many men, first while the latter have
been under the influence of our old ac-
ouaintance, 30. Il. Joyful"
That speed of thought is slowed by
even minute doses of alcohol Is shown
by the tabulated results of all repeti-
lions of this experiment thus far re-
corded. One interesting fact developed
in the tests is that the average SUBJ
ject believes his brain has been work
ing more quickly under the influence Of
the alcohol, whereas the stop-clock en-
phatically declares that the speed OF
brain action has been retarded.
To test the influence of alcohol upon
the brains power of perception labora-
tory subjects are required to read
through a small slit in a screen con-
tinuous series of meaningless syllables
and Unfortunately selected short
words upon a revolving drum behind
the slit. So far the experiment indi-
Gates that even one ounce of alcohol
will greatly reduce the perceptive
powers.
Pupils studied while under the influ-
ence of alcohol recently revealed some
further interesting information con-
corning the effect of strong drink upon
mind action. These tests-rather bold,
to be sure-were made by Prof. Krape-
lin, of the University of Heidelberg.
Two and a half glasses of port wine
were considered as a medium dose, the
students being men. 1t is found that
alcohol increases the speed of reading
and accelerates learning by heart, but
paralyzes the minds power of associat-
ing ideas with words, of making math
ematical calculations and of appreciat-
ing time.
The largest drink of alcohol which
can be taken with appreciable effect
up the average man is discovered
through these tests, to be IA grams.
the amount contained In half wine
glass of port or one fifth of pint Of
ale.
The effect of alcohol upon muscular
strength is being tested in various la
boratories by aid of an ingenious APP
raratus designed to tire a muscle and
write upon paper the speed with
which fatigue conquers its endurance
The subject takes his seat at one end
of table and extends his arm through
a series of chamois-padded vices or
clamps, tightly screwed together. To
his middle finger Is attached Thin
BILE Of leather, from which extends a
cord attached to a little car rolling
upon brass track. The opposite end
of the car holds another cord passing
over a pulley at the far end OF track
and suspending a weight over the end
OF the table farthest from the sub