The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-05-25
Alcohol and the Brain.
BY DIR. D. H. MANN, P. R. W. G. 7.

B1 DIX. -. n. Mann. L. n. w. VI. L.
How often and aptly physiolo
gists quote from Cassio's excla
nation in Othello-Shakespeare
so, God, that men should pu'
an enemy into their mouths tc
steal away their brains! Thai
we should, with JOY, revel, pleas
ure and applause transform our
selves into beasts! To be now
sensible man, and by-and-by 8
fool, and presently a beast! 0:
strange. every inordinate cup is
unblessed, and the ingredient is
the devil
A practical observer can, at
glance at a man under the lnfu
ence of alcoholics, determine to q
certainty how far his brain is
under the immediate damaging
effect of the drug.
If he be noisy, boisterous, song
full, glib, rich without money, hi.
larious, or proclaiming his great
wisdom, or athletic powers, the
observer knows that the upper
and greater mass of the brain.
the cerebrum, is involved, as
that is the seat of judgement OF
moral and intellectual faculties,
all of which are now manifestly
weakened and thrown in discord
Next we see the victim unsteady
staggering, tottering and falling.
It is now patent that the cerre,
bellum or lower portion of the
great mental organ, the brain,
called it's base, is involved IN the
damage, as there is centered the
controlling nerve influence over
the muscular movements Of the
body. But at length the van
quished subject is on his back
with deep, heavy: sonorous
breathing, when it is at once ap-
parent that the medulla oblonga-
ia or head of the spinal marrow
is embraced in the poisonous
grasp, and respiration is impair
ed, from the temporary paralysis
of the nerves which preside
there over the muscles Of respi-
ration.
One reason for the Stiffness in
some men on drunken spree,
and IN others for the rage, ugh-
ness and quarrelsomeness,l is that
the brain is poisoned: its albumen
hardened, its blood vessels para
lized and congested, thus unbal-
ancing the mind, of which the
brain is the temple.
It is a well established physlo-
logical fact that alcohol scars the
brain as the knife scars the skin,
in that it enlarges the cells OF
the brain tissues, and from that
enlarged state they never resume
their former normal condition,
but remain as a latent tinder box,
ready to ignite at the touch OF
the first spark.
The reformed often feels after
a time that he is safe, having
conquered his old enemy: but
one drink now will show him
that he is not his own master,
but is again a slave to the OLD
appetite. What a price for a
drink?
So we see in this deranging
process, alcohol first irritates
and disturbs equilibrium, then
poisons and weakens the vase
motor nerve system, and finally
produces almost deadly sedation,
and quite often so. Under such
circumstances can it be possible
that men can long retain their
normal soundness of mind? Can
they be stable thinkers? Yet
they often prove themselves so
by the frequency of their lodg-
ings under the manager.
To maintain it's equilibrium, the
brain must be supplied with
blood free from any irritant pois
on, we'll oxegenated, which can
not be when alcohol is taken into
the system. The great mass OF
the blood is water, and nature
demurs to the Introduction Of
any other fluid as it is superfu-
Gus and must be expelled.
While the brain suffers, other
organs dependant upon it for
nerve force. suffer with it in the
punishment. For instance, it is
no uncommon experience to
meet an habitual drinker with
drunkard's blindness, technically
known as Amblyopia Potatorum,
caused by want of proper nour-
ishment for the optic nerve, caus-
ing, primarily, a misty or cloudy
appearance before the eyes rem
dering objects indistinct, which
often increases to the degree OF
blindness. The writer has IN
in mind several cases which have
come under his observation.
Then to the drinker let me
say, stop, think, ponder and
weigh the consequences, then
turn to the right and keep in the
middle Of the road.
It is a cleverly proven fact
that the habitual use Of alcohol
as a beverage cannot be INDUCED
in even in very small quantities
without injury to some of the
bodily organism which will man
ifoct itself sooner or later.