Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-02
WOOD ALCOHOL.
Is Dangerous as Drink and in Medic
inal Preparations.
From the Medical Record.

From the Medical Record
Up to within comparatively recent pc
riod cases of poisoning by wood alcohol
were among the rarities of medical practice
for so long the substance was manu-
featured by the old processes its offensive
smell and taste were sufficient to deter even
the most hardened drinker from using it
to satisfy his craving for alcoholic stimu-
lants. Since the time, however, that "deo-
dorized'' wood alcohol has been placed on
the market. under various names, the fatal
tiles from its use have gone up by leaps and
bounds.
Not only may it be used In place of grain
alcohol in the manufacture and adultera-
ton of spirituous liquors. but it is also
largely and widely used as a menstruum in
many toilet preparations and remedies for
internal and external use. The reasons for
this practice are twofold. First, and that
which appeals most forciby to human ma
ture, is the comparative cheapnesS of wood
alcohol, 1t being untaXed and costing but
80 cents gallon, while grain alcohol, tax
cd, costs at retail $500 per gallon. The
second reason is the ignorance of many
manufacturers as to the deadly nature of
methyl alcohol. Indeed, even among men,
berS of the medical profession views with
regard to the poisonous nature of methyi
alcohol are widely divergent, and some who
have had no experience in cases of wood al
cohol poisoning are openly skeptical con-
corning its reputed toxic properties. In or
der, therefore, to decide the question, DIR.
Frank Butler of Montreal and DR.. Casey
Wood of Chicago undertook in the begin
ming of 1904 investigation of the subject,
under the auspices of the section on oph-
Technology of the American Medical AsSo-
citation. The investigators found that about
lI5 cases of blindess and about 100 deaths
during the past seven or eight years could
be directly imputed to wood alcohol in the
various forms in which it is manufacture
This estimate is a conservative one and
only treats of published instances of death
and blindness.
Drs. Butler and Wood consider that the
Investigations undertaken by them confirm
the suspicious entertained by many physi-
clans that the fumes of wood alcohol, under
certain favorable conditions, are a dan
Gus menace to eyesght, and they moreover
believe that the consensus of opinion is op-
posed to the statement of the makers of the
various forms of ''deodoriZed" wood alcohol
that it's external use in linments, alcohol
''rubs in baths, in cosmetics, hair tonics,
perfumes, etc, is always devoid of danger
20 the eyesight.
The practice of substituting wood for
grain alcohol in the manufacture of medici-
!. ual preparations would appear to be most
mSidiOuS and perniciouS means of poisoning,
and the sale not only of methyl whisky but
also of internal remedies and toilet prepara-
tionS manufactured adulterated with
wood alcohol should be restricted by law.
In fact. there is every reason why the
proposition of Drs. Butler and Wood should
be adopted that methyl alcohol in any of
it's forms should be treated as poison and
subject to the laws of the various states re-
stricting and regulating the sale of poisons