Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-05-29
Tuesday, May 29, 1906.

beer and whisky are good, but i'll
alcohol Is bad. then the beer and
whisky are alike bad In proportion to
the percentage of alcohol they con-
tain.
There are many alcohols, but only
one that is used for beverage pur-
poses Methyl, or wood alcohol, Is
secured from spruce, birch and beech
woods by the process OF dry distila-
ton; amyl alcohol, or fusel oil, Is the
excrement of a certain kind OF mi
crobe which feeds on starch; butylic
alcohol is the excrement of another
kind of microbe which works in
frowy or decaying butter or cheese.
All of them are alike deadly poisons
and nobody thinks of drinking them.
But where does ethyl alcohol come
from. the alcohol which finds its way
into beer and whisky. which men like
so we'll?
Few people can give an up-to-
date or scientific account Of what
ethyl alcohol Is or where II comes
from. Many suppose It is every
where in nature; call 1t good crea-
ture of God and say that it Is to be
found in apples, peaches, pears,
grapes, ETC., whereas 1t Is not found
anywhere in the constructive forces
of nature, but in the excrement Of
the yeast microbe which has eaten up
sugar qualities. Brewers yeast Is put
into barley Juice. The germs eat up
the sugar therein and throw out of
their bodies carbonic acid gas and
alcohol. In other words, liquor men
have called it bug juice, which is
scientifically correct IL 1t is designated
archaeological bug Juice" He said
that beer is a mild solution Of bug
juice, and whisky Is one-half bug
juice, and that the only thing in beer
for which men drink 1t is the bug
juice AS to the food value of bug
juice or alcohol. DR.. Taylor affirms
that the concensus Of scientific opin-
ion today denies to alcohol any food
value In any proper sense Of the
term food. The recent experiments
Of Prof. Atwater have not furnished
adequate reason for affirming a food
value to alcohol, according to the
judgment Of Prof. Atwater's peers In
this country and in Europe. 1t Is a
basic principle In science that the toxic
excrement Of one organism Is poison
to that organism and to all higher
forms of life: that alcohol is the ex-
crement of the yeast microbe, and
kills the microbe itself and all higher
organisms, lncludlnB man.
You cannot carry forward the pro-
cess Of fermentation beyond securing
IA per cent of alcohol in the ferment-
ing liquid, because when the yeast
microbe throws out Of his body
enough Of his eXcrement to make IA
per cent Of alcohol II Is sufficient to
react upon him and kill him. He
cannot live in his own excrement.
Do you know Of any animal who
can?
The term yeast microbe" is used
herein for convenience as the better
term In place of yeast ferment." The
term "excrement" is used quite COM
monty by popular writer's as conveying
to the common mind more correct
idea than the term waste" which
would be the technical term OF the
biologist.
Prof. Bunge of Germany, author Of
the best work on physiological chem
istry extant, says that man Is the only
animal who persists In taking into his
stomach the eXcrement Of the yeast
germ. He might have added that the
ape, who, according to some men, Is
the original Of man, knows better.
You can't fool the monkey but once
with this kind of stuff, but you can
fool some men about three times day
and between meals.
Dr. Taylor concluded this most inter-
esting and important discussion by
giving to alcohol classification among
poisons. He said most poisons are
classed either as narcotic or as irri-
tants. narcotic poison attacks the
nerves and nerve centers. Opium,
morphine, chloral and cocaine are
samples of narcotic pOisons. An irrt-
tant poison attacks the inner Innings
Of the body like the membrane Of the
mouth, throat or stomach, infiaming
and making them sore. Carbolic acid,
arsenic aquafortis and prussic acid
are samples of irritant poisons. A very
few poisons combine the two charac-
teristics Of narcotics and irritants at
the same time. Alcohol is one OF the
very few and Is therefore a more seri-
Gus poison than IL Il were only a mar
cotic or exclusively an irrltant poison.
It's potency as a narcotic poison places
II in rank with opium, morphine, chlo-
raj and cocaine. Its potency as an irri-
tant poison places 1t in rank with car
bolic acid, arsenic aquafortis and
prussic acid. The logic Of this classifi-
cation Is that we are compelled to treat
alcohol exactly the same as we treat
every other drug with which 1t is prop
erly classed. We have no more reason
in chemical science for using alcohol as
luxury than we have for using CO.
caine as a luxury. The cocaine fiend is
full of Authorizations and will lie, steal
sell clothes from his wife's back, shoes
from his children's feet to get money
with which to buy cocaine in order to
crafty his appetite, but he is seldom
vicious. But alcohol, which Is classed
with cocaine, will do for its user all
that cocaine does and In addition, when
he goes home he will blow his wife's
brains out. This is because alcohol
has the two-fold characteristic Of a
narcotic and irritant poison, which CO.
caine has not.
The key position taken by DR.. Tay-
lor in his lectures was that alcohol,
which is the essential property Of all
alcoholic liquors, and the only thing in
them for which men drink them, Is a
poison and not a food, that as a poison
II Is both a narcotic and an irritant;
that as a narcotic 1t Is In classification
with opium, morphine, chloral and CO.
caine, and that therefore 1t should be
put to such uses only as are suited to
its nature, and be legislated upon with
as much care and restriction as are
exercised concerning drugs with which
it Is properly classified. This he af-
firms, Is the only solution Of the liquor
problem, because it Is thoroughly
scientific and incontrovertible. From
this point of view the doctor last night
announced the following conclusions,
all of which seem to be sound and log
ical:
l. There is no more reason in mod
ern science for the beverage use Of al
coholic liquor than for the beverage
use of opium, morphine or cocaine.
2. The appetite for liquor Is as alb
normal, unscientiflc and inexcusable as
is the appetite of the morphine fiend,
and the user Of liquor ought to be as
much ashamed of his habit as is the
user Of morphine.
3. The moderate use of alcohol Is
as unsafe in begetting an uncontrolla-
BILE appetite as the moderate use OF CO.
came in coca cola, which the courts