The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-12-02
THE PRICE OF STIMULATION.

THE PRICE OF STIMULATION.
One of the most interesting things
which have occupied the Psychologists
and psychologists of recent times is
the result of certain experiments re-
garding alcohol in it's effect on the hui
man body. Like most discoveries and
experiments, the truth is found to be
contradictory to most mems expert
ence In their own cases.
experimentation in things Of this
sort are wonderfully simple and inge-
NOUS and are great contract to the
methods once in force. Experiments
now show that alcohol does not in
crease bodily or mental activfty-on
the contrary it decreases them both.
Tho effect of alcohol is an illusion.
One Of the most striking results is
the fact that whereas the man who has
taken a few drinks thinks he is think
ing more quickly, the mental processes
are in reality several times slower. The
thing which is the cause of the Illusion
is the fact that whereas a mind nor
mally carries several trains of thought
in the mind at one time, after the in
gestion of alcohol. this faculty be-
comes steadily lessened until at the
imagined height of stimulation only
one thain of thought, so to speak, can
be carried. The next step Of course
is the total losing of consciousness in
the drunken stupor usually called
passing away"
Those persons who complain of
''hangovers'' and the morning after"
will do well to reflect that dose Of
alcohol such as is commonly found in
one glass Of beer, will stay with the in
dividual who has consumed it, for at
least twenty-four and sometimes forty
eight hours. This may be discourage
ing to the man who says he only takes
glass of beer now and then. AS
a proof Of what alcohol in moderate
quantities will do. an experiment is
cited.
Four healthy young fellows in a
typesetters establishment were expert
mented on under the conditions in
which they normally worked. The
only part Of the experiment was to
furnish copy which was printed to Sc
cure absolute uniformity.
'The experiment lasted over four
days. The first and third days were
observed as normal days. no alcohol
being given. On the second and
fourth days each worker received thir-
ty.flve grams "a little more than one
OUNCE of alcohol in the form of Greek
vino. A comparison Of the results of
work on normal and an alcoholic days
showed in the case of one of the work.
ers no difference. But the remaining
three showed greater or less detarda-
ton Of work, amounting in the most
marked case to almost fourteen per
cent AS typesetting is paid by the
measure, such q worker would actually
earn ten per cent less on days when he
consumed even this small quantity of
alcohol"
The action Of the railroads in this
country In discharging men who drink
has been criticised in some quarters,
but experiments have shown that even
the amount of alcohol contained in a
glass Of beer is enough to make a
marked disturbance of the mental
processes involved in this reaction"
An experiment showed that in the case
of an engineer, or train dispatcher the
action of alcohol led to mistaking sig
nails of various sorts and to impair the
senses in no slight fashion.
1t is easy, therefore, to see why
many people who are tired out or wor-
ried, drink alcohol in some form. As
the eminent psychologist of Harvard,
Professor James, says: THE reason for
craving alcohol is that it is an anes-
thetic even in moderate quantities. 1t
obliterates a part of the field of con-
seriousness and abolishes collateral
trains of thought
Tbarosc roaSop