The Dolores star., 1909-06-11
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ALCOHOL AND HUMAN SYSTEM
Injurious Enects Of Excessive Drink
ing on the Brain, Nerves. Hssrt,
and Other Organs Of system.

human system mat are lnulcteu oH
the human body are shown in = series
of articles by DIR. Henry Smith VIII
liams. contributed to McClure's Mag
azine. In the first. entitled alcohol
and the Individual" DIR. Williams
shows that the tissues OF the brain.
the nerves, the heart and bloOd.ves-
sells, the stomach and intestinal tract.
the lymphatic system. the kidneys.
and the liver, may each and all be-
come diseased by the habitual drink
ing Of even small quantities of alco-
hol. He notes also that these conse
quences are not confined to the drink
er, but are passed on to his descend
ants of successive generations.
All this, DIR. Williams tells us. may
be compared to the eroding effect OF
flowing stream, which has its great
est action on the part OF its banks
that is least resistant. So alcohol, cir
culating In the blood, tends 10 attack
whatever organ or tissue may be
weakest and most susceptible. DR..
Williams agrees with those who tend
TO class alcohol as a poison, and dis
cards the pernicious theory that 1t
"gives any persistent increase Of mus
cular power" He thinks that alcohol
should be classed with the more or
less dangerous stimulants and mar
cotics. such as hasheesh. tobacco. ETC..
rather than withtruly sustaining food
stuffs."
In its action on the brain. he goes
on to say. alcohol is an inhibitOr and
disturber of mental activity. not pro-
moter OF It, This he regards as def
nitely proven by the experiments Of
the chief German Investigators. Its
effect Is cumulative. so that the drink
er OF a single bottle OF wine daily is
in reality never actually sober" Wine
causes loss OF at least ten per cent.
In working efficiency. 1t Is not only
itself poison. but aids the action Of
other poisons, such as those Of conta-
gion.
In his second article, DIR. Smith
takes up the relations Of alcohol and
the community. Alcohol. as noted
above. attacks the weakest point. the
brain-cells which are the most deli
cate and unstable of all organic It's
sues, the brain-the organ of mind
is the organ whose tissues are most
susceptible. 80" says the writer.
"when the dissecting-knife reveals,
post mortem. a hob-nail liver or an al
coholic kidney. stomach. or heart, 1t
will almost invariably reveal also a
shrunken and 'watery' alcoholic brain.
And In numberless cases in which all
the other organs have seemed to pre-
sent a granite-like resistance to the
poison. the brain alone gives evidence
of having yielded to the strain"
Alienists both here and in Europe.
he states, agree that alcohol is most
potent cause Of insanity. Statistics
show also that It is chief cause Of
crime and Of pauperism. These disas-
trous effects on the community he
sums up thus:
''At least one.third Of all the recog-
nized pauperism in the most highly
civilized communities of Christendom
results from bodily and mental inef-
ficiency due to alcoholic Indulgence.
A neutrality-suspicious. of testimony
shows. as we have seen. that the same
cause is responsible for the mental
overthrow Of fully one fourth OF all
the unfortunates who are sent to asy-
lums for the insane; for the Tisfor-
tunes OF two-fifths of neglected or
abandoned children; and for the NOR
al delinquencies of at least half Of the
convicts in our prisons, and Of not
less than four-ffths OF the inmates OF
our jails and warehouses;. We have
previously seen how alcohol adds to
the death-roll through alliance with
all manner Of physical maladies.
did space permit, 1t might be
shown how largely the same common
enemy is responsible for suicides and
sudden deaths by accident In many
lands, for the universal prevalence OF
venereai diseases with all that they
imply, and for large proportion oi
such cases of marital infelicity as find
record in the divorce courts. But
these, after all. are only minor details
within the larger scheme of human
suffering already outlined. The insane
the criminals of various types. ant
the recipients of charity make up tht
great mass of abnormal members o
the body-politic whose unfitness re
ceives official recognition. Let 1t bs
particularly borne in mind that the
conclusions Just presented as to tht
casual relation Of alcohol to the pro
duction of each of these abnormal ele
ments OF society are as far removed
as possible from mere sentimental es
Inmates or pessimistic guesses They
are inductions based on careful sur
veys of evidence.
Extent Of Drink Evil In Australasia
The oflicial statistics showing tht
figures for cases OF drunkenness ir
Great Britain's Australasian posses
sfons for the year 1906 have just beer
issued and serve to show the exten1
Of the drink evil in the islands Of the