St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-04-27
By Wendell Wright.
SECOND PRIZE.

The wonderful agency which governs
every part of our bodies is the nervous
system. The greatest nerve center is the
brain and this is the most important or
gan in the body.
Inside of our backbone is large nerve
of a whitish gray color called the spinal
cord. This gives out little silvery threads
called nerves. Every part of the body
has nerves in it. fyou could follow a
nerve it would lead you either to the
spinal cord or the brain itself. The
brain as the main Office. Therefore the
nerves govern every part of our body.
Now what is alcohol? Some people
think it is stimulant, others think it
poison but it is really a narcotic. It's
effect upon the greatest nerve center, the
brain, is very great. One man killed his
wife supposing she had put poison into
his food. Another killed his, father who
demonstrated with him for over-driving
a horse. A person whose brain is excited
with alcohol will laugh and be greatly
pleased with what is really foolish. Ex-
amples of this kind are seen nearly every
day in the large cities. AS more and
more alcohol is taken the effect is shown
not only in the brain but in the limbs.
When person has drunk to excess the
spinal cord is affected and so paralvzed
that it cannot do its work. ALI the in
lets of sense are closed, consciousness and
sensation are lost and control of the
voluntary movement is gone. A story is
told of how a man went to sleep beside a
campfire after drinking alcohol. In the
morning when he awoke his feet were so
badly burned that they had to be cut off.
The nerves were so paralyzed that he did
not feel them burn.
Alcohol Injuries every faculty of the
mind and especially weakens the will.
Men who have once taken alcohol will
crave for it and they will try to induce
Others to take some also. This proves
that the will power is weakened. The
small nerves lose control of the blood
vessels and thus affect the heart.
DIR. George Harley of London says that
alcohol is wrongly used when used as a
stinsulant as it has, after the first few
times thought that because a person
talks and acts quickly after taking al
cohol that the brain is aided by it but
this is shown to be entirely wrong.
One doctor tells u.s. 81 am bound to
believe in the light of what science has
revealed, ~ that you are tangibly threat
ening the physical structure of your
whole body, 81 that you are clearly
decreasing your capacity for work
IN any held, be 1t physical, 1ntellec-
tual, or artistic, ~ that you are in some
measure lowering the grade of your mind,
dulling your higher sense and taking the
finer edge off your morals. ~ that you
are greatly lessening your chances of
maintaining your health, (5)--that you
| are entailing upon your descendants, a
bond of incalculable misery. Part of
this cost you must pay in person, the
balance will be the heritage of future
generations /
Therefore in summing up the effects of
alcohol on the nervous system we find
that ~ the brain, the most important
times even paralyzed, (2} that the spinal
organ, the main nerve line of our bodies
is weakened and sometimes overcome by
the over use of alcohol, (3) that the
small nerves lose control of the blood
vessels and thus effect the heart.