Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-05-19
ALCOHOL NO STIMULANT
Science Proves that Teetotaler is
Stronger Than Drinker.

Science Proves that TeetotaIer is
Stronger Than Drinker.
Do not touch alcohol II you want a
real stimulant to labor, thought or
play. That is the conclusion Of Ger
many's men Of science. Touch 1t, by
all means, II you want to slow up your
muscles and put brake on your over
active brain. Germany's best physiol-
ogists and Psychologists declare that
alcohol as stimulant Is fraud; that
it does not help either physical or
mental operations, but as a mere mar
cotic slows down and deranges the vi
tai functions The feeling of muscle
workers and brain workers that a
drink has refreshed them is, say the
psychologists and psychologists, sub
jective delusion, the result Of the fact
that foolish people have been spread
ing such notions for hundreds Of years,
All this is proved by the experiments
Of Prof. Dr. Emil Kraepelin, Of Munich
university. Professor Kraepelin Is an
unrivaled authority on the new science
Of ergonomy; that is, the science Of the
human organism as a work producer.
His experiments are made with the aid
Of the erograph. This Is machine for
measuring the body's labor output. It
was invented by Prof. Angelo Mosso,
Of Turin, and has been improved. In
essentials, 1t consists Of q metal glove
which holds rigidly fixed all the hand
except the middle finger, to which Is
tied cord passing over pulley and
holding a weight The free middle fin-
ger is made to pull at the cord and lift
the weight in time with mestronome,
and the exact amount of energy pro-
duced and Of work done Is recorded by
a style on a revolving drum.
Professor Kraepelin has been max
ing hundreds Of tests with single indi-
viduals and with groups, giving them
first no alcohol and afterward alcohol
in various forms and different sized
doses. He first took a total abstainer
and measured with the erograph his
muscular efficiency ten times day for
periods of weeks at q time. From the
records was worked out the average
index Of muscular strength.
Then, keeping the man to the same
food and rules of living, Kraepelin be-
gan to administer alcohol. After every
meal a glass Of Bordeaux wine was
given, this being alcohol in g. supposed
harmless state. The man Immediately
began to lose strength. The decline
amounted in different individuals to
between 7.6 and per cent. Every man
tested showed such a decline.
The fact that the figure OF decline
was almost identical in all cases shows
that the bad effects Of alcohol are not
accidental or individual 1t shows
that they come from invariable laws.
When Kraepelin finished his expert
ments with Germans, he tried men OF
other races living in other climatic
conditions. The results were much the
same.
Kraepelin was at first in doubt
whether alcohol effects the brain as
injuriously as it affects the muscles.
He has now proved that this Is so. He
tested the arithmetical capacity and
speed of individuals with and without
alcohol. He engaged a number OF ac-
countants Of different ages and stages
Of education and made them add up
long rows Of single figures At first the
accountants worked without alcohol.
Afterward they were given daily about
four cupfuls Of claret, the claret TO pe
drunk in small quantities spread over
the whole day. The result was STEADY
decline in the speed Of adding.
On the first day on which alcohol
was given, the accountants did 81 per
cent less work than on the former day.
AT the end of two weeks the amount OF
daily work had fallen by 1853 per cent.
Hereu Kraepelin cut off the claret sup
ply. The accountants began to recover
their old ability, and after four days
complete abstention they could add at
the same speed as when the test was
begun.
Kraepelin's next experiments for
mental work were made with printers
compositors This experiment was re-
liable. because the compositors were
hidden set the type from already print
ed pages, and perfect uniformity was
secured. At the end Of a week, during
which they were given alcohol, the
speed in setting type had declined by
SO per cent. The closeness OF this
figure to the decline in the efficiency
of accountants in additioGn work con-
firms Kraepelin's theory that alcohol
injuriously affects the brain according
to invariable laws.