The Washington herald., 1914-12-20

lHc average aQult, ana wnIc the e.
fects vary with the dose, it has yet to
be shown that harm is done when the
dose is less than that required to pro-
duce an effect in psychology and
physiological tests of divergence
from the normal
"If all substances known to be in
furious in large doses are to be en-
tirely given up on the assumption
that small doses are also injurious,
then all condiments and spices must
be removed from our tables. Even
sugar in concentrated solution is a
powerful cell poison. Certain poisons
are normally present in our tissues in
such quantities that they subserve no
harmful, but rather a beneficial pur-
pose. Such are the active principles
of the thyroid gland and of the su-
prarenal capsules, both OF which are
far more powerful poisons than alco-
hol; that is, their lethal dose is sew
eral hundred times smaller.
There are good grounds for be-
lieving that alcohol itself is always
being produced in small quantities in
the course of bacterial fermentation
in the intestinal canal; that it is, in
fact. normally present in the healthy
organism"
Some Other Drinks
In a table given in the report,
showing the proportion of alcohol
present in certain drinks, there are
included a few of the so-called patent
medicines which have a large sale in
the New England States. Of these
the committee of fifty said: 1T will
be seen that some of these drinks,
under the names OF bitters, celery
compound, sarsaparills, etc, contain
a greater percentage OF alcohol than
ordinary wines and beers and are con-
sumed in quantities so large that they
must be classified as. beverages rather
than as medicines, under which name
they are commonly sold. The sale OF
these beverages is greater in those
States having prohibitory liquor laws
than in those not having them, and
their popularity is due almost entirely
to the stimulating effects of the alco-
hol which they contain. They are not
used for social purposes.
at is difficult to give a satisfactory
definition of a poison, for there is no
substance which is always and every
where poison. The term is relative;
conditions and circumstances of vari-
Gus kinds must always enter into its
conception. No one would maintain
that a cup of delicately favored tea
is in any sense injurious OF poisonous
to the average healthy adult, and yet
caffeine. the active principle OF this
cup of tea, is poison as surely as al
~AhNl fTh, ,o,e1, haI0arvz
equal propriety to number of other
food accessories, as coffee, pepper.
ginger, and even common salt. The
too sweeping and unrestricted use OF
this term in reference to alcoholic
beverages Immediately meets with
the reply that if alcohol be poison.
it must be a very slow poison, since
many have used it up to old age with
apparently no prejudicial effects on
health"
Food a Poison.
The committee OF fifty invited the
opinions and results OF experiments
from the best known Psychologists OF
the world and they did not find any
respectable authority who declared
alcohol to be poison. They found
it classed as food, a predigested
food. an aid to the digestion of other
foods, and a food product of high
value. The committee also found the
statements attributing to alcohol 75
per cent OF the pauperism, crime and
insanity 10 be untrue, after consult
ing with the authorities in charge OF
almshouses, jails, penitentiaries and
aSylums and studying the records OF
those institutions, as we'll as securing
h - ..1
alienists and criminologiSts. The
committee studied the conditions of
saloons in all parts of the country,
patronized by all classes of people.
and found the common report and
impression OF saloons as erroneous as
the exaggerated statements as to the
responsibility OF alcohol for disease,
crime and poverty.
On this subject the committees re-
port says:
The fact that the saloon is more
than mere drinking place, and that
it supplies many legitimate wants be-
sides the craving for intoxication,
should be frankly recognized, and
ought to be OF help to those who are
engaged in practical efforts to coun-
teract the evils of intcmperance
This part OF our investigation has
been carried on mainly Though the
agency OF social and university set
and these institutions arc
already taking advantage of the
knowledge gained in their daily ex-
pericnce with the poor to offer at
least some of those counteracting at
fractions and positive forces without
which the driving out Of the spirit OF
drink will be Of no avail"
The committee expressed its disap-
proval of the alleged Temperance text
books introduced into many public
schools, saying:
with regard TO these educational
it is important to observe
that they receive little or no support
from the members of the medical
profession, who, by their training, arc
qualified to Judge of the ac-
curacy and value of the statements as
to the physiological action of alcohol
which form the important features of
the textbooks in question"
Whiskey has thus had not only its
intimate part in the life and history
Of the American people, but it has
been the subject of a vast deal of dis
-ussion, lawmaking, and scientific in
Testigation. The committee of fifty
that So per cent of the adult