The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-01-12
Miscellany
Alcohol Not a Stimulant.

Most persons would saw offhand
that whatever else alcohol may be, it
is certainly a stImulant, and that the
trouble with 1T is that IL stimulates too
much. On the contrary. DR.. Emil
hraepelin, professor OF mental diseases
III the University Of Munich, is said
to have demonstrated that alcohol is
narcotic first, last and always; that
the stimulation is merely imag mary;
and that one does less and poorer work
under It's Influence, although, curious
" enough. be thinks he is turning out
more and better work than usual.
kraepclin and his coworkers also az
sert that it is not the fourth or fifth
drink that intoxicates: il is the sum OF
The first, second and third. On direct
evidence and supporting testimony they
have made out strong case against
alcohol \ man is drunk. y or under
the influence of liquor to demonStra
bile degree, says DR. kraepcljn, when
has muscular or mental speed or cndur
ance limits have suffered diminution
as r result of his having jmbibed This
condition may be clearly shown by ue-
rhauical devices Of the laboratory,
whose testimony is final. no matter
what the man himself has 10 say about
1T. There is no appeal from their deci-
sion. Some of DR., Kraepelin S tests
arc thus described in the Associated
Sunday Magazines by Dr. Edwin +.
Bowers. He writes:
\ group of men-who were kept in
ignorance of the real nature of the
tests, who understood only that they
Were expected TO persist to the limit
OF thor endurance-was capable of
definite average quantity of work This
average was determined with almost
mathematical certainty by experiments
made dozens Of times, under absolutely
similar conditions az regarded time Of
day, food, exercise and surroundings
"a good index Of the degree of
man s capa bility for work is the weight
he can continue to lift with the index
finger of his right hand So the ergo
graph, celebrated laboratory device
invented by Professor Angelo Mosso,
was brought into requisition. In ma
niipulating this the fingers were
cir ellnGhed he'd round 9 wooden Peg,all but
able by being clamped TO the arm of
char: A weight of several Kilograms,
suspended by small rope that passed
over pulley, was raised and lowered
until the subjects were forced to desist
from exhaustion. This process was re-
peated twelve times, with rests Of
minute intervening-like the rounds in
d buNInp contest. Cacn pun was auto
matically recorded by pencil on
strip Of paper, registered by a line.
The sum of the lengths of all the lines
was translated into 'meter,kilograms,
which meant the work accomplished in
raising one kilogram one meter against
the pul. of gravity.
These experiments were made ten
times day, and the total average for
each man calculated for a number of
days, under conditions of absolute alb.
stention from drink. Then the men
were given the alcoholic equivalent of
good glass of Bordeaux wine after
each meal, and the experiments re-
peated. The consequences were dimi-
mutton in the subjects ability to with
stand the fatigue of weight lifting,
amounting TO an average of from 6-i0
to s per cent, These experiments
were repeated hundreds Of times by
scientists in various parts of Europe.
and always with similar results, In
every instance definite, measurable
loss IN muscular efficiency was dem
onstrated.
"Having shown these effects on re.
sistance to fatigue, the learned pro.
fessors advanced to the consideration
of principles involving combined mus
cular and mental processes. The
writing balance invented by Profes-