Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-05-27
GREAT SCIENTISTS
DENOUNCE ALCOHOL
Ninety-fOw Eminent Men Declare
1t Is a Deadening Drug and
Not a Food

individual in the struggle for exist
ence. This is not the Judgment Of
scientists alone, nor Of weaklings and
faddists, but of the big-brained,
strengthened men upon whom has
fallen the tremendous burden Of
guiding great nations through the
greatest crisis in history"
Ntnety-four eminent scientists are
back of this statement and of many
other statements which, taken alto
gether, constitute a radical temper
ance document.
The utterance which has attracted
wide attention, especially in the East
was put forth by the Life Extension
Institute, an organization to fight dis
ease through publicity. The spokes-
man of the organization was DIR. Eu-
gene L. Fisk, director of hygiene at
the institute.
This hygiene reference board in
cludes among its members General
William c. Gorgas, the world famed
sanitarian: DIR. Alexander Graham
Bell, distinguished inventor and stu
dent of eugenics: David Starr Jordan.
president emeritus Leland Stanford
University and DIR. G.. II. simmons,
secretary of the American Medical
Association.
Scientists Denounce Alcohol
1t also includes such psychologists
as Professor Walter B. Cannon, of
Harvard; Professors Richard Nj.
Pearce and A. r. Taylor, of the Uni
Versity of Pennsylvania: Russell II.
Chittenden and Lafayette B. Mendel.
of Yale; Lewellys f. Barker, of Johns
Hopkins; Mazyck P. RaVenel of Wis
consin; Dr. Theobald Smith, OF the
Rockefeller Institute, as we'll as DR..
William ]. Mayo, the distinguished
surgeon; DR.. J. n. Hurry, ex-president
nf Duh 1ta
ton; DR.. Henry Smith Williams. DIR.
Harvey w. Wiley, Of pure food fame;
DR. George Blumer, dean of the Yale
Medical School; such physical trainers
as DR.. Dudley a. Sargent, of Harvard
gymnasium; DIR. William G.. Ander-
son, of Yale gymnasium; Professor
Alonzo A Stagg, of University of Chi
caso gymnasium; DR.. r. TAFT McKen-
zle, of University Of PENNSYLVANIA,
and such students of the economic
effects of alcohol as Professor Henry
w. Farnam, of Yale, former member
of the famous committee of fifty on
alcohol, and Professor Irving Fisher.
These authorities and their asso-
ciates," says the Philadelphia North
American. declare that,
The present antagonistic attitude
toward alcohol of several European
monarchs Is fully warranted by scien-
tific evidence.
brain stimulant, but as a narcotic or
deadening drug similar to ether and
chloroform.
Drinkers Death Rate High
Startling evidence of the effect of
alcohol on the moderate drinkers is
offered by a reference to the death
rate. The bulletin issued TO the MEM
bers of the institute shows that in
one Canadian and three British life
insurance companies the mortality
among so-called moderate drinkers
accepted as temperate and healthy
risks, exceeded the death rate among
the abstainers by rs. 81. 80 and A
per cent, respectively.
New data was recently compiled by
forty three American life insurance
companies, covering a period of twen-
ty-fiye years, with the following re-
suits:
Steady moderate drinkers, accepted
as standard risks. death rate Sc per
cent. above the average. Former
drinkers admitting past excesses),
death rate so per cent. above the
average. Very moderate drinkers, 1S
per cent. above the average.
Experimental laboratory work."
says the board of scientific authori-
ties, has kept pace with statistical
gained from the laboratory, not only
in experiments on animals but on
man himself, shows that a higher
death rate among alcohol users is
what We would naturally expect to
find in the light of what we know
regarding its effects on the body.
"One-half Of one quart of beer is
sufficient to distinctly impair memory,
lower intellectual power and retard
simple mental processes, such as the
addition of simple figures. This mar
cotic or deadening influence is first
exerted on the higher reasoning pow
erS that control conduct, so that the
lower activities Of the mind and nerv-
Gus system are for a time released.
The everyday, well-poised, self-con-
trolled man goes to sleep, as it were
and the primitive man temporarily
wakes up.
Eventually, the nervous system is
narcotzed, and the drinker becomes
sleepy. Muscular efficiency is at first
increased a little. and then lowered,
the total effect being a loss Of work
ing power.
Is Heart Depressant
For many years alcohol was used
as a heart stimulant in acute and
chronic disease. Only in rare IN
stances is it now so used, and chiefly
N subjects who are accustomed to It's
use, who must be treated as drug
habitues and not deprived Of the
drug influence to which the body has
become adjusted. AlcOnOl, IN the
amounts formerly used as a heart
stimulant is undoubtedly a heart de-
pressant.
Such a benefit as alcohol has con-
ferred in acute disease has been due
largely to it's rapid utilization as a
temporary food. 1t can be burned in
the body as a fuel. and thus spare
the tissues. For a brief time il can
take the place of energy foods such
as fats and sugars. But there is grave
risk in using II for such purposes, in
view of its effect on the heart, nerv-
Gus system and blood elements. While
II makes body heat, 1t also causes a
loss of body heat through it's action
on the blood vessels. There are other
ways to nourish and support the
acutely i'll without these attendant
risks
alcohol is essentially a drug and
not a food. There are many poison
GUS substances formed in the body,
some of which, like alcohol, must be
destroyed by the liver. or carried off
by the kidneys. But that is no reason
why we should eat these poisons and
impose a further burden on our
organs.
''It is claimed that alcohol in mod
Grafton 'compensates' for life strain.
worry and care. The idea that the
human race must find relaxation or
compensation in some form of injuri-
otts trd1tI0anca bac No Ground in norn