FOODS AND DIETARIES 



293 



' 3. When alcohol is withdrawn from a person who has been 

 accustomed to its daily use, most distressing effects are expe- 

 rienced. . . . Who ever saw a man's hand trembling or his 

 nervous system unstrung because he could not get a potato or a 

 piece of cornbread for breakfast? In this respect, also, alcohol 

 behaves like opium, cocaine, or any other enslaving drug. 



" 4. Alcohol lessens the appreciation and the value of brain and 

 nerve activity, while food reenforces nervous and mental energy. 



" 5. Alcohol as a protoplasmic poison lessens muscular power, 

 whereas food increases energy and endurance. 



" 6. Alcohol lessens the power to endure cold. This is true to 

 such a marked degree that its use by persons accompanying Arctic 

 expeditions is absolutely prohibited. Food, on the other hand, 

 increases ability to endure cold. The temperature after taking 

 food is raised. After taking alcohol, the temperature, as shown by 

 the thermometer, is lowered. 



"7. Alcohol cannot be stored in the body for future use, whereas 

 all food substances can be so stored. 



" 8. Food burns slowly in the body, as it is required to satisfy 

 the bodjr's needs. Alcohol is readily oxidized and eliminated, the 

 same as any other oxidizable drug." 



The Use of Tobacco. - - A well-known authority defines a nar- 

 cotic as a substance " which directly induces sleep, blunts the senses, 

 and, in large amounts, produces complete 

 insensibility." Tobacco, opium, chloral, 

 and cocaine are examples of narcotics. 

 Tobacco owes its narcotic influence to 

 a strong poison known as nicotine. Its 

 use in killing insect parasites on plants 

 is well known. In experiments with 

 jellyfish and other lowly organized 

 animals, the author has found as small 

 a per cent as one part of nicotine to 

 one hundred thousand parts of sea 

 water to be sufficient to profoundly 

 affect an animal placed within it. 

 The illustration here given shows the 



Experiment (by Davison) to 

 show how the nicotine in six 

 cigarettes was sufficient to kill 

 this fish. The smoke from 

 the cigarettes was passed 

 through the water in which 

 the fish is swimming. 



