ON STIMULANTS. 



39 



Another question of the greatest practical im- \ 

 portance in connection with the alcohol contro- 

 versy is this : Does the use of alcohol increase 

 the bodily strength ? does it increase our capacity 

 for exertion, muscular or mental ? does it, if taken 

 when the body is fatigued, fit us for renewed ef- 

 fort ? This is a question of great interest to a 

 great diversity of persons — to the sportsman as 

 well as to the student, to the military commander 

 and to the employer of labor, to the sedentary 

 man of business as well as to the trained athlete. 



An interesting contribution to the solution of 

 this problem is the report by Dr. Parkes, " On 

 the Issue of a Spirit Ration during the Ashantee 

 Campaign." 



" When," he asks, " as so frequently happens in 

 campaigns, soldiers are marching nearly the whole 

 of the day, and can obtain their regular food only 

 late in the evening, what can be given to lessen 

 the sense of great fatigue, and to enable them not 

 only to continue the march, but to be ready for any 

 emergency which may arise ? The usual resort is to 

 a spirit ration, and there is no doubt that, for a 

 time, this exerts a reviving effect. But is it the 

 best thing which can be given, and are its advan- 

 tages without alloy ? The first effect of alcohol, 

 when given in a moderate dose, is reviving ; but 

 this effect is transient. The reviving effect goes 

 off after, at the utmost, two and a half miles of ad- 

 ditional march, and sometimes much before this. 

 ... It is clear, then, that alcohol is not a very 

 trustworthy aid ; for, supposing that a command- 

 ing officer, having marched twelve or fourteen 

 miles, finds his men weary, and, not being able to 

 halt and feed them, orders an issue of spirits of 

 an amount sufficient to revive but not to depress. 

 The first effect will be good, but in less than an 

 hour his men will be as weary as before, or prob- 

 ably more so. If he then reissues the spirit within 

 so short a period of time, it is certain that, in the 

 case of many men — perhaps the majority — the 

 marching power will be lessened. ... It appears 

 to me, therefore, that spirits, as an issue, should 

 be kept for emergencies, as when, after great fa- 

 tigue, a sudden but short exertion is required, or 



be now taken, and especially if it be taken hot, the 

 cutaneous vessels dilate, allow the blood to circulate 

 through them, and become warmed by the fire ; it re- 

 turns warm to the internal organs, and soon the whole 

 body is in a pleasing glow. At the same time the dila- 

 tation of the cutaneous vessels opens new channels 

 to the blood which has been pent up in the interior of 

 the body, and thus lessens any tendency to congestion 

 or inflammation of internal organs, so that a glass of 

 hot brandy-and-water at the proper time may possibly 

 prevent a bronchitis or pleurisy." He also goes on 

 to admit that there are circumstances under which al- 

 cohol may be beneficial " even while the exposure con- 

 tinues."— The Practitioner, vol. xvi., p. 132. 



when, a march being ended, there is great depres- 

 sion and failure of the heart's action." 



Sir Anthony Home, who was principal medical 

 officer on the Gold Coast, speaks as follows : 



" Men cannot keep in health on poor, insipid, 

 badly-cooked rations. Under these circumstances 

 I believe that, after their day's work, rum is de- 

 sirable (beer and wine are impossible of attain- 

 ment). There is a moment in which we may so 

 keep up the system of a man tired to death by 

 over-exertion as to bridge over the period in which 

 lassitude ends in the beginning of disease. Good 

 food will probably do this best, but it is rarely at 

 hand when wanted ; and, even if it were, the di- 

 gestive functions participate in the general lassi- 

 tude, so that neither digestion nor assimilation goes 

 on sufficiently. At this time a glass of beer or 

 rum sends the machine on again." 



Dr. Parkes gives also some results of experi- 

 ments on the effect of rum on men making long 

 marches in this country. His object was to com- 

 pare its reviving and sustaining effects with those 

 of meat-extract and coffee. As I shall explain 

 hereafter, my own view is that the best effects 

 would be produced by combining these latter 

 with a small quantity of spirit. A few brief ex- 

 tracts from the evidence of the men themselves 

 will best serve my immediate purpose. One 

 says : " After the rum • he felt a decided reviving 

 effect ; it gave him a spurt. This was not last- 

 ing." Another says : " On the first day, after the 

 first dose, felt at first much revived ; felt easy 

 and marched better ; after two miles felt thirst, 

 and then got weak ; the good effect of the rum 

 had passed off." A third says : " The first dose 

 of rum seemed to quicken his appetite and in- 

 crease his thirst ; for about two miles or so felt 

 lighter and revived, and as if he could have jumped 

 over a five-barred gate with all his accoutrements 

 on ; then this effect entirely went off, and he felt 

 as tired as before." All three men preferred the 

 meat-extract. 



Mr. R. E. Carrington, of Guy's Hospital, who 

 has published an excellent paper on " Alcohol " 

 in the Guy's Hospital Gazette, calls attention to 

 the habits of the Cambridge crew when training, 

 as he says, for 



" Perhaps one of the severest tests of muscular 

 power that can possibly occur. I find the system 

 pursued to consist of good hours, a moderate amount 

 of good, wholesome food, a moderate amount of 

 stimulants, with plenty of exercise. The stimu- 

 lants may consist of a pint of beer for dinner and 



1 They had already marched thirteen and a quarter 

 miles. 



