IS ALCOHOL A FOOD? 107 



gal of his wealth. Alcohol is the savmgs-banJc of the tissues. lie 

 who eats little, and drinks alcohol in moderation, retains as much 

 in his blood and tissues as he who eats more, and drinks no alcohol." 



But, while we thus know that alcohol supplies the place of a cer- 

 tain quantity of food, we do not know how it does so. It is said to 

 be " burnt " in the body, and to make its exit as carbonic acid and 

 water ; but no proof has yet been offered of this assertion. Some of 

 it escapes in the breath, and in certain of the secretions ; but how 

 much escapes in this way, and what becomes of what remains in the 

 very large proportion, in the case of the dog previously mentioned 

 is at present a mystery. 



In Steinmetz's " History of Tobacco," p. 97, occurs the following 

 surmise, published nearly twenty years ago, but now established as a 

 matter of fact. He says : "I feel compelled to believe, in advance of 

 Liebig, that alcohol is absolutely generated in the digestive process of 

 all animals. Startling as the theory may seem, the consideration of 

 corroborating facts may, perhaps, indu(!e the reader to think it prob- 

 able, if not certain. It is well known that all the vegetables we eat 

 contain starch ; all the fruits contain sugar. Now, starch can easily 

 be converted into sugar ; the process of malting is a familiar in- 

 stance. , . . The natural heat of the body is precisely adapted, in the 

 healthy state, to effect a fermentation after having changed the starch 

 into sugar, which last is constantly found in the blood. That alcohol 

 has not been found seems to result simply from the fact that it must 

 be sought in arterial blood, or blood which has not lost a portion of 

 its carbon in transitu, through the lungs in the respiratory process." 



Now, it happens that Dr. Dupre, in the course of his investigations, 

 discovered that alcohol is found in small quantity in the excretions 

 even of persons who do not touch fermented beverage in any form 

 that is, the healthy system of the teetotaller brews, so to speak, a little 

 drop for itself. But, if this be the case, it woi;ld seem that we have 

 enough already in the system, and therefore there can be no need of 

 having recourse to the bottle or the tap for more, unless the system be 

 a prey to disease. And this applies especially to those who live most- 

 ly on vegetable or farinaceous food, who, it may be remarked, are 

 naturally less inclined to alcoholic drinks than those who use animal 

 food when it becomes particularly dangerous. So that, if the Alli- 

 ance and the supporters of the Permissive Bill would succeed in their 

 aim, they should convert us all into vegetarians. To drunkards who 

 are anxious to reform, this is a most important consideration. 



In conclusion, the most reliable opinion respecting alcoholic drinks 

 appears to be, that the relation of their actions to food is such that, 

 when they are required by the system, they cause a necessity for in- 

 creased food ; but, when not required, they lessen the necessity for 

 food. Now, as Dr. Edward Smith emphatically remarks, the tendency 

 of all food, but particularly of animal food, is precisely in the same 



