THE EFFECTS OF MODERATE DRINKING. i8g 



been prepared, without some special acquaintance with, tlie sub- 

 ject, for the information furnished, by the foregoing mortality 

 tables of the potent action of alcohol on the liver, when only 

 taken in small quantities at a time. And, although it may at 

 first sight appear strange that the liver of all the organs of the 

 body should be most potently affected by moderate drinking, I 

 think one can scarcely be surprised at this if he is acquainted 

 with the peculiar action of alcohol introduced into the liver by 

 the portal vein. For it requires, I think, but a small amount of 

 reflection on the part of those acquainted with the mechanism 

 of digestion to understand how alcohol, when taken into the 

 stomach, even in small quantities at a time, is a powerful agent 

 in the production of hepatic disease. Seeing that most of the 

 liquid products of our food are carried directly from the intes- 

 tines to the liver by the portal vein, it consequently follows that 

 almost every drop of the alcohol, be it small or be it great, taken 

 into the stomach must be directly conveyed by the portal vein 

 to the liver, and compelled to filter through its tissues before it 

 can possibly get into the general circulation and reach any of 

 the other organs of the body. The knowledge of the fact that all 

 the imbibed alcohol is directly conveyed to the liver by the por- 

 tal circulation not only gives a clew to why alcoholic stimulants 

 are so prone to induce hepatitis, as well as to increase the forma- 

 tion of sugar and aggravate diabetes, but to bring about an at- 

 tack of gout ; seeing that the liver is regarded as the main 

 source of both sugar and uric acid — the supposed gout-forming 

 material. In addition to which, the direct conveyance of alcohol 

 to the liver affords us a reasonable explanation of why alcohol 

 taken along with the food is so much less detrimental to the con- 

 stitution than when it is taken on an empty stomach. Moreover, 

 it is now a well-known fact that the continuous excitement of 

 the liver, kept up by habitual " nipping," is far more injurious 

 to its functions than an occasional outburst of drunkenness fol- 

 lowed by intervals of strict sobriety. It equally accounts for the 

 fact that the liver is not alone the first organ of the body that 

 becomes affected, but is at the same time the one most seriously 

 disordered by moderate drinking. 



The effects on the kidneys of moderate drinking are far less 

 apparent than upon the liver ; nevertheless, they are sufficiently 

 marked to merit attention. The reason why the kidneys suffer 

 so much less from the imbibed alcohol when it is taken in only 

 small quantities at a time is sufficiently obvious, seeing that a 

 large quantity of what passes through the liver never reaches 

 the kidneys at all, from a considerable part of it having been 

 eliminated by the breath during its passage in the blood through 

 the lungs. That intemperance is a fruitful source of Bright's 



