930 NUTRITION AND HEAT REGULATION. 



secretion in digestive ferments seems to be diminished. On the 

 heart and blood-vessels alcohol in small quantities appears to have 

 no positive effect of a stimulating character. The pulse rate is 

 increased, but this is due probably to a depressing effect on vagus 

 tone. It is known that even in small doses it causes a dilatation 

 of the skin vessels, giving a feeling of warmth and leading to in- 

 creased loss of heat; but whether this effect is due to a stimulation 

 of the vasodilator centers or, as seems more probable, to a narcotic 

 or depressing actioA upon the vasoconstrictor centers has not been 

 definitely demonstrated. On the respiratory center, as studied 

 in the isolated medulla, alcohol seems to exert a genuine stimulat- 

 ing action (Hooker) . The experience of explorers bears out the gen- 

 eral view that under conditions of stress and of maintained exertion 

 alcohol is of little value as a stimulant to the neuromuscular appara- 

 tus. Whatever action it has in this direction is temporary, and is 

 due probably to an initial stimulating effect upon the afferent fibers 

 of the mucous membrane of the stomach. A drink of whisky, for 

 example, may remove promptly the feeling of faintness due to a 

 vasomotor collapse, following an accident, by a reflex effect of this 

 kind on the vasomotor apparatus. After the day's work is done, 

 or in conditions of mental depression, the use of alcohol may 

 remove the sense of fatigue and exhaustion and lead to a sense 

 of well-being. The most important work of recent years has 

 been directed toward determining the nutritive value of alcohol. 

 Does it function under any circumstances as a food? Much 

 depends in such a discussion upon the meaning of the terms used. 

 In the present brief statement it is to be understood that by food 

 is meant material which can be oxidized in the body with the 

 production of usable energy, but without injurious effect upon the 

 tissues, and moreover a material whose consumption protects 

 some of the other foodstuffs — fats, carbohydrates, and protein 

 — from destruction. In the first place, there is no doubt that al- 

 cohol is oxidized in the body. Various observers estimate that as 

 much as 90 to 98 per cent, of the alcohol absorbed is destroyed,* and 

 a study of the respiratory quotient (Higgins) indicates that the 

 oxidation of the alcohol begins very promptly, within five to ten 

 minutes after it is taken. Since 1 gm. of alcohol, when burnt, yields 

 7 calories of heat, it is evident that its oxidation in the body must 

 yield a large supply of heat energy. The question arises whether 

 this oxidation of the alcohol occurs in addition to the normal metab- 

 olism of the protein and non-protein foodstuffs, or whether it pro- 

 tects and takes the place of these foodstuffs. With regard to the 

 non-proteins a number of observers have attempted to determine 



* See Atwater and Benedict, Bulletin 69, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, 1889; also Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 8, 1902. 



