CIRCULATION 361 



"The first effect of diluted alcohol is to make the heart beat 

 faster. This fills the small vessels near the surface. A feeling of 

 warmth is produced which causes the drinker to feel that he was 

 warmed by the drink. This feeling, however, soon passes away, 

 and is succeeded by one of chilliness. The body temperature, at 

 first raised by the rather rapid oxidation of the alcohol, is soon 

 lowered by the increased radiation from the surface. 



" Alcohol in the stomach is rapidly absorbed and passes into the 

 blood stream. There the strong affinity of alcohol for oxygen, 

 which leads them to enter very rapidly into chemical combination, 

 causes the alcohol to appropriate the oxygen of the red corpuscles 

 of the blood, which, as we have seen, are the great oxygen carriers 

 in the body. This tends to impoverish the blood and render it less 

 valuable to the tissues. 



" The immediate stimulation to the heart's action soon passes 

 away and, like other muscles, the muscles of the heart lose power 

 and contract with less force after having been excited by alco- 

 hol." — Macy, Physiology. 



Alcohol, when brought to act directly on heart muscle, lessens 

 the force of the beat. It may even cause changes in the tissues, 

 which eventually result in the breaking of the walls of a blood 

 vessel or the plugging of a vessel with a blood clot. This condition 

 may cause the disease known as apoplexy. 



Effects of Tobacco upon the Circulation. — '* The frequent use of 

 cigars or cigarettes by the young seriously affects the quality of 

 the blood. The red blood corpuscles are not fully developed and 

 charged with their normal supply of life-giving ox3^gen. This 

 causes paleness of the skin, often noticed in the face of the young 

 smoker. Palpitation of the heart is also a common result, followed 

 by permanent weakness, so that the whole system is enfeebled, 

 and mental vigor is impaired as well as physical strength." — 

 Macy, Physiology, 



