EXCRETION 399 



as the result of much observation and experiment. Travelers 

 in Arctic regions and others exposed to intense cold agree that 

 those who use no alcohol whatever are far better able to resist 

 +he cold than are those who indulge in it. Physiologists show by 

 careful experiments that though the temperature of the body rises 

 during digestion of food, it is lowered for some hours when alcohol 

 is taken. The flush which is felt upon the skin after a drink of 

 wine or spirits is due in part to an increase of heat in the body, 

 but also to the paralyzing effect of the alcohol upon the capillary 

 walls, allowing them to dilate, and so permitting more of the warm 

 blood of the interior of the body to reach the surface. There it is 

 cooled by radiation, and the general temperature is lowered." — 

 Macy, Physiology. 



Effect of Alcohol. — Alcohol lowers the temperature of the body 

 by dilating the blood vessels of the skin. It does this by means of 

 its influence on the nervous system. It is, therefore, a mistake 

 to drink alcoholic beverages when one is extremely cold, because 

 by means of this more bodily heat is allowed to escape. 



" Alcohol and Heat. — The amount of heat in the body depends 

 upon the balance between its production and its loss. The rapid 

 destruction of alcohol, in all probability, yields heat too rapidly 

 to be utilized by the body. The most constant effect of taking 

 alcohol is to dilate the arteries of the skin, so that an' extra amount 

 of heat is lost. More heat is always lost than is produced. Alcohol 

 lessens the power of the body to endure cold. On a cold day when 

 the arteries of the skin are contracted so that there is but little 

 blood to warm its nerves, alcohol may send the blood to these 

 nerves and produce an agreeable sense of warmth, but in reality 

 this feeling of warmth is due only to the heat which is passing off 

 from the interior of the body." — Overton, Applied Physiology. 



