416 HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY 



" Some people imagine that after the use of alcohol they can do 

 things more quickly, that they are brisker and sharper, but exact 

 measurement shows that they are slower and less accurate. Men 

 believe that they are wiser and brighter, but their sayings are more 

 automatic and apt to be profane. To quote Dr. Lauder Brunton, 

 of Oxford University, England, ^ It produces progressive paralysis 

 of the judgment,' and this begins with the first glass. Men say 

 and do, even after a single glass of drink, what they would not say 

 or do without it, and therefore it clearly affects the brain and 

 diminishes self-control." — Adolph Fick, Professor of Physiology, 

 Wiirzburg, Germany. 



Professor von Bunge {Text-hook of Physiological and Patholog- 

 ical Chemistry) of Switzerland, says that: ''The stimulating 

 action which alcohol appears to exert on the brain functions is 

 only a paralytic action. The cerebral functions which are first 

 interfered with are the power of clear judgment and reason. No man 

 ever became witty by aid of spirituous drinks. The lively ges- 

 ticulations and useless exertions of intoxicated people are due to 

 paralysis, — the restraining influences, which prevent a sober man 

 from uselessly expending his strength, being removed." 



*' The capital argument against alcohol, that which must even- 

 tually condemn its use, is this, that it takes away all the reserved 

 control, the power of mastership, and therefore offends against the 

 splendid pride in himself or herself, which is fundamental in every 

 man or woman worth anything." — Dr. John Johnson, quoting 

 Walt Whitman. 



The Drink Habit. — The harmful effects of alcohol (aside from 

 the purely physiological effect upon the tissues and organs of the 

 body) are most terribly seen in the formation of the alcohol habit. 

 The first effect of drinking alcoholic liquors is that of exhilaration. 

 After the feeling of exhilaration is gone, for this is a temporary 

 state, the subject feels depressed and less able to work than before 

 he took the drink. To overcome this feeling, he takes another 

 drink. The result is that before long he finds a habit formed from 

 which he cannot escape. With body and mind weakened, he 

 attempts to break off the habit. But his will, too, has suffered 

 from over indulgence. He has become a victim of the drink habit 1 



