ALCOHOL 233 



The supposed warming power of alcohol needs critical 

 examination. It is a fact not generally recognized that we 

 have no reliable sensations indicative of the true body tem- 

 perature. We realize only the surface conditions. A 

 man who is out in the cold may produce a sense of comfort 

 by taking alcohol, which will send more blood into the 

 cutaneous vessels, but this pleasant glow is the sign that 

 heat is passing from the body to its surroundings. It may 

 be purchased at the cost of an expenditure which is im- 

 prudent. Arctic explorers seem well agreed that depend- 

 ence on alcohol during exposure to intense cold is unwise, 

 and that it is better to suffer a greater degree of discomfort 

 .than to rely upon its delusive support. This must be most 

 distinctly the case when the hardships are to be borne for 

 an indefinite period. It is more rational to give alcohol 

 after exposure to wet and cold than during the trial. 

 Afterward it may help to readjust the circulation and to 

 ward off possible evil results. 



Alcohol as a Cerebral Alterative. After all, the main 

 reason why humanity clings to alcohol and is with so 

 much difficulty won over to abstinence, is found in its 

 singular influence upon temperament. This is at the 

 root of its social employment. The rather awkward 

 term, "cerebral alterative," has been chosen to avoid the 

 more familiar but questionable name of stimulant. Much 

 discussion has been carried on concerning the right of al- 

 cohol to this designation. Stimulant and narcotic are 

 opposing terms. Alcohol in large quantities is clearly a 

 narcotic; whether it is invariably so is a subject of lively 

 debate. It might be supposed that there would be no 

 difficulty in deciding. Observation of men slightly af- 

 fected by wine shows them to be animated and talkative; 

 the natural verdict would be that they exemplify stimula- 

 tion. Yet all the results of taking alcohol can be explained 

 upon the theory that it is a narcotic. To show how this 

 may be it is only necessary to point out that many opera- 

 tions of the nervous system are normally inhibitory in 

 nature. When a reticent man becomes garrulous, it need 



