236 NUTRITIONAL PHYSIOLOGY 



in such subjects means silliness. If it is true, as is claimed, 

 that gatherings of total abstainers are comparatively dole- 

 ful, the lesson may be, not that alcohol is necessary to good 

 fellowship, but rather that the average nervous system 

 is below par. We doubt whether a man ought to rest 

 content with any lower measure of health than that which 

 will insure the social virtues without chemical aid. 



With advancing age it may be unreasonable to demand 

 so high a standard. As infirmities increase there must 

 usually come a time when comfort rather than efficiency 

 is to be sought. When it is clear that this time has 

 arrived there is much to be said in favor of the more or 

 less regular, moderate use of alcohol. It is a great 

 anodyne. Granting this, we may also point out that the 

 beneficent effect in age will be more surely obtained by 

 those who have not exhausted the consolations of alcohol 

 in earlier years. 



Alcohol as a Poison. It seems hardly necessary to en- 

 large upon the poisonous properties of alcohol. That these 

 have been ridiculously exaggerated is obvious; that they 

 are very real is equally clear. The spectacle of drunkenness 

 and the shame and misery that attend it are too familiar. 

 No one who begins to use alcohol can be quite sure that he 

 will continue within bounds. The temperate lives of his 

 relatives cannot be held to prove him secure. Suscepti- 

 bility to the tendency to increase the indulgence is found 

 again and again in young men of clean heredity and fine 

 gifts. Hence the only absolute safety is in total abstinence. 

 Yet the chances do not favor the ruin of the average man 

 who adds alcohol to his diet. 



Aside from the habit-forming property, it is becoming 

 more and more widely recognized that alcohol often im- 

 pairs the health of men who cannot be charged with in- 

 temperance. It predisposes to diseases of the heart, 

 liver, and kidneys. It notoriously lessens the chance of 

 survival when the user contracts pneumonia. It makes 

 him an unfavorable subject for surgical operations. By 

 hastening the development of arteriosclerosis it shortens 



