ALCOHOL 93 



are not thought to be sufficient to do serious harm. As 

 stimulants, they have a considerable value if not taken 

 habitually t 



Dangers of tea and coffee. When, however, tea and 

 coffee are used without food for their stimulating effect 

 or when they are regularly depended upon to supply 

 a feeling of well-being and strength, they are un- 

 doubtedly doing harm. They then act as goads to prick 

 a flagging vitality into exhausting itself still further. 

 The slave of tea and coffee is quite as weak and as fool- 

 ish as the victim of alcohol, since he is constantly losing 

 his nervous strength and physical vitality in propor- 

 tion to the degree of his indulgence. His nervous 

 strength is weakened, his digestion impaired, and his 

 normal restful sleep seriously lessened, until in the end 

 he becomes a nervous, irritable dyspeptic. 



Alcohol. Another substance which is extensively 

 used as a beverage in various forms is alcohol. Alcohol 

 is derived from the fermentation of sugar by the action 

 of various forms of microscopic plants called yeasts. 1 

 The alcohol of wine and cider is derived from the sugar 

 in the fruit juices of the grape and apple, acted upon 

 by the yeasts present in the dust upon the fruits. If 

 the process is continued farther, acetic acid (vinegar) 

 is in turn produced from the alcohol. Beers are made 

 in a more roundabout way from the starch of grains, 

 which is first converted into sugar by allowing the 

 grains to sprout. The stronger liquors, as brandy and 

 whiskey, are distilled from the products of previous 

 fermentation, as brandy from wine. Alcohol as found 

 in wines and liquors is in dilute form and is more or less 

 flavored by the substances from which it is made. It 



1 Sugar+yeast= alcohol +carbon dioxide 

 C 6 H ia 6 +yeast=2 C,H 6 O+2 CO a . 



