112 ELEMENTARY PHYSIOLOGY. 



At the bottom of this chart we see a 

 uiceration. more a( j v anced stage of the difficulty. 

 The blood-vessels are very much dilated, and indi- 

 cate that extraordinary work has devolved upon this 

 organ. The blood-vessels seem to have lost their 

 power to contract sufficiently to expel the increased 

 amount of blood brought hither. And here we see 

 the results (first cut, next chart), of long continued 

 distension of the blood-vessels. They have broken 

 and sores or ulcers are the result. The stomach is 

 now no longer able to perform its functions; the 

 food is no longer properly digested, and as a con- 

 sequence the blood is impoverished, and the general 

 health has failed. All on account of the drink-habit 

 which has now become so firmly fixed upon its victim 

 that it is almost beyond human effort to break loose 

 from it. 



The faithful servant of the body, the 



L,ast Stages * ' 



of Alcohol stomach, tries, from the first, to adapt 

 ins " itself to the derangements caused by 

 the use of alcohol as a beverage. Just as the cuti- 

 cle of the hand thickens and hardens, when we use 

 an ax or shovel, so the stomach, if it is constantly 

 being irritated by the presence of alcohol, becomes 

 thick, tough and unnatural; and consequently 

 becomes better adapted for the purpose of a whisky 

 jug, but less for the purpose for which it was 

 intended to digest food. The blood vessels of the 

 stomach, having been dilated to their utmost, their 

 diseased walls give way and ugly ulcers are formed. 



