438 THE HUMAN BODY 



quantities. It must be shown that its direct physiological effects 

 are not harmful to the Body, before it can be accepted as a food. 



The action of alcohol in small doses appears to be chiefly upon 

 the nervous system, and particularly upon the higher portions of 

 the central nervous system. Its effect upon nerve-centers seems 

 to be a depressing one; the generally accepted view that alcohol 

 is a stimulant being based upon bodily effects which follow nerve- 

 center depression rather than stimulation. For example, cutane- 

 ous vasodilation, with flushing of the skin, such as is commonly 

 seen after taking alcohol, is the result of depression of the vaso- 

 constrictor center. The rapid heart-beat, which is another usual 

 phenomenon, results from depression of the cardio-inhibitory 

 center. Even the sparkle of wit and repartee, which is reputed 

 to be very marked after partaking of wine, is the result of removal 

 of the brakes of judgment and caution through depression of those 

 regions of the brain where these functions reside. It is intimated, 

 in fact, that after-dinner wit is ordinarily appreciated at more 

 than its due desert, because of the depression of judgment in the 

 brains of the hearers. 



The depressing effect of alcohol upon the brain appears to be 

 progressively from higher to lower centers. The first traits to be 

 dulled are those acquired through precept and moral training; 

 therefore the individual is apt to reveal his "true self," stripped 

 of the veneer of education. With increasing indulgence in alcohol 

 lower and lower tendencies come to the fore, set free by the de- 

 pression of the higher, and ordinarily controlling ones. Thus it 

 comes to pass that man may sink to the level of the beast. 



The question of the moderate use of alcohol resolves itself, then, 

 from a physiological standpoint, into one of the desirability of 

 setting free the lower mental traits and activities through depres- 

 sion of the higher inhibitory ones. It is sometimes argued that in 

 America where the dominant mental obsession of a considerable 

 proportion of the population is in affairs of business the setting 

 free of the brain from business cares during leisure hours is a 

 virtual necessity, and that the use of alcohol is the most direct 

 method of bringing this about. Even though we grant the first 

 part of the argument it does not necessarily follow that the second 

 part is to be accepted also. For the real objection to the use of 

 alcohol, even in small quantities, is that the desire for alcohol, 



