APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY 



changes the alcohol to vinegar, which makes the liquid 

 sour. Changing sugar to alcohol or vinegar is fermenta- 

 tion. All strong drink contains alcohol, and is made by 

 the fermentation of sugar. Alcohol is sugar with some of 

 its carbonic acid gas taken away. 



94. Alcohol. Alcohol is a colorless liquid which burns 

 very easily, with little flame and no smoke, but with a 



great deal of heat. It has a sharp, 

 sweetish taste and smell. It turns 

 to vapor very easily. It takes water 

 away from substances, and causes 

 them to shrivel up. It hardens 

 albumin, just as heat hardens the 

 white of an egg. Because it hard- 

 ens substances and takes away their 

 water, it is used to keep things from 

 decaying. It is used for dissolving 

 many things which water would 

 not affect; and from it ether, 

 chloroform, and numberless other 

 useful things are made. It is a very valuable article, and 

 manufacturers and chemists could not do without it. But 

 man has learned that its taste gives him pleasure, and 

 that the feelings which result are often very pleasant. 

 So day after day men drink liquors containing it for the 

 mere pleasure of drinking. 



95. Why men drink. Men are ashamed to waste their 

 money and strength in mere pleasure, and so they make 

 excuses for using the strong drink. One man says that it 

 warms him, and another that it cools him, and another that 

 it makes him forget his cares while he remembers only 

 pleasant things. One takes it to keep himself awake, and 

 another to make himself sleep. Some take it to cure a 



Fermentation in a jar of 

 cherries. 



