ALCOHOL 53 



used, the cells are weakened and poisoned both by the 

 alcohol and by the half-burned albumin, sugar, and fat. 

 Then they fail in their attempts to do their work. So 

 walking is done in a staggering way, and the voice is thick 

 and uncertain. A man in this condition is said to be drunk. 

 The alcohol may make him still weaker, so that he cannot 

 stir, but lies dead drunk, or he may even be killed by the 

 alcohol. At first we might think that the destruction and 

 oxidation of alcohol would develop heat and force which 

 the body could use. But it must be remembered that the 

 cells themselves are made weak, both by their lack of oxy- 

 gen and also by the poisons of the half -burned albumin 

 and fat. If an engine is weak and rusty, a hot fire under 

 the boiler will not make it do more work, but it may cause 

 the whole machine to be blown up. A few men seem 

 able to drink for years, and yet remain in fair health. A 

 little alcohol will do great harm to most men. At any 

 rate, drinking will not help men in their work or help 

 them to live better lives. 



102. Effects of alcohol upon the liver. The liver itself 

 suffers from the alcohol. It has to take care of the heat 

 and of the half-burned albumin, fat, and sugar, and of all 

 the poisons which are produced. So it is over-worked and 

 often fails in its duty. Thus, a drinker is very apt to 

 have bilious attacks. If drinking is kept up for some 

 time, the liver often wastes away, and becomes hard and 

 rough and unable to do its work. Physicians long ago 

 called such a liver a "gin drinker's" liver. When the 

 liver has been harmed in that way by alcohol, the body 

 slowly wastes away, and finally death occurs as much by 

 starvation as by poison. Because alcohol disturbs both 

 the preparation of the food of the cells and also its oxida- 

 tion, it affects every cell in the body. These effects will 



