90 APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY 



the process by which alcohol is carried to the liver, and 

 there takes the oxygen which should go to oxidize the 

 albumin, fat, and sugar of the body (see 100). So when 

 alcohol is used, not only the liver, but also all other cells of 

 the body lack oxygen, and cannot work as they should. 

 It should be remembered that alcohol is oxidized in the 

 liver, and that none reaches the other cells of the body. 

 Two or three drinks of whisky use as much oxygen as 

 the whole body uses in an hour. So the cells of the body 

 cannot breathe properly when strong drink is used. 



165. Alcoholic breath. When alcohol is swallowed, 

 some remains in the throat and gives a bad odor to the 

 breath. But it also hinders digestion and produces a 

 coated tongue and biliousness. This gives a still worse 

 odor to the breath. Alcohol itself does not go off by the 

 breath, for it is oxidized in the liver. 



166. Tobacco and the lungs. The nicotine of tobacco 

 has a sharp, peppery taste, and makes the throat tender 

 and the voice hoarse. It hurts the nerves, so that there is 

 a feeling as though something were stuck in the throat. 

 Trying to cough it out strains the throat. By keeping the 

 throat tender in this way a person makes himself more 

 liable to take cold. Tobacco smoke in the windpipe and 

 bronchi is still more harmful, for these parts are more ten- 

 der than the throat. Instead, then, of making a singer's 

 voice clear and strong, it makes it hoarse and weak. 



Tobacco smoke has the same poisons as tobacco itself, 

 besides other poisons developed by the burning. All these 

 poisons in the smoke can enter the body. Cigarette smoke 

 is drawn deeply into the lungs. Consequently it is more 

 likely to remain in the body and poison the smoker. Of all 

 forms of smoking, cigarette smoking is the most harmful. 

 Yet many boys suppose it to be the least harmful form. 



