MUSCLES I /I 



Consequently, it weakens the muscles. It may seem to 

 make a person stronger, for it deadens his tired feelings. 

 But in reality he has less strength than if he had let drink 

 alone. A single drink begins to weaken him. Alcohol 

 cannot take the place of food, for food is the only thing 

 to give strength to the body. Drugs may deaden tired 

 feelings, but they cannot add to one's strength. 



Alcohol sometimes causes little drops of the muscle 

 cells to change to fat. This greatly weakens the cells. 

 Beer often does this. A man may seem to be very fat 

 and strong from its use, but fat does not give strength. 



Tobacco is a poison to all the cells of the body, and it 

 never becomes anything else. No man who is training 

 for a race dares to use tobacco. 



340. Alcohol and endurance. Men sometimes have to 

 make long journeys across hot deserts or in cold Arctic 

 regions, or have to endure great fatigue and suffering in 

 war. It used to be thought that strong drink gave men 

 greater power for undergoing these heavy labors, and so 

 men in armies and exploring expeditions always carried 

 regular supplies of rum, which was doubled just before a 

 battle or an extra strain. Men who refused to drink were 

 laughed at ; but it was noticed that they did more work 

 and enjoyed better health than the drinkers. Then care- 

 ful experiments were made to determine whether men 

 could do without liquor. In every case men in hot cli- 

 mates felt better, while those in polar regions endured the 

 cold better than those who used it. The government 

 of the United States long since stopped giving liquor to 

 the soldiers and sailors. Arctic explorers do not carry it 

 except for scientific purposes. Even hard drinkers care- 

 fully avoid liquor while they are training. 



A few years ago a man would have been called foolish 



