THE BLOOD AND ITS CIRCULATION 327 



A handkerchief with a knot placed over the artery may stop 

 bleeding if the cut is on one of the limbs. If this does not serve, 

 then insert a stick in the handkerchief and twist it so as to make 

 the pressure around the limb still greater. Thus we may close 

 the artery until the doctor is called, who may sew up the injured 

 blood vessel. 



The Effect of Alcohol upon the Blood. — It has recently been 

 discovered that alcohol has an extremely injurious effect upon the 

 colorless corpuscles of the blood, lowering their ability to fight 

 disease germs to a marked degree. This is well seen in a compari- 

 son of deaths from certain infectious diseases in drinkers and 

 abstainers, the percentage of mortality being much greater in the 

 former. 



Dr. T. Alexander MacNichol, in a recent address, said : — 



'' Massart and Bordet, Metchnikoff and Sims Woodhead, have 

 proved that alcohol, even in very dilute solution, prevents the 

 white blood corpuscles from attacking invading germs, thus de- 

 priving the system of the cooperation of these important defenders, 

 and reducing the powers of resisting disease. The experiments of 

 Richardson, Harley, Kales, and others have demonstrated the 

 fact that one to five per cent of alcohol in the blood of the living 

 human body in a notable degree alters the appearance of the cor- 

 puscular elements, reduces the oxygen bearing elements, and pre- 

 vents their reoxygenation." 



Alcohol weakens Resistance to. Disease. — ^ In acute illnesses, 

 grippe, fevers, blood poisoning, etc., substances formed in the 

 blood termed '^ antibodies " antagonize the action of bacteria, 

 facilitating their destruction by the white blood cells and neutral- 

 izing their poisonous influence. In a person with good ''resist- 

 ance" this protective machinery, which we do not yet thoroughly 

 understand, works with beautiful precision, and the patient ''gets 

 well." Experiments by scientific experts have demonstrated that 

 alcohol restrains the formation of these marvelous antibodies. 

 Alcohol puts to sleep the sentinels that guard your body from 

 disease. 



The Effect of Alcohol on the Circulation. — Alcoholic drinks 

 affect the very delicate adjustment of the nervous centers control- 



