The Nervous System 



231 



352. No Precise Boundary in the Different Stages of 

 Alcoholic Intoxication. Large doses of alcohol cause the 

 condition known as 

 drunkenness, or in- 

 toxication, a term 

 which comes from 

 the word " toxic," 

 meaning "poison." 

 The effect of wine 

 seen at a social 

 dinner where those 

 who have taken 

 moderate amounts 

 begin to grow talk- 

 ative, excitable, and 

 hilarious, repre- 

 sents a pathologi- 

 cal state of the 

 nervous system; 

 that is, a disturb- 

 ance of the natural 

 conditions of the 

 body. Such a per- 

 son is poisoned, 



FIG. 125. Trunk of the Left Pneumogastric. 



even though he is ( Showin & its distribution by its branches and ganglia to 

 the larynx, pharynx, heart, lungs, and other parts.) 



only in the first 



stage of intoxication, which is that of mental excitement. 

 There is no precise boundary between the quantity which 

 produces the first and that which produces the second, 



the taste for the classics, and the finer mental pleasures throughout broad 

 parts of the nation, and in both sexes, to an extent that makes one cry for 

 help. Among the academic youth of Germany the drinking of beer has 

 truly killed the ideals and the ethics and has produced an incredible 

 vulgarity." 



