226 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF MAN 



170. Tobacco. — " Training starts to-morrow, no more 

 smoking," is part of the athletic coach's orders at the 



succumb to disease. Others appear to resist the daily use of moderate quan- 

 tities for a long time and, to the ordinary observer, seem to be in good health. 

 Slow changes, not easily detected, however, are taking place in the blood 

 vessels, brain, stomach, and other organs, which will in time become apparent 

 in serious ill health. Tbese changes are organic, that is, the structure of the 

 organs is changed, and even if the alcoholic drinks be then wholly aban- 

 doned, the organs will not return to a healthy condition — though further 

 damage may be averted by this course. 



" Influence of Alcohol on the Development of the Brain. The brain and 

 spinal cord do not reach complete development until the age of twenty-four or 

 twenty-five yeai'S. During that time it is of particular importance that they 

 be well nourished, supplied with an abundance of pure oxygen by the blood, 

 and that all substances likely to injure their delicate structure be excluded. 

 One would not expect to produce a fine flower from a plant which had been 

 neglected or abused. It is well known to the florists who raise wonderfully 

 beautiful chrysanthemums that perfect blooms cannot be produced on 

 plants which have suffered even a slight injury from drought or other cause. 

 No amount of care subsequently bestowed will result in anything more than 

 a mediocre blossom. The human brain is in structure and function the most 

 wonderful product of nature. It needs even more than a plant to be protected 

 from harmful influences, in order that its millions of tiny cells and fibers may 

 be properly built up day by day as the brain and body grow. Alcohol will 

 produce in a mature man such a disturbance of the functions of the brain and 

 spinal cord that he will be for a time unable to walk steadily or to speak 

 distinctly. It would be idle to expect the immature nervous system of a boy 

 or girl to develop properly if exposed, even occasionally, to the influence of 

 such a powerful poison. The bad effect is twofold. Healthy growth is inter- 

 fered with, and the habit of craving a stimulant is more easily acquired than 

 in an adult. The same is true of the tobacco habit ; it is seldom contracted 

 except in early life. It has been found among those who became insane from 

 the use of alcohol, that a very large majority began its use when less than 

 twenty years of age. 



" Persons most easily harmed by alcohol are those who are most suscepti- 

 ble to it. One who becomes intoxicated by a relatively small quantity of 

 alcohol, who when under its influence shows a change of disposition by speech 

 or behavior different from what is normal to him, or who after its effects have 

 passed away cannot remember what he did or said while under its influence, 

 has this susceptibility. Its continued use by such a person will inevitably 

 lead to the most serious results. The same is true of all women. Women 

 and girls are more susceptible to alcohol than the opposite sex, and show, at 

 an early period, that peculiar blunting of the intellectual and moral faculties 

 which make their appearance at a later period in men." — R. H. Hutchings, 

 M.D., Superintendent, St. Lawrence New York State Hospital for the Insane. 



