EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 177 



labor without alcohol than with it. This has been repeatedly 

 proved in arctic expeditions, in the army and navy, during 

 the hardships and exposures of forced marches and depriva- 

 tions in all climates. 



Especially if one is to be exposed to severe cold is it dan- 

 gerous to take alcoholic drink ; many a member of exploring 

 parties has lost his life by disobeying this rule. 



It is a significant fact that men training for athletic con- 

 tests (no matter what their ordinary habits or principles) let 

 alcoholic drinks alone. One of the famous pugilists said, 

 " I'm no teetotaler, but when I have business on hand there's 

 nothing like water and dumbbells." 



" Alcohol is a typical stimulant j it acts as a whip, causing 

 a temporary acceleration of physiological activity. Such ac- 

 celeration must subsequently be paid for, the extra expendi- 

 ture brought about by alcohol entailing diminished capacity 

 for further exertion. Alcohol is thus of service only for emer- 

 gencies of short duration ; it is eminently harmful when pro- 

 longed exertion and endurance are required. Like all rapid 

 stimulants, alcohol is in large doses a direct depressant." 

 WALLER. 



Many prefer to call alcohol a narcotic. In large doses it 

 seems to paralyze the mechanism regulating the caliber of 

 the arteries ; hence the flushing above noted. Now, when the 

 arteries are relaxed, the heart works harder to fill the greater 

 space offered, and is thus overworked. 



Alcohol has a strong affinity for water, and extracts it from 

 tissues. When w,e preserve animal tissue in alcohol, the al- 

 cohol abstracts the water, thus hardening and preserving the 

 substance. 



Alcohol should be classed with the poisonous drugs (e.g., 

 arsenic, chloroform, belladonna, strychnin, etc.), the exact na- 

 ture of whose effects it is exceedingly difficult to determine. 



