182 EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



nausea, or other distress that often is felt as a result of the 

 effort of climbing in such altitude, that almost invariably 

 such symptoms were aggravated instead of being relieved. 

 Dr. Hodge, in an article in Popular Science Monthly (March 

 and April, 1897), entitled "Experiments on the Physiology 

 of Alcohol," makes the following quotations, " Hemholtz has 

 said, in describing his methods of work, that slight indulgence 

 in alcoholic drinks dispelled instantly his best ideas. Profes- 

 sor Gaule once told the writer, as an experiment during the 

 strain of his ' Staatsexamen,' that he suddenly stopped his 

 wine and beer, and was surprised to find how much better he 

 could work. An eminent professor in Leipsic once said that 

 the German students could do ' twice as much work 7 if they 

 would let their beer alone. Dr. August Smith has found that 

 moderate non-intoxicant doses of alcohol (forty to eighty cubic 

 centimeters daily) lowered psychic ability to memorize as much 

 as seventy per cent." 



[From THOMPSON 's Practical Dietetics.'] 



"... the following general propositions comprise the 

 belief of many authorities who have devoted careful research 

 to this exceedingly important topic : 



" 1. The use of alcohol in any shape is wholly unnecessary 

 for the use of the human organism in health. It does not 

 exist as a natural product. The very lowest types of man 

 Australian and many Polynesian savages know nothing of 

 it, and drink only water and fresh fruit juice, such as that of 

 the cocoanut, although they speedily acquire a fondness for 

 alcohol when it is given them. 



" 2. A large number of persons are undoubtedly better with- 

 out alcohol, and may prolong their lives by total abstinence. 



" 3. The lifelong use of alcohol in moderation, as an occa- 

 sional beverage with meals, does not necessarily shorten the 

 duration of life or induce disease in some persons, while in 



