186 EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



in cases of emergency. Alcohol when taken alone will prolong 

 life beyond the period at which it terminates from starvation." 



BEVERAGES CONTAINING ALCOHOL. 

 [ROHfe, Text-Book of Hygiene.] 



" The physiological action of alcohol has been pretty fully 

 worked out by Binz and his pupils, and by other experiment- 

 ers. From these researches it appears that the first effect 

 of taking alcohol, sufficiently diluted, into the stomach is to 

 increase the flow of saliva and gastric juice. This effect is 

 probably reflex, and results from a stimulation of nerve ter- 

 minations in the stomach. The alcohol is rapidly absorbed, 

 and is carried in the blood, without undergoing chemical 

 change, to the nervous centers, lungs, and tissues generally. 

 In the brain the alcohol probably enters into combination with 

 the nervous tissue, modifying the normal activity of the vari- 

 ous centers, either increasing the activity, if the alcohol is in 

 small quantity (stimulating effect), or diminishing it, if in 

 larger quantity (depressing effect), or entirely suspending the 

 activity of the centers, if in sufficiently large quantity (para- 

 lyzing effect). 



" Alcohol stimulates the vasodilator nerves, causing dilata- 

 tion of the smaller vessels ; in consequence of this the blood 

 is largely sent to the periphery of the body, the blood-pressure 

 diminishes, and heat radiation is increased. At the same time 

 a portion of the alcohol is used up in the production of animal 

 heat, thus economizing the expenditure of fats and proteids, 

 and acting as a true respiratory food. Alcohol does not con- 

 tribute nutritive material to the body ; it only permits that 

 which is stored up to be saved for other uses, by furnishing 

 easily oxidizable (combustible) material for carrying on the 

 respiratory process and supplying animal heat. 



