

EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 187 



" During the use of alcohol the excretion of urea is dimin- 

 ished. This shows that waste of tissue is retarded in the body. 



" Eegarding the statement of some authorities that alcohol 

 does not undergo any change in the body, but is excreted 

 unchanged, Binz asserts that alcohol appears in the urine only 

 when exceptionally large quantities have been taken, and then 

 in very small proportion. It is not excreted by the lungs, the 

 peculiar odor of the breath being due not to the alcohol, but 

 to the volatile aromatic ether, which is oxidized with greater 

 difficulty, and so escapes unchanged. 



"While alcohol produces subjectively an agreeable sen- 

 sation of warmth in the stomach and on the surface of the 

 body, the bodily temperature is not raised. The subjective 

 sensation is due to the dilatation of the blood-vessels and the 

 sudden hypersemia of those parts. 



"During fevers and other exhausting diseases alcohol is 

 invaluable to prevent waste of tissue and sustain the strength. 

 It does not act merely as a stimulant to the circulation and 

 nervous system, but, as above pointed out, saves the more 

 stable compounds by furnishing a readily oxidizable respira- 

 tory food. 



"When taken in small doses by healthy persons alcohol 

 diminishes the temperature by increasing heat radiation. 

 When large quantities are taken the bodily temperature is 

 reduced by diminishing heat production, as well as by increased 

 radiation. This is shown in the condition known as dead- 

 drunkenness, in which the temperature is sometimes depressed 

 as much as 20 F. below the normal. Cases in which the 

 temperature sank to 75, 78.8, and 83 F. have been re- 

 ported, with recovery in all cases. 



" The constant use of alcohol produces in all the organs an 

 excess of connective tissue, followed by fatty degeneration and 

 the condition known as cirrhosis. The organs most frequently 



