188 EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



affected are the stomach, liver, and kidneys. Serious patho- 

 logical alterations also occur in the circulatory, respiratory, 

 and nervous systems. 



" Alcohol is not necessary to persons in good health. Prob- 

 ably most persons, regardless of their state of health, do better 

 without it. Its habitual use, in the form of strong liquors, is 

 to be unreservedly condemned. The lighter wines and malt 

 liquors, if obtained pure, may be consumed in moderate quan- 

 tities without ill effects. Even in these forms, however, the 

 use of alcohol should be discouraged, or perhaps prohibited, in 

 the young. 



"Neither in -hot nor in cold climates is alcohol necessary 

 to the preservation of health, and its moderate use even pro- 

 duces more injury than benefit. The polar voyager and the 

 East India merchant are alike better off without alcohol than 

 with it. 



" It has long been a prevalent belief that the use of alco- 

 hol enables persons to withstand fatigue better than where no 

 alcohol is used. A large amount of concurrent testimony 

 absolutely negatives this belief. 



" The predisposition to many diseases is greatly increased 

 by the habitual use of alcohol. Sunstroke, the acute infec- 

 tious diseases, and many local organic affections, attack, by 

 preference, the intemperate. A recent collective investigation 

 by the British Medical Association brought out the fact that 

 croupous pneumonia is vastly more fatal among the intemper- 

 ate than among those who abstained from the use of alcoholic 

 liquors. 



"A further investigation by Baer has shown that the 

 average expectation of life among users and dealers in alco- 

 holic liquors is very much shortened. The following table 

 gives a comparative view of the expectation of life in those 

 who abstained from and those who used alcohol : 



