190 EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



within moderate limits is not as a food, but as a stimulant not 

 only to digestion, but to the heart and brain.'' 



[M'KENDBICK, Text-Book of Physiology.} 



" With regard to alcohol, its exact influence, when taken in 

 moderation by those who use it as an article of diet, cannot be 

 precisely stated. It has been asserted by several observers 

 that alcohol is eliminated from the body as alcohol by the 

 various excretory channels. The evidence of this is doubtful, 

 and it is probable that it is split up into simpler compounds. 

 ... A small part of the alcohol ingested no doubt is exhaled 

 by the mucous membrane of the lungs and by the kidneys. 

 The odor of the breath depends on the elimination of oxida- 

 tion products, such as fusel oil. If oxidized even to a small 

 extent, and the evidence, as already indicated, points to the 

 oxidation of by far the larger proportion of it (95 per cent), 

 alcohol must be regarded, in the scientific sense, as a food. No 

 doubt also its ingestion diminishes the metabolism of proteids 

 to the extent of about 6 per cent, as shown by the diminished 

 excretion of urea. Its oxidation will also be attended by the 

 production of heat ; but as, on the other hand, it lessens the 

 production of heat by interfering with the metabolism in pro- 

 teid tissues, and also by diminishing the oxidation of carbo- 

 hydrates and fats, the final result is an actual diminution of 

 bodily temperature. While, therefore, alcohol must be classed 

 technically as a food, it is in many respects an unsuitable food, 

 and its place can be taken with great advantage by other 

 substances. In small doses it acts as a local excitant of the 

 digestive mucous membrane, and afterwards as a diffusible 

 stimulant upon the circulation and central nervous system. 

 In some cases it may aid the digestive process ; but in a state 

 of health it is not only not required, but its use, except in 

 small doses, is positively prejudicial." 



