68 STUDIES IN PHYSIOLOGY 



M'Kendrick: "If oxidized even to a small extent, and 

 the evidence as indicated points to the oxidization of by far 

 the larger proportion of it (95%), alcohol must be regarded 

 in the scientific sense as a food. . . . While, therefore, it must 

 be classed technically as a food, it is in many respects an 

 unsuitable food and its place can be taken with great ad- 

 vantage by other substances. 7 ' "Physiology," Glasgow, 

 1889, p. 19 (Vol. 2). 



Halliburton: "Alcohol is thus within narrow limits a 

 food. ... It is, moreover, a very uneconomical food; much 

 more nutriment would have been obtained from the barley 

 or grapes from which it was made. The value of alcohol 

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

 not only to digestion, but to the heart and brain." "Text- 

 book of Chemical and Pathological Physiology," 1891, 

 p. 600. 



" We have, thus, one group of physiologists at the one 

 extreme, who take grounds, more or less strongly, against 

 any dietetic use or value of alcohol, even this group admit- 

 ting that it is not fully proved that alcohol is not a food. 

 We have a second group who are inclined to favor moderate 

 dietetic use of alcohol, tending to class it with non-proteid 

 foods, but still maintaining that its classification as a food 

 is not clearly established. ... A third group of physiolo- 

 gists and pharmacologists, whether they advocate or oppose 

 its use, evidently consider recent discussions as to the food 

 status of alcohol unnecessary quibbling. For them the 

 evidence is sufficient to pronounce alcohol in moderate 

 quantities a food." "Physiological Aspects of the Liquor 

 Problem." Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1903. 



Alcohol as a Stimulant, a Narcotic, and a Poison. Alcohol, 

 then, may be regarded as having food value when prescribed 

 by a physician in case of sickness, and doubtless it can be 

 oxidized in the body to supply a certain amount of energy, 

 if it is taken in small quantity and sufficiently diluted. But 

 as ordinarily used in liquors, alcohol becomes almost always 



