348 FOODS AND DIETARIES 



The following reasons for not considering alcohol a food are taken 

 from his writings : 



" 1. A habitual user of alcohol has an intense craving for his accus- 

 tomed dram. Without it he is entirely unfitted for business. One never 

 experiences such an insane craving for bread, potatoes, or any other 

 particular article of food. 



" 2. By continuous use the body acquires a tolerance for alcohol. 

 That is, the amount which may be imbibed and the amount required to 

 produce the characteristic effects first experienced gradually increase 

 until very great quantities are sometimes required to satisfy the craving 

 which its habitual use often produces. This is never the case with true 

 foods. . . . Alcohol behaves in this regard just as does opium or any 

 other drug. It has no resemblance to a food. 



" 3. When alcohol is withdrawn from a person who has been accus- 

 tomed to its daily use, most distressing effects are experienced. . . . 

 Who ever saw a man's hand trembling or his nervous system unstrung 

 because he could not get a potato or a piece of cornbread for breakfast? 

 In this respect, also, alcohol behaves like opium, cocaine, or any other 

 enslaving drug. 



" 4. Alcohol lessens the appreciation and the value of brain and nerve 

 activity, while food reenforces nervous and mental energy. 



" 5. Alcohol as a protoplasmic poison lessens muscular power, whereas 

 food increases energy and endurance. 



" 6. Alcohol lessens the power to endure cold. This is true to such a 

 marked degree that its use by persons accompanying Arctic expeditions 

 is absolutely prohibited. Food, on the other hand, increases ability to 

 endure cold. The temperature after taking food is raised. After taking 

 alcohol, the temperature, as shown by the thermometer, is lowered. 



" 7. Alcohol cannot be stored in the body for future use, whereas all 

 food substances can be so stored. 



" 8. Food burns slowly in the body, as it is required to satisfy the 

 body's needs. Alcohol is readily oxidized and eliminated, the same as 

 any other oxidizable drug." 



The Use of Tobacco. A well-known authority defines a nar- 

 cotic as a substance " which directly induces sleep, blunts the senses 

 and, in large amounts, produces complete insensibility." Tobacco, 

 opium, chloral, and cocaine are examples of narcotics. Tobacco 

 owes its narcotic influence to a strong poison known as nicotine. 

 Its use in killing insect parasites on plants is well known. In ex- 

 periments with jellyfish and other lowly organized animals, the 

 author has found as small a per cent as one part of nicotine to one 

 hundred thousand parts of sea water to be sufficient to profoundly 



