THE CIRCULATION 179 



scarlet. The venous blood flows toward the heart from that 

 side of the wound farthest from the heart, its stream being 

 continuous and sluggish; its color is dark. In an injury to 

 an artery, pressure should be made between the heart and the 

 wound, while, in the case of a vein that persistently bleeds, it 

 should be made upon the vessel beyond its point of injury. 



53. Effects of Alcohol upon the Heart. The first symptoms 

 after a moderate dose o. alcohol is an increase of the heart's 

 action, a flushing of the face, a sensation of warmth within, a 

 general glow without, and some other appearances of increased 

 vitality. The action.has been that of a spur or goad. It has 

 caused strength to be expended instead of increasing it, and, 

 in fact, costs the system whatever amount of force is neces- 

 sary to expel it; so that there is a loss of strength, and not 

 a gain. 



54. The late Dr. Parkes made a careful study of the amount 

 of strain put upon the heart by alcohol. He found that it 

 increased both the number and force of the heart's pulsations. 

 The period of rest between the beats is reduced, and, conse- 

 quently, the heart's nutrition must be interfered with. He 

 estimates, in one set of experiments, that the extra work of 

 the heart, induced by alcohol, was equivalent to the lifting of 

 15.8 tons one foot daily ; and during two days, 24 tons in excess 

 of the regular work. Another experimenter states that he has 

 known a single glass of liquor to cause 8000 extra heart-beats, 

 equivalent to the unnecessary lifting of 9 tons the distance of 

 one foot. Estimated in another way, this amount of overtax 

 of the heart is equal to that which takes place, during one day, 

 in a person having a fever that raises the pulse six to nine 

 beats above the rate of health. 



55. Alcohol as a Fat Producer. Alcohol is said to diminish 

 waste, and to make those " fleshy " who use it. This may well 

 be the case in those and the proportion is not small who 

 are rendered sluggish and sleepy by it. The fat which they 

 acquire is the fat of inaction. If we may judge of the true 



53. How does alcohol effect the heart's action ? 



54. Describe Dr. Parke's experiment. 



