180 THE CIRCULATION 



influence of alcohol by experiments on the lower animals, that 

 are compelled to take it pure, we will not grant it any fattening 

 power. 



56. There is a certain "fatty degeneration" in man the 

 result of alcohol drinking that is very disastrous, namely, a 

 deposit of fat in the muscles of the body. This is destructive 

 or weakening to muscular power, and when it evinces itself in 

 the heart, it creates a change that is to be dreaded as sapping 

 the strength of the one particular organ that should be strong 

 in drinkers. It attacks them at a vital spot. The blood also 

 undergoes a fatty change which greatly, impairs its work of 

 nourishing the body. 



57. Exhaustion Due to Alcohol. The heart does not become 

 habituated to the poison nor become tolerant of it. On the 

 contrary, it is set moving, with this abnormal activity, with 

 each renewal of the dose. This form of exertion is not exer- 

 cise, it is overwork ; it is not strengthening, it is exhausting. 

 Very few persons who habitually use alcoholic stimulants are 

 aware of the enormous strain that is imposed upon the heart, 

 although to those who studiously consider the matter the 

 wonder is that this organ is not more rapidly worn out than 

 it is. If it were not for the fact that the heart is made of the 

 strongest muscular tissue in the body, it would of necessity 

 fail from overstrain long before it does. 



58. The condition of the heart, mentioned in the last section, 

 is known to physicians as " fatty heart," and in part explains 

 why it is that drunkards are so little able to withstand the 

 attack of those .diseases which are attended by fever. It is a 

 well-known fact that they are among the first to succumb to 

 cholera and other epidemic diseases. Sunstroke is another 

 disorder peculiarly frequent in that class of persons; and to 

 indicate that fact some physicians apply the term " drink- 

 stroke" to that disease. 



55. How does alcohol make one fleshy ? 



56. What results ? What change in the blood due to alcohol ? 



57. How is exhaustion due to alcohol ? 



08. What other disorders may be due to alcohol? 



