HYGIENE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 333 



in general. 1 Tippling with such mild solutions of alcohol 

 as light wine, beer, and hard cider is, for these reasons, a 

 dangerous pastime. 



Alcohol and Crime. It is sometimes stated that no one 

 who leaves alcohol alone will be injured by it. This is 

 true only of its direct effects; not of its indirect effects. 

 Whenever a crime is committed somebody is injured, and 

 alcohol is known to be a chief cause of crime. Alcohol 

 causes crime through the loss of self-control, seen espe- 

 cially in intoxication, and also because of the moroseness 

 and quarrelsomeness which it developes in certain individ- 

 uals. Indirectly it causes crime through the poverty 

 which it engenders and through its influence in bringing 

 about social conditions out of which crime develops. 

 Everything considered, the free use of alcohol is incom- 

 patible with the nervous health and moral tone of a 

 community. 



Nicotine and the Nervous System. Nicotine is an oily 

 substance which is extracted from the tobacco plant. Its 

 action on the nervous system is in general that of a poison. 

 Taken in small quantities, it is a mild stimulant and, if the 

 doses are repeated, a habit is formed which is difficult to 

 break.. Tobacco is used mainly for the stimulating effect of 

 this drug. While not so serious in its results as the alcohol 

 and other drug habits, the use of tobacco is of no benefit, 

 is a continual and useless expense, and, in many instances, 

 causes a derangement of the healthy action of the body. 2 



1 Insurance statistics show that habitual moderate drinkers do not live so long 

 as abstainers. 



2 Organs very frequently affected by tobacco are the heart and the eyes. It in- 

 duces, as already stated (page 56) , a dangerous nervous derangement called " tobacco 

 heart," and it causes a serious disorder of the retina (retinitis) which leads in 

 some instances to loss of vision. Tobacco smoke also acts as an irritant to the 

 delicate lining of the eyes, especially when the tobacco is smoked indoors. 



