414 PRACTICAL HYGIENE 



indirectly associated. The presence in any community of 

 those who are immoral, inefficient, or defective, places a 

 burden upon those who are mentally and physically capable 

 and renders them liable to results which are the outgrowth 

 of weakness or viciousness. The fact that alcohol causes 

 pauperism, crime, and general inefficiency, thereby render- 

 ing the social environment less conducive to what is best 

 in life, is plainly evident. To realize how alcohol harms 

 the individual through its effects upon society in general, 

 one has only to take into account his dependence upon 

 society for intellectual and moral stimuli, for industrial and 

 economic opportunity, for protection, and for general con- 

 ditions that make for health and happiness. As we strive 

 to improve our physical environment, so should we also 

 strive for the betterment of social conditions. 



Industrial Use of Alcohol. Interesting and instructive in this con- 

 nection is the fact that alcohol is, after all, a substance capable of ren- 

 dering great service to humanity. The injury which it causes is the 

 result of its misuse. Though unfit for introduction into the human 

 body, except in the most guarded manner, it is adapted to a great variety 

 of uses outside of the body. A combustible substance which is readily 

 convertible into a gas, it may be substituted for gasoline in the cooking 

 of food, lighting of dwellings, and the running of machinery. As a 

 solvent for gums, resins, essential oils, etc., it is used in the preparation 

 of varnishes, extracts, perfumes, medicines, and numerous other sub- 

 stances of everyday use. Through its chemical interactions, it is used 

 in the manufacture of ether, chloroform, explosives, collodion, celluloid, 

 dyestuffs, and artificial silk. In fact, alcohol is stated by one authority 

 to be, next to water, the most valuable liquid known. 1 



Opposed to an extensive use of alcohol for industrial purposes is the 

 guard which the government must keep over its manufacture on account 

 of its use in beverages. Though alcohol may be profitably manufac- 

 tured and sold at thirty cents per gallon, the government revenue stamp 

 of $2.08 per gallon practically prohibits its use for many purposes. A 

 step toward a wider application to industrial purposes has been taken 

 1 Duncan, The Chemistry of Commerce. 



