336 



ADVANCED PHYSIOLOGY 



It may seem a little strange to class disease germs and 

 alcohol together as man's greatest foes, but it is really stranger 

 that while we all agree to fight the one persistently, a con- 

 siderable portion of mankind prefers to play with or indulge 

 the other. Everyone who understands the nature of disease 

 recognizes the need of fighting its agents or germs, but vast 

 numbers of people welcome rather than struggle against the 

 dangers of alcoholism. The reasons for this attitude are 

 many, but one of them is that many fail to realize that the 

 microscopic germs and the alcohol appetite are equally 

 menaces to health and happiness. 



Yet any one who will open his eyes to the conditions around 

 him will see clearly enough that alcholism is, in the majority 

 of cases, associated with disease, for the reason that it lowers 

 one's powers of resistance. Besides shortening his own exis- 

 tence, the man who drinks much is living only part of his 

 normal life, for his mind is constantly in a state of partial 

 stupefaction brought on by the influence of this paralyzing 

 drug. The old toper has lost the use of his most valuable 

 possession, while the moderate drinker is endeavoring to 

 meet life with slightly impaired mental capacity and physical 

 powers. Many a youth begins with a little beer or wine in 

 the desire to be "social," to do as others are doing, and in- 

 advertently develops a habit which places him upon a lower 

 plane of possibility and action than he would otherwise have 

 attained. Probably there is no drunkard who, in youth, did 

 not have his good intentions, his resolutions and ambitions t( 

 be and to do good, but he trifled with them. It is never pos- 

 sible to predict whether or not one will become a victim oi 

 this appetite, for persons with apparently the strongest will 

 are often those who yield most readily. The desire for alcohol 

 is an insidious one which grows slowly, usually without the 

 consciousness of the individual, until it becomes too strong 

 for him or until he ceases to care whether he masters it or not. 

 Whole families are wiped out by the evils which come from 



