FIRST AIDS TO THE SICK AND INJURED. 165 



irritant narcotics, such as brandy and all spirituous liquors, 

 tobacco and nicotine, may be taken in small doses, without 

 producing any marked signs of poisoning ; but just as surely 

 as an overdose of any of the other poisons will produce 

 serious results, so sure is an overdose of alcohol or nicotine 

 to endanger life or even prove fatal. Many a child, and 

 many older persons, for that matter, have lost their lives by 

 taking a large dose of alcohol, either by mistake, or by having 

 it forced upon them, or in a wager. 



Intoxication is in reality a poisoned condition of the sys- 

 tem. The name itself implies this. Alcohol, when taken 

 almost pure and in sufficient quantity, may produce death in 

 a few minutes or in a few hours; and even when taken in 

 small quantities, while it does not produce symptoms of 

 poisoning, it tends to shorten life, and is often the primary 

 cause of many of the every-day examples of ill-health, sick- 

 ness and squalor, since it weakens the constitution, under- 

 mines morality, and is the great fountain of pauperism, 

 thereby rendering thousands of homes unhappy. 



If alcohol and tobacco were irritants only, they would be 

 as little used as any of the irritant poisons, but they are 

 narcotics as well, and while they soothe, they also irritate 

 and destroy; while they stimulate, they also depress; while 

 they exhilarate, they also weaken; .while they charm the 

 senses for a time, they fascinate until they conquer; while 

 they drown sorrow, the respite is brief, for it soon returns 

 with greater weight. Instead of elevating, they debase; 

 instead of strengthening the moral system, they undermine 

 it ; instead of improving the mental and intellectual facul- 

 ties, they numb the very nerve centres; and instead of 

 nourishing and invigorating the system, they interfere with 

 its various functions, and render it more susceptible to injury 

 and decay. 



