xvn CARE AND TRAINING OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 249 



indigestion ; how they harden the liver tissue and impair 

 its function ; how they dilate the capillaries of the skin 

 and disturb the action of the sweat glands, and increase 

 the loss of heat ; how they harden the kidney tissues ; 

 how they overstimulate the muscles, heart, and arteries, 

 and so weaken them and impair their functions; how 

 they diminish the size of the air sacs of the lungs and 

 so decrease the breathing capacity ; and how they lead 

 to a loss of appetite for nutritious foods, and create a 

 craving for a constantly increasing quantity of alcohol 

 to satisfy the abnormal appetite. But the soft and deli- 

 cate nerve tissue of which the brain and nerves are 

 composed are affected more profoundly than any other 

 tissue, and perhaps more than all other organs put to- 

 gether. The delicate nerve tissue undergoes two impor- 

 tant changes : first, the protoplasm of the cell body and 

 of the fiber are in part destroyed ; and second, connec- 

 tive tissue and fat are deposited in the cell and take the 

 place of the destroyed protoplasm. These changes in 

 structure are accompanied by many disturbances in the 

 activities of the nerve cells. 



The moral sense is perhaps the first to suffer from 

 the effects of alcohol, then the will power is lost, and 

 finally the intellectual activities are impaired. In writ- 

 ing of the person who habitually uses alcoholic bever- 

 ages, Dr. Madden says : " Sense of dignity, of honor, of 

 moral obligations, of personal conduct, no longer move 

 him as formerly. He thinks only of escaping from 

 them. It is a well-known fact that the will power is 

 early and profoundly affected in alcoholism, The sub- 



