346 THE HUMAN BODY. 



siderably lower temperature; is highly inflammable, burn- 

 ing with a bluish flame; and is the essential constituent of 

 all fermented liquors in common use. 



Alcoholic Beverages include (1) malt liquors, as beer, ale, 

 stout, and porter; (2) cider and perry; (3) wines, as claret, 

 sherry, port, champagne, and catawba; (4) distilled spirits, 

 as brandy, rum, and whiskey; and their compounds, as gin, 

 cherry brandy, pineapple rum, and so forth; (5) liqueurs, 

 made by adding various flavoring essences to different kinds 

 of spirits. All contain alcohol in greater or less propor- 

 tion, varying from over 70 volumes in the 100 in some 

 kinds of rum to less than 2 in the 100 in "small" beer. 



The Direct Physiological Action of Pure Alcohol Pure 

 alcohol is a very expensive substance, mainly employed in 

 chemical experiments and in the manufacture of certain 

 perfumes and essences. However, some clues to the ac- 

 tion of diluted alcohol on the body may be obtained by a 

 study of its action in the concentrated form. 



Strong alcohol having a great tendency to combine with 

 water, rapidly extracts that substance from any animal organ 

 placed in contact with it; as is shown by the hardening 

 and shrivelling of museum specimens placed in it. 



Added to raw white of egg it coagulates it, much as if the 

 egg had been boiled: added to fresh blood it acts in a simi- 

 lar manner, coagulating the serum albumen as heat does 

 (p. 183). 



Pure alcohol placed on the skin evaporates very rapidly, 

 and in so doing abstracts heat (p. 274, note), producing a 



Of what is alcohol an essential constituent? 



Classify and name common alcoholic beverages. Within what 

 limits does the quantity of alcohol in them vary? 



For what purposes is pure alcohol mainly used? What is its ac- 

 tion on animal organs placed in it? On fresh blood? On the skin 

 when evaporation is permitted ? 



