ALCOHOL— ITS USE AND ABUSE 383 



or exactly the same as in the previous normal experiment. The quan- 

 tity of fat retained by the patient on the alcohol days amounted to 34.1 

 grams daily. It is evident from this experiment that alcohol can re- 

 place fat or carbohydrates in metabolism in accordance with its heat 

 value. So we can say that the cells of the organism may be main- 

 tained in their vital activities by alcohol instead of by normal nutrient 

 substances. 



It is apparent, therefore, that alcohol may have a very considerable 

 value as food. If an alcoholic beverage should contain materials other 

 than alcohol such as the extractive materials in Bavarian beer, the food 

 value rises to a very considerable amount. Thus, a liter of Bavarian 

 beer contains 450 calories. These facts, however, do not at all justify 

 the substitution of alcohol for carbohydrates and fats in the dietary. 



Many experiments have been accomplished to see whether alcohol 

 has any effect upon the protein balance in the body. Sometimes alcohol 

 has been found to spare protein, sometimes it has been found to cause 

 a waste of protein. The effect, however, of alcohol upon the general 

 metabolism of protein is certainly without very great significance. 



Yet there are indications that alcohol does alter metabolism in the 

 individual who partakes of it. Beebe found no effect upon the output 

 of uric acid after taking alcohol with a diet which was free from the 

 precursors of uric acid. This, however, has not been confirmed by 

 others, and Landau found that usually there was a slight increase in 

 the output of uric acid in the urine after the ingestion of alcohol. 



Since the nucleus of the cell is characterized in its structure by the 

 presence of nucleo-proteins whose destruction results in the increased 

 elimination of uric acid, it is not impossible that these nuclei are some- 

 what affected by the presence of alcohol in the body. A similar effect 

 upon the nuclei of the germ plasm may be considered in connection with 

 the idea of the possible transmission of alcoholism through heredity. 



Abbott has found that alcoholized rabbits not only show the effect 

 of streptococcus inoculations earlier than do non-alcoholized rabbits, 

 but the lesions produced are much more pronounced than those which 

 usually follow inoculation with this organism. 



Laitinen has administered to rabbits one cubic centimeter of pure 

 alcohol per kilogram of body weight, which corresponds to between four 

 and five ounces of whiskey daily for a man. This quantity of alcohol 

 was not sufficient to intoxicate the animal. Animals which had re- 

 ceived this amount of alcohol for a considerable period were found to 

 have a much greater susceptibility to pathogenic bacteria than normal 

 controls. 



Hodge has found that alcoholic dogs show diminished resistance to 

 distemper as compared with normal animals under the same kennel 

 conditions. 



