ALCOHOL 267 



acid, which may precipitate some of the proteids, peptones 

 and pepsin. This action is not sufficient to interfere with 

 the stomachic effect of alcohol. Alcohol is slightly astrin- 

 gent in the digestive tract, and may relieve pain by its local 

 anaesthetic action upon the stomach, and spasm, by stimu- 

 lating the nervous mechanism controlling the stomach and 

 bowels, and so coordinating the peristaltic movements. 



Circulation. — Alcohol is absorbed into the blood and 

 undergoes decomposition in the body. When alcohol is 

 mixed with blood, outside of the body, coagulation occurs, 

 and separation of haemoglobin from the corpuscles. The 

 blood does not, under these circumstances, yield its oxygen 

 readily to reducing agents. In rapid alcoholic poisoning 

 the corpuscles have been found shrivelled and containing 

 a yellow precipitate of haemoglobin in their substance. 

 Alcohol diminishes oxidation in the body by hindering the 

 oxy haemoglobin from giving up its oxygen, but this action 

 does not occur until large quantities have been absorbed. 



Alcohol is essentially a heart stimulant and the most 

 valuable one we possess. It makes the heart beat more 

 forcibly and rapidly, and also increases blood pressure, 

 despite the fact that normally alcohol causes dilatation of 

 the arterioles. In weakened bodily conditions, with vascu- 

 lar relaxation, alcohol may increase vascular tonicity. The 

 heart and blood vessels are paralyzed by poisonous doses of 

 alcohol, and blood tension falls tremendously. Evidence is 

 contradictory in relation to the exact physiological action of 

 alcohol upon the nervous mechanism controlling the heart 

 and blood vessels. The action upon the heart is thought 

 by some experimenters to be due to the stimulation of the 

 accelerator nerves (Dogiel); by others to stimulation of the 

 cardiac motor ganglia; while Wood refers the action to 

 excitation of the heart muscle. It is also uncertain whether 

 the action upon the vessels is due to the effect of alcohol 

 upon the vasomotor system entirely, or in part to direct 

 action upon the vessel walls. The fact that the heart is 

 reflexly stimulated by the irritant action of large dose$ 



