90 OUR BODIES AND HOW WE LIVE 



Remember, then, from an economical point of view, that 

 beer is in no sense a nutritive food nor in any respect a 

 prudent food. 1 



132. Drinking Beer in Place of Ardent Spirits. It is 

 claimed by some people who realize the evil results of 

 drinking wine, whisky, gin, and brandy, that the drinking 

 of light beers in place of the stronger beverages does 

 much to diminish the use of ardent spirits. This is the 

 question in plain words : Does the drinking of more beer 

 really mean the consumption of less ardent spirits ? Not 

 at all. Physicians and students of domestic science who 

 have given much study to the problem most emphatically 

 say, No ! They claim that no habitual user of ardent spirits 

 was ever saved from the ill effects of alcoholism by the 

 drinking of beer. 2 



133. The Physiological Effect of Malt Liquors. The 

 habitual beer drinker often looks the picture of health, and 

 perhaps is inclined to boast of the healthfulness of his 

 favorite beverage. The testimony of physicians and life- 

 insurance experts, however, is that the habitual beer drinker 

 is not so physically strong and well nourished as would 

 appear at the first glance. The flesh is not apt to be firm 



1 Let a man drink much beer, enough to make the amount of nourish- 

 ment in it of value, and the other influences produced by such a quantity 

 will become manifest to such a degree as to cast the factor of nourishment 

 in the background. If he drinks little beer, the food value is not appreciable. 

 PROFESSOR ROSENTHAL, Erlangen, Germany. 



2 One of the worst features of the poisonous characteristics of alcohol is 

 its power, even in small quantities, to create a craving for itself that becomes 

 irresistible. It is therefore the nature of wine to lead to an increasing use 

 of alcohol. H. NEWELL MARTIN, M.D. 



One can accustom oneself more readily to the drinking of beer than of 

 any other intoxicant, and no other so rapidly destroys the appetite for nor- 

 mal food and nourishment. GUSTAV VON BUNGE, M.D., Professor of 

 Physiological Chemistry in the University of Basel, Switzerland. 



