NATURE OF FERMENTED DRINKS 95 



Alcohol thus answers to the definition of a poison because 

 it has an inherent harmful property which on becoming 

 mixed with the blood is capable of destroying life, as would 

 arsenic, opium, and many other deadly drugs. 



Remember, then, that alcohol is a poison and is classed as 

 such in standard medical dictionaries and by eminent medi- 

 cal authorities. 1 



139. Total Abstinence the Only Safeguard. No one is safe 

 who begins to take any liquor containing alcohol. Entire 

 abstinence is the only safeguard against forming the alco- 

 holic appetite, and the only cure for it when it is formed. 



1 Alcohol is a poison. So is strychnine ; so is arsenic ; so is opium. 

 It ranks with these agents. SIR ANDREW CLARK, M.D. 



Is alcohol a poison ? I reply, Yes. It answers to the description of a 

 poison. It possesses an inherent, deleterious property, which, when intro- 

 duced into the system, is capable of destroying life, and it has its place with 

 arsenic, belladonna, prussic acid, opium, etc. In its effects upon the living 

 system alcohol is first an irritant, and afterward, when it has entered the 

 circulation, it becomes a narcotic. Were alcohol an irritant only, a man 

 would as soon poison himself with arsenic. The narcotic element is the 

 siren that leads him on to ruin and to death. WILLARD PARKER, M.D. 



A very large number of people are dying day by day, poisoned by alcohol, 

 but not supposed to be poisoned by it. SIR WILLIAM GULL, M.D. 



Alcohol is a virulent poison, and as such should be placed in the list with 

 arsenic, mercury, and other dangerous drugs. ALFRED CARPENTER, M.D., 

 Examiner of Public Health in the University of London, President of the 

 Council of the British Medical Association. 



Compared with the small quantity of adulterants found in spirituous 

 drinks, ethyl alcohol is so significant that it clearly forms the chief poison. 

 PROFESSOR J. A. SIKORSKY, of the University of Kiev. 



Experiments have demonstrated that even a small quantity of alcoholic 

 liquor, either immediately or after a short time, prevents perfect mental 

 action and interferes with the functions of the cells and tissues of the body, 

 impairing self-control by producing progressive paralysis of the judgment 

 and of the will ; and has other markedly injurious effects. Hence alcohol 

 must be regarded as a poison and ought not to be classed among foods. 

 An International Manifesto against the Use of Alcoholic Beverages, signed by 

 over eight hundred total abstaining practitioners of medicine in this country 

 and Europe. 



