182 OUR BODIES AND HOW WE LIVE 



The skin is warmer after taking alcoholic liquor, because 

 the nerves that regulate the threadlike blood vessels on 

 the surface, being partly paralyzed or deadened, dilate and 

 allow more blood to flow through them. Hence more blood 

 is sent from the central parts of the body to the surface. 

 There is no real increase of heat : the surface is warmed 

 for the time at the expense of the inner and deeper por- 

 tions of the body. 



This surface warmth is rapidly lost by radiation, and the 

 general heat of the body is lowered below its natural tem- 

 perature. The bodily temperature is partly regulated by 

 -the surface circulation ; and when this control is lost, as it 

 is by alcohol, the body is cooled by the undue amount of 

 blood carried to the surface. 



The notion that a dose of some alcoholic liquor taken 

 after exposure or bathing will prevent one from taking 

 cold is erroneous. The alcohol, by irritating the delicate 

 lung tissues and lining of the air passages, and reducing 

 the temperature of the body, makes one more liable to 

 colds, coughs, pneumonia, etc. When we feel chilly, the 

 best thing to do is to get thoroughly warmed as quickly 

 as possible, either by active exercise or by artificial heat. 



248. Alcohol and the Endurance of Extremes of Heat or 

 Cold. Experience has proved, time and time again, that 

 alcohol lessens the power to endure the extremes of heat 

 or cold for any length of time. Arctic explorers strictly 

 forbid the use of alcoholic liquor among their men because 

 they know that exposure to severe cold can be endured 

 far better without it. So well is this effect of alcohol 

 known by the people of the coldest regions of Canada, that 

 they will seldom take even a single glass of spirits when 

 exposed to severe cold. 



