HYGIENE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 327 



ness may render the child of an inebriate an epileptic, an 

 imbecile, or a consumptive. We can never foresee just 

 how the transmitted nervous weakness will manifest itself, 

 but as a rule the descendants of those whose systems 

 are poisoned by alcohol are enfeebled in body or mind or 

 both. 



476. But suppose a man to have derived from his ances- 

 tors a sound constitution and to have become addicted 

 to the moderate use of alcohol; the insidious nature of 

 the dangerous substance may gradually lead him to con- 

 sume, insensibly perhaps, only a little more than the cells 

 can oxidize. Without realizing it, he may slowly poison 

 his system. The primary effect is upon the brain ; there 

 is congestion and overexcitement of the nerve cells there 

 conditions which gradually extend to the nerve cells of the 

 spinal cord ; inflammation sets in, and there follows fibrous 

 degeneration of the tissues, substituting an inferior form 

 for the specialized tissues which do the work of the organs 

 in various parts of the body. Paralysis may result, or epi- 

 lepsy, or dyspepsia from lack of the due amount of nerv- 

 ous influence upon the digestive organs, or any one of a 

 thousand forms of disorder, some of which have been men- 

 tioned in preceding chapters. Though a man may never 

 drink to intoxication, and never realize that he is using 

 alcohol to excess, he may nevertheless become seriously 

 diseased in consequence of his moderate indulgence, 

 or what he believes to be such, while wondering why 

 he is not well and strong. Still less does he consider 

 the legacy of evil which he may be laying up for his 

 children. 



Life insurance companies have gathered an immense 

 body of statistics respecting human life, with sole refer- 

 ence to their bearing upon the business of insurance, and 



