ALCOHOL 151 



to the moderate use of alcohol under normal conditions, and especially 

 in its bearing on the therapeutical action of the various alcoholic drinks 

 administered in cases of disease. 



Taken in moderate quantity, alcohol usually produces a certain de- 

 gree of nervous exaltation which gradually passes off. In some individ- 

 uals the mental faculties are sharpened by alcohol, while in others they 

 are blunted. There is nothing, indeed, more variable than the immediate 

 effects of alcohol on different persons. In large doses the effects are 

 the well-known phenomena of intoxication, delirium, more or less anes- 

 thesia, coma, and sometimes, if the quantity is excessive, death. As a 

 rule, the mental exaltation produced by alcohol is followed by reaction 

 and depression, except in debilitated or exhausted conditions of the 

 system, when alcohol seems to supply a decided want. 



The views of physiologists concerning the influence of a moderate 

 quantity of alcohol on the nervous system are somewhat conflicting. 

 That it may temporarily give tone and vigor to the system when the 

 energies are unusually taxed, can not be doubted ; but this effect is not 

 produced in all individuals. The constant use of alcohol may create an 

 apparent necessity for it, producing a condition of the system that must 

 be regarded as pathological. 



The immediate effects of the ingestion of a moderate quantity of 

 alcohol, continued for a few days, are decided. It notably diminishes 

 the exhalation of carbon dioxide and the discharge of other excrementi- 

 tious matters, particularly urea. These facts have long since been ex- 

 perimentally demonstrated. Proper mental and physical exercise, 

 tranquillity of the nervous system, and all conditions that favor vigorous 

 nutrition and development of the organism physiologically increase, 

 rather than diminish, the quantity of the excretions, correspondingly 

 increase the demand for food, and if continued, are of permanent benefit. 

 Alcohol, on the other hand, diminishes the activity of nutrition. If its 

 use is long continued, the assimilative powers become so weakened that 

 the proper quantity of food can not be appropriated, and alcohol is craved 

 to supply a self-engendered want. The organism may, in many in- 

 stances, be restored to its physiological condition by discontinuing the 

 use of alcohol ; but it usually is some time before the nutritive powers 

 become active, and alcohol, meanwhile, seems absolutely necessary to 

 existence. 



Under ordinary conditions, when the organism can be adequately 

 supplied with food, alcohol is injurious. When the quantity of food is 

 insufficient, alcohol may supply the want for a time and temporarily 

 restore the powers of the body ; but the effects of its continued use, 

 conjoined with insufficient nourishment, show that it can not take the 



