METABOLISM, NUTRITION AND DIETETICS 551 



dined off a cup of chocolate, and beat combined Europe on it ; 

 but his ordinary menu was much more varied and substantial. 



Alcohol. The great social and hygienic evils connected with 

 the abuse of alcohol, as well as its applications in therapeutics, 

 render it necessary, or at least permissible, to state a little more 

 fully, though only in the form of summary, some of the chief 

 conclusions that may be drawn as to its action and uses. 



(1) In small quantities alcohol is oxidized in the body, a little 

 of it, however, being excreted unchanged in the breath and 

 urine. A certain amount of protein is saved from decomposi- 

 tion when alcohol is taken, just as when fat or sugar is taken. 

 For example, the addition of 130 grammes of sugar to the daily 

 food of an individual caused a ' sparing ' of 03 gramme nitrogen. 

 The substitution of 72 grammes alcohol for the sugar caused 

 0-2 gramme nitrogen to be spared (Atwater and Benedict). 

 Alcohol is therefore to some extent a food substance, although 

 it is not, under ordinary circumstances, taken for the sake of the 

 energy its oxidation can supply, but as a stimulant. 



(2) There is no reason to suppose that this energy cannot be 

 utilized as a source of work in the body. Indeed, a certain amount 

 of alcohol seems to be normally formed in the tissues as one of 

 the intermediate products in the oxidation of sugar. Heat can 

 certainly be produced from it, but this is far more than counter- 

 balanced by the increase in the heat loss which the dilatation 

 of the cutaneous vessels caused by alcohol brings about. 



(3) It is a valuable drug, when judiciously employed, in certain 

 diseases e.g., pneumonia and puerperal insanity (Clouston). 



(4) Alcohol is occasionally of use in disorders not amounting 

 to serious disease e.g., in some cases of slow and difficult 

 digestion. In these cases it may act by increasing the flow of 

 certain of the digestive secretions, as saliva and gastric juice. 

 This effect seems to more than counterbalance the retarding 

 influence which, except when well diluted, it exerts on the 

 chemical processes of digestion. 



(5) Alcohol is of no use for healthy men. 



(6) Alcohol in strictly moderate doses,* properly diluted and 

 especially when taken with the food, is not harmful to healthy 

 men, living and working under ordinary conditions. 



(7) Modern experience goes to show that in severe and con- 

 tinuous exertion, coupled with exposure to all weathers, as in 

 war and in exploring expeditions, alcohol is injurious, and it is 

 well known that it must be avoided in mountain climbing. 



Tea, coffee, and cocoa are more suitable stimulants for healthy 

 persons, because they are less dangerous than alcohol, and they 



* Not more than i| oz. of absolute alcohol, corresponding to about 

 4 oz. of whisky, or 2 to 3 wineglasses of sherry or port, or a pint of claret, 

 or a couple of pints of light beer in 24 hours. 



