142 DANGERS FROM ALCOHOL AND DRUGS 



Susceptibilty to Disease Increased by Alcohol. — A good many 

 experiments have been made which prove that alcohol causes 

 increased susceptibility to disease. Recent experiments made by 

 Dr. E. G. Stillman at the Rockefeller Institute show that mice 

 intoxicated with alcohol have much less resistance to pneumonia 

 germs than normal mice. An experiment tried with influenza 

 germs showed a similar result. 



Death Rates in Different Occupations. — Recent reports from 

 England, where certain occupations give a special temptation to 



drink, show that if 100 be ac- 



Chesf 

 messi/re 



m 94 90'/^ WO 90 80'/^ 100 6756 



Effect of tobacco smoking as shown by 

 measurements of college students. The 

 first, white column represents 100 per 

 cent for non-smokers ; the second column, 

 the comparison for occasional smokers ; 

 and the third, for regular smokers. 



cepted as an average death rate, 

 the rate among brewers is 129, 

 among hotel keepers 160, and 

 among barkeepers 218. On the 

 other hand, the death rate 

 among clergymen is only 56, for 

 agricultural workers 60, and in 

 the medical profession 88. 



The Use of Tobacco. — A 

 well-known authority defines a 

 narcotic as a substance '^ which 

 directly induces sleep, blunts the 

 senses, and, in large amounts, 

 produces complete insensibility J ^ 

 Tobacco, opium, chloral, and co- 

 caine are examples of narcotics. 

 Tobacco owes its narcotic in- 

 fluence to a strong poison 



known as nicotine. Its use in killing insect parasites on plants is 

 well known. In experiments with jellyfish and other simply organ- 

 ized animals, the author has found as little as one part of nicotine 

 to one hundred thousand parts of sea water to be sufficient to affect 

 profoundly an animal placed within it. Nicotine in a pure form 

 is so powerful a poison that two or three drops would be suffi- 

 cient to cause the death of a man by its action upon the nervous 

 system, especially upon the nerves controlling the beating of the 

 heart. This action is well known among boys training for athletic 

 contests. The heart is affected and boys become "short-winded'^ 



