354 HOW DOES MAN DETERMINE THE VALUE OF FOOD? 



among brewers is 129, among hotel keepers 160, and among 

 barkeepers 218. On the other hand, the death rate among clergy- 

 men is only 56, for agricultural workers 60, and in the medical 

 profession 88. 



Project. Try to obtain from your health department statistics which 

 will enable you to get the percentage of people who die from diseases brought 

 about or affected by alcohol. Estimate the number of deaths for the current 

 year. Compare with the number of deaths from the same causes before pro- 

 hibition. Make your comparison on a proportionate basis. 



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." Opium, chloral, 

 and cocaine are examples of narcotics. Tobacco owes its narcotic 

 influence 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 organized 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 sufficient to cause the death of a 

 man by its action upon the nervous system, especially upon the 

 nerves controlling the beating of the heart. It has been demon- 

 strated that tobacco has, too, an important effect on muscular 

 development. 



Practical Exercise 5. Why should boys in training stop smoking ? Make 

 a list of the harmful results which come from smoking. 



Self-Testing Exercise 



Check the correct statements for your workbook : 



T. F. 1. Tea, coffee, and alcohol are stimulants. 



T. F. 2. Cocoa and chocolate contain no stimulating material. 



T. F. 3. Alcohol may be a food as well as a poison. 



T. F. 4. A narcotic poison induces sleep by quickening the heart 

 action, thus producing insensibility. 



T. F. 5. Opium, chloral, nicotine, and cocaine are examples of nar- 

 cotics. They are all habit-forming drugs. 



