136 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[August 13, 1870. 
ROYAL SOCIETY. 
May 19, 1870. 
Experiments on the Effects of Alcohol on the 
Human Body. 
BY DE. E. A. PARKES AND COUNT C. WOLLOWICZ. 
An important series of experiments on this subject has 
been made conjointly by the authors. Their object was 
to ascertain the physiological and dietetic effects of alco¬ 
hol on the human body in a state of health. The plan of 
observation was as foilows: For twenty-eight days a man, 
an intelligent healthy soldier, remained on a diet precisely 
similar as to food and times of meals in every respect, 
except that for the first eight days he took only water (in 
the shape of coffee, tea, and simple water); for the next 
six days he added to this diet rectified spirit, in such 
proportion, that he took in divided quantities, on the first 
day 1 fluid ounce of absolute alcohol; on the second day 
2 fluid ounces ; on the third 4 ounces ; and on the fifth 
and sixth days 8 ounces on each day. He then returned 
to water for six days, and then for three days took each 
day half a bottle (12 ounces) of fine brandy, containing 
48 per cent, of alcohol. Then for three days he returned 
to water. There were thus five periods, viz. of water 
drinking, alcohol, water, brandy, water. And for ten 
days before the experiments were commenced, the man, 
a beer drinker usually, abstained from any alcoholic 
liquid for ten days. The food taken was all weighed, it 
was the ordinary diet. The general results obtained may 
now be very briefly summed up. It would seem first of 
all that, other conditions remaining the same, the weight 
of the body is unaffected by the taking of alcohol. With 
regard to temperature, we are told “ that the general re¬ 
sult from all observations surprised us (the observers), 
considering the numerous experiments on men and ani¬ 
mals in which the temperature has been found to be 
lowered by alcohol.” The tendency, indeed, was rather 
in the opposite direction, especially with the brandy. 
The alcohol was, however, never pushed far, because the 
object was not to induce any narcotism, but to ascertain 
its dietetic value; and the discrepancy involved in the ob¬ 
servations of Drs. Parkes and Wollowicz may be in part 
further explained by the fact that the individual experi¬ 
mented upon possessed a perfectly healthy resisting, and 
not a diseased or weakened organism. The diminution 
of temperature by large and narcotic doses is not dis¬ 
puted ; all that our experimenters affirm is that with a 
small amount of alcohol, and a good supply of food, the 
temperature is not diminished. The effects on the cir¬ 
culation described are very interesting. The pulse was 
not only more frequent and fuller when alcohol and 
brandy were used, but the increased frequency was per¬ 
sistent after the omission of the alcohol. The pulse had 
not reached in six days the point which was proper to it 
before the alcohol was given. 
The first day of alcohol gave an excess of 4, the last 
23 per cent, in the beats of the heart, that is, an excess 
of 13 per cent, as a mean of six days. This, on calcula¬ 
tion, amounts to an excess in the daily work of the heart 
equal to lifting 15’8 tons one foot during the first two, 
and 24 tons during the last two days of the alcoholic 
period. On the fifth and sixth days after the alcohol 
was left off, when its elimination was complete, the 
heart showed in the sphygmographic tracings signs of 
unusual feebleness; and when subsequently brandy was 
given, it was clear that it was acting upon a heart 
whose nutrition had not been perfectly restored. The 
observers say that it is evident that in the man experi¬ 
mented upon, the amount of alcohol the heart will bear 
without losing its healthy sphygmographic tracing is 
small, and it must be supposed that eventually some dis¬ 
ease of the heart will follow the excitement induced by 
large doses of alcohol. The action on the kidneys of a 
moderate amount of alcohol is not marked; the amount 
of water eliminated is rather increased; no change 
takes place as regards the nitrogen when the ingress of 
nitrogen is constant,— certainly it is not diminished in 
amount. This conclusion is antagonistic to the observa¬ 
tions formerly made on the point, which indicated that 
nitrogen is retained in considerable amount in the body 
under the exhibition of alcohol, which in this way in¬ 
creases assimilation, and when food is deficient saves the 
tissues from waste. 
Little change is also effected in the phosphoric acid, 
the chlorine, and the free acidity of the urine.. The 
elimination of nitrogen by the bowels was not lessened. 
The elimination of alcohol by the lungs was marked; 
indeed a good deal must have been got rid of in this 
way,—by the skin considerable, by the kidneys slight. 
Drs. Parkes and'Wollowicz think that, though not ex¬ 
cessive at any one time, the exit is longer continued 
than Anstie and Dupre suppose. 
Special note was taken of the effect of alcohol on di¬ 
gestion and appetite. It seems that in the man under 
observation some point near two fluid ounces of absolute 
alcohol is the limit of useful action on appetite. It might 
have been found to be less, had the experiments been con¬ 
tinued. Further, although large doses interfered with 
the appetite, they did not interfere with or retard primary 
digestion, as far as could be seen, nor the normal chemi¬ 
cal changes that result in the elimination of nitrogenous 
excreta, phosphoric acid, and the like. In a word, no evi¬ 
dence was forthcoming to show that alcohol either saved 
or exhausted the tissues; that is to’say, the good or evil 
ascribed to alcohol in this direction was not observed by 
Dr. Parkes and Dr. Wollowicz in the healthy man. 
It may be, of course, different in disease. The effect 
on the nervous system was shown only by subjective 
symptoms,—headache, heaviness, loss of cheerfulness 
and alacrity, torpor and sleepiness; and narcotism was 
induced by an amount of alcohol less than 4 and nearer 
2 ounces daily, and the experimenters conclude that 
the narcotism, the loss of appetite, and the increased fre¬ 
quency in the heart’s beats, are related to the common 
cause, viz. implication of the nervous system. The gene¬ 
ral inference of the experimenters on this point is that 
something under 2 fluid ounces of alcohol could be 
taken daily without harm by the man under observation. 
The following are the final conclusions given by Dr. 
Parkes and his coadjutor. “ It will be seen that the ge¬ 
neral result of our experiments is to confirm the opinion 
held by physicians as to what must be the indications of 
alcohol in health and disease. The effects on appetite 
and on circulation are the practical points to seize; and 
if we are correct in our inferences, the commencement of 
narcotism marks the point when both appetite and cir¬ 
culation will be damaged. As to the metamorphosis of 
nitrogenous tissue, it seems improbable that alcohol in 
quantities that can be properly used in diet has any 
effect; it appears to us unlikely (in the face of the che¬ 
mical results) that it can enable the body to perform 
more work on less food, though by quickening a failing 
heart it may enable work to be done which otherwise could 
not be so. It may then act like the spur in the hide of the 
horse, eliciting force, though not supplying it.” The ex¬ 
perimenters, whilst recognizing further the great practi¬ 
cal use of alcohol in raising a failing appetite, exciting a 
feeble heart, and accelerating a languid capillary circu¬ 
lation, are strongly impressed with the need of moderation 
and caution in its use. They do not deal with diseased 
conditions, but only a state of health, and do not refer at 
all to the action of wine or beer. 
The Academy of Sciences at Paris will bestow this 
year a prize of 5000 francs for the best essay, “On the 
Use of Electricity in Medicine,” and two prizes in 
botany, each of the value of 3000 francs. 
Pencils of Sulphate of Copper. —M. Herbelin, ot 
Nantes, rubs a crystal of sulphate of copper on a moist 
stone covered with fine sand, until a pencil i3 produced. 
^—Repertoire cle Pharmacie. 
