ALCOHOL, A NARCOTIC 
479 
Among the men who admitted that they had taken alcohol oc¬ 
casionally to excess in the past, but whose habits were considered 
satisfactory when they were insured, there were 289 deaths, while 
there would have been only 190 deaths had this group been friade up 
of insured lives in general. The extra mortality was, therefore, over 
50 per cent, which was equivalent to a reduction of over four years in 
the average life of these men. If this meant that four years would 
be cut off the end of the average normal lifetime of each man, there 
are many who would consider that ‘ the game was worth the candle ’; 
but it means that in each year a number of men will die at an earlier 
age than they should. For example, at age 35, the expectation of life 
is 32 years: in the first year after that age, instead of, say, 9 persons 
dying, there would probably be 12 deaths; that is, three men would 
each lose 32 years of life; in the next year probably four men would 
each lose 31 years of life, etc. As a matter of fact, many immoderate 
drinkers would live longer than 32 years, but not nearly so many as 
would live if they had been moderate drinkers, and far fewer than if 
they had been total abstainers from alcohol.” 
366. Alcohol, a Narcotic. — Before studying this subject 
further we must understand the meaning of the terms 
poison, anesthetic (an-es-thet'ik), and narcotic. A poison 
is a substance which when taken into the body tends to .cause 
death. Aconite, opium, carbolic acid, and mercury are all 
poisons, and when taken in sufficient quantities cause death. 
An anesthetic is a substance like ether or chloroform, 
which when breathed into the lungs causes a temporary 
loss of sensation. Unless anesthetics are administered 
properly, they may cause death. 
A narcotic is a substance which causes dullness or stupor, 
and even a temporary relief from pain. 
To understand how alcohol comes to be classed as a 
narcotic, it is necessary to learn about a substance called 
lipoid (lip'oid : Greek, lipos , fat; eikos, like); and as you 
read about this substance in protoplasm, you will realize that 
the charges against alcohol have a real scientific basis. 
“Within recent years a new sort of body substance has been dis¬ 
covered, and has been elevated to first-rate importance. This new 
