Am6cJt°oberPS7m' }     Therapeutic  Properties  of  Alcohol.  517 
individual's  consciousness  of  impressions,  not  only  from  without,  but 
also  from  within,  it  soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  universal  tonic 
and  restorative.  Its  supposed  tonic  and  restorative  effects  were 
based  wholly  on  the  sensations  and  movements  of  patients  or  indi- 
viduals under  the  influence  of  moderate  doses,  for  it  was  soon  demon- 
strated that  large  doses  directly  diminished  strength,  sensibility  and 
action.  But  when,  under  the  influence  of  moderate  doses,  the 
patient  said  he  felt  less  weak  or  weary,  felt  the  sensation  of  cold  or 
heat  as  painless,  felt  lighter  or  more  buoyant,  and  his  heart  was 
found  to  beat  faster,  it  was  perfectly  natural  for  both  physician  and 
patient  to  think  the  alcohol  was  acting  as  a  tonic  or  stimulant  and 
general  restorative.  It  was  not  until  the  advancement  in  analytic 
chemistry  and  the  physiology  of  all  parts  of  the  nerve  structures  of 
man,  coupled  with  the  researches  in  physics  and  biology  of  the  last 
half  century,  that  we  have  had  it  in  our  power  to  prove  the  incor- 
rectness of  these  conclusions  founded  on  the  sensations  and  actions 
of  the  patient  under  its  influence.  The  more  recent  chemico- physi- 
ologic researches  have  shown  more  clearly  the  composition  of  the 
blood  and  the  various  tissues  of  the  body,  and  especially  the  exist- 
ence and  functions  of  the  haemoglobin,  leucocytes  and  other  corpus- 
cular elements  of  both  blood  and  tissues,  and  the  part  each  plays  in 
the  reception  and  internal  distribution  of  oxygen,  with  its  effects  on 
all  the  metabolic  changes  in  living  bodies.  By  the  same  class  of  re- 
searches it  is  shown  that  alcohol,  diluted  with  water  and  taken  into 
the  stomach,  is  rapidly  absorbed  by  the  capillaries  and  is  conveyed 
in  the  blood  to  every  tissue  in  the  body,  and  by  its  presence  retards 
the  natural  metabolic  changes,  lessens  the  processes  of  oxidation  and 
elimination,  diminishes  nerve  sensibility  and,  when  repeated  from 
day  to  day,  induces  cell  and  tissue  degeneration.  By  the  more  re- 
cent studies  in  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  several  parts  of 
the  nervous  system,  it  has  been  shown  not  only  that  the  action  of  the 
heart  and  the  movement  of  the  blood  in  the  vessels  are  directly 
under  the  control  of  the  cardiac  and  vasomotor  nerves,  some  of  the 
fibres, of  which  are  exciters  of  action,  while  others  are  inhibitors,  by 
which  uniformity  and  harmony  is  maintained  in  the  circulation  of 
the  blood,  but  also  that  our  voluntary  movements  and  sensations  are 
manifested  by  the  cerebro-spinal  nerves,  having  their  exciters  and 
inhibitors  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  co-ordinate  muscular  contrac- 
tions and  relaxations  in  executing  all  complex  movements,  and 
