ANovJe0mbefhl™•}      Fermented  and  Distilled  Liquors.  581 
does  not  compel  a  druggist  to  keep  or  sell  them  if  he  does  not  wish; 
but  it  does  compel  him,  if  he  sells  them  on  the  orders  of  physi- 
cians, to  sell  them  of  a  certain  quality,  or  violate  official  standards. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  u  liquors  "  were  not  officially  recognized,  there 
would  be  no  medicinal  standards,  and  the  sick  would  suffer.  A 
"  liquor  "  is  sold,  or  should  be  sold,  by  pharmacists  only  as  a  drug. 
If  sold  for  any  other  reason,  then  the  liquor-dealers  masquerading  as 
druggists  should  be  legislated  out  of  the  business.  The  sick  should 
not  be  punished  for  needing  liquors,  nor  denied  the  privilege  oi  ob- 
taining them  of  standard  quality. 
Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  in  his  paper,  claims  that  physiological  experi- 
ments have  shown  that  the  presence  of  alcohol  in  human  tissues 
retards  natural  metabolic  changes,  lessens  the  processes  of  oxida- 
tion and  elimination,  diminishes  nerve-sensibility,  and  when  re- 
peated from  day  to  day,  induces  cell  and  tissue  degeneration.  What 
the  changes  would  be  in  human  tissues  undergoing  abnormal  meta- 
bolic changes,  he  does  not  refer  to,  and  yet  the  clinical  value  of  a  drug 
is  an  all-important  factor.  Physiological  experiments  are  necessary, 
and  are  good  enough,  as  far  as  they  go;  but  unless  confirmed  by 
clinical  results,  they  are  not  conclusive. 
Further,  Dr.  Davis  alleges  that  while  the  present  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia  recognizes  wine,  whiskey  and  brandy,  it  11  does  not 
give  a  definite  official  standard  of  alcoholic  strength  for  either  of 
them."  This  is  an  error.  While  no  fixed  standard  is  given, 
yet  it  is  demanded  that  white  and  red  wine  shall  contain  10 
to  14  per  cent.,  whiskey  45  to  50  per  cent.,  and  brandy  39  to  47 
per  cent,  of  alcohol.  The  most  radical  claim,  however,  in  Dr. 
Davis'  paper,  and  the  one,  doubtless,  that  will  be  most  disputed  by 
clinicians,  is  the  assertion  that  alcohol  is  the  only  important  thera- 
peutic agent  in  all  "  liquors,"  and  if  other  therapeutic  agents  exist 
in  addition  to  alcohol,  that  their  proportionate  quantity  and 
quality  is  far  more  variable  than  is  their  per  cent,  of  alcohol. 
"  Almost  the  only  constituents,"  he  writes,  "  found  in  whiskey  and 
brandy,  besides  the  alcohol  and  water,  are  very  variable  quantities 
of  fusel  oil,  tannin  and,  in  very  old  specimens,  a  trace  of  some  ethe- 
real substance  to  which  connoisseurs  attribute  the  special  bouquet. 
So  far  from  adding  to  the  therapeutic  value,  the  first  two  substances 
are  regarded  as  very  undesirable  impurities,  and  the  last-named 
has  never  been  isolated  in  sufficient  quantity  to  have  its  medical 
qualities  tried." 
