Drunkard's Arguments Answered.
The aristocratic toper, who wishes to give an air of respectability to his vice, will claim that alcohol is a food. He will cite in proof instances in which persons have lived for weeks by the aid of no other nutriment, taking nothing but alcohol and water. This semblance of argument scarcely needs exposure; for the most that can be claimed is that it proves merely that persons have lived several weeks while taking only alcohol and water. The fact that individuals have in several instances been known to live from thirty to sixty days while taking only water, shows conclusively that those persons who lived a shorter time, on brandy and water lived in spite of the alcohol instead of by the aid of it. A conclusive evidence that alcohol is not a food is found in the fact that when taken into the system it undergoes no change. It is alcohol in287the stomach, alcohol in the blood, alcohol in the brain, in the liver, in all the tissues and alcohol in the breath, in the perspiration, and in all the excretions. In short, alcohol is not used in the body, but leaves it as it enters, a rank poison. 2. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES PRESERVE THE BODY.
Alcohol is a powerful antiseptic. An apple or the body of an animal placed in the fluid, cannot undergo decomposition. From this, some lovers of the article are very ready to infer that the use of alcohol will prevent decomposition of the tissues of the body, and thus tend to its preservation. A greater fallacy could not be conceived. Corrosive sublimate, blue vitriol, copperas, and carbolic acid are excellent antiseptics; but who would think of taking either of these articles for the purpose of prolonging life? But if alcohol did really hinder the destruction of the tissues, so as to prevent the natural process of disintegration, it would still be very injurious; for all the processes of life are dependent upon destructive changes of tissue; and hence, anything which would hinder this process would hinder vital action, would interfere with the life processes which are essential to the manifestation of life. But it can be shown that the evidence upon which the scientific advocates of the use of alcohol base their arguments is quite unsatisfactory. They claim to find that the body wastes less while a person is using alcohol than when abstaining, the other conditions being the same. Hence, they tell us alcohol prevents vital changes, and so saves the body from wearing out. With this view they recommend the use of liquor to those who are obliged to undergo any hardship, or to perform any severe physical labor. Let us examine this argument. It is found that the urine and other excretions contain less of the worn-out material of the tissues when a person is using alcohol, than when he is abstaining. From this alone it is concluded that alcohol prevents the wearing out or disintegration of tissue—a most astonishing conclusion. No one but a man stoutly prejudiced in favor of alcohol would think of forming such a conclusion. A far more rational deduction from the premises would be that the presence of alcohol in the system prevents the excretory organs from eliminating from the body the dead and poisonous products which result from the wearing out of the tissues. This conclusion would seem to be far more reasonable, since alcohol itself is a poison, which is thrown out by the same organs whose proper function it is to remove the debris of the tissues. These organs cannot perform more than a certain amount of labor. If most of their activity is expended in eliminating alcohol, of course they can perform less of their proper labor, and so the dead products of disorganization will be left to accumulate in the body and produce a deceptive increase of weight. It is by this means that the drunkard often acquires a bloated appearance. Every one knows that such an accumulation of tissue is not healthy flesh; yet it is of the same character as that which leads some prejudiced scientists to pronounce in favor of alcoholic beverages as a preventive of waste. Surely, such science must be of the kind referred to by the apostle Paul when he spoke of “science falsely so-called.” 3. ALCOHOL STRENGTHENS THE MUSCLES.
The laborer, the traveler, and the soldier use alcohol under the delusion that it strengthens. When fatigued, the laborer takes a glass of grog and feels better, or thinks he does. He imagines himself stronger. His increased strength, however, is wholly a matter of the imagination. Alcohol cannot strengthen the muscles; it simply paralyzes a man's nerves so he does not know he is tired, just as chloroform paralyzes the nerves so that a limb may be severed from the body without the patient's knowledge. Numerous experiments have shown that alcohol decreases muscular strength. Says Dr. Brinton, “The smallest quantity takes somewhat from the strength of the muscles.” Says Dr. Edmunds, of London, “A stimulant is that which gets strength out of a man instead of putting it into him.” 4. ALCOHOL WARMS THE BODY.
The sensation of warmth produced by taking a glass of wine or brandy is delusive. The circulation is unbalanced, and for a few moments there is a seeming increase of heat; but the thermometer shows that the temperature is lessened. Says Dr. Parkes, the eminent English sanitarian, “All observers condemn the use of spirits, and even of wine or beer, as a preventive against cold.” The names of D. King, Dr. Kane, Captain Kennedy, and Dr. Hayes, may be cited as holding to this opinion. In the last expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, the whole crew were teetotalers. In the Russian army no soldier who has taken spirits is allowed to march in cold weather.—Health Tract, No. 12.