The effect of alcohol upon the skin depends upon the strength of the preparation. It causes a cooling sensation because of the rapid evaporation. If evaporation is prevented, it causes redness, irritation, and inflammation. If alcohol placed on the skin is covered by a watch crystal, it will produce a blister. It dissolves the fat, and continuous applications will harden the skin; because alcohol has a great affinity for water, and abstracts the moisture from the skin. Alcohol is used by many surgeons in preparing their hands for surgical work, because it is considered to be antiseptic and disinfecting. It also has an astringent action upon the blood vessels in the skin when first applied, as well as a slight anaesthetic effect.
IN THE MOUTH AND THROAT.
Here the action of alcohol is very much the same as on the skin. The effect is more decided, as the mucous membrane of the mouth is much more susceptible. It produces a marked sensation of warmth because of the irritation of the nerve endings and a dilatation of the blood vessels. Strong alcohol produces a burning sensation, and in one unaccustomed to its use, it produces blistering followed by ulceration.
It also abstracts water from the mucous surface; and in the course of time the tissues of the throat become hardened, interfering very much with the voice, and modifying the tone in singing.
IN THE STOMACH.
One of the first effects of alcohol in the stomach is the producing of a sensation of warmth, which rapidly diffuses all over the body. It is this sensation that drinkers crave. It is one of the powerful influences that draws a man into a saloon even when he wishes to avoid drinking. The craving finally becomes so all-absorbing that reason and self-restraint yield, and he gives way to his passion. Alcohol in very dilute solutions acts as an irritant to the sensitive coat of the stomach, and so causes an increased flow of fluids, — an effort of nature to protect itself. It causes a dilatation of the blood vessels of the stomach, and hence marked congestion of this organ. If the alcohol is very strong, or is taken in large quantities, the passive congestion is so extreme that the stomach is almost black. This is usually the condition in delirium tremens. Because of its irritant properties, alcohol causes an excessive flow of mucus into the stomach, and so catarrhal conditions are common. Because of its anaesthetic properties, it paralyzes the nerve endings in the stomach, and prevents them from making protest against this outrage. One under the influence of alcohol never knows when he has eaten and drunk enough.
Alcohol causes nausea and vomiting. Strong drinks, when taken into an empty stomach, act like any other poison. An ounce of pure alcohol poured into the stomach of a dog will cause instant death. The papers are constantly reporting the death of young children who accidentally get hold of a bottle of whisky or brandy left within their reach. The continued use of alcoholic drinks destroys the little glands that form the gastric juice, and because of the stagnation of the blood, ulceration results. It hardens and thickens the wall by causing connective tissue to form in the place of the glands, thus producing permanent structural changes.
ON DIGESTION.
All scientific investigators are agreed that alcohol in large quantities is a poison, but as to its action and benefits when taken in moderate doses, there is great diversity of opinion, and there has been waged for years a vigorous contest upon this question.
Alcohol precipitates the pepsin, or throws it out of the gastric juice, preventing its action in the digestion of food. It likewise precipitates albumen and peptones, and at the same time abstracts the water from these substances, rendering them hard and indigestible. This action, however, varies according to the strength of the alcoholic drink. Alcohol weakens and slows muscular contractions, hence it diminishes the peristaltic movements of the stomach and intestines. As long as alcohol remains in the stomach, digestion is retarded. Professor Chittenden and Dr. Mendel, of Yale University, undertook elaborate experiments three years ago to determine the effects of alcohol upon digestion, and they found that digestion was retarded in every case in which alcohol was present exceeding two per cent. In a few cases the process was slowed by one-half per cent. Beer, one of the most freely used drinks to-day, contains from four to seven per cent of alcohol.
Alcohol diminishes or destroys the sense of hunger by depressing the sensory nerve endings; so we see that when a man is drinking heavily for several days, he is disinclined to take much food. Even this is an effort on the part of nature to save the man's life; for when he does take food, he never knows when he has had enough. Alcohol is less intoxicating when taken on a full stomach, for it is more slowly absorbed, and hence enters the blood in small quantities. This accounts for the prevalence of the social drink taken at the close of the meal. A drink that would make a man drunk if taken into an empty stomach may not cause intoxication when taken after a full meal, although the ultimate effort is just the same, being distributed through a longer period of time.
ON THE BLOOD.
Alcohol is absorbed from the stomach and intestine, and circulates in the blood as alcohol. It unites with the water and hardens the albumen in the blood, and so interferes with its incorporation into the living tissues; it abstracts water from the red blood cells, causes the cell to shrink, and lessens its oxygen-carrying powers, preventing the hemoglobin of the blood from parting with its oxygen; hence it directly interferes with the vital process of oxidation, so necessary to a healthy organism. The blood elements being robbed of water, the fluid must necessarily be restored, and so intense thirst is created to replenish the waste. The drinker feels that nothing will quench the thirst but alcoholic drinks, and so one drink leads to more.
Alcohol is a much more decided irritant in the blood than it is in the skin; so as it circulates through the liver, it acts as an irritant; it irritates the heart, the brain, the nerves, the lungs, the kidneys, and the sexual organs. Alcohol abstracts water from the walls of the blood-vessels, and in the course of a few years the drinker has arterio-sclerosis, or a hardening of the arteries; furthermore the vessels are exceedingly brittle, especially the blood vessels of the brain, and apoplexy is often threatened.