ALCOHOL, MUSCLE, AND BRAIN.
By Dio Lewis
WE put a drop of alcohol into a man's eye. It poisons it. We try it upon the lining of a living stomach. Again it poisons it. We study after death the stomachs of drinking men, and find that alcohol produces in regular stages, redness, intense congestion, morbid secretions, deeper hurt, destruction of parts, utter ruin. We study its influence upon the health and strength of sailors and soldiers, and find it helps to freeze them in the Arctic regions and exhaust them in the tropics. We watch two regiments on a long march in India, one with and the other without grog, and are driven to the conclusion that even moderate quantities of alcohol weaken the muscles and break the endurance. We visit the training grounds of oarsmen, pedestrians, and prize fighters, and learn everywhere the same lesson—alcohol is a poison to muscle and brain.—Dio Lewis.