Part 21

One of the most striking properties of alcohol, and one which we shall hereafter consider in its disastrous effects upon the tissues of our body, is its affinity for water. [Footnote: Suppose, then, a certain measure of alcohol be taken into the stomach, it will be absorbed there, but, previous to absorption, it will have to undergo a proper degree of dilution with water; for there is this peculiarity respecting alcohol when it is separated by an animal membrane from a watery fluid like the blood, that it will not pass through the membrane until it has become charged, to a given point of dilution, with water. Alcohol is itself, in fact, so greedy for water that it will pick it up from watery textures, and deprive them of it until, by its saturation, its power of reception is exhausted, after which it will diffuse into the current of circulating fluid.

To illustrate this fact of dilution I perform a simple experiment. Into a bladder is placed a mixture consisting of equal parts of alcohol and distilled water. Into the neck of the bladder a long glass tube is inserted and firmly tied. Then the bladder is immersed in a saline fluid representing an artificial serum of blood. The result is, that the alcohol in the bladder absorbs water from the surrounding saline solution, and thereby a column of fluid passes up into the glass tube. A second mixture of alcohol and water, in the proportion this time of one part of alcohol to two of water, is put into another bladder immersed in like manner in an artificial serum. In this instance a little fluid also passes from the outside into the bladder, so that there is a rise of water in the tube, but less than in the previous instance. A third mixture, consisting of one part of alcohol with three parts of water, is placed in another little bladder, and is also suspended in the artificial serum. In this case there is, for a time, a small rise of fluid in the tube connected with the bladder; but after a while, owing to the dilution which took place, a current from within outward sets in, and the tube becomes empty. Thus each bladder charged originally with the same quantity of fluid contains at last a different quantity. The first contains more than it did originally, the second only a little more, the third a little less. From the third, absorption takes place, and if I keep changing and replacing the outer fluid which surrounds the bladder with fresh serum, I can in time, owing to the double current of water into the bladder through its coats, and of water and alcohol out of the bladder into the serum, remove all the alcohol. In this way it is removed from the stomach into the circulating blood after it has been swallowed. When we dilute alcohol with water before drinking it, we quicken its absorption. If we do not dilute it sufficiently, it is diluted in the stomach by transudation of water in the stomach, until the required reduction for its absorption; the current then sets in toward the blood, and passes into the circulating canals by the veins.--RICHARDSON.] When strong alcohol is exposed to the air, it absorbs moisture and becomes diluted; at the same time, the spirit itself evaporates. The commercial or proof spirit is about one half water; the strongest holds five per cent; and to obtain absolute or waterless alcohol, requires careful distillation in connection with some substance, as lime, that has a still greater affinity for water, and so can despoil the alcohol.

ALCOHOL IN ITS DESTRUCTIVE RELATION TO PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE.--If we pour a little quantity of strong spirits upon a growing plant in our garden or conservatory, we shall soon see it shrivel and die. If we apply it to insects or small reptiles which we may have captured for specimens in our cabinet, the same potent poison will procure for them a speedy death. If we force one of our domestic animals to take habitual doses of it, the animal will not only strongly protest against the unnatural and nauseous potion, but it will gradually sicken and lose all power for usefulness. "If I wished," says a distinguished English physician, "by scientific experiment to spoil for work the most perfect specimen of a working animal, say a horse, without inflicting mechanical injury, I could choose no better agent for the purpose of the experiment than alcohol." [Footnote: "The effects produced by alcohol are common, so far as I can discover, to every animal. Alcohol is a universal intoxicant, and in the higher orders of animals is capable of inducing the most systematic phenomena of disease. But it is reserved for man himself to exhibit these phenomena in their purest form, and to present, through them, in the morbid conditions belonging to his age, a distinct pathology. Bad as this is, it might be worse; for if the evils of alcohol were made to extend equally to animals lower than man, we should soon have none that were tamable, none that were workable, and none that were eatable."]

ALCOHOL IN WINE, BEER, AND CIDER IDENTICAL WITH ALCOHOL IN ARDENT SPIRITS.--In all liquors the active principle is alcohol. It comprises from six to eight per cent of ale and porter, seven to seventeen per cent of wine, and forty to fifty per cent of brandy and whiskey. All these may therefore be considered as alcohol more or less diluted with water and flavored with various aromatics. The taste of different liquors--as brandy, gin, beer, cider, etc.--may vary greatly, but they all produce certain physiological effects, due to their common ingredient--alcohol. "In whatever form it enters," says Dr. Richardson, "whether as spirit, wine, or ale, matters little when its specific influence is kept steadily in view. To say this man only drinks ale, that man only drinks wine, while a third drinks spirits, is merely to say, when the apology is unclothed, that all drink the same danger." In other words, the poisonous nature of alcohol, and the effects which result when it is taken into the stomach, are definite and immutable facts, which are not dependent upon any particular name or disguise under which the poison finds entrance.

We shall learn, as we study the influence of alcohol upon the human system, that one of its most subtle characteristics is the progressive appetite for itself (p. 185) which it induces, an appetite which, in many cases, is formed long before its unhappy subject is aware of his danger. The intelligent pupil, who knows how to reason from cause to effect, needs hardly to be told, in view of this physical truth, of the peril that lies in the first draught of any fermented liquor, even though it be so seemingly harmless as a glass of home-brewed beer or "slightly-beaded" cider. Few of us really understand our own inherent weakness or the hereditary proclivities (p. 186) that may be lurking in our blood, ready to master us when opportunity invites; but we may be tolerably certain that if we resolutely refuse to tamper with cider, beer, or wine, we shall not fall into temptation before rum, gin, or brandy. Since we know that in all fermented beverages there is present the same treacherous element, alcohol, we are truly wise only when we decline to measure arms in any way with an enemy so seductive in its advances, so insidious in its influence, and so terrible in its triumph. [Footnote: Aside from all considerations of physical, mental, and moral injury wrought by the use of alcoholic drinks, every young man may well take into account the damaging effect of such a dangerous habit upon his business prospects. Careful business men are becoming more and more unwilling to take into their employ any person addicted to liquor drinking. Within the past few years the officers of several railroads, having found that a considerable portion of their losses could be directly traced to the drinking habits of some one or more of their employés, have ordered the dismissal of all persons in their service who were known to use intoxicants, with the additional provision that persons thus discharged should never be reinstated. Many Eastern manufactories have adopted similar rules. All mercantile agencies now report the habits of business men in this respect, and some life insurance companies refuse to insure habitual drinkers, regarding such risks as "extra-hazardous."]

Let us now consider the physiological effects of alcohol upon the organs immediately connected with the circulation of the blood.

GENERAL EFFECT OF ALCOHOL UPON THE CIRCULATION.--During the experiment described on page 118, the influence of alcohol upon the blood may be beautifully tested. Place on the web of the frog's foot a drop of dilute spirit. The blood vessels immediately expand--an effect known as "Vascular enlargement." Channels before unseen open, and the blood disks fly along at a brisker rate. Next, touch the membrane with a drop of pure spirit. The blood channels quickly contract; the cells slacken their speed; and, finally, all motion ceases. The flesh shrivels up and dies. The circulation thus stopped is stopped forever. The part affected will in time slough off. Alcohol has killed it.

The influence of alcohol upon the human system is very similar. When strong, as in spirits, it acts as an irritant, narcotic poison (p. 142, note). Diluted, as in fermented liquors, it dilates the blood vessels, quickens the circulation, hastens the heart throbs, and accelerates the respiration.

THE EFFECT OF ALCOHOL UPON THE HEART.--What means this rapid flow of the blood? It shows that the heart is overworking. The nerves that lead to the minute capillaries and regulate the passage of the vital current through the extreme parts of the body, are paralyzed by this active narcotic. The tiny blood vessels at once expand. This "Vascular enlargement" removes the resistance to the passage of the blood, and a rapid beating of the heart results. [Footnote: Dr. B. W. Richardson's experiments tend to prove that this apparently stimulating action of alcohol upon the heart is due to the paralysis of the nerves that control the capillaries (Note, p. 208), which ordinarily check the flow of the blood (p. 117). The heart, like other muscles under the influence of alcohol, really loses power, and contracts less vigorously (p. 183). Dr. Palmer, of the University of Michigan, also claimed that alcohol, in fact, diminishes the strength of the heart. Prof. Martin, of Johns Hopkins University, from a series of carefully conducted experiments upon dogs, concluded that blood containing one fourth per cent of alcohol almost invariably diminishes within a minute the work done by the heart; blood containing one half per cent always diminishes it, and may reduce the amount pumped out by the left ventricle so that it is not sufficient to supply the coronary arteries. One hundred years ago, alcohol was always spoken of as a stimulant. Modern experiment and investigation challenged that definition, and it is now classified as a narcotic. There are, however, able physicians who maintain that, taken in small doses, and under certain physical conditions, it has the effect of a stimulant. All agree that, when taken in any amount, it tends to create an appetite for more.]

Careful experiments show that two ounces of alcohol--an amount contained in the daily potations of a very moderate ale or whiskey drinker--increase the heart beats six thousand in twenty-four hours;--a degree of work represented by that of lifting up a weight of seven tons to a height of one foot. Reducing this sum to ounces and dividing, we find that the heart is driven to do extra work equivalent to lifting seven ounces one foot high one thousand four hundred and ninety-three times each hour! No wonder that the drinker feels a reaction, a physical languor, after the earliest effects of his indulgence have passed away. The heart flags, the brain and the muscles feel exhausted, and rest and sleep are imperatively demanded. During this time of excitement, the machinery of life has really been "running down." "It is hard work," says Richardson, "to fight against alcohol; harder than rowing, walking, wrestling, coal heaving, or the treadmill itself."

All this is only the first effect of alcohol upon the heart. Long- continued use of this disturbing agent causes a "Degeneration of the muscular fiber," [Footnote: This "Degeneration" of the various tissues of the body, we shall find, as we proceed, is one of the most marked effects of alcoholized blood. The change consists in an excess of liquid, or, more commonly, in a deposit of fat. This fatty matter is not an increase of the organ, but it takes the place of a part of its fiber, thus weakening the structure, and reducing the power of the tissue to perform its function. Almost everywhere in the body we thus find cells--muscle cells, liver cells, nerve cells, as the case may be--changing one by one, under the influence of this potent disorganizer, into unhealthy fat cells. "Alcohol has been well termed," says the London Lancet, "the 'Genius of Degeneration.'"

The cause of this degeneration can be easily explained. The increased activity of the circulation compels a correspondingly increased activity of the cell changes: but the essential condition of healthful change--the presence of additional oxygen--is wanting (see p. 143), and the operation is imperfectly performed.--BRODIE.] so that the heart loses its old power to drive the blood, and, after a time, fails to respond even to the spur of the excitant that has urged it to ruin.

INFLUENCE UPON THE MEMBRANES.--The flush of the face and the bloodshot eye, that are such noticeable effects of even a small quantity of liquor, indicate the condition of all the internal organs. The delicate linings of the stomach, heart, brain, liver, and lungs are reddened, and every tiny vein is inflamed, like the blushing nose itself. If the use of liquor is habitual, this "Vascular enlargement," that at first slowly passed away after each indulgence, becomes permanent, and now the discolored, blotched skin reveals the state of the entire mucous membrane.

We learned on page 55 what a peculiar office the membrane fills in nourishing the organs it enwraps. Anything that disturbs its delicate structure must mar its efficiency. Alcohol has a wonderful affinity for water. To satisfy this greed, it will absorb moisture from the tissues with which it comes in contact, as well as from their lubricating juices. The enlargement of the blood vessels and their permanent congestion must interfere with the filtering action of the membrane. In time, all the membranes become dry, thickened, and hardened; they then shrink upon the sensitive nerve, or stiffen the joint, or enfeeble the muscle. The function of these membranes being deranged, they will not furnish the organs with perfected material, and the clogged pores will no longer filter their natural fluids. Every organ in the body will feel this change.

EFFECT UPON THE BLOOD. [Footnote: Alcohol acts upon the oxygen carrier, the coloring matter of the red corpuscles, causing it to settle in one part of the globule, or even to leave the corpuscle, and deposit itself in other elements of the blood. Thus the red corpuscle may become colorless, distorted, shrunken, and even entirely broken up--Dr. G. B. HARRIMAN.]-- From the stomach, alcohol passes directly into the circulation, and so, in a few minutes, is swept through the entire system. If it be present in sufficient amount and strength, its eager desire for water will lead it to absorb moisture from the red corpuscles, causing them to shrink, change their form, harden, and lose some of their ability to carry oxygen; it may even make them adhere in masses, and so hinder their passage through the tiny capillaries.--RICHARDSON.

With most persons who indulge freely in alcoholic drinks, the blood is thin, the avidity of alcohol for water causing the burning thirst so familiar to all drinkers, and hence the use of enormous quantities of water, oftener of beer, which unnaturally dilutes the blood. The blood then easily flows from a wound, and renders an accident or surgical operation very dangerous.

When the blood tends, as in other cases of an excessive use of spirits, to coagulate in the capillaries, [Footnote: The blood is rendered unduly thin, or is coagulated, according to the amount of alcohol that is carried into the circulatory system. "The spirit may fix the water with the fibrin, and thus destroy the power of coagulation; or it may extract the water so determinately as to produce coagulation. This explains why, in acute cases of poisoning by alcohol, the blood is sometimes found quite fluid, at other times firmly coagulated in the vessels."--B. W. RICHARDSON.]

Reckless persons have sometimes drunk a large quantity of liquor for a wager, and, as the result of their folly, have died instantly. The whole of the blood in the heart having coagulated, the circulation was stopped, and death inevitably ensued.] there is a liability of an obstruction to the flow of the vital current through the heart, liver, lungs, etc., that may cause disease, and in the brain may lay the foundation of paralysis, or, in extreme cases, of apoplexy.

Wherever the alcoholized blood goes through the body, it bathes the delicate cells with an irritating narcotic poison, instead of a bland, nutritious substance.

EFFECT UPON THE LUNGS.--Here we can see how certainly the presence of alcohol interferes with the red corpuscles in their task of carrying oxygen. "Even so small a quantity as one part of alcohol to five hundred of the blood will materially check the absorption of oxygen in the lungs."

The cells, unable to take up oxygen, retain their carbonic-acid gas, and so return from the lungs, carrying back, to poison the system, the refuse matter the body has sought to throw off. Thus the lungs no longer furnish properly oxygenized blood.

The rapid stroke of the heart, already spoken of, is followed by a corresponding quickening of the respiration. The flush of the cheek is repeated in the reddened mucous membrane lining the lungs.

When this "Vascular enlargement" becomes permanent, and the highly albuminous membrane of the air cells is hardened and thickened as well as congested, the Osmose of the gases to and fro through its pores can no longer be prompt and free as before. Even when the effect passes off in a few days after the occasional indulgence, there has been, during that time, a diminished supply of the life-giving oxygen furnished to the system; weakness follows, and, in the case of hard drinkers, there is a marked liability to epidemics. [Footnote: There is no doubt that alcohol alters and impairs tissues so that they are more prone to disease.--DR. G. K. SABINE. A volume of statistics could be filled with quotations like the following: "Mr. Huber, who saw in one town in Russia two thousand one hundred and sixty persons perish with the cholera in twenty days, said: 'It is a most remarkable circumstance that persons given to drink have been swept away like flies. In Tiflis, with twenty thousand inhabitants, every drunkard has fallen,--all are dead, not one remaining.'"]

Physicians tell us, also, that there is a peculiar form of consumption known as Alcoholic Phthisis caused by long-continued and excessive use of liquor. It generally attacks those whose splendid physique has enabled them to "drink deep" with apparent impunity. This type of consumption appears late in life and is considered incurable. Severe cases of pneumonia are also generally fatal with inebriates. [Footnote: The Influence of Alcohol is continued in the chapter on Digestion.]

PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.

1. Why does a dry, cold atmosphere favorably affect catarrh?

2. Why should we put on extra covering when we lie down to sleep?

3. Is it well to throw off our coats or shawls when we come in heated from a long walk?