8
1 ALCOHOLIC POISON.
minishes the patient's vitality.” Said Prof,
X ohn, M, D, “All medicines are poisonous.” But
ow does this help the matter? Tf medicines are
poisons, that fact only makes it so much the
worse for the drugs and no hetter for alcohol |
Does a Change of Name Change Properties ?
) ore we are met with the argument that alco-
ol, though a poison to the well, is still a wood
remedy for the sick. This paradoxical statement
: explained by the assumption that the condi-
ons I the system in disease are so different
from those present in health that the relations of
the vital organs to alcohol are totally changed
If this assumption is true, then teetotalism is
a terrible delusion; for where can a drunkard be
und whose system is not in a state of disease ?
1t 18 true, then what a curse to the world tem
perance reformers have been! How many r
formed No have been deprived of the ed.
cme” whic “curing” ! i
be Te Le curing” them! But is it
Does a simple change of location from the
whisky barrel to the druggist’s shelf change its
properties? Will a change of name make i
wholesome ? Will it make a negro white to call
him a Caucasian? Certainly not, Alcohol ig
poison because it cannot be used in the bod for
any useful purpose, and because it produces se-
rious disturbances in the vital processes Tt is
unfriendly to the tissues, and incompatible with
them. When a man is sick, are not his tissues
ALCOHOLIC MEDICATION, 85
essentially the same in character as when he is
well? Are not his muscles still composed of
muscular tissue ? his nerves of nerve tissue? his
bones of osseous tissue ? Certainly. Then since
the composition of alcohol also remains the same,
there can be no change in its relations to the tis-
sues.
Does Alcohol Supply Foroe?
Many years ago Prof. Liebig announced the
theory that alcohol was “ respiratory food.” By
the term respiratory food he meant that it un-
derwent combustion in the body and thus pro-
duced heat and developed force. All the moder-
ate drinkers and topers rejoiced at this supposed
discovery, and consoled themselves with the idea
that taking a whisky punch was only a pleas-
ant way of eating; and that a man when “ glori-
ously drunk,” was merely developing a tremen-
dous amount of force. But scientists ascer-
tained, after a time, that Prof. Liebig, to use the
language of Prof. Davy, F. R. S., “adduced po
physiological evidence in support of his asser-
tion.” Prof. Liebig observed that his neighbors
and most of his countrymen loved beer, wing,
and brandy ; he loved the beverages himself. He
observed also that nearly every nation employed
some kind of alcoholic drink. The very natural
conclusion in his mind was, alcohol is used in
"the body for some good purpose; and his theory
was merely an attempt to explain such a use.
If Liebig’s theory were true, then alcohal