All substances taken into the stomach as food are of three kinds, carbohydrates, proteids, and fats. This means, starch, sugars, meats, and fats, besides water and some salts.

Food substances carry their own complement of water, serve nutritive purposes when taken into the system, and are easily dissolved by the various fluids in the body.

Food may be taken into the system for three purposes: 1. Simply for the maintenance of health; 2. For fattening purposes; 3. For the sake of muscular energy.

The body, the human body, consists, speaking in general terms, of carbohydrates, fats, and proteids, and water and saline matters.

We have seen that the work done by the master tissues causes a loss, or produces a certain amount of waste material, consisting of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen, and some mineral matter—salts. This loss or waste has to be replaced in quantity and quality sufficient in order to maintain a healthy condition of the body.

And, since we know the precise, or almost the precise, quantity of material excreted, which consists of Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Hydrogen, etc., we can also estimate, with considerable precision, the quantity needed to replace it.

More than 41 per cent of the entire weight of the body is made up of muscular tissue. The nervous tissue constitutes not quite two per cent.

The chemical composition of muscular and nervous tissue—of the solid part only—is

The watery portion of the muscle is not mentioned. Please notice the large quantity of Carbon and the small quantity of Hydrogen in the composition of the solid part of the muscle.

We are aware that the muscles are always producing Carbonic Acid—that is, C and O₂—and when a muscle contracts, there is a sudden and extensive increase of the normal production.

The blood that comes from a contracting muscle is richer in Carbonic acid—that is, it contains one atom more of Carbon and two atoms of Oxygen more.

The blood that has passed through the lungs changes from venous to arterial blood. The venous discharges about 5 vols. of Carbonic acid (C O₂); the arterial carries away about 5 vols. of Oxygen (O) to the tissues.

The carbohydrates taken into the system:

About 32 ounces of saliva converts the starch into sugar. That is, the saliva changes starch (C₁₈ H₃₀ O₁₅) into sugar (C₆ H₁₁ O₅). Meats are acted upon by the gastric juice, it requiring about ten to twenty pints to dissolve three-quarters to one pound of meat-stuff; and the substances in the stomach are changed into chyme. The fats are emulsified by the gall from the liver—about 30 to 40 ounces for 3 to 4 ounces of fat. And the pancreatic juice completes the work and still farther dissolves all three kinds of substances, so that, with the aid of the succus entericus, the whole mass is changed into a substance called chyle. All the carbohydrates and proteids in solution, together with the fluids taken into the system, are taken up by the veins of the abdominal organs and conveyed by the portal vein to the liver. Passing through the liver, the blood is collected by the hepatic vein and emptied into the inferior vena cava. The fatty substances are taken up by the lacteals to the receptaculum chyli, passed up the thoracic duct, and poured into the left subclavian vein, which empties its contents into the superior vena cava.

Both streams of blood—venous blood—from the superior and inferior vena cava, pass into the right auricle, thence to the right ventricle, through the pulmonary artery into the lungs, there exchange the Carbonic acid for Oxygen, and return by means of the pulmonary veins into the left auricle, thence to the left ventricle, through the aorta into the general system—and to the master tissues.

In the tissues the Oxygen is taken up. That is, the Oxygen passes from the blood to the tissues and the tissues throw off the Carbonic acid, which the veins again carry to the right side of the heart.

Alcohol is composed of Carbon two (2), Hydrogen six (6), and Oxygen one (1) (C₂ H₆ O₁). Alcohol, like all poisonous substances, carries a small amount of Oxygen. In composition it resembles very much, and probably is, a union of C₂ H₄ + H₂ O, C₂ H₄ = ethane, olefiant gas, or heavy carburetted hydrogen. It is, in fact, a constituent of the gas we burn, procured from the destructive distillation of coal—in other words, coal gas. To make it plainer, ethane contains two of Carbon, four of Hydrogen + one molecule of water.

When alcohol is taken into the system, it is almost immediately absorbed by the veins of the stomach, is carried at once by the portal vein to the liver, and returns from the liver by way of the hepatic vein to the inferior vena cava, to the right auricle, and to the lungs through the right ventricle.

But the lungs cannot supply Oxygen enough to satisfy the Carbon of the alcohol. There is only one atom of Oxygen in the composition of alcohol, and three more atoms of Oxygen are needed to form Carbonic acid (C O₂). Under ordinary, normal conditions, Oxygen enough is inspired to satisfy the wants of the tissues for combustion purposes, but in the case of alcohol an extra demand for Oxygen is made, and the lungs are not prepared to supply the demand.

Since oxidation takes place in the tissues and not in the blood, the blood, being overcharged with heavy carburetted Hydrogen (C₂ H₄), unloads it into the tissue. The extra amount of Carbon arriving at the tissue, robs it of its Oxygen. The Oxygen arriving from the lungs being insufficient, the tissue loses Oxygen. The presence of Oxygen is necessary for the maintenance of irritability. From the fact that no free Oxygen is present in the muscular tissue the tension is nil or even less than nothing.

When the Carbon of the alcohol robs the tissues of its Oxygen, the Hydrogen is set free. What becomes of it? The muscular and nervous tissues contain from 51 to 54 per cent of Carbon in their composition, and 6 to 7 per cent of Hydrogen. The free Hydrogen combines with the Carbon of the tissues and forms carburetted Hydrogen, with which the blood gets overloaded, and carries it to the other tissues. The nervous system, the brain, not receiving the Oxygen necessary, in consequence of the blood being overcharged with both Carbonic acid and carburetted Hydrogen, the nervous substance is first impaired, next exhausted, and lastly its normal activity extinguished.

The muscles meantime through having been robbed of both Oxygen and Carbon—receiving no free Oxygen or very little—and through the presence in the circulating fluid of Carbonic acid and carburetted Hydrogen, lose the power to act. The cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, with all the other subordinate nervous centers, being impaired by the poison and the absence of Oxygen, the nerves of volition lose control, the cerebrum has its will power impaired or entirely subdued, and the cerebellum loses the power of muscular coÖrdination.

Thus, then, the master tissues become crippled. At first alcohol may have a stimulating effect on the nervous system; next, if the indulgence be continued, the nervous forces become exalted; finally, however, depression sets in, and proves at last a complete extinguisher of the intellectual faculties.

The muscles first lose the power of coÖrdination, the irritability and tension gradually cease, at length they refuse to act.

The brain and muscles being helpless, the body lies in a state of stupor, motionless. The individual is temporarily deprived of his mental faculties, incapacitated, and completely oblivious to all his surroundings. The involuntary organs, however, may act. The stomach may eject its contents, having lost consciousness and will power. The urine and feces may pass off involuntarily.

All organs have to suffer, but two more than all the rest—the liver and kidneys.

The function of the liver, as we have already seen, is the secretion of the bile. That organ has still another important duty to perform, and that is in converting the starchy substances, or its already converted sugars, in to glycogen = C₆ H₁₀ O₅. The metabolic activity of the hepatic cells lies in the formation of glycogene. Glycogene is a source of heat in the body. It is constantly present in the muscle, as a functional material no doubt. The chief purposes this substance serves are probably for respiration and production of animal heat.

We must bear in mind that fats are composed of C, H, and O, and that both fats and carbohydrates serve nutritive purposes. Whether any difference exists between the two we do not know at present, beyond the fact that in the final combination of the two, while carbohydrates require sufficient Oxygen only to combine with their Carbon, there being already sufficient Oxygen in the carbohydrate itself to form water with the Hydrogen, fats require in addition Oxygen to burn off some of their Hydrogen.

Alcohol is not convertible into glycogene. The six atoms of Carbon are complemented by five molecules of water: C₆ + 5 O H₂ = C₆ H{10} O₅. As already stated, alcohol (C₆ H₂ O) contains only one molecule of water (H₂ O + C₂ H₄ ethane). To convert the four of Hydrogen into water, two of Oxygen are needed—and to form Carbonic acid three of Oxygen are wanting.

In this connection we may ask, Is alcohol a food? No! Alcohol is in no sense a food!

As a stimulant it is very useful, in a certain class of exhausting diseases, but taken in large quantities alcohol acts as a slow poison.

The action of the alcohol, which must pass through the liver, is certainly not beneficial. On the contrary, the function of the organ is interfered with and the tissues of which the liver is composed slowly but surely undergo a degenerative process.

The alcoholic beverages differ. As for example, whisky, wine, and beer—of the three beer is probably the least injurious. By reason of the hops it contains it helps to allay nervous irritability. When taken continuously in large quantities, it leads to congestion of the liver and the accumulation of fat. Beer contains only four to five per cent of alcohol, or thereabout. The effect of beer on some individuals is somewhat similar, in the increase of size, to the remarkable growth of some aquatic plants, as the gourd, in which the vegetable tissue cells are very large and increase very rapidly.

The use of the stronger spirits leads to a degeneration of another kind—contraction of the liver, cirrhosis.

The kidneys are the next to suffer severely by the alcoholic fluids. The whole blood is purified by the kidneys. The transit is very rapid; the elimination of impurities must necessarily be rapid. The body under the normal condition eliminates Nitrogen chiefly; this is the urea and uric acid found in the diurnal excretion of urine of fifty-two ounces in the twenty-four hours. But if instead of a man drinking the ordinary allowance of fifty-two ounces of water, a man takes in several hundred ounces, as in the case of some beer-drinkers, it is evident that the kidneys have a great deal more work to perform than usual, in addition to the constant irritability the kidneys, like the liver and other organs, are subject to.

The sobering up of a man after a drunk, consists in receiving Oxygen sufficient in quantity into the tissues, to supply the amount he has lost. It takes several hours before sufficient Oxygen has been introduced into the tissues to establish the normal equilibrium.

The theories on alcohol are various. I quote some of the more important ones, briefly stated:

Liebig thought that alcohol disappeared by complete and rapid combustion.

Lallemand and Perrin entertained the theory that alcohol was eliminated by the excretory organs. (That means, perhaps, that alcohol simply promenaded through the system.)

Parks was of opinion that alcohol is directly absorbed by the blood-vessels without undergoing any change or decomposition.

Another theory was that alcohol is converted into acetic acid (C₂ H{4} O₂); and that acetic acid is split up into carbonic acid (C O₂) and water—which is impossible, as there is not Oxygen enough for both C O₂ and H₂ O.

It appears, then, that alcohol does not disappear by rapid combustion, except when taken in very small quantities and during a state of exhaustion, and then not by combustion. That alcohol is excreted there is no doubt, but when taken in large quantities it is not excreted without leaving its permanent mark behind it. Nor is it absorbed by the blood-vessels without undergoing any change or decomposition, otherwise it would be excreted by the kidneys and skin.

That the function of the brain is entirely suspended, for a time at least, needs no argument, because all will power is arrested, the nerves of special sense cease to act, all nerve-centers suspend operation, and the nerve-fibers no longer act as conductors of either motion or sensation. And the muscular tissues are no longer capable of irritation, stimulation, or coÖrdination; contraction, flexion, and extension have been temporarily annihilated; the force, the power, and the action have succumbed to the harmful influence of alcohol. And the cause of it all is—too much carburetted Hydrogen and the absence of Oxygen. This has unbalanced the elements that normally enter into the composition of the tissue both of muscle and nerve.

The master tissues, the nervous and muscular, that get drunk, they are the first to feel the stimulation, become excited, depressed, and exhausted.

And finally let us sum up some of the effects of alcohol on the system:

1. It is a source neither of heat nor of energy, nor can it be stored up for future use, nor can it be assimilated in the tissues.

2. Alcohol retards the motion of the blood.

3. It induces specific action after the manner of cumulative poisons.

4. By the veins and absorbents alcohol mixes with the blood, and immediately acts as a stimulant on all the tissues with which it is brought in contact.

5. It causes the retention of substances which ought to be eliminated.

6. It is shown by abundant testimony that the blood becomes surcharged with unchanged and unused material, and contains more Carbon than normally, at times as much as 20 to 30 per cent.

7. Alcoholic blood coagulates slowly and extravasates easily.

8. The susceptibility to disease is greater, the resisting force is diminished, and the healing process seriously interfered with.

9. Oxygen is diverted from its proper functions, the exhalation of carbonic acid at the lungs is diminished, both absolutely and relatively, but the pulmonary aqueous vapor is not lessened.

10. The functions of the brain are at once stimulated, and all other organs are excited, and a train of phenomena is induced partly of a chemical nature and partly of a physical or vital.

11. Alcohol produces a temporary increase of the heart’s action, and a congestion of the whole of the pulmonary capillaries.

12. It irritates the parts, stimulating the glandular secretions, leads to congestion of the blood-vessels, in time forms spurious melanotic deposits and a gradual thickening of the gastric substance.

13. Fat gradually is increased in the blood, and a milky character is imparted to the serum of the blood, and the red corpuscles in time assume a wrinkled and contracted appearance.

14. The water of the urine is diminished; the chlorides are greatly lessened, as well as the acids and bases.

Most people are concerned about themselves only to the extent of securing the immediate satisfaction of their senses. The superficial surroundings they utilize to cater to the enjoyment of such indulgences of acquired taste, habit, passion, feelings or emotions, as prove most gratifying to them, never thinking that their constitution is nothing more than a vitalized chemical machine, temporarily passing through its terrestrial cycle of physiological activity, beginning as a mass of protoplasm, and terminating, when it has gone through all the phases of animal existence, in the distribution of its chemical elements.

The deranging effect of alcohol on the nervous and muscular tissues may be compared to the working of an ordinary battery. We know that the action and the force depend on the elements that enter into the composition of the battery, fluids and solids, zinc and copper, and sulphuric acid—representing zinc, copper, sulphur, Oxygen, and Hydrogen. The action of the zinc and copper depends upon the fluids. Other fluids, though composed of three elements, would produce either not the same effect, or no effect at all. It stands to reason that, since we know the kind of fluid that will set the elements in action, we certainly should be very unwise to use another fluid that will either derange or destroy the battery’s working capacity. The forces or force are in this instance produced by the combination of certain elements, and in order to continue the activity or action of these elements one upon the other, a constant supply must be kept up. The mechanism of muscular action, or nervous action, depends upon the supply of certain elements; they are continually replacing elements that are used up in the work they have to perform—that is, the function of brain or muscle. The moment elements are introduced that do not or cannot make up the loss of the working expenditure, that tend rather to disorganize or decompose the tissues, the functions and the natural forces are interfered with, weakened, or may be brought to a standstill.

The effect of alcohol is much the same on all animals. I mean, that the master tissues of the lower animals will succumb to the influence of alcohol as readily as those of a human being. We know with certainty what gets drunk—where is the spiritual part of man? where is the soul? When the brain is intoxicated, its functions are more or less suspended, its controlling or governing action is lost over the muscular tissue, in addition to the muscles themselves being disabled. Both tissues, having been robbed of their elementary equilibrium, consequently cease working. The moment the equilibrium is reËstablished, the tissues assume their functions the same as before. If a given number of specific parts enter into the construction of any mechanism in order to produce a certain amount of force and effect, the number of specific parts must always be present if the same force and effect is to be realized. Brain and muscle are made up of a specific number of elements; these must be always present if we would have them produce the normal force and effect. When too much Carbon and Hydrogen and too little Oxygen are introduced into the system, as in the case of alcohol, the derangement of these elements is felt in the poisonous effect, because enough Oxygen cannot be supplied to keep up with the demand.