tion in all
moral questions and in the general affairs of life, are often so blind,
or infatuated here, as to affirm that this substance, alcohol, which
they use under the various forms of wine, brandy, whisky, gin, ale or
beer, is not only harmless, when taken in moderation--each being his own
judge as to what "moderation" means--but actually useful and nutritious!

Until within the last fifteen or twenty years, a large proportion of the
medical profession not only favored this view, but made constant
prescription of alcohol in one form or another, the sad results of which
too often made their appearance in exacerbations of disease, or in the
formation of intemperate habits among their patients. Since then, the
chemist and the physiologist have subjected alcohol to the most rigid
tests, carried on often for years, and with a faithfulness that could
not be satisfied with guess work, or inference, or hasty conclusion.

ALCOHOL NOT A FOOD AND OF DOUBTFUL USE AS A MEDICINE.

As a result of these carefully-conducted and long-continued examinations
and experiments, the medical profession stands to-day almost as a unit
against alcohol; and makes solemn public declaration to the people that
it "is not shown to have a definite food value by any of the usual
methods of chemical analysis or physiological investigations;" and that
as a medicine its range is very limited, admitting often of a
substitute, and that it should never be taken unless prescribed by a
physician.

Reports of these investigations to which we have referred have appeared,
from time to time, in the medical journals of Europe and America, and
their results are now embodied in many of the standard and most reliable
treatises and text-books of the medical profession.

In this chapter we shall endeavor to give our readers a description of
the changes and deteriorations which take place in the blood, nerves,
membranes, tissues and organs, in consequence of the continued
introduction of alcohol into the human body; and in doing so, we shall
quote freely from medical writers, in order that our readers may have
the testimony before them in its directest form, and so be able to judge
for themselves as to its value.

DIGESTION.

And here, in order to give those who are not familiar with, the process
of digestion, a clear idea of that important operation, and the effect
produced when alcohol is taken with food, we quote from the lecture of
an English physician