acid
to be in the impaired oxidative powers of the liver, the results
of these experiments will have greater significance than can be
attributed to uric acid alone. For the impaired function would
affect other processes which are normally accomplished by that
organ, and the possibilities for entrance into the general
circulation of toxic substances, of intestinal putrefaction, for
instance, would be increased. The liver performs a large number
of oxidations and syntheses designed to keep toxic substances
from reaching the body tissues, and if alcohol, in the moderate
quantity which caused the increase in uric acid excretion,
impairs its power in this respect, the prevalent ideas regarding
the harmlessness of moderate drinking need revision."

Dr. Winfield S. Hall, professor of physiology at the Northwestern
University Medical School, Chicago, has interpreted these researches of
Beebe and Hunt in a very striking way. He says that they prove that the
oxidation of alcohol in the body is a protective oxidation, the same as
the oxidation of any other poisonous substance by the liver. His views
have such an important bearing upon the commonly accepted theory that
alcohol is in some sense a food that they are given here, somewhat
abbreviated, as a fitting finish to this chapter. Dr. Hall says:--

"The fact that alcohol is oxidized in the body has been
generally misunderstood. The first impression naturally was:
'Foods are Oxidized; Alcohol is Oxidized; therefore alcohol is
a food.' But many difficulties appeared. A real food promotes
muscular, glandular and nerve activity, and its oxidation
maintains body temperature. But alcohol disturbs muscular,
glandular, and nervous activity, and its oxidation does not
maintain body temperature. When one eats a real food it is
assimilated largely by muscle tissue and is oxidized for the
purpose of liberating the life energy. When one ingests alcohol
it is carried by the blood to the tissues, mostly to the liver,
where it is oxidized, as any toxine would be, for the purpose of
making it harmless. Its oxidation liberates heat energy but this
energy cannot be utilized by the body even for the maintenance
of body temperature. If a food is defined as a substance which,
taken into the body, is assimilated and used either to build or
repair body structure, or to be oxidized in th