The Use and Need of the Life of Carrie A. Nation [122]
work.
IS IT A MEDICINE?
At the time we began work, however, it had been demonstrated that
alcohol is not a medicine. Many years ago Dr. Nottinghham, a great
English physician, said: "Alcohol is neither food nor physic." Dr.
Nicols, editor Boston Journal of Chemistry, long ago wrote, "The banishment
of alcohol would not deprive us of a single one of the indispensable
agents which modern civilization demands. In no instance of
disease in any form, is it a medicine which might not be dispensed with."
Dr. Bunge, professor of physical chemistry in the University of Basle,
Switzerland, said: "In general let it be understood that all the workings
of alcohol in the system which usually are considered as excitement
or stimulation are only indications of paralysis. It is a deep-rooted error
sense of fatigue is the safety value of the human organism. Whoever
dulls this sense in order to work harder or longer may be likened to an
engineer who sits down on his safety valve in order to make better speed
with his engine." Dr. F. H. Hammond of the U. S. army said: "Alcohol
strengthens no one. It only deadens the feeling of fatigue." Dr. Sims
Woodhead, professor in Cambridge University, England, had given the
following list of conditions in which alcohol should not be used: In
those (1) who have any family history of drunkenness, insanity or nervous
disease. (2) Who have used alcohol to excess in childhood or youth.
(3) Who are nervous, irritable or badly nourished. (4) Who suffer
from injuries to the head, gross disease of the brain and sunstroke. (5)
Who suffer from great bodily weakness, particularly during convalescence
from exhausting disease. (6) Who are engaged in exciting or
exhausting employment, in bad air and surroundings, in work shops and
mines. (7) Who are solitary or lonely or require amusement. (8) Who
have little self-control either hereditary or acquired. (9) Who suffer
from weakness, the result of senile degeneration. (10) Who suffer from
organic or functional diseases of the stomach, liver, kidney or heart.
(11) Who are young.
Much has been said concerning the stimulating effect of alcohol upon
the heart, and this had been treated at length. There is an increased
action of about four thousand beats in twenty-four hours for every
ounce of alcohol used. This fact still misleads some physicians into
prescribing it to strengthen the weak heart, but the increase is not due to
new force. The heart action normally is the result of arterial pressure
and nervous action, two forces mutually balancing each other. The
nervous action is diminished by the introduction of the alcohol; this
destroys the balance and deranges the arterial pressure. Dr. James
Edmunds, a great English physician, years ago said: "When we see a
man breathing with great vigor, does it occur to us that he must be in
good health? Is it an indication that he gets more air? We all know
better. It simply shows that he has asthma or some such disease, and
that his breathing is strained and imperfect. He is making use of less
air than the person who breathes quietly. This is the case with the blood,
work, so it plunges and struggles in the effort. And the cause of both
cases is the same. There is more carbonic acid in the blood than either
the heart or the lungs can handle. If for example I were suffering from
general debility and milk were the food best suited to my needs, and if I
should discover a tramp in my apartments drinking of my already too
limited supply, would it be reasonable to assert that the exhibition of
strength which I made in forcing him to desist is an indication that the
entrance of the vagrant bettered my enfeebled condition? The greater
activity of the heart is not due to the added strength resulting from
recruits of friends but to a desperate struggle to beat back a reinforced
enemy."
That alcohol does not allay pain had been established when this committee
was organized. The only proper method of allaying pain is to
remedy the disorder which produced it. It is no
IS IT A MEDICINE?
At the time we began work, however, it had been demonstrated that
alcohol is not a medicine. Many years ago Dr. Nottinghham, a great
English physician, said: "Alcohol is neither food nor physic." Dr.
Nicols, editor Boston Journal of Chemistry, long ago wrote, "The banishment
of alcohol would not deprive us of a single one of the indispensable
agents which modern civilization demands. In no instance of
disease in any form, is it a medicine which might not be dispensed with."
Dr. Bunge, professor of physical chemistry in the University of Basle,
Switzerland, said: "In general let it be understood that all the workings
of alcohol in the system which usually are considered as excitement
or stimulation are only indications of paralysis. It is a deep-rooted error
sense of fatigue is the safety value of the human organism. Whoever
dulls this sense in order to work harder or longer may be likened to an
engineer who sits down on his safety valve in order to make better speed
with his engine." Dr. F. H. Hammond of the U. S. army said: "Alcohol
strengthens no one. It only deadens the feeling of fatigue." Dr. Sims
Woodhead, professor in Cambridge University, England, had given the
following list of conditions in which alcohol should not be used: In
those (1) who have any family history of drunkenness, insanity or nervous
disease. (2) Who have used alcohol to excess in childhood or youth.
(3) Who are nervous, irritable or badly nourished. (4) Who suffer
from injuries to the head, gross disease of the brain and sunstroke. (5)
Who suffer from great bodily weakness, particularly during convalescence
from exhausting disease. (6) Who are engaged in exciting or
exhausting employment, in bad air and surroundings, in work shops and
mines. (7) Who are solitary or lonely or require amusement. (8) Who
have little self-control either hereditary or acquired. (9) Who suffer
from weakness, the result of senile degeneration. (10) Who suffer from
organic or functional diseases of the stomach, liver, kidney or heart.
(11) Who are young.
Much has been said concerning the stimulating effect of alcohol upon
the heart, and this had been treated at length. There is an increased
action of about four thousand beats in twenty-four hours for every
ounce of alcohol used. This fact still misleads some physicians into
prescribing it to strengthen the weak heart, but the increase is not due to
new force. The heart action normally is the result of arterial pressure
and nervous action, two forces mutually balancing each other. The
nervous action is diminished by the introduction of the alcohol; this
destroys the balance and deranges the arterial pressure. Dr. James
Edmunds, a great English physician, years ago said: "When we see a
man breathing with great vigor, does it occur to us that he must be in
good health? Is it an indication that he gets more air? We all know
better. It simply shows that he has asthma or some such disease, and
that his breathing is strained and imperfect. He is making use of less
air than the person who breathes quietly. This is the case with the blood,
work, so it plunges and struggles in the effort. And the cause of both
cases is the same. There is more carbonic acid in the blood than either
the heart or the lungs can handle. If for example I were suffering from
general debility and milk were the food best suited to my needs, and if I
should discover a tramp in my apartments drinking of my already too
limited supply, would it be reasonable to assert that the exhibition of
strength which I made in forcing him to desist is an indication that the
entrance of the vagrant bettered my enfeebled condition? The greater
activity of the heart is not due to the added strength resulting from
recruits of friends but to a desperate struggle to beat back a reinforced
enemy."
That alcohol does not allay pain had been established when this committee
was organized. The only proper method of allaying pain is to
remedy the disorder which produced it. It is no