Tri-State medical journal and practitioner . ed for some time. Alcohol is a poison, and the phenomena ofinebriety are due in the first place to the direct action upon the nervoussystem of this agent. If we surround a living nerve with alcohol, we-findthat it becomes paralyzed; that is, incapable of transmiting impressionsthrough its submerged part. Similarly, if an animal absorb into itscirculation a certain quantity of alcohol within a given time, the nervecenters and the peripheral nerves become paralyzed. This may be calledthe direct effect of alcohol*. It has also been ascertained that the
Tri-State medical journal and practitioner . ed for some time. Alcohol is a poison, and the phenomena ofinebriety are due in the first place to the direct action upon the nervoussystem of this agent. If we surround a living nerve with alcohol, we-findthat it becomes paralyzed; that is, incapable of transmiting impressionsthrough its submerged part. Similarly, if an animal absorb into itscirculation a certain quantity of alcohol within a given time, the nervecenters and the peripheral nerves become paralyzed. This may be calledthe direct effect of alcohol*. It has also been ascertained that the impreg-nation of the blood with alcohol interferes with its absorption of thus becomes unfitted to support healthy nervous function. Under thesecombined influences, the nervous tissues, especially those of the centralorgans, become more and more unfitted for the painless performance oftheir proper functions. These changes progress with a rapidity propor-tionate to the quantity of alcohol used and the susceptibility of the subject. Treatment of Inebriety—Rodebaugh. 433 to its influence. These effects are counteracted partially by the elimina-tion of portions of the alcohol from the system, which goes on by themedium of all the excreting glands, especially the kidneys, skin, andlungs. • It is important to bear these facts in mind, in order to appreciatewhat is meant by cure. Inebriety is more quickly developed by the moderate use of alcohol inneurasthenics, in social drinkers, who eat too much and exercise but little;in those who are much exposed to the depressing passions, those whoundergo great fatigue of body or mind, especially if unsuccessful in theirpursuits; those who inordinately indulge the passions of anger and lust;and, finally, those who habitually swallow patent medicines, whose chiefingredient is alcohol. There is an immutable association in the mind ofevery drunkard between stimulating liquors and the relief they afford toall the unpleasant sensation
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