First Book in Physiology and Hygiene, J. H. Kellogg [pdf e book reader .TXT] 📗

and snow and intense cold of the countries near the North Pole, all say that alcohol does not warm a man when he is cold, and does not keep him from getting cold. Indeed, alcohol is considered so dangerous in these cold regions that no Arctic explorer at the present time could be induced to use it. The Hudson Bay Company do not allow the men who work for them to use any kind of alcoholic liquors. Alcohol is a great deceiver, is it not? It makes a man think he is warmer, when he is really colder. Many men are frozen to death while drunk.

31. Alcohol in Hot Regions.—Bruce, Livingstone, and Stanley, and all great African travellers, condemn the use of alcohol in that hot country as well as elsewhere. The Yuma Indians, who live in Arizona and New Mexico, where the weather is sometimes much hotter than we ever know it here, have made a law of their own against the use of liquor. If one of the tribe becomes drunk, he is severely punished. This law they have made because of the evil effects of liquor which they noticed among the members of their tribe who used to become intoxicated. Do you not think that a very wise thing for Indians to do?

32. Sunstroke.—Do you know what sunstroke is? If you do not, your parents or teacher will tell yow that persons exposed to the heat of the sun on a hot summer day are sometimes overcome by it. They become weak, giddy, or insensible, and not infrequently die. Scores of people are sometimes stricken down in a single day in some of our large cities. It may occur to you that if alcohol cools the body, it would be a good thing for a person to take to prevent or relieve an attack of sunstroke. On the contrary, it is found that those who use alcoholic drinks are much more liable to sunstroke than others. This is on account of the poisonous effects of the alcohol upon the nerves. No doctor would think of giving alcohol in any form to a man suffering with sunstroke.

33. Effects of Alcohol upon the Tissues.—Here are two interesting experiments which your teacher or parents can make for you.

Experiment 1. Place a piece of tender beefsteak in a saucer and cover it with alcohol. Put it away over night. In the morning the beefsteak will be found to be shrunken, dried, and almost as tough as a piece of leather. This shows the effect of alcohol upon the tissues, which are essentially like those of lower animals.

Experiment 2. Break an egg into a half glassful of alcohol. Stir the egg and alcohol together for a few minutes. Soon you will see that the egg begins to harden and look just as though it had been boiled.

34. This is the effect of strong alcohol. The alcohol of alcoholic drinks has water and other things mixed with it, so that it does not act so quickly nor so severely as pure alcohol; but the effect is essentially the same in character. It is partly in this way that the brain, nerves, muscles, and other tissues of drinking men and women become diseased.

Eminent physicians tell us that a large share of the unfortunate persons who are shut up in insane asylums are brought there by alcohol. Is it not a dreadful thing that one's mind should be thus ruined by a useless and harmful practice?

SUMMARY.

1. Alcohol is produced by fermentation, and obtained by distillation. It will burn like kerosene oil and other burning fluids.

2. The vapor of alcohol will burn and will sometimes explode.

3. Alcohol may be separated from beer and other fermented liquids by boiling.

4. Brandy is distilled from fermented fruit juice, whiskey and gin from beer or fermented grains, rum from fermented molasses.

5. Alcohol is the result of a sort of decay, and much good food is destroyed in producing it.

6. Besides ordinary alcohol, there are several other kinds. Naphtha and fusel-oil are alcohols.

7. All the members of the alcohol family are poisons; all will burn, and all will intoxicate. The alcohol family have several bad relations, among which are carbolic acid, ether, and chloroform.

8. Cider, beer, and wine are harmful and dangerous as well as strong liquors. "Bitters" often contain as much alcohol as the strongest liquors, and sometimes more.

9. Alcoholic liquors are sometimes adulterated, but they usually contain no poison worse than alcohol. Pure alcohol is scarcely less dangerous than that which is adulterated.

10. Death sometimes occurs almost instantly from taking strong liquors.

11. Alcohol will kill grass and other plants, if poured upon them or about their roots.

12. Mr. Darwin proved that the vapor of alcohol will kill plants; also that plants become intoxicated by breathing the vapor of alcohol.

13. Alcohol, even in small quantities, hinders digestion.

14. Alcohol causes the body to lose heat so rapidly that it becomes cooler instead of warmer.

15. The danger of freezing to death when exposed to extreme cold is greatly increased by taking alcohol.

16. Stanley, and other African explorers, say that it is dangerous to use alcoholic drinks in hot climates.

17. In very hot weather, persons who use alcoholic drinks are more subject to sunstroke than those who do not.

18. Beefsteak soaked in alcohol becomes tough like leather. An egg placed in alcohol is hardened as though it had been boiled.

19. The effect of alcohol upon the brain, nerves, and other tissues of the body is much the same as upon the beefsteak and the egg.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW.

CHAPTER I. The House we Live in.—What is the body like? Does the body resemble anything else besides a house? How is it like a machine? Name the different parts of the body. What is anatomy? physiology? hygiene?

CHAPTER II. A General View of the Body.—What are the main parts of the body? Name the different parts of the head; of the trunk; of each arm; of each leg. What covers the body?

CHAPTER III. The Inside of the Body.—What is the name of the framework of the body? What is the skull? How is the back-bone formed? Name the two cavities of the trunk. What does the chest contain? the abdomen?

CHAPTER IV. Our Foods.—Of what are our bodies made? What are foods? Where do we get our foods? Name some animal foods; some vegetable foods. What are poisons?

CHAPTER V. Unhealthful Foods.—Is the flesh of diseased animals good for food? What can you say about unripe, stale, or mouldy foods? What is adulteration of foods? What foods are most likely to be adulterated? Are pepper, mustard, and other condiments proper foods? What about tobacco? What is the effect of tobacco upon boys?

CHAPTER VI. Our Drinks.—What is the only thing that will satisfy thirst? Why do we need water? How does water sometimes become impure? What is the effect of using impure water? What are the properties of good water? Are tea and coffee good drinks? How is alcohol made? Give familiar examples of fermentation. How are pure alcohol and strong liquors made? Is alcohol a food? Why do you think it is a poison? Do you think moderate drinking is healthful?

CHAPTER VII. How we Digest.—What is digestion? What is the digestive tube? Name the different digestive organs. How many sets of teeth has a person in his lifetime? How many teeth in each set? How many pairs of salivary glands? What do they form? What is the gullet? Describe the stomach. What is the gastric juice? How long is the intestinal canal? What fluid is formed in the intestines? Where is the liver found, and how large is it? What does the liver produce? What is the gall-bladder, and what is its use? What does the liver do besides producing bile? What and where is the pancreas? What does the pancreas do? Where is the spleen? How many important organs of digestion are there? How many digestive fluids?

CHAPTER VIII. Digestion of a Mouthful of Bread.—Name the different processes of digestion [mastication, action of saliva, swallowing, action of stomach and gastric juice, action of bile, action of pancreatic juice, action of intestines and intestinal juice, absorption, liver digestion]. Describe the digestion of a mouthful of bread. Where is the food taken after it has been absorbed? What are the lacteals? What is the thoracic duct?

CHAPTER IX. Bad Habits in Eating.—What is indigestion? Mention some of the causes of indigestion. How does eating too fast cause indigestion? Eating too much? too frequently? Irregularly? when tired? How do tea and coffee impair digestion? Why is it harmful to use iced foods and drinks? Why should we not eat pepper and other hot and irritating things? How should the teeth be cared for? How does tobacco-using affect the stomach? What dreadful disease is sometimes caused by tobacco? How does alcohol affect the gastric juice? the stomach? the liver?

CHAPTER X. A Drop of Blood.—What does the blood contain? How many kinds of blood corpuscles are there? What work is done for the body by each kind of corpuscles?

CHAPTER XI. Why the Heart Beats.—Where is the heart? Why does the heart beat? How many chambers has the heart? What are the blood-vessels? How many kinds of blood-vessels are there? Name them. What is the difference between venous blood and arterial blood? What change occurs in the blood in the lungs? What is the pulse? How much work does the heart do every twenty-four hours? What are the lymphatics? What do they contain, and what is their purpose? What are lymphatic glands?

CHAPTER XII. How to Keep the Heart and Blood Healthy.—Name some things likely to injure the heart or the blood. What is the effect of violent exercise? of bad air? of bad food? of loss of sleep? of violent anger? What can you say about clothing? What is the effect of alcohol upon the blood? the heart? the bodily heat? What is the effect of tobacco upon the heart? the pulse? the blood? What is the effect of tea and coffee upon the heart? What is a cold? In a case of bleeding from a wound, how can you tell whether a vein or an artery is cut? How would you stop the bleeding from an artery? from a vein? How would you stop nose-bleed?

CHAPTER XIII. Why and How we Breathe.—What happens to a lighted candle if shut up in a small, close place? to a mouse? Why is air so necessary for a burning candle and for animals? How is the heat of our bodies produced? Name the principal organs of breathing. Describe each. How do we use the lungs in breathing? How much air will a man's lungs hold? How much air do we use with each breath? What poisonous substance does the air which we breathe out contain? Will a candle burn in air which has been breathed? What happens to animals placed in such air? What change takes place in the blood as it passes through the lungs? How do plants purify the air?

CHAPTER XIV. How to Keep the Lungs Healthy.—What is the thing most necessary to preserve life? Name some of the ways in which the blood becomes impure. Why is bad-smelling air dangerous to health? What are germs? Why are some diseases "catching"? Name some such diseases. What should be done with a person who has a "catching" disease? What is the effect of the breath upon the air? How much air is poisoned and made unfit to breathe by each breath? How much air do we spoil every minute? every hour? How much pure air does each person need every minute? every hour? How do we get fresh air into our houses? Why are windows and doors not good means of ventilating in cold weather? How should