TEMPERANCE COLUMN

Evening Star, Issue 20132, 23 March 1929, Page 6

TEMPERANCE COLUMN

(Published by Arrangement with the United Temperance Reform Council.) MOTUiI DIH VINCI AM) ,1)1! INK. A motor car travelling at lire rate ol I hirty-ilve miles an hour will cover -lit in two-fifths of a second. II a sudden demand is made on a motor driver it lakes him one-filth of a second to apply his brakes and stop the car. Hut d the driver lias had a drink of whisky it affects his brain, so that it takes him ihree-lil’Lhs ot a second to apply the brakes. This means the driver takes two-tilths of a second longer than ae should, and the ear travels 2Jlt liirtin.v than it would have dune if the driver had not hud the whisky. Knowing how quickly motor cars travel, knowing, 100, that a distance of 21 ft may malic all the difference between a latal accident and no accident, you will sec that spirit drinking is a very dangerous iking lor a motor car driver to indulge in. The car driver should keep lus brain clear, always ready for emergencies. It you want your brain to bo always clear and alert never touch intoxicating drink. ALCOHOLTFacJUTE INFECTIOUS DISEASES. In the discussion upon IVolessor Maclean's paper before the Society lor I.lie Study ol Inebriety on January 1U Dr J. 1). Rolleston, medical superintendent of the M.A.R. Western lever Hospital, gave his views based upon twenty-seven years’ experience. During the (irst two years alter his qualification Dr Roiiestun made a free use of brandy, champagne, and port vine in the treatment ol levers, especially diphtheria and enteritis, but .subsequently, as the result of conversation with more experienced colleagues, a study of the literature, and his own observation, he abandoned the practice, and during the last twenty-five years had entirely abstained from the therapeutic use of alcohol. The inllucnee of this attitude, facilitated by the introduction to bis colleagues of the valuable mass of evidence collected by Dr I'onrlonay Weeks in bis work mi ‘ Alcohol in Medical Practice, is -.lmwii by tiio reduction in the consumption "I brandy in the Western Fever Hospital from 2,SS'Jo/. in JU2S to 25'oz in I D_!7, and the reduction of diphtheria mortality from 8.54 to li.Ul per cent, during 1427; moreover, the nurses on ambulance duly had only used lux and 7drm of brandy In transporting a total of more than 12,(JUU persons over a mileage of 08,OUl).

THE EFFECT OK 1 IK.MIT TOXICS UPON HEART TONE. Tins is llic> till * j of a must interesting paper in 11 so ‘.lniinnil of IMiysioloyy.’ February In, 1925. Mr J!. Undo, inn author, delines “ tono ” as li"inn, synonymous ’.villi physiological < oiulil inn or fitness nl nmscln fibre—in oilier words, the mechanical cliicicucy nl the muscle fibre. In the course of experiments im used the tincture of digitalis (which, id enurt', contains alcohol), and I lien to eliminate the possible effect ol the alcohol be used a watery infusion, lie'did this because of Sulzer's work ** t Ini I alcohol causes dilatation of heart in :1 beart-lune: prepa ra 1 nun _ ll'y says; “Tile lonic i (Feet <> 1 >tain>ni in thi- way was ninre marked than with tile alcobolic tincture. 'I lie volume ol the heart decreased in every experiment to normal.” He found that cafleme was more immediate in its action, hut tin' effect passed off more quickly ihan with digitalis, and was mu lollowed hy the toxic cHceis like ditidalis. t ydI'eine and digitalis are true heart tonics, and enable ibe heart to expel He same amount ol hlood as hetorc, hut with a. smaller heart volume. This js a *( rikinir confirmation ol >bo diet inn of the Medical Eesoareli Committee, and a quite new piece e,t evidence that alcohol is not a heart -Ininiiant. hul. hy leadme; to dilatation, is the reverse. ALCOHOL AM) 'll IK WIHTEIES

We ro ll wi■ 1 1 m■ r l lie iin|irc."-ii , M made 1 1 \ rout ribnt ion ' in I In: I * r*by the William Saunders, ol tho Central Xovos. !lll<l i'll' ColdsOll Keniahan. who i'-ive i lioir experience, in tho miiih ot liiim.ni ns t" .alcohol cud jon ninlCm. A striking article appears in Iho current ‘ BrilCli dourmii of I iu'ln'ii‘l v.' entitled ‘ Ale.ihel ami the Wriler's Art,— Inspiration s Bane. in' Clifford W. Creatorex. It is v.iili r .!f.>!iol in ii> relation to tlm cronfive Inciillv. viewed from tin: Camlpoint ot n professional writer o! I'nighAi hfeiaInro. 1.1 1 : 1 1 tin: article is written, and tho conclusion, supported by a number ~ t tragic ilhi>lra t ions. is that, “’creative activity demands nnwaverill g rosol nll on. closest application to del'niK, absolute clear-beaded moss, penetral inn Lcriinow el percept mu and e\ er-increasino depth and breadth ot svmpatliv. Not one ol tbe-e essentials of the creative mind is fostered lev the habit of imbibing alcoholic drinks, Alneh the reverse! Alcohol has been known to destroy tin: capacity tor these indispensable qualifications in instances without number. TIJK ACTION OK ALCOHOL ON OKKSPRINC. I'rntes-or .Or Taav Laitinon. of I felsiugiors, contrilmred a paper to the recent Antwerp Con cress in which he cave minute details of his latest i‘\peri men t.s, the special point in whicli was that the alcohol was administered (o his subjects before maling, thus e!i in imi t.i up; the direct influence of alcohol upon mother and young. the experiments began on April Ilf I'-t-l, and lasted till dime 'it', PC'. every possible means being adopted to ensure absolute identity of treatment and to administer tho alcohol doses in properly equivalent quantities, relatively weight lor weight to human beings. In .some eases the males only, in some the females only, and in others holli parents acre treated with alcohol. 'I he results were distinctly nnfa vourahle to the aleolmlised guinea pn' : . and the iiuinbor of stillborn offspring was markedly greater. During the experiments [our mothers died, nil ol whom had received alcohol, but none ot the control females died in pregnancy. Proles,sue Laitilien’s conclusions wore: (1) 'ibat the consumption of alcohol by parents oven before mating is injurious to offspring; (i) I hat; its injurious effects on offspring seem to ho less when only one parent had alcohol, hut there Mas no noticeable difference whichsoever parent was the recipient; and CL that the longer period of alcohol consumption, the greater the injury seemed to bo. THK TfvKTOTA L WALKING PARSON. Canon Cooper, vicar of Kiley (Last Yorks), “ Tho Walking .Parson,” is a total abstainer, like Weston the great teetotal American walker. Air Cooper puts whisky into his hoots to harden his foot. Ho has ualkcd from hi ley to London, “200 miles; J'iley to Koine. IV.) miles; Hamburg to Paris, 457 miles; 1 Limburg to Budapest, _ GUO miles; Kiley to. Venice, God miles; Dieppe to Monte Carlo, GUI miles; Bordeaux to Barcelona, SMO miles; and in addition lie has done long walks in Wales, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, and Xoiway. The suggestion might well bo followed by those who pub whisky into their months to steal away their brains. Kowcr men Mould stagger it they put it, as the canon dues, into their boots. q-