became very strong. As to the exact amount of alcohol passing off, we can say nothing; but, looking to the delicacy of the test, it was probably not great.

In the case of the brandy, we attempted on the first day to determine the quantity by the method of Dupré, viz. converting the alcohol into acetic acid by heating with chrome-alum.

The results indicated rather a larger quantity than he found; but still the amount was small. In the whole day's urine only 1763 gramme, or 2.7 grains of alcohol were discoverable by this method.

Elimination by the Bowels.

The stools were mixed with distilled water; and after standing for seven or eight days in covered vessels, the water was poured off, and 30 c. c. were distilled from 250 c. c.

We think it can scarcely be doubted that the elimination of alcohol does not take place so rapidly as is supposed. Looking to the evidence of the pulse, of the sphygmographic tracings, and of the urine on the twentieth day, we must conclude that, twenty-nine fluid ounces of absolute alcohol having been taken in six days, the body had still traces of it on the sixth day after the alcohol was left off.

The evidence of Anstie and Dupré is certainly strong against the urine being a great channel of elimination; but possibly, though not excessive at any one time, the exit is longer continued than they supposed; and when the constant passage from the skin and from the lungs and bowels is remembered, we can easily suppose that the totality of elimination may be really considerable.

But whether all the alcohol thus passes off, or whether some is destroyed, our experiments do not enable us to state.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.

1. One and two fluid ounces (28 4 c. c. and 56.8 c. c.) of absolute alcohol given in divided quantities in 24 hours to a perfectly healthy man seemed to increase the appetite. Four fluid ounces lessened it considerably; and larger quantities almost entirely destroyed it. On the last day of alcohol the man was three quarters of an hour eating 8 ounces of bread, and could hardly do so. Had he been left to his own wishes the amount of food taken would have been much diminished.

It appears, therefore, that in this individual some point near 2 fluid ounces of absolute alcohol is the limit of the useful action on appetite; but

it is possible that if the alcohol had been continued a smaller quantity would have lessened appetite.

In other healthy persons it may be different from the above; in most cases of disease, when digestion is weakened, it seems probable that a much smaller amount of alcohol would destroy appetite.

2. The average number of beats of the heart in 24 hours (as calculated from 8 observations made in 14 hours), during the first or water period, was 106,000; in the alcoholic period it was 127,000, or about 21,000 more; and in the brandy period it was 131,000, or 25,000 more.

The highest of the daily means of the pulse observed during the first or water period was 77.5; but on this day two observations are deficient. The next highest daily mean was 77 beats.

If instead of the mean of the 8 days or 73.57 we compare the mean of this one day, viz. 77 beats per minute, with the alcoholic days, so as to be sure not to overestimate the action of the alcohol, we find :

On the 9th day, with 1 fluid ounce of alcohol, the heart beat 4,300 times

more.

On the 10th day, with 2 fluid ounces, 1872 times more.

On the 11th day, with 4 fluid ounces, 12,960 times more.
On the 12th day, with 6 fluid ounces, 30,672 times more.
On the 13th day, with 8 fluid ounces, 23,904 times more.
On the 14th day, with 8 fluid ounces, 25,488 times more.

But as there was ephemeral fever on the 12th day, it is right to make a deduction, and to estimate the number of beats in that day as midway between the 11th and 13th days, or 18,432. Adopting this, the mean daily excess of beats during the alcoholic days was 14,492, or an increase of rather more than 13 per cent.

The first day of alcohol gave an excess of 4 per cent., and the last of 23 per cent.; and the mean of these two gives almost the same percentage of excess as the mean of the 6 days.

Admitting that each beat of the heart was as strong during the alcoholic period as in the water period (and it was really more powerful), the heart on the last two days of alcohol was doing one-fifth more work.

Adopting the lowest estimate which has been given of the daily work done by the heart, viz. as equal to 122 tons lifted one foot, the heart during the alcoholic period did daily work in excess equal to lifting 15 S tons one foot, and in the last two days did extra work to the amount of 24 tons lifted as far.

The period of rest for the heart was shortened, though perhaps not to such an extent as would be inferred from the number of beats; for each contraction was sooner over.

The heart on the fifth and sixth days after alcohol was left off, and apparently at the time when the last traces of alcohol were eliminated, showed in the sphygmographic tracings signs of unusual feebleness; and, perhaps in consequence of this, when the brandy quickened the heart again, the

tracings show a more rapid contraction of the ventricles, but less power than in the alcoholic period. The brandy acted, in fact, on a heart whose nutrition had not been perfectly restored.

The peripheral circulation was accelerated and the vessels were enlarged; and the effect was so marked as to show that this is an important influence for good or for evil when alcohol is used.

Referring only to this healthy man, it is clear that the amount of alcohol the heart will bear without losing its healthy sphygmographic tracing is small, and it must be supposed that some disease of heart or vessels would eventually follow the overaction produced by large doses of alcohol.

3. Although large doses of alcohol lessened appetite, they did not appear to impede primary digestion, as far as this could be judged of by the sensations of the man; nor did they seem to check the normal chemical changes in the body which end in the elimination of nitrogenous excreta, of phosphoric acid, and of free acidity. In other words, we were unable to trace either the good or the evil ascribed to alcohol in this direction: it neither depressed these chemical changes nor obviously increased them; it neither saved the tissues nor exhausted them; and even in the period of ephemeral fever its effects were negative.

But, of course, in these experiments we were not dealing with diseased tissues, nor with structures altered in composition by long-continued excess of alcohol. The results in such cases might be different; and it may be desirable to repeat that though appetite was lessened, the amount of food taken was the same each day.

4. Neither pure alcohol nor brandy, in the quantities given, lessened the temperature; in other words, they did not arrest the chemical changes which produce animal heat, or lessen the processes which regulate its amount, any more than they influenced nitrogenous tissue-change. Alcohol in no way influenced the rise of temperature during the attack of ephemeral fever; it neither lowered nor increased it. This appears to us conclusive against the proposal to use alcohol as a reducer of febrile heat.

On the other hand it is not clear that alcohol increased the temperature: it produced subjective feelings of warmth in the stomach, in the face, round the loins, and over the shoulders; but at the time when these were felt (for about one hour after tolerably large doses) the thermometer in the axilla and rectum showed no rise. This is best seen by comparing the two o'clock observations, which were taken about half an hour after dinner. The feelings result from the enlargement of the vessels and the greater flow of blood through them; so, also, the ephemeral fever was decidedly not made worse by it.

5. An effect on the nervous system was not proved by any evidence of increase or decline in the amount of phosphoric acid; but there were marked subjective feelings; and possibly also the increased action of the heart was a nervous condition, as the short contractions of the ventricle were like those ascribed to alterations in the nervous currents. The feelings which

were produced by four fluid ounces daily, and in a still higher degree by the larger quantities of alcohol, proved that narcotism was produced. There was no exhilaration, but a degree of heaviness, indisposition to exertion, and loss of cheerfulness and alacrity; there was slight headache, and even some torpor and sleepiness. All these effects were more marked with brandy. The commencement of narcotism was therefore produced in this man by some quantity much less than 4 fluid ounces, and probably nearer 2. It was nearly this amount which also commenced to destroy the appetite; and it may also be observed that a considerable rise in the frequency of the pulse occurred on the third day of alcohol, when 4 ounces were taken, whereas on the days with one or two ounces the pulse, though quickened, was so in a much less degree.

Putting therefore these points together, viz. that the obvious effect on the nervous system (i. e. narcotism), the loss of appetite, and a great rise in the quickness and frequency of the heart's beats occurred at the same time, it seems fair to conclude that there must be a relation between the phenomena, or, in other words, that all were owing to nervous implication. It appears, then, clear that any quantity over two ounces of absolute alcohol daily would certainly do harm to this man; but whether this, or even a smaller quantity, might not be hurtful if it were continued day after day, the experiments do not show. It is quite obvious that alcohol is not necessary for him; that is, that every function was perfectly performed without alcohol, and that even one ounce in twentyfour hours produced a decided effect on his heart, which was not necessary for his health, and perhaps, if the effect continued, would eventually lead to alterations in circulation, and to degeneration of tissues. It is not difficult to say what would be excess for him; but it is not easy to decide what would be moderation; it is only certain that it would be something under two fluid ounces of absolute alcohol in twenty-four hours.

It will be seen that the general result of our experiments is to confirm the opinions held by physicians as to what must be the indications of alcohol both in health and disease. The effects on appetite and on circulation are the practical points to seize; and if we are correct in our inferences, the commencement of narcotism marks the point when both appetite and circulation will begin to be damaged. As to the metamorphosis of nitrogenous tissues or to animal heat, it seems improbable that alcohol in quantities that can be properly used in diet has any effect; it appears to us unlikely (in the face of the chemical results) that it can enable the body to perform more work on less food, though by quickening a failing heart it may enable work to be done which otherwise could not be so. It may then act like the spur in the side of a horse, eliciting force, though not supplying it.

The employment of alcohol in health and disease is so great a subject that we should have felt tempted to extend these remarks to some points of medical practice, had it been desirable to do so in this place. We will only say that while we recognize in these experiments the great practical

use of alcohol in rousing a failing appetite, exciting a feeble heart, and accelerating a languid capillary circulation, we have been strongly impressed with the necessity for great moderation and caution. In spite of our previous experience in the use of alcohol and brandy, we were hardly prepared for the ease with which appetite may be destroyed, the heart unduly excited, and the capillary circulation improperly increased. Considering its daily and almost universal use, there is no agent which seems to us to require more caution and more skill to obtain the good and to avoid the evil which its use entails.

We wish to guard ourselves against the supposition that in speaking of alcohol and brandy we refer at all to wine and beer, which contain substances, in addition to alcohol, which may make their action in nutrition somewhat different.

Transactions.

Presents received May 12, 1870.

Birmingham:---Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Proceedings. Nov. 2, 1859, Jan. 25, 1860, July 28, 29, 1868. Part 1, Aug. 3, 4, 1869; Part 2, Nov. 4, 1869. 8vo. Birmingham 1859-69.

Bremen :-Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein.

The Institution.

Abhandlungen, Bd. II.
The Union.

Heft 2. 8vo. Bremen 1870. Calcutta-Asiatic Society of Bengal. Journal. 1869, Part 1, No. 4.

The University.

8vo. Calcutta 1870. Proceedings. 1869, No. 11; 1870, No. 1. 8vo. Calcutta 1869–70. The Society. Harlem :-Musée Teyler. Archives. Vol. II. fasc. 4. roy. 8vo. Harlem` 1869. The Museum. Montreal :-M'Gill University. Calendar and Examination Papers, 1868-69. 8vo. Montreal 1869. Neuchâtel:-Société des Sciences Naturelles. Bulletin. Tome VIII. cahier 2. 8vo. Neuchâtel 1869. The Society. Paris-École des Mines. Annales des Mines. 6° série. Tome XVI. 5e et 6e livraisons de 1869. 8vo. Paris 1869. The Institution. Association pour l'encouragement des Études Grecques en France. Annuaire. 4 année, 1870. 8vo. Paris 1870. The Association. Philadelphia-Franklin Institute. Journal. Nos. 527-30. 8vo. hiladelphia 1869-70. The Institute Würzburg-Physikal.-Medicin. Gesellschaft. Verhandlungen. Neue Folge. Band I. Heft 4. 8vo. Würzburg 1869.

The Society.