Grappling with the Monster; Or, the Curse and the Cure of Strong DrinkArthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
Religion
Grappling with the Monster; Or, the Curse and the Cure of Strong Drink
Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
Temperance
Nervous derangements follow as a matter of course, for the delicate
membranes which envelope and immediately surround the nervous cords, are
affected by the alcohol more readily than the coarser membranous
textures of other parts of the body, and give rise to a series of
troublesome conditions, which are too often attributed to other than the
true causes. Some of these are thus described: "The perverted condition
of the membranous covering of the nerves gives rise to pressure within
the sheath of the nerve, and to pain as a consequence. To the pain thus
excited the term neuralgia is commonly applied, or 'tic;' or, if the
large nerve running down the thigh be the seat of the pain, 'sciatica.'
Sometimes this pain is developed as a toothache. It is pain commencing,
in nearly every instance, at some point where a nerve is inclosed in a
bony cavity, or where pressure is easily excited, as at the lower
jawbone near the centre of the chin, or at the opening in front of the
lower part of the ear, or at the opening over the eyeball in the frontal
bone."
DEGENERATION OF THE LIVER.
The organic deteriorations which follow the long-continued use of
alcoholic drinks are often of a serious and fatal character. The same
author says: "The organ of the body, that, perhaps, the most frequently
undergoes structural changes from alcohol, is the _liver_. The capacity
of this organ for holding active substances in its cellular parts, is
one of its marked physiological distinctions. In instances of poisoning
by arsenic, antimony, strychnine and other poisonous compounds, we turn
to the liver, in conducting our analyses, as if it were the central
depot of the foreign matter. It is, practically, the same in respect to
alcohol. The liver of the confirmed alcoholic is, probably, never free
from the influence of the poison; it is too often saturated with it. The
effect of the alcohol upon the liver is upon the minute membranous or
capsular structure of the organ, upon which, it acts to prevent the
proper dialysis and free secretion. The organ, at first, becomes large
from the distention of its vessels, the surcharge of fluid matter and
the thickening of tissue. After a time, there follows contraction of
membrane, and slow shrinking of the whole mass of the organ in its
cellular parts. Then the shrunken, hardened, roughened mass is said to
be 'hob-nailed,' a common, but expressive term. By the time this change
occurs, the body of him in whom it is developed is usually dropsical in
its lower parts, owing to the obstruction offered to the returning
blood by the veins, and his fate is sealed.... Again, under an increase
of fatty substance in the body, the structure of the liver may be
charged with, fatty cells, and undergo what is technically designated
fatty degeneration."
HOW THE KIDNEYS SUFFER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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