Careful experiments show that two ounces of alcohol--an amount contained in the daily potations of a very moderate ale or whiskey drinker--increase the heart beats six thousand in twenty-four hours;--a degree of work represented by that of lifting up a weight of seven tons to a height of one foot. Reducing this sum to ounces and dividing, we find that the heart is driven to do extra work equivalent to lifting seven ounces one foot high one thousand four hundred and ninety-three times each hour! No wonder that the drinker feels a reaction, a physical languor, after the earliest effects of his indulgence have passed away. The heart flags, the brain and the muscles feel exhausted, and rest and sleep are imperatively demanded. During this time of excitement, the machinery of life has really been "running down." "It is hard work," says Richardson, "to fight against alcohol; harder than rowing, walking, wrestling, coal heaving, or the treadmill itself." All this is only the first effect of alcohol upon the heart. Long- continued use of this disturbing agent causes a "Degeneration of the muscular fiber," [Footnote: This "Degeneration" of the various tissues of the body, we shall find, as we proceed, is one of the most marked effects of alcoholized blood. The change consists in an excess of liquid, or, more commonly, in a deposit of fat. This fatty matter is not an increase of the organ, but it takes the place of a part of its fiber, thus weakening the structure, and reducing the power of the tissue to perform its function. Almost everywhere in the body we thus find cells--muscle cells, liver cells, nerve cells, as the case may be--changing one by one, under the influence of this potent disorganizer, into unhealthy fat cells. "Alcohol has been well termed," says the _London Lancet_, "the 'Genius of Degeneration.'" The cause of this degeneration can be easily explained. The increased activity of the circulation compels a correspondingly increased activity of the cell changes: but the essential condition of healthful change--the presence of additional oxygen--is wanting (see p. 143), and the operation is imperfectly performed.--BRODIE.] so that the heart loses its old power to drive the blood, and, after a time, fails to respond even to the spur of the excitant that has urged it to ruin. INFLUENCE UPON THE MEMBRANES.--The flush of the face and the bloodshot eye, that are such noticeable effects of even a small quantity of liquor, indicate the condition of all the internal organs. The delicate linings of the stomach, heart, brain, liver, and lungs are reddened, and every tiny vein is inflamed, like the blushing nose itself. If the use of liquor is habitual, this "Vascular enlargement," that at first slowly passed away after each indulgence, becomes permanent, and now the discolored, blotched skin reveals the state of the entire mucous membrane.