Chocolate is a valuable food. Those who eat of other aliments in moderation may partake of chocolate without harm, but if chocolate is used in addition to an excess of other food, the results are bad. The chocolate is so rich that it soon overburdens some of the organs of digestion, especially the liver. The Swiss consume much of this food and it is valuable in cases where it is necessary to carry concentrated rations. Alcohol in some form seems to have been consumed by even very primitive people as far back as history goes. The Bible records an early case of intoxication from wine, and beer was brewed by the ancient Egyptians. So much has been consumed that some people have a subconscious craving for it. There are cases on record where the very first drink caused an uncontrollable demand for the drug. Fortunately these cases are very rare. Alcohol is really not a stimulant, though it gives a feeling of glow, warmth and well-being at first, but this is followed by a great lowering of physical power, which gives rise to disagreeable sensations. Then the drinker needs more alcohol to stimulate him again. Then there is another depression with renewed demand: There is no end to the craving for the drug once it has mastered the individual. The lungs, heart, digestive organs, muscles, in fact, every structure in the body loses working capacity. Alcohol seems to have a special affinity for nervous tissue. A glass of beer or wine taken daily is no more harmful than a cup of coffee per day, but the coffee drinker does not make of himself such a public nuisance and menace as the man often does who drinks alcohol to excess. Formerly it was respectable to drink. Some of our most noted public men were drunkards. Now a drunkard could not maintain himself in a prominent public position very long. To drink like a gentleman was no disgrace. Now real gentlemen do not get drunk. In backward Russia they are becoming alarmed about the inroads of vodka, and are trying to decrease its consumption. France is trying to teach total abstinence to its young men because it disqualifies so many of them from military service to drink. Scandinavia is temperance territory. The German Kaiser has recently given a warning against drinking. The United States discourages drinking in the army and navy. Field armies are not supplied with alcoholics. Drinking is becoming disreputable. It is very difficult to prove the harm done by excessive drinking of tea and coffee, also by the use of much tobacco, even if we do know that it is so. Everyone knows something about the deleterious effect of alcohol upon the consumer. Solomon wrote: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?"