Mr. Brodie supposes that there is no absorption whatever of alcohol, and supports his views with a number of striking facts.[24] This, however, is a length to which I cannot go. I am inclined to think that though such absorption is not necessary to produce drunkenness, it generally takes place to a greater or lesser degree; nor can I conceive any reason why alcohol may not be taken into the circulation as well as any other fluid. My reasons for supposing that it is absorbed are the following:—1. The blood, breath, and perspiration of a confirmed drunkard differ from those of a sober man; the former being darker, and the two latter strongly impregnated with a spirituous odour. 2. The perspiration of the wine-drinker is often of the hue of his favourite liquor; after a debauch on Port, Burgundy, or Claret, it is not uncommon to see the shirt or sheets in which he lies, tinted to a rosy colour by the moisture which exudes from his body. 3. Madder, mercury, and sulphur are received into the circulation unchanged; the former dyeing the bones, and the others exhaling through the pores of the skin, so as to communicate their peculiar odours to the person, and even discolour coins and other metallic substances in his pockets. The first of these reasons is a direct proof of absorption: the second shows, that as wine is received into the circulation, and passes through it, alcohol may do the same; and the third furnishes collateral evidence of other agents exhibiting this phenomenon as well as spirituous liquors. The doctrine of absorption is supported by Dr. Trotter,[25] who conceives that alcohol de-oxygenizes the blood, and causes it to give out an unusual portion of hydrogen gas. The quantity of this gas in the bodies of drunkards is so great, that many have attempted to explain from it the circumstances of _spontaneous Combustion_, by which it is alleged, the human frame has been sometimes destroyed by being burned to ashes. CHAPTER VIII. PHYSIOLOGY OF DRUNKENNESS. In administering medicines, the practitioner has a natural desire to learn the means by which they produce their effects upon the body. Thus, he is not contented with knowing that squill acts as a diuretic, and that mercury increases the secretion of the bile. He inquires by what process they do so; and understands that the first excites into increased action the secretory arteries of the kidneys, and the last the secretory veins of the liver. In like manner, he does not rest satisfied with the trite knowledge that wines, and spirits, and ales, produce intoxication: he extends his researches beyond this point, and is naturally anxious to ascertain by what peculiar action of the system these agents give rise to so extraordinary an effect.