The blood that comes from a contracting muscle is richer in Carbonic acid--that is, it contains one atom more of Carbon and two atoms of Oxygen more. The blood that has passed through the lungs changes from venous to arterial blood. The venous discharges about 5 vols. of Carbonic acid (C O2); the arterial carries away about 5 vols. of Oxygen (O) to the tissues. The carbohydrates taken into the system: Oz. Starch and sugars, about 20 Meats, proteids,  ,,   15 Fats,  ,,   3 1/2 Water,  ,,   52 About 32 ounces of saliva converts the starch into sugar. That is, the saliva changes starch (C18 H30 O15) into sugar (C6 H11 O5). Meats are acted upon by the gastric juice, it requiring about ten to twenty pints to dissolve three-quarters to one pound of meat-stuff; and the substances in the stomach are changed into chyme. The fats are emulsified by the gall from the liver--about 30 to 40 ounces for 3 to 4 ounces of fat. And the pancreatic juice completes the work and still farther dissolves all three kinds of substances, so that, with the aid of the succus entericus, the whole mass is changed into a substance called chyle. All the carbohydrates and proteids in solution, together with the fluids taken into the system, are taken up by the veins of the abdominal organs and conveyed by the portal vein to the liver. Passing through the liver, the blood is collected by the hepatic vein and emptied into the inferior vena cava. The fatty substances are taken up by the lacteals to the receptaculum chyli, passed up the thoracic duct, and poured into the left subclavian vein, which empties its contents into the superior vena cava. Both streams of blood--venous blood--from the superior and inferior vena cava, pass into the right auricle, thence to the right ventricle, through the pulmonary artery into the lungs, there exchange the Carbonic acid for Oxygen, and return by means of the pulmonary veins into the left auricle, thence to the left ventricle, through the aorta into the general system--and to the master tissues. In the tissues the Oxygen is taken up. That is, the Oxygen passes from the blood to the tissues and the tissues throw off the Carbonic acid, which the veins again carry to the right side of the heart. Alcohol is composed of Carbon two (2), Hydrogen six (6), and Oxygen one (1) (C2 H6 O1). Alcohol, like all poisonous substances, carries a small amount of Oxygen. In composition it resembles very much, and probably is, a union of C2 H4 + H2 O, C2 H4 = ethane, olefiant gas, or heavy carburetted hydrogen. It is, in fact, a constituent of the gas we burn, procured from the destructive distillation of coal--in other words, coal gas. To make it plainer, ethane contains two of Carbon, four of Hydrogen + one molecule of water.