The influence of alcohol in the services / by A.M. Davies.

  • Davies, E. M.
Date:
[1908?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The influence of alcohol in the services / by A.M. Davies. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    1. As to great cold, opinion is unanimous amongst the well informed : all alcohol is more or less hurtful; spirits are the worst, but even light wine or beer is not to be recommended. The experience of arctic voyagers and of alpine guides is singularly concordant as to this. Sir John Ross wrote :2 “ The most irresistible proof of the value of abstinence was when we abandoned our ship, and were obliged to leave behind us all our wine and spirits. It was remarkable to observe how much stronger and more able the men were to do their work when they had nothing but water to drink.” Dr. John Rae main¬ tained that “ the greater the cold, the more injurious is the use of alcohol.” As to great heat, the evidence is equally conclusive; the strongest liquors are the most hurtful, greatly predisposing to heat stroke and diseases of the liver. In former years, in India, a very great deal too much alcoholic liquor was consumed. E very soldier had a right to purchase at the canteen 2 drams of spirits, generally rum or arrack, sup¬ plied by the Commissariat Department; 2 drams were equal to 8 fl. oz.; many men drew only 1 dram of spirits, that is, 4 oz., and took out the other dram in the shape of a quart of beer. The amount of disease ascribed to intem¬ perance was described by Dr. J. Maclellan (1863) as “something appalling”; one-tenth of all the admissions to hospital for sickness in Bombay were on account of delirium tremens or drunkenness; the numbers admitted for these causes were greater than for any other disease, except fever; and as to deaths, “ alcohol destroyed more than either fever, hepatitis or diarrhoea, and nearly as many as cholera.”* 2. Exertion of the body is better borne without than with alcohol; this has been proved most conclusively. As a restorative after fatigue, and as a spur to special exertion for a short time, a small quantity of alcohol may be useful, but reaction is sure to follow. A German observer, Schneider, has recently (1907) examined 1,200 mountain climbers, and found that, according to their testimony, as long as continuous efforts and difficulties are to be expected no alcohol should be taken. Only for a special effort of mind or body (as for overcoming a final obstacle) may a dose be admissible. In descending, when all difficulties have been overcome, many mountaineers find a small dose of brandy a restorative. In mental work it is very doubtful if alcohol is of any service, except in cases of great exhaustion from want of food, when alcohol does revive mental power, probably by increasing the blood supply to the brain. 3. In the exposures and fatigues of war, it has been demonstrated that alcohol is quite unnecessary to enable troops to support them effectively and cheerfully; nor are * As a contrast to this the last Army Medical Report may be quoted: The admissions for alcoholism during 1906 in the army in India amounted to 170, or 2.4 per 1,000 of strength; the deaths were 6 in number or 0.09 per 1,000 strength.