effect of these poisons constantly operating upon his nervous system and
digestive organs had made him but a wreck of his former self. It is true
that in stature he was as large as the man his father had desired him to
be; but he was far from being of the strong manly type that that parent
would have had him to become. Instead, he was weakly; and his body was
never free from pain and suffering.

The old adage that ignorance is bliss can never be aptly applied to
nicotine and alcohol. For only those who let them both entirely alone
can be truly happy or safe. When we examine what doctors have written
about the use of these poisons, we find that alcohol as well as nicotine
is a stimulant and a narcotic. As a stimulant, it excites the brain and
nerves, quickens the circulation of the blood, and intoxicates (makes
drunk); while as a narcotic it blunts the powers of the brain and nerves
and produces stupor and death.

Tests in the army, navy, and arctic explorations have definitely proved
that alcohol is not a food.

Alcohol will not allay thirst: "Alcohol has a great attraction for
water; and when swallowed, it draws the water to itself, thus depriving
the tissues of the body of that merit necessary inorganic food. Again,
alcohol causes a rush of blood to the skin, which causes a sensation of
warmth to be felt upon the surface of the body. However, the sensation
of heat is, like beauty, 'only skin deep,' as the heat of the system has
really been diminished rather than increased; because when the blood is
upon the surface, it parts with its heat more readily."

I "The effects of alcohol upon the heart may be summed up in the
following statements: