In this chapter we shall endeavor to give our readers a description of
the changes and deteriorations which take place in the blood, nerves,
membranes, tissues and organs, in consequence of the continued
introduction of alcohol into the human body; and in doing so, we shall
quote freely from medical writers, in order that our readers may have
the testimony before them in its directest form, and so be able to judge
for themselves as to its value.


DIGESTION.

And here, in order to give those who are not familiar with, the process
of digestion, a clear idea of that important operation, and the effect
produced when alcohol is taken with food, we quote from the lecture of
an English physician, Dr. Henry Monroe, on "The Physiological Action of
Alcohol." He says:

"Every kind of substance employed by man as food consists of sugar,
starch, oil and glutinous matters, mingled together in various
proportions; these are designed for the support of the animal frame. The
glutinous principles of food--_fibrine, albumen_ and _casein_--are
employed to build up the structure; while the _oil, starch_ and _sugar_
are chiefly used to generate heat in the body.

"The first step of the digestive process is the breaking up of the food
in the mouth by means of the jaws and teeth. On this being done, the
saliva, a viscid liquor, is poured into the mouth from the salivary
glands, and as it mixes with the food, it performs a very important part
in the operation of digestion, rendering the starch of the food soluble,
and gradually changing it into a sort of sugar, after which the other