you should pour alcohol upon a plant it would die very soon.

~16.~ A man once made a cruel experiment. He put some minnows into a jar
of water and then poured in a few teaspoonfuls of alcohol. The minnows
tried very hard to get out, but they could not, and in a little while
they were all dead, poisoned by the alcohol. A Frenchman once gave
alcohol to some pigs with their food. They soon became sick and died.

~17. Alcohol not a Food.~--There are some people who imagine that
alcohol is good for food because it is made from fruits and grains which
are good for food. This is a serious mistake. A person can live on the
fruits or grains from which alcohol is made, but no one would attempt
to live upon alcohol. If he did, he would soon starve to death. In fact,
men have often died in consequence of trying to use whiskey in place of
food.

~18.~ We should remember, also, that people do not take alcohol as a
food, but for certain effects which it produces, which are not those of
a food, but of a poison.

~19.~ Many people who would not drink strong or distilled liquors, think
that they will suffer no harm if they use only wine, beer, or cider.
This is a great mistake. These liquids contain alcohol, as do all
fermented drinks. A person will become drunk or intoxicated by drinking
wine, beer, or cider--only a larger quantity is required to produce the
same effect as rum or whiskey.

~20.~ Another very serious thing to be thought of is that if a person
forms the habit of drinking wine, cider, or other fermented drinks, he
becomes so fond of the _effect they produce_ that he soon wants some