On the Use and Abuse of Alcoholic Liquors, in Health and Disease, by William B. Carpenter (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1866 edition. Excerpt: ... and the whole body becomes loose, flabby, and inelastic, the abdomen alone retaining its protuberance, in consequence of the large deposition of fat in the omentum, ' which is rarely absorbed. Such a deposition of fat is almost invariably found in the omentum of confirmed spirit-drinkers,2 notwithstanding its absence elsewhere. 62. A general corpulence of the body, however, can by no means be admitted as an indication of healthy nutrition; indeed it must be regarded as very much the reverse. No animal in a state of nature exhibits any considerable deposit of fat, except for some special purpose (as in the case of Cetacea 3 and other warm-blooded animals inhabiting the water, where the coating of fat serves as a non-conductor; or in the case of hybernating mammals,4 as also of many birds, whose autumnal accumulation of fat is destined to make up for the deprivation or deficiency of food in the winter): and when by a change of habits the deposition of fat is artificially promoted, it is obvious that the musculai vigour and general "hardiness" of the system are much impaired, the animal becoming liable to many disorders from which it was previously exempt, and requiring much more careful treatment to keep it in good condition. When, indeed, we find a tendency to the deposition of fat, not in addition to, but instead of, the normal tissues, the case is one of "fatty degeneration," and must be regarded as a positive disease, --involving as it does, a general functionary inactivity.5 63. Diminished Power of Sustaining Injuries by Disease or Accident.--The classes of men among whom there is an appearance if remarkable bodily vigour, notwithstanding habitual excess in the ase of Alcoholic liquors, are those who are continually undergoing great...