essels.

The smallest arteries pass into the _capillaries_, which have very thin
walls, and form very close networks in nearly all parts of the body;
their immense number compensating for their small size. It is while
flowing in these delicate tubes that the blood does its nutritive work,
the arteries being merely supply-tubes for the capillaries, through
whose delicate walls liquid containing nourishment exudes from the blood
to bathe the various tissues.

The quantity of blood in any part of the body at any given time is
dependent upon certain relations which exist between the blood-vessels
and the nervous system. The walls of the arteries are abundantly
supplied with involuntary muscular fibres, which have the power of
contraction and relaxation. This power of contraction and relaxation is
controlled by certain nerves called _vasomotor_ nerves, because they
cause or control motion in the vessels to which they are attached. When
arteries supplying blood to any particular part of the body contract,
the supply of blood to that part will be diminished in proportion to the
amount of contraction. If the nervous control be altogether withdrawn,
the arterial walls will completely relax, and the amount of blood in
the part affected will be increased correspondingly.

Alcohol, even in moderate doses, paralyzes the _vasomotor_ nerves which
control the minute blood-vessels, thus allowing these vessels to become
dilated with the flowing blood.

"With the disturbance of power in the extreme vessels, more
disturbance is set up in other organs, and the first organ that
shares in it is the heart. With each beat of the heart a certain
degree of resistance is offered by the vessels when their
nervous supply is perfect, and the stroke of the heart is
moderate in respect both to tension and to time. But when the
vessels are rendered relaxed, the resistance is removed, the
heart begins to run quicker like a clock from which the pendulum
has been removed, and the heart-stroke is greatly increased in
frequency. It is easy to account in this manner for the
quickened heart and pulse which accompany the first stage of
deranged action from alcohol."--RICHARDSON.

Dr. Parkes of England, assisted by Count Wollowicz, conducted inquiries
upon the effects of alcohol upon the heart, with a young and healthy
man. At first they made accurate count of the heart beats during periods
when the young man