ume of absolute alcohol, almost invariably
diminishes, within a minute, the work done by the heart."

(This estimate would equal in an adult man an amount equal to the
absolute alcohol in two or three ounces of whisky or brandy.)

"These investigations of Professor Martin, being directly
corroborated by those of Drs. Ringer and Sainsbury, complete the
series of demonstrations needed to show the actual effects of
alcohol on the cardiac, as well as on the vasomotor, and also on
the direct contractability of the muscular structure, when
supplied with blood containing all gradations in the relative
proportion of alcohol, leaving no longer any basis for the idea,
popular both in and out of the profession, that alcohol in any
of its forms is capable of increasing, even temporarily the
force or efficiency of the heart's action."--Dr. N. S. Davis in
_Influence of Alcohol On the Human System_.

The following letter will be of great interest to all students of the
physiological effects of alcohol:--

"CHICAGO, ILL., March 3, 1899.

"To MRS. MARTHA M. ALLEN,
"Syracuse, N. Y.,

"MADAM: Your letter asking my attention to the apparent
contradiction of authorities concerning the _work_ done by the
heart when influenced by alcohol was received yesterday.

"The explanation is not difficult. It depends entirely on the
different views of what constitutes the _work_ of the heart.

"One class of investigators, led by the original and valuable
experiments of Parkes and Wollowicz base their estimate of the
heart's work entirely on the _number of times it contracts or
beats per minute_. Thus Dr. Parkes, finding that moderate doses
of alcohol increased the number of contractions of the heart
from three to six beats per minute more than natural, readily
estimated the number of additional contractions that would occur
in twenty-four hours, and thereby demonstrated a large amount of
increased work done by the heart under the influence of alcohol.
All writers who speak of 'stimulating' or increasing the action
of the heart by alcohol follow this method of measuring the
amount of _work_ done. They generally add that it is like
applying 'the whip to a tired horse.'

"The other class of investigators who claim that _alcohol_
diminishes the actual _work_ done by the hea