blood and the tissues, even in moderate quantity, the more
certainly does it lead to perverted and degenerative changes in
the tissues, _ending in renal _(kidney)_ and hepatic _(liver)_
dropsies, cardiac _(heart)_ failures, gout, apoplexy and
paralysis_."

Sir B. W. Richardson says:--

"Alcohol produces many diseases; and it constantly happens that
persons die of diseases which have their origin solely in the
drinking of alcohol, while the cause itself is never for a
moment suspected. A man may say quite truthfully that he never
was tipsy in the whole course of his life; and yet it is quite
possible that such a man may die of disease caused by the
alcohol he has taken, and by no other cause whatever. This is
one of the most dreadful evils of alcohol, that it kills
insidiously, as if it were doing no harm, or as if it were doing
good, while it is destroying life. Another great evil of it is
that it assails so many different parts of the body. It hardly
seems credible at first sight that the same agent can give rise
to the many different kinds of diseases it does give rise to. In
fact, the universality of its action has blinded even learned
men as to its potency for destruction.

"Step by step, however, we have now discovered that its modes of
action are all very simple, and are all the same in character;
and that the differences that have been and are seen in
different persons under its influence are due mainly to the
organs, or organ, which first give way under it. Thus, if the
stomach gives way first, we say that the person has indigestion
or dyspepsia, or failure of the stomach; if the brain gives way
first, we say the person has paralysis, or apoplexy, or brain
disease; if the liver gives way first, we say the man has liver
disease, and so on.

"All persons who indulge much in any form of alcoholic drink are
troubled with indigestion. When they wake in the morning they
find their mouth dry, their tongue coated, and their appetite
bad. In course of time they become confirmed 'dyspeptics,' and
as many of them find a temporary relief from the distress at the
stomach, and the deficient appetite from which they suffer by
taking more liquor, they increase the quantity taken, and so
make matters much worse. * * * * *

"There are a great number of diseases caused by al