Physiological aspects of the liquor problem / investigations made by and under the direction of W. O. Atwater, John S. Billings [and others] sub-committee of the Committee of fifty to investigate the liquor problem.

John Shaw Billings

Date:: 1903

Credit: Physiological aspects of the liquor problem / investigations made by and under the direction of W. O. Atwater, John S. Billings [and others] sub-committee of the Committee of fifty to investigate the liquor problem. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

410/446 (page 370)

$Ball* lOO| 60 12 O 40 R««t6 tiT •^1 n Da V* ~: r :>] \ Xi \1 s ^ -— 1 \ ^ S y / -^ ^ \ ^ V y s / b^ ■ ' .' -- a > ..^ _^* ... .> » •, ,' ** 44 f?-. , J At •III ty W ^ ^ s / ia t , S / / \ / i~ ,'' \ ,• '' * ■* F^t., [HS 1 Fio. 11. Chart of BaU Tests. as compared with Nig's is only 32^ (see Fig. 10). Tipsy and Bum also gave evidence of very much greater fatigue. A similar series of 1000 balls, November, 1896, in which Bum and Nig only participated, shows about the same result, and expresses (Fig. 11) these relations as to fatigue more exactly. Nig's curve of achievement is also seen to run much closer to his curve of attempt than in Bum's case, in both charts, and this affords good evidence of his greater alertness, strength, and energy. These differences, especially on the psychic side, are well shown by all the photographs that have been taken. Comparison of the faces in Figs. 5, 12, 13, and 20 demonstrate this too clearly to require further com- ment. It should be noted, however, in Fig. 20, that Bum is completely blind, which give the eyes a somewhat more wide- awake expression, and the direct sunlight, in which the picture is taken is rather strong for the eyes of the other dogs. Administration of alcohol was discontinued November 1,1898, in order to ascertain whether the effects of alcohol already noted were transient or permanent. This point in the research has special reference to its influence on progeny, as will be described under that head, but it is also of interest in connection with the normal activity of the animals. This was at the beginning of Tipsy's last gestation period, and no marked change in her general behavior could be noted up to the time of her death the following December. Bum's activity improved slowly, so that by the end of a year it had attained practical equality with Nig's, a test with the watches at this time giving the relation of 95^ to Nig's 100^. Ball tests, also, made in the spring and fall of 1899, showed him to be about Nig's equal both in alertness and endurance. During the winter of 1899-1900, without any apparent cause, atrophy of both retinae began to be noticeable, and by the spring$