Alcohol / by C.R. Francis.

  • Francis, C. R. (Charles Richard), 1821-1901
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Alcohol / by C.R. Francis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    solution is affected. The blood of those addicted to alcohol is apt to be in a too fluid state, when the power of coagulation becomes diminished, if not altogether lost. This is strikingly seen, in the case of some drunkards, if they happen to cut a finger. Whereas the blood of the savage, or of those who live according to nature, coagulates at once,—forming a slight film upon the surface of the cut, which prevents further bleeding,—in them the blood continues to flow freely and is often arrested with difficulty. It may be well to observe here, for the benefit of practitioners in India, that the venom of some poisonous snakes has the same effect: hence the danger of applying leeches to, or of making incisions in, parts that may have become swollen after a bite. The Albumen (of which there are 70 parts in 1000 parts of blood) is represented by the various colloidal structures, e.g. the arteries and muscles, and, indeed, all the organs in the body, together with the membranes (also colloidal) which envelope and support them. Alcohol causes the investing membrane of an organ—this is strikingly seen in the liver and kidney—to shrink, and contract, in consequence of which the organ becomes compressed, and even, in some cases, condensed ; so that circula- tion through it is impeded, causing a block, as it were, behind with an undue accumulation of blood, to relieve which the watery constituents of this fluid exude, either into the areolar * tissue in which case the exudation, that may be local or general, is called anasarca—the puffiness of the face due to this cause is often seen in cases of granular kidney a similar swelling of the extremities being the result of contracted liver,—or into one of the shut serous cavities of the body, e.g. the peritoneum—the largest—which covers the intestines—when it is called dropsy. Strictly speaking, this latter term is applicable to both kinds. Owing to the shrinking and contraction of the interstitial portions of the membranous envelope, the surface of the organ—'liver or kidney—loses its smoothness and becomes irregular, presenting an appearance that, occurring in the liver, is called hobnailed— hence the term “ hobnailed ” or “gin-drinker’s” liver—and, when seen in the kidney, “ granular ” kidney. The Salts (normally about 10 parts in 1000 parts of blood) are relatively increased in quantity by the disturbing action of alcohol. There is, then, a tendency to cataract in the crystalline lens of the eye, and to the formation of stone in the bladder.f * A tissue or web, constituting a cellular framework — hence the term cellular or areolar tissue, — permeates every structure throughout the body, serving as an envelope and a support. The openings (cells) com- municate with each other, and into these the alcohol-obstructed fluid exudes ;—being called anasarca, derived from two Greek words signifying distributed through the flesh. f Dr. B. W. Richardson. 2 *
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