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Show Alcohol in the! It European Armies The European war, subjecting millions mil-lions of men to the Irregularities and exposures of llfo in Hold nnd camp has naturally revived Interest In nnd furnished now material for tho dis cussion of many old problems. Among theso problems is thnt connected con-nected with the- uso of alcohol by tho soldiers. Tho time has passed when alcoholic liquors aro to bo regarded re-garded as inseparable from warfaro nnd essential for military nctlvltlcB. Efllclcncy Is now tho prime consideration. consider-ation. Slnco tho last groat war, scientific sci-entific research has grcntly Increased our knowledge- of tho effects of alcohol alco-hol on tho human body. While tho physiologist hns not as yet spoken tho last word on this subject tho overwhelming ov-erwhelming preponderance of scientific scien-tific ovldcnco Is ln favor ot tho proposition pro-position that tho uso ot nlcohol, In any amounts, largo or smnll, tends to i Impair muscular coordination, to dull I tho spctlnl senses, to retard muscular nnd nervous reactions nnd mental processes, and to roduco efllclcncy ln any work requiring rapid nnd nccur-' nccur-' ato mental or physical effort. The question still open to discussion Is whether, in times of unusual exposure, expos-ure, strain and oxertlon, tho temporarily tempor-arily stimulating effects of alcohol I aro sufllclontly vnluablo to compen sate for Its undeslrablo results. Evidently Evi-dently tho military authorises of Eu-' Eu-' ropo think bo, or aro still influenced by custom or tradition, slnco ln each army tho regulation ration of nliohol Is still provided. In tho English army, ar-my, 2 1-2 ounces ot rum nro Issued to each mnn twlco a week. For men In the .trenches, this nllowanco Is Increased In-creased to 3 ounces twlco n week un der ordinary weathor conditions nnd j to 2 1-2 ounces dally ln very bad i weather, making n minimum of 5 ounces a week and a maximum of ' 17 1-2 ouncos. Tho regular ration of i 2 1-2 ounces Is cstlmntcd to contnln 25. G grams of alcohol. Tho French soldier receives dally GO grams ot i rum tontulnlng 20 grams ot alcohol. I Tho Gorman soldier Is allowed 1,703 grams of beer and 20 grams of brandy bran-dy a day. Tho boor which Is of tho ordinary larger variety, has a low alcohol content of only nbout 3.5 por cent, but this quantity would amount to a total of 70.7 grama ot nctunl nlcohol nl-cohol n day. Austrian soldiers ro-colvo ro-colvo each day 0.5 liter of wlno, equivalent' to 40 grams of alcohol ,Tho physiologic effects of alcohol on military efllclcncy would probably not bo co clearly apparent in tho nrmy as In tho navy. Tho modern battlo-ship, battlo-ship, cruiser and submarino havo bo-romo bo-romo mnrvols of mechanlcnl complexity com-plexity and delicacy. Tho soldier In tho tienchcs might tako tho maximum maxi-mum Gorman ration ot 70 grams of alcohol a day without Impairing his ability to handlo his rlflo or manipulate manipu-late a mnchino gun. Whothor tho membors ot tho aviation corps, tho artillery men charged with hnndllng tho heavy guns, or tho signal mon on whoso quickness and accuracy of vision vi-sion much might depend, could maintain main-tain tho highest ofllcloncy on a dally nllowanco of nlcohol remains to be proved. There is, in tho opinion of The Journal of tho American Medical Medi-cal Association, abundant testimony on tho part ot naval exports to show that nlcohol diminishes tho accuracy of tho gun pointer on tho battleship and so reduces tho umber ot probablo hits. "Dutch courago" has heretofore hereto-fore been rogarded as an indlsponsa-b!o indlsponsa-b!o equipment of warfaro, and alcohol alco-hol has been looked on nB tho ally rather than tho enomy of tho fighting man; but tho present war will re-verso re-verso tho opinions ot tho civilized world on a good many questions and it Is posslblo that tho lndlsponsabll-Ity lndlsponsabll-Ity of alcohol In tho army may bo ono of them. Tho Amorlcnn Medical Journal. |