Abstract
In man, especially in an abstainer, alcohol, if applied to the mucous membranes of the mouth in a concentrated form, such as 5o per cent, immediately gives rise to a transitory increase in the blood-pressure, attended by a slight decrease in the pulse rate. If given by the mouth in a dosage such as 50 c.c. of a 5o per cent solution, these changes are followed by a fall of the blood-pressure and an acceleration of the pulse. In rabbits, the oral application of the concentrated solution causes changes similar to those observed in man, and these are proved to be due to a reflex stimulation of the vasomotor and vagus centres arising from the irritation of the alcohol exerted on the sensory nerve-ends in the mouth. The constant effects under the administration of alcohol to the stomach or subcutaneous tissue of the animals are a fall of the blood-pressure and a quickening of the pulse, while what happens with an intravenous injection is a rise of the bloodpressure with a quickening of the pulse, indicating that these phenomena have nothing to do with its systemic action, but with a certain alteration of the blood due to the concentrated alcohol solution. The beneficial action of alcohol observed in the treatment of the various forms of sudden circulatory collapse must therefore be ascribed to its reflex stimulation, and this falls in with the clinical observation that the stimulant action of alcohol is very prompt and transient.
