TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3808, 8 March 1927, Page 76

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

[The matter under this heading is published at the request of, and is supplied by, the" United Temperance Reform Council in pursuance of the desire to inculcate the principles of temperance.] From the medical and scientific point of view we have this great physiological .fact before us, that the first thing alcohol does m 89 cases out of 100 is to affect the mental working of the brain of the man who imbibes.—Sir Thomas Clouston, M.D. ALCOHOL AND THE BRAIN. The most wonderful of all the .functions of the brain is spoken of as the mental power, that is the power to get kno .vledge and remember it, to be able to think, to have intelligence and understanding. Here also is the scat of the moral power. It is this power that enables us to distinguish between right and wrong; and therefore gives, to each one of us our character. The brain controls every part of the body. Our voice speaks, our hands move, our feet walk, all because the brain tells them to. How can this be done ? By means of nerves. From the brain and spinal cord, which runs down the backbone, and la connected with the brain, there run millions of little threads or nerves, made of similar cells to the brain. Along these nerves messages are continually passing. Here is an illustration. If you prick your finger with a pin. two things happen. First, you feel the pain, and a message is sent along a nerve to the brain something like this: “Please, my finger is pricked.” The nerve that conveys this message is called a sensory nerve, that is a nerve of feeling. But you do not keep your finger on the pin, you snatch it away quickly. Why? Because your brain has sent a message back telling you to take your finger out of danger. This message has come aiong another nerve called a motor nerve, causing the finger to move. So nerves are of two kinds—sensory and motoi nerves. What is the effect of alochol, in the form of alcoholic drinks, on brain and nerves? There is nothing more important for. us to learn in connection with our subject than a correct answer to this question. It well for us, too. that now, after very many experiments in all parts cf the world, scientists are agreed that all evidence “supports the conclusion that the direct effect of alcohol upon the nervous system is, in all stages arid upon all parts of the system, to depress or suspend its functions; that it is, in short, from first to last, a narcotic drug.” 'The late Sir Victor Horsley, the irreat brain specialist, said: “It is, therefore, now established that the first effect ot h( 1 in small quantities is to suspend or interfere with the operation of the highest function of the brain.” THE USE OF THE GRAPE. FOR OTHER THAN WINE PURPOSES. Prize Essays written by Miss Marjorie Cock. One of the most luscious fruits that the human being eats is the grape. As the years go on the demand for grapes increases for uses other than that of wine making; so that more vineyards have been planted to cope with the extra requirements of the people. The housewife uses the grape for many household purposes, such as the making of grape jam, jellies, preserves, pickles, chutney vinegar, raisin bread, fruit compotes, and crystallised grapes are used for ornamenting cakes or biscuits. Sultanas are dried and used for making cakes and puddings, and an especially large quantity of dessert raisins are eaten after meals. The alcohol is being extracted for flavouring essences, vanilla beans soaked in alcohol for making vanilla essence, being one example. Another substance which is ertractod from the grape is tlie powder so much used in cooking, called cream of tartar. Refuse from the grape which was once wasted is now being' used for fattening pigs, and it is said that it produces delicious flavoured bacon. One of the oldest known products of the grape- is the unfermented wine which is used so extensively for sacramental purposes.

ALCOHOL AS A POWER PRODUCER. Power alcohol is already being manufactured in Australia, both in Melbourne and Sydney, where it is daily used in cars, replacing petrol. Fruit acid and saccharine when extracted from the grape retain their natural strength. Glucose is another extracted product which in appearance is like honey, and it is gradually replacing honey and sugar for the making of sweets and various kinds of biscuits. As this product becoms more widely known and is manufactured in larger amounts it will be reduced considerably in price. A bulletin recently issued by the Agricultural College of the University' of California stated that a syrup can be extracted from 20 tons of wine grapes which is equivalent to four tons of sugar or more than twice their value for wine purposes. Grape syrup is excellent for cooking and canning, and as time goes on, it is possible that it might replace cane sugar on the table. This syrup (as its value as an invigorating drink becomes widely known) should hold a prominent place at the soda fountain. When using it for preserving it not only imparts sweetness, but quality and flavour. The quality which recommends it most as a grape product with a future is that it needs no acquired taste to create a demand for it, invariably all who taste it for the first time like it. .The manufacturing of grape juice, for use as a blood tonic and germ destroyer, makes it specially beneficial for invalids and convalescents; thus it would not only bring, happier lives to thousands of homes but it would give employment to many more people in Australia.