To Conserve Unimpaired The Evolution

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—i.e. fibroid phthisis—is not borne out by clinical or pathological
investigation, and appears to be wholly without foundation in fact.

Pulmonary Phthisis.—The question whether or not chronic

alcoholism exerts any influence in the production and evolution of
pulmonary phthisis has been the subject of no little fruitless
controversy. There are medical men of experience who do not
hesitate to affirm that the abundant use of alcohol constitutes in
certain cases an actual prophylaxis, while there are others who insist
with equal positiveness that alcoholic excesses favor the
development of this affection. Whatever may be the influence of
alcohol in depressing the forces of the body and in the production of
serious lesions of pulmonary structures, and thus predisposing the
subject to phthisis, it can be asserted with confidence that it does not
directly cause any form of phthisis whatever. The alcoholic phthisis
of Lancereaux, Richardson, Drysdale, and others cannot be now
regarded as a distinct, independent affection. The process of
exclusion by which alcohol was made to seem the real cause of the
disease in 36 of 2000 of the cases examined by Richardson was not
sufficiently rigid to meet the requirements of our present knowledge.
There is reason to believe that by its favorable influence upon the
appetite and digestion, its power to reduce temperature, its retarding
influence upon tissue-waste, alcohol in moderate quantities is of
great use in the management of this affection. That phthisical
subjects occasionally seem to derive benefit from, and to lengthen
their lives by, excesses in alcohol is capable of explanation—first, by
the fact that an extraordinary tolerance for alcohol is natural to or
acquired by certain individuals; and, second, by the favorable
influence of alcohol upon ulcerative and suppurative processes, and
in determining connective-tissue new formation—a process by which
certain inflammatory products, including tubercle, are capable of
being rendered inert. The foregoing remarks are applicable to all
forms of pulmonary phthisis.

The Pleuræ.—The pleura is sometimes the seat of patches of

fibrinous exudation of varying extent and thickness, which are,
according to Lentz, the expression of the formative action which
constitutes one of the modalities of alcoholism, and which are of the
same nature as the fibrinous exudations which occur in the
peritoneum and the dura mater. These false membranes cause
pleural adhesions, and occasionally contain within their meshes a
turbid serous fluid.

d. Disorders of the Circulatory System.—The Heart.—This organ is

usually implicated to a greater or less extent in the course of chronic
alcoholism. Lesions of the muscular substance are more common
than those of the valvular apparatus.

Hypertrophy is common. It affects usually both sides of the heart—

the left, however, more than the right—and is associated with some
degree of dilatation. The part played by alcohol in the production of
cardiac hypertrophy is a dual one: first, that of constantly-repeated
direct stimulation of the heart; second, that of the indirect stimulation
to over-action caused by the necessity to overcome the obstacles
which the lesions of the viscera interpose to the circulation of the
blood in the later periods of the disease. Nor are the lesions of the
blood-vessels themselves, hereafter to be described, without
influence in inducing hypertrophy. Bollinger and Schmidbauer have
shown that the habitual consumption of beer in excessive quantities
leads to cardiac hypertrophy of characteristic form. Both sides of the
heart participate in the overgrowth: there is enormous increase in the
volume of the primitive muscular elements, with enlargement of the
nuclei. Whether or not actual numerical increase in the muscular
fibres takes place cannot be determined. This form of enlargement of
the heart occurs in the absence of lesions of the valves,
disturbances of the pulmonary circulation, arterial sclerosis,
atheroma, or granular kidneys. Some few of these cases of so-called
idiopathic hypertrophy are perhaps due to prolonged excessive
bodily effort and bodily strain. But the greater number are only to be
explained by habitual excesses in beer-drinking, as shown by
carefully worked-out personal histories of the patients. Neither fatty
degeneration nor myocarditis enters into the pathological process
under consideration. The hypertrophy is due to the direct action of
the alcohol consumed, to the enormous amount of fluid introduced
into the body, and to the easily-assimilated nutritive constituents of
the beer itself. Furthermore, such habits are often associated with
great bodily activity and a relatively luxurious manner of life. The
greater number of alcoholic subjects who suffer from this form of
hypertrophy perish after brief illness with symptoms of heart-failure.
At the necropsy are discovered moderate dropsy, congestion and
brown induration of the lungs, congestion of the liver, spleen,
kidneys, and other organs, bronchitis and moderate serous effusions
or general anasarca. Death is probably due to paralysis of the
cardiac nerves and ganglia. This form of hypertrophy is of course
much more common among men than among women. It is much
less common in this country than in Germany, but is occasionally
met with among brewers' employés.

Fibroid Degeneration.—This condition has been ascribed to a

number of causes, among which long-continued excess in alcohol is
unquestionably an important one. Bramwell holds the opinion that in
a certain proportion of cases of this description, in which fibroid
degeneration of the heart is connected with similar changes in the
kidneys (sclerosis), the lesions of both organs are due to alcoholism.
Alcoholic fibrosis differs in no respect from that due to other causes.
The condition may escape recognition by the unaided eye if it be
disseminated throughout the muscle and the change consist in
thickening of the perimysia around undivided fibres. The heart is
larger than normal, perhaps a little paler, and its consistency a little
more firm. When, as is more commonly the case, the fibroid change
is localized, and masses of new tissue are developed in and around
the muscular fibres, the heart assumes a flecked or streaked
appearance, due to the contrast between the yellowish-white fibroid
tissue and the brownish-red muscular structure. The microscope
shows excessive development of fibrous tissue, with atrophy of
muscular fibres. The effect is to weaken the force of the heart's
action, and to weaken the walls of the cavities at the affected parts in
such a manner as to cause local bulgings or cardiac aneurisms.

The symptoms and physical signs of fibroid degeneration of the

heart are very obscure and indefinite, and the diagnosis is always
attended with difficulty, and in many cases is impossible. Jubel-
Renoy, however, regards the diagnosis as having already attained
some clinical exactitude, and regards as important the association of
the following diagnostic data: first, feebleness of the systole and the
pulse, with augmentation of the frequency without irregularity;
second, moderate enlargement, varying within considerable limits;
and third, absence of murmurs in the greater number of the cases.
Death is apt to occur suddenly. Welch, upon investigation of the
clinical histories of cases in which fibroid degeneration of the heart
was found after death, concluded that they might be clinically
grouped as follows: first, cases in which there is no symptom of heart
disease; second, cases of sudden death without previous heart
symptoms; third, sudden death preceded by one or more attacks of
angina pectoris; fourth, after cardiac insufficiency of a few days'
standing; and fifth, in cases of old heart disease.

Fatty Heart.—Under the term fatty heart two distinct pathological

conditions are comprised. Of these the first is fatty infiltration, which
consists in an excessive development of the normal subpericardial
fat, with a deposition of fat-cells in considerable number between the
muscular fibres of the myocardium. This condition occurs chiefly in
individuals suffering from general obesity, and is particularly apt to
occur in alcoholic obesity. Large masses of fat fill the grooves and
furrows of the organ, the surface of which is covered with a thick
layer of yellowish fat. The right heart is first and most affected, but in
advanced cases the whole heart may be encased in a thick fatty
layer. When the fat-cells infiltrate the intermuscular spaces, they
exert pressure which may produce atrophy and degeneration of the
muscular elements. This condition may exist to a certain extent
without symptoms, but it is, however, apt to be manifested by a
certain amount of cardiac dyspnœa and inability to endure excessive
strain or acute illness. In cases in which the fatty infiltration attains a
high grade, inducing by mechanical pressure degenerative changes
in the muscular substance of the heart, there are signs of
embarrassment of the circulation. The precise diagnosis is usually
difficult, often impossible.
The second form of fatty heart is known as fatty degeneration, and
consists in changes in the muscular fibres by which the albuminoid
constituents are broken up and replaced by microscopic particles of
fat. After a time the transverse striæ disappear, and the functional
activity of those muscular fibres which are affected is completely lost.
All conditions which interfere with the supply of oxygen to the
muscular tissue or which seriously derange its nutrition are capable
of producing fatty degeneration. Among these are alcoholic
excesses. The color of the heart is paler than normal, usually fawn or
pale buff. It has been described as the faded-leaf color. The
consistence is softer than normal, the wall of the heart in many
instances being readily broken down by the pressure of the finger.
The left ventricle is the part most likely to be affected, the papillary
muscles being often profoundly altered. Next in order the right
ventricle is involved, then the left auricle, and finally the right auricle.
When this form of degeneration is due to disease of the coronary
arteries, the lesion is usually localized, sometimes limited to the
distribution of the branch of the artery which is affected.

Upon microscopical examination the affected muscular fibres are

found to contain minute molecules of fat, often of a uniform size,
sometimes arranged in rows, but commonly distributed irregularly
throughout the substance of the fibre. The transverse striæ are
indistinct, and sometimes wholly absent. The functional activity of the
affected fibres is seriously interfered with or wholly lost, and as a
result the force of the circulation is greatly weakened. These two
forms of fatty change are occasionally associated. Among the more
common symptoms are shortness of breath upon exertion, with dry
hacking cough. In advanced cases the dyspnœa may become
constant. The fatal issue is sometimes preceded by the Cheyne-
Stokes respiration. Other symptoms are due to cerebral anæmia.
The memory is impaired, the patient becomes wayward and irritable,
and is apt to become faint upon suddenly changing from the
recumbent to the erect posture, and in most instances is incapable of
concentrated mental effort or active bodily exertion.
The Blood-vessels.—Capillary dilatation is one of the earliest and
most persistent effects of alcohol. The visceral congestions which
constitute so important a factor in the pathology of alcoholism are in
part the result of the paralyzing action of alcohol on the vaso-motor
system, and in part of the degenerative changes in the unstriped
muscular fibres of the arterial walls.

Atheroma.—Alcoholic excesses play an important part in the etiology

of atheromatous degeneration of the arterial walls, not so much by
the direct action of the alcohol itself, as by its indirect action in
increasing the tension in the main trunks, and in leading to an
irregular life in which excitement, sudden and severe exertion,
exposure to cold, and depressing influences of all kinds play a part.

Valvular lesions of the heart do not occur as a direct result of the

action of alcohol.

e. Disorders of the Genito-urinary Apparatus.—The Kidneys.—

Alcohol, as has been shown above, is a diuretic. In large doses it
produces renal congestion. Ollivier36 observed acute transient
albuminuria resulting from the influence of excessive doses of
alcohol.
36 Essai sur les Albuminuries produites par l'Elimination des Substances toxiques,
Paris, 1863.

Much difference of opinion exists as to the part played by alcohol in

the causation of the various forms of Bright's disease. It was at one
time thought that a large proportion of the cases were due to the
abuse of this substance. Bright held this view, and Christison
attributed from three-fourths to four-fifths of all cases of granular
degeneration of the kidneys to the abuse of spirits. The latter
considered that not alone in notorious drunkards was this result likely
to occur, but even in those accustomed to the moderate daily
consumption of spirits with only occasional excesses. This opinion
for a long time largely prevailed among English writers. Of late years,
however, in consequence partly of the teachings of Anstie and
Dickinson, partly of more precise methods of reasoning, the direct
causative relation between chronic alcoholism and disease of the
kidneys has come to be questioned. Nevertheless, many teachers of
authority adhere to the former view. It is, however, more than
probable that the action of alcohol is not of itself capable of
producing these effects in the absence of other causes, among
which are insufficient or improper diet, irregular living, damp
dwelling-places, occupations necessitating great or prolonged
exposure to cold and wet or such exposure from accidental causes
—circumstances to which those who, especially among the poorer
classes, are addicted to drink are peculiarly liable. Nor must we
overlook the influence of exposure to paludal poison, of lead, and of
heredity in the causation of diseases of the kidneys. While alcohol
cannot be regarded as the direct exciting cause of acute or chronic
nephritis, chronic alcoholism acts as an influence predisposing to the
development of these affections in persons otherwise liable to them.

Congestion of the Kidneys.—The general action of alcohol in

inducing visceral hyperæmia is aided by its special diuretic action in
causing chronic congestion (cyanotic kidney). The kidney is of a dark
violet-red hue, slightly enlarged, especially in its transverse diameter,
of a consistence firmer than normal, and bleeds freely upon section.

Acute parenchymatous nephritis is of rare occurrence in chronic

alcoholism. Of chronic parenchymatous nephritis Bartels37 writes: “I
may say that alcoholic excesses, to which the disease is by many
attributed, cannot be charged with being the cause of it. None of the
cases treated by me occurred in drunkards, and in no instance have
I encountered the large white kidney at the autopsies of notorious
drinkers, of which I have made a not inconsiderable number during
my many years' active hospital service.” The same author in
discussing the etiology of chronic interstitial nephritis (contracted
kidney) enters a protest against the view which is widespread in
England that the abuse of spirituous liquors favors the development
of the genuine contracted kidney. He says: “In the first place, among
all the patients whom I have treated, three only were brandy-drinkers
to any notorious excess, while by far the greater number who were
affected with this complaint had lived remarkably abstemious lives.
In the second place, throughout my twenty-five years of active
service as a hospital physician I have had the most abundant
opportunity of watching the consequences of intemperance, both at
the bedside and upon the post-mortem table; yet these three cases
have hitherto been the only ones in which I have found atrophied
kidneys in the bodies of habitual drunkards.” Baer also testifies to the
infrequency of contracted kidneys among drunkards.
37 Ziemssen's Cyclopædia of Medicine.

Fürstner detected by very exact testing a trace of albumen in the

urine of almost all cases of delirium tremens examined. Its presence
was, however, transient, and appeared to be not associated with
structural changes in the kidneys.38
38 Berliner klin. Wochenschrift, 1876, No. 28.

Fatty infiltration and fatty degeneration of the kidneys occur in

chronic alcoholism, the former as part of the general fat
accumulation, the latter as a result of the general nutritive
disturbances.

Amyloid degeneration is rare, and can in no case be ascribed to the

direct action of alcohol.

Griesinger saw excessive diabetes insipidus follow a prolonged and

severe attack of acute alcoholism in a man twenty-eight years old,
and terminate fatally in the course of four months. Ebstein attributes
the polyuria of acute alcoholism to lesions of the brain.

Glycosuria is rare among drunkards.

The Bladder.—Catarrh of the bladder is not rare in chronic

alcoholism, especially in that form originating from excesses in malt
liquors. This condition, however, scarcely occurs with sufficient
frequency to be regarded as in any sense a symptom of alcoholism.
The Genital Organs.—The subjects of alcoholism are especially
prone to sexual disorders of all kinds—a fact to be explained by the
influence of alcohol on the imagination, and especially upon the
sexual appetite, its debasing effect on the moral sense and upon the
judgment, and the indifference to the consequences of exposure
which it begets. In the later stages of chronic alcoholism sexual
power is apt to be greatly enfeebled or wholly lost. This condition,
which is usually attended also by loss of sexual desire, is to be
attributed to the action of alcohol upon the nervous system rather
than upon the sexual organs themselves. It has nevertheless been
established that long-continued alcoholic excesses are apt to be
followed by atrophy of the testicles. Lancereaux has described a
condition of these organs resembling in all respects senile atrophy.
On the other hand, Huss attributed the impotence of alcoholic
subjects to loss of nervous tone. In the female, alcoholism produces
disturbances of menstruation and premature menopause. Alcoholic
excesses are said also to produce a liability to abortion, and
Lancereaux has observed atrophy of the ovaries in alcoholic
subjects.

2. Disorders of Special Structures.—a. Disorders of the Locomotive

Apparatus.—The muscles at large, like the heart, are liable to fatty
infiltration and degeneration. Fatty infiltration, frequent at some
period in the course of the affection, is apt to be widespread. The
muscles are paler than normal, softer in consistence, and streaked
with fat. True fatty degeneration is less frequent, and apt to be
localized. Here the muscular fibres lose their striation, and present
within the myolemma minute fatty deposits in the form of granules.
This change is accompanied by atrophy. The symptoms consist in
feebleness and difficulty in movement and in locomotion.

Changes in the bones, notably enlargement of and increase in the

contents of the medullary canal in the long bones, and arthropathies
of various kinds, have been observed in alcoholic subjects.

b. Disorders of the Skin.—Alcohol is a sudorific, and is largely

eliminated by the skin. This effect is purely physiological; therefore
the moderate and occasional use of alcohol exerts an influence
rather favorable than otherwise upon the tegumentary structures, but
in repeated excesses it gives rise to more or less cutaneous
irritation. The skin, partly for this reason, and partly because it
shares in the general disturbance of nutrition, becomes dry, harsh,
and scaly; after a time the face, and especially the nose and
neighboring parts, assumes in many instances a violaceous hue, the
minute superficial cutaneous veins are enlarged, and acne is
common. The resulting appearance is almost characteristic of the
habits of the individual. Alcoholic subjects frequently suffer from
pruritis, urticaria, and eczema. In certain cases the skin, instead of
being dry and harsh, is soft and unctuous, and in others, especially
in the more advanced cases, it becomes slightly yellow or earthy in
hue. Owing in part to changes in the nutrition, and in part to vascular
dilatation, the skin of the extremities is not rarely mottled and
cyanotic. In certain forms of alcoholism of the nervous system, and
particularly in alcoholic paralysis, in which we have to do with
multiple peripheral neuritis, the skin of the affected parts, especially
that overlying the atrophied muscles, becomes, in consequence of
trophic changes, dusky in color and hard, smooth, and glossy. It has
been stated that chronic alcoholism is a cause of pellagra, and
numerous observations have been advanced in support of this view
(Hardy). The excessive rarity of this condition in countries in which
the abuse of alcohol is most common renders it probable that the
occasional association of these affections is accidental rather than
causal. Chronic alcoholism predisposes to gangrene of the skin and
to bed-sores; slight wounds readily inflame and are slow to heal;
alcoholic subjects are especially predisposed to erysipelas, while the
enfeeblement of the circulation and the lowered tone in the later
stages of chronic alcoholism often result in œdema of the inferior
extremities.

3. General Disorders.—In addition to the various local disorders thus

far described, the prolonged excessive indulgence in alcohol leads to
profound disturbances of the processes of nutrition, which are
manifested in alterations in the blood, in excessive accumulation of
fat, and in a well-marked cachexia.
a. The Blood.—The alterations in the blood, although sufficiently
manifest in disorders of nutrition, have not yet been studied with
satisfactory results. In chronic alcoholism the proportion of water is
increased, while that of fibrin is diminished. After death the blood
remains fluid. The red globules are diminished in number. The blood
also contains free fat, to which it owes its pale, opalescent, and
sometimes almost milky hue. The presence of fat has been
demonstrated after the injection of alcohol into the veins of animals.

b. Obesity.—Fat-infiltration and fat-accumulation must be regarded

as among the most characteristic disturbances produced by alcohol.
Fat is abundantly stored up in the subcutaneous tissues. The
anterior abdominal wall is especially liable to its accumulation. The
heart, kidneys, omentum, and mesenteries are also not infrequently
the seat of abnormally large accumulations of fat. Fat also collects in
the muscles and in the intermuscular planes, but to a less extent.
Obesity is not, however, so frequent in the advanced stages of
alcoholism as it is while the subject has not yet lost the appearance
of health, and in a large proportion of the individuals it does not
manifest itself at all. It appears to depend largely upon the character
of the drink, and is especially frequent among those addicted to
excesses in beer. It is less common among wine-drinkers, and
relatively infrequent and of moderate degree in those who confine
themselves to spirits. A sedentary life, and perhaps also an
hereditary tendency, exerts an important influence upon the
development of obesity in alcoholism.

c. Alcoholic Cachexia.—The action of alcohol in excessive amounts

upon the nutrition of the body at large, and in particular upon the
nutrition of the nervous system, is radically unfavorable. This
unfavorable influence manifests itself from the beginning, while the
subject yet presents the appearance of health, and long before the
occurrence of either the symptoms or physical signs of organic
disease. The powers of resistance to unfavorable influences of all
kinds are diminished; the ability to endure hardships, privations, and
fatigue is lessened; sickness and injuries are badly borne;
complications are frequent and grave; and convalescence is apt to
be tardy and insecure. It is among the more striking peculiarities of
the alcoholic subject that blood-losses are badly borne and slowly
repaired. It is this want of tone, often latent for a long time under
ordinary circumstances, which unfits those addicted to alcohol for
Arctic and exploring expeditions and for military and scientific
enterprises involving prolonged hardship and exposure. In the
course of time disorders of the digestion, of hæmatosis, of
circulation, increase the difficulty and render it more apparent. The
fat now rapidly diminishes; anæmia develops; the complexion
becomes dull, earthy, or slightly jaundiced, the tissues flabby. Then
follow diarrhœa, hemorrhages from mucous surfaces, serous
effusions, visceral congestions of high degree, hypostasis, œdema,
and progressive deterioration of all the powers alike of the body and
the mind until the dyscrasia is complete.

The subjects of chronic alcoholism are especially prone to affections

of the respiratory tract and to the infectious diseases. They furnish,
as a rule, the earliest victims in epidemics. They not rarely die of
pneumonia. They develop troublesome delirium in simple maladies,
and in all acute affections the prognosis is unfavorable as compared
with that in persons of sober habits. As Clouston well says, “The
whole organism suffers sanative and mental lowering, alteration of
functions and of energizing.”

B. DERANGEMENTS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: CEREBRO-SPINAL

DISORDERS.—The disorders of the central nervous system in chronic
alcoholism are even more numerous and more important than those
already described. Many transient and permanent disturbances of
function occur without anatomical lesions recognizable by existing
methods of examination; many others are associated with readily-
discoverable changes of structure. These changes are encountered
in the blood-vessels, the meninges, the substance of the cerebro-
spinal axis, and in the peripheral nerves. Much as they differ in
appearance and in their clinical manifestations, they may all be
referred to three processes: (a) congestion and inflammation; (b)
sclerosis; and (c) stentosis.
1. Cerebral Disorders.—The Cranium.—The bones of the skull are
often thicker and more dense than normal. This change implicates
the diploë and the outer and inner tables. The last is then deeply
channelled for the blood-vessels and deeply indented for the
Pacchionian bodies, which are commonly hypertrophied.

The Vessels.—Disturbances of the cerebral circulation are among

the earliest and most important symptoms. Due primarily to the
increased action of the heart and vaso-motor dilatation of the blood-
vessels excited by repeated large amounts of alcohol, and
secondarily to permanent enlargement of the vessels in
consequence of fatty or atheromatous degeneration of their walls,
some degree of active or passive congestion is almost always
present. It is probable also that in consequence of irregular and
complex disturbances of the circulation secondary localized
ischæmia occurs. Lentz states that anæmia is more common in the
cerebral substance than in the membranes.

The capillaries are usually much altered—sometimes uniformly

dilated to a considerable extent, sometimes forming capillary
aneurisms. They are more sinuous than normal, their walls show
evidences of fatty degeneration, and they sometimes contain minute
thrombi. Extravasated blood, in the form of circumscribed collections,
of diffuse layers, or finally of capillary hemorrhages, also occurs.
These collections are sometimes free, sometimes encysted.

The Meninges.—The dura mater is congested; occasionally it shows

more or less extensive areas of inflammation with exudation of
lymph. Purulent exudation in the absence of traumatism is rare. The
lymph may be deposited in the form of patches of varying extent, or
it may form more or less extensive false membranes. These
accumulations are of variable, often considerable, thickness, and
constitute the condition described as pachymeningitis hæmorrhagica
interna, or, from the large amount of blood which they contain,
hæmatoma of the cerebral meninges. They occupy the convexity of
the brain, and are developed upon the inner surface of the dura; they
are usually nearly symmetrical in outline, but of different thickness
upon the two sides. They consist of superimposed layers of lymph,
between which, or within the substance of which, are more or less
extensive blood-extravasations, either fluid, coagulated, or
undergoing resorption. More frequently the exudation consists of
mere shreds of lymph within the cavity of the arachnoid.

The arachnoid is almost invariably altered. Upon the convex surface

of the hemispheres, especially along the median fissure, it is
thickened and opaque. This condition may be uniform or distributed
in patches, and is apt to follow the line of the blood-vessels.

The pia mater is congested, often œdematous, not rarely the seat of
blood-effusions of greater or less extent.

The cerebro-spinal fluid is usually more abundant than normal, of a

deeper color, cloudy, sometimes tinged with the coloring matter of
the blood.

The Brain.—The intimate lesions of the substance of the brain are

not yet known. The volume of the encephalon, as a rule, undergoes
no change. Occasionally it appears to be swollen, and protrudes with
some degree of force through the incision first made in the
membranes. More commonly, the brain is throughout or in certain
parts atrophied or shrivelled, its convolutions flattened, its surface
retracted. This is sometimes the result of the pressure of collections
of hemorrhagic or inflammatory products.

The consistence of the cerebral mass is sometimes increased; it

becomes harder, more resistant to pressure, and preserves its form
when removed from the cranium better than the normal brain. This
condition may be present throughout the brain or it may be localized.
In the latter case it is usually due to patches of sclerosis. Softening in
more or less extensive areas may occur in the advanced stages of
the more severe forms of chronic alcoholism. It is found chiefly in the
gray substance, where the vessels are more numerous, especially in
the cortex and central ganglia. In this as in other affections cerebral
softening is the result of obstruction of the circulation in
consequence of atheroma, thrombosis, or other change in the
arteries. It varies from simple diminution in consistency to diffluence.

The nervous substance of the brain doubtless undergoes changes

proportionate to the degree and duration of its exposure to an
alcohol-charged blood. What these changes are has not yet been
fully determined. The nerve-cells of the cortex have been found
rounded and contracted, so that instead of being surrounded by a
small lymph-space they seem to be lying in large cavities, and so
granular that the nucleus can hardly be made out. Slight increase in
the number of the small round cells in the cortex and in the adjoining
parts of the white matter has also been observed (Hun). These
changes are not, however, constant. Not only has the microscopical
morbid anatomy of the lesions of nerve-substance peculiar to chronic
alcoholism not yet been worked out, but even macroscopic changes
adequate to account for symptoms that were during life serious,
persistent, and apparently referable to well-defined lesions, are
sometimes absent altogether.

It is important to distinguish the disorders due to the direct action of

alcohol, which are often functional or dependent upon lesions too
subtle for recognition, from those which are secondary and
dependent for the most part upon coarser changes of structure.

In consequence of hyperæmia of the brain and its membranes there

not infrequently occur a sense of confusion or dulness, increasing to
headache, which may become almost unbearable, mental
disturbances of the most varied character, disorders of movement
and sensation, and disorders of the special senses.

Cerebral hemorrhage, to which the subjects of chronic alcoholism

are, in consequence of the vascular lesions already described,
peculiarly prone, manifests itself by the usual primary and secondary
phenomena. Meningeal hemorrhage, save in the form of hæmatoma,
is rare except in the advanced stages of paretic dementia.

The blood in alcoholic dyscrasia undergoes changes which favor its

transudation through the walls of the vessels; hence a tendency to
œdema and to accumulations in serous sacs. This tendency
implicates the structures of the nervous system in common with the
organism at large. The ventricles of the brain become distended with
fluid, and the brain-substance itself and the meninges not rarely
become œdematous in the last stage of chronic alcoholism, in
consequence of grave disturbances of the circulation or as
complications of affections of the lungs, heart, or kidneys. These
conditions are attended by mental obscuration, somnolence
alternating with sleeplessness, delirium, maniacal paroxysms,
impairment of muscular power, of general and special sensibility,
impaired reflexes, inability to speak, deepening stupor, and death.

2. Spinal Disorders.—Lesions of the spinal cord or its membranes

have been rarely discovered. When present they have been
invariably associated with similar or corresponding lesions of the
brain or its envelopes. Leyden39 states that not only do the cerebral
meninges present inflammatory changes in chronic alcoholism, but
the meninges of the cord are sometimes found in an analogous
condition; that pachymeningitis hæmorrhagica interna spinalis has
also been observed, as well as other forms of spinal meningitis, with
thickening and discoloration of the pia and dura; and that œdema of
the pia has been especially noted. While anatomical lesions of the
cord are less frequent than lesions of the brain, nutritive and
functional disturbances, as manifested in the general
symptomatology, are quite as common in one as in the other.
39 Klinik des Rückenmarkskrankheiten.

3. Disorders of the Peripheral Nerves.—Magnus Huss found no

change in the peripheral nerves in five cases in which they were
carefully examined. Lancereaux discovered degenerative changes in
the peripheral filaments in alcoholic paralysis. Leudet found
hypertrophy of the neurilemma and alterations in the cubital nerve in
an individual suffering from chronic alcoholism in whom this nerve
was paralyzed. Dejerine40 observed in two fatal cases of alcoholic
paralysis neuritis of peripheral nerves with integrity of the nerve-
roots, the spinal ganglia, and the cord. In one of Dreschfeld's cases
of alcoholic paralysis,41 in which the cord was found perfectly normal,
the “sciatic appeared thin and grayish, and was surrounded by a
great deal of adipose tissue. Vertical sections showed, when treated
with perosmic acid and stained afterward with picro-carmine, a
moniliform appearance of the nerve-tubes, due to breaking up of the
myelin; the nuclei were increased, and there was also some
interstitial cell-infiltration. Transverse sections showed in some few
places an increase in the diameter of the axis-cylinder, and again the
interstitial infiltration.”
40 Archives de Physiologie nerv. et patholog., No. 2, 1884.

41 Brain, Jan., 1886.

Disorders of General Sensibility.—Disorders of general sensibility

are among the earliest of the nervous phenomena of chronic
alcoholism. They occur in the following order: hyperæsthesia,
dysæsthesia, and anæsthesia. Disturbances of sensibility manifest
themselves, quite independently of hallucinations, as sensations of
malaise, of discomfort, of chilliness, of cramps, or of abnormal
warmth or cold. Sometimes they amount merely to momentary
discomfort, at other times to extreme pain. They are usually limited,
often to the feet and legs, sometimes to the hands and arms; again,
they are experienced in the trunk, and especially in the back. They
are most common during the evening; less frequently they are
induced by the warmth of the bed; and, again, they are experienced
on rising. They are apt to be associated with occipital or frontal
headache.

Among the most frequent nervous phenomena of chronic alcoholism

are disturbances of sleep. Sleep is light, uneasy, and disturbed,
difficult to obtain, troubled with dreams, and unrefreshing. More or
less complete insomnia is by no means rare. It is more apt to occur,
however, after acute exacerbations of alcoholism than in the ordinary
chronic condition.

Hyperæsthesia manifests itself as an increased sensibility to pain, to

mere contact, to temperature, and in an exaggeration of the
muscular sense. Two general forms may be distinguished—the
superficial and deep. The former usually manifests itself by an
exaggerated sensibility of the skin, especially along the course of the
superficial nerves and at their points of emergence from the deeper
structures. The latter consists in a more or less intense sensation of
pain, often diffuse, sometimes almost unbearable, and associated
with a sensation of heat or cold, which is most commonly
experienced in the lower extremities. It is often referred by the
patient to the deeper muscles or to the bones and joints, and is
increased by movement or pressure.

Anæsthesia is a much more common occurrence. It is usually

developed during the later period of chronic alcoholism, and may
implicate the skin, the mucous tissues, or the deeper structures. It
presents all degrees from mere impairment to absolute loss of
sensation. In the latter case, contact, pain, temperature, and
electrical stimulation equally fail to excite sensation. In the deep
anæsthesia of alcoholism pressure and electro-muscular sensibility
are alike impaired. The muscular sense is also enfeebled or
abolished. The regions which are the seat of anæsthesia are, as a
rule, of a lower temperature than those in which sensation is normal.
The anæsthesia may extend to the conjunctiva, and even to the
cornea and to the mucous membrane of the mouth and throat. It has
also been observed in the mucous membrane of the genitalia and at
the verge of the anus.

Disorders of Motion.—Disorders of motion consist of tremor,

subsultus, spasm, convulsions, muscular paresis, and palsies.
Tremor is a very frequent phenomenon in chronic alcoholism. It
consists generally of a series of rapid rhythmical movements.
Sometimes the extent of the movement is increased and their rhythm
irregular. They are then choreiform. The tremor may be continuous;
much more frequently it only appears in the morning. The subject
has then some difficulty in dressing himself, particularly in buttoning
his clothing, in shaving himself, and in raising a cup to his lips. This
symptom commonly ceases after the ingestion of a certain quantity
of alcohol, only to return on the following morning or after a
considerable period of abstinence. Voluntary movements intensify
the tremor. It most commonly affects the upper extremities, next in
frequency the muscles of the face, and finally the lower extremities.
In rare cases it affects the muscles of the whole body. Alcoholic
tremor affecting the hands and arms renders the subject awkward
and interferes with his ability to work; affecting the lower extremities,
it gives rise to an embarrassing, irregular gait; affecting the lips and
tongue, it produces hesitation of speech or stammering, and when it
is of a high degree articulation may be so imperfect that conversation
is impossible; affecting the muscles of the eyes, it gives rise to
nystagmus. Tremor is not infrequently associated with subsultus
tendinum, spasmodic contractions, and cramps. These phenomena
are usually localized, and affect by preference the muscles of the
face and those of the lower extremities.

Loss of muscular power, which may pass, little by little, into complete
palsy, also occurs. It is, however, neither constant nor proportionate
to the gravity of the case in other respects. Whilst, as a rule, it is
developed insidiously, it occasionally shows itself with suddenness.
In the latter case it is usually preceded by some acute complication,
and may disappear as quickly as it came. At first it is a mere
feebleness, which, beginning in the fingers, extends to the hands
and arms. It may after a time manifest itself in the feet. More or less
muscular paresis is invariably associated with the tremor above
described.

Alcoholic Paralysis.—The earliest account of alcoholic paralysis is

that of James Jackson,42 who designated the disease, from its most
prominent symptom, arthrodynia. He attributes it to ardent spirits,
and chiefly observed it among women. “This arthrodynia comes on
gradually. It commences with pain in the lower limbs, and especially
in the feet, and afterward extends to the hands and arms. The hands
may be affected first in some instances, but in all cases in the
advanced stage of the disease the pain is more severe in the feet
and hands than in the upper limbs. The pain is excruciating, and
varies in degree at different times. It is accompanied by a distressing
feeling of numbness. After the disease has continued a short time
there take place some contraction of the fingers and toes and
inability to use these parts freely. At length the hands and feet
become nearly useless. The flexor muscles manifest, as in other
diseases, greater power than the extensors, and the whole body
diminishes in size, unless it be the abdomen; but the face does not
exhibit the appearance of emaciation common to many visceral
diseases. The diminution is especially observable in the feet and
hands. At some time the skin of these parts acquires a peculiar
appearance. The same appearance is noticed in a slighter degree in
the skin of other parts. This appearance consists in great
smoothness and shining, with a sort of fineness of the skin. The
integument looks as if tight and stretched, without rugæ or wrinkles
—somewhat as when adjacent parts are swollen. The skin is not
discolored. In this disease there is not any effusion under the skin,
and the character which it assumes arises from some change in the
organ itself.”
42 New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, vol. xi., 1822, “On a Peculiar
Disease resulting from the Use of Ardent Spirits.”

Since Jackson's day, Huss, Lancereaux, Leudet, and others have

described various forms of paralysis due to alcohol. Wilks43 under
the term alcoholic paraplegia described a form of alcoholic paralysis
of which he had seen numerous cases, especially in women
addicted to alcoholic excesses. The symptoms are severe pain in the
limbs, especially the lower ones, with wasting, numbness,
anæsthesia, only slight power of movement or total inability to stand.
The symptoms are not unlike those of ataxia. Wilks regarded the
disease as due to degeneration of the cord and thickening of the
membranes. Several of the cases terminated in recovery in a
comparatively short time after the abrupt and complete withdrawal of
alcohol. Since that time a number of cases have been reported by
various observers.44
43 Lancet, 1872, vol. i. p. 320.

44 See, in particular, Hun, American Journal of the Medical Sciences, April, 1885,
“Alcoholic Paralysis.” This paper contains a valuable résumé of the reported cases up