There is a general consensus of opinion on the part of physicians that from 1 to 11/2 oz. of pure alcohol is the maximum amount which a healthy man should take in twenty-four hours. Translated into common parlance, this means from 2 to 3 oz. of brandy or whisky, from 4 to 6 oz. of port or sherry, from 10 to 15 oz. of champagne or burgundy, or from 1 to 1 1/2 pints of beer or porter. More than this is harmful. Persons under forty years of age, in whom the digestive functions are normally performed, and who show no signs of nervous disturbance or degeneration, do not generally require alcohol at all, and are healthier and better, and are likely to live longer without it. For persons over forty, in whom digestion has become impaired by anxiety, confinement in close rooms and offices, or by sedentary or unhealthy occupations, or in whom nervous energy is exhausted or deficient, a small amount of alcohol in the form of wine or beer, taken with the food, is a useful stimulant. By its influence the secretion of gastric juice is increased, and digestion thereby promoted.

The almost universal use of fermented alcoholic drinks with meals, in all times, nations and ages, and the facility with which the fruits of the earth ferment and produce alcohol, seem to point not only to a human need, but to the supply of such a need by Nature. Alcohol is, however, like many of the other gifts of Nature: its use is beneficial, its abuse baneful. It is, in fact, a matter of common experience that, when taken in moderate quantities, "the appetite is augmented, digestion is promoted, the nervous system stimulated, and the mental faculties exhilarated by alcohol" (Pavy). Dr. King Chambers picturesquely puts it: "That everybody recognises in alcohol a power of blunting sorrow and pain, of checking the sensation of weariness, mental and bodily, of taking the points off the stings and buffets, discomforts and nastiness of daily life; but also of corrupting the delicate appreciation of its higher delights; in short, of diminishing the sensibility to impressions in mind and body, and of lowering the receptive functions of the nervous system;" and he urges that for healthy persons alcohol should never be taken as a stimulant or preparation for work, but only as a defence against the injury done by work, whether of mind or body, and that it is therefore best taken with the evening meal or after toil.