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The symposium covering all aspects of the problem of alcoholism was divided into five sessions at which a total of forty-four papers were presented of which Dr. Moore has prepared an excellent summary.
Dr. Winfred Overholzer expressed the point of view of most of the participants in his opening address. He considers alcoholism as a disorder of conduct, a disease, which in some instances is amenable to treatment.
With the exception of large cities jails are usually the only institutions which give admission to acute alcoholics. Alcoholism is classed with tuberculosis, cancer and syphilis as a public health problem which requires a systematic attack.
The first nine papers deal with the physiological and chemical features of alcoholism, its stimulating effect upon the propulsive motility of the colon and upon the respiratory centre. Atypical carbohydrate metabolism which could be corrected by diet regulation was reported by Dr. H. D. Palmer. Dr. Harry Newman reported that tolerance to alcohol depends upon the tissue tolerance of the cells of the central nervous system to a given quantity of alcohol. Dr. Arthur Grollman showed that alcohol exerts only a minor effect on the circulation. The experimentally isolated heart is not affected by concentrations which might be encountered in a human subject. The circulatory system is only reflexly stimulated. Dr. Thorne Carpenter pointed out the need for clarification of many points regarding the metabolism of alcohol.
The second session was devoted to the discussion of the clinical aspects of alcoholism. The symptoms of alcoholism were discussed by Dr. P. Piker. The attempted correlations between alcoholic symptoms and blood alcohol levels should be regarded with scepticism in the light of Dr. Piker's findings with rabbits and human subjects. Dr. H. Houston Merritt stated that examination of the cerebrospinal fluid can be especially useful in the diagnosis of alcoholism. Dr. A. Wright pointed out that cirrhosis of the li