In instances of poisoning by arsenic, antimony, strychnine and other poisonous compounds, we turn to the liver, in conducting our analyses, as if it were the central depot of the foreign matter.

It is, practically, the same in respect to alcohol.

The liver of the confirmed alcoholic is, probably, never free from the influence of the poison; it is too often saturated with it.

The effect of the alcohol upon the liver is upon the minute membranous or capsular structure of the organ, upon which, it acts to prevent the proper dialysis and free secretion.

The organ, at first, becomes large from the distention of its vessels, the surcharge of fluid matter and the thickening of tissue.