The discussions relating to these important topics by the members of the Pathological Society of London, commenced on December 4, 1888, have brought prominently before the profession many facts of very great importance. Dr. Joseph Frank Payne, Vice-President of the Society and Physician to St. Thomas' Hospital, opened the discussion, with Sir James Paget in the chair.1 After a brief historical introduction he asks " in what sense is alcohol a poison? " Defining a poison to be " a substance capable of injuring the body, either by causing damage to the tissues or by causing functional disturbance," he arranges all poisons into two classes, namely: " tissue poisons and functional poisons." He shows that alcohol, taken internally, is carried by the blood to all parts of the body, and not only speedily produces derangement of nervous functions, but also acts directly on the tissue elements, " producing degeneration, or