Maximal Consumption of Ethyl Alcohol

Abstract

Three dogs allowed access to a soln. of 5% by volume of ethyl alcohol in tap water as the sole source of fluid, consumed alcohol at the rate of 4.46 g./kg/ day. Increase of the alcohol concn. to 10% reduced the fluid intake accordingly, and alcohol intake was increased only to 5.52 g./kg./day equivalent to 230 mg./kg./hr. The rate of alcohol metabolism in dogs was detd. by injecting a 23-kg. male dog with 3 g. of alcohol intraven. and following the blood alcohol concn. The avg. rate of alcohol metabolism was 156 mg./kg./hr. Continued expts. with the same dog demonstrated that a maintenance dose of alcohol calculated from the avg. rate of metabolism after a single large dose was not sufficient to maintain the blood alcohol level constant at the highest level produced by such a dose. This constitutes additional proof of the fallacy of the hypothesis that the rate of alcohol metabolism is unrelated to dosage or blood alcohol concn.