Diana Wallace asked "is alcohol consumption good for anyone?" Basically, yes. At least in humans, alcohol can have a significant effect on reducing the risk for heart disease, mostly by increasing the levels of high-density lipoprotein, which is the "good" cholesterol in your blood. And some types of alcoholic drinks have additional elements that enhance the effect of alcohol, but pure, plain ethanol by itself is protective in small amounts. Of course, the amount is the problem. There are people who cannot moderate their alcohol consumption and many, many lives have been wasted or lost because of alcholism. There are other chemicals that are also helpful or even essential in small amounts but are deadly in high doses. Alcohol is not intrinsically bad for animals, as is, say, cyanide. Very small amounts of alcohol should be no more harmful to animals than it should be to humans, but no one should ever intentionally give a pet enough alcohol to make it tipsy or drunk. A few drops on the fingers shouldn't do any harm, but much more than that is questionable. --Jeff Johnston [Posted in FML issue 1570]