 what  Americans might refer to as "skid row" bums. They drink methylated  spirit, or "wood alcohol", which is very cheap, a poisonous variety  of alcohol used as a fuel for lanterns and stoves and as a cleaning  fluid and solvent. It is a nerve poison, which often causes  blindness, so only those so poor and hard up for a drink that they  will knowingly drink poison will drink it if nothing else can be  found. (American down