Slap across face.

You're enlightened.

Enlightenment is an op-out function, go directly to awareness.

Snicker, snicker.

Hummmm,

From a herbalist perspective, you may use alcohol to extract the properties of herbs that are hard to dissolve in water or won't dissolve at all.

Are the iodine's easier to dissolve in alcohol?

Shelf life may also be a factor, for herbs.

From an early medical standpoint, wasn't alcohol used to sterilize?

So a combination of both would appear best perhaps, to Doctors?

From an application standpoint, the rapid evaporation of the alcohol may have been the key factor rather having, a messy business, waiting for the water based I to dry.

GS