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THE LIBRARY OF THE

Bristol

nDebico^^Cbiruroical Society.

PRESENTED BY

. J^-< j^L Ml^

SHELF

D.A.

NEW WORK BY PROFESSOR JOHNSTON.

Preparing for Publication.

THE GEOLOGY OF COMMON LIFE.

Comprising

OUR COALS AND COAL-FIELDS.

OUR SALT LAKES AND SALT MINES.

THE METALS WE MINE FOR.

THE STONES WE BUILD WITH.

OUR GYPSUM AND LIMESTONE BEDS.

VOLCANOES AND THEIR INFLUENCES.

THE PAST AND PRESENT — A COMPARISON.

To be published in Monthly Numbers, uniform with the
" Chemistry of Common Life," and to be completed in One
Volume.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.

THE

CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE

PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION,

BY THE SAME AUTHOR,

THE GEOLOGY OF COMMON LIFE.

OUR COALS AND COAL-FIELDS.

OUR SALT LAKES AND SALT MINES.

THE METALS WE MINE FOR.

THE STONES WE BUILD WITH.

OUR GYPSUM AND LIMESTONE BEDS.

VOLCANOES AND THEIR INFLUENCES.

THE PAST AND PRESENT — A COMPARISON.

To be published in Montbly Numbers, uniform with the
"Chemistry of Common Life," and to be completed in
One Volume.

THE

CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE

JAMES R W. JOHNSTON

M.A,, F.R.SS- L. <fe E., <tc.
Author of " Lectures on Agricultural Choimstry and Geology," a
" Catechiam of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology," ic.

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. II.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
MDCCCLV

The Author reserves the right of authorising a Trandation of this Work.

CONTENTS.

Chap Page
XV. THE NARCOTICS "WE INDULGE IN —

TOBACCO, 1

XVI. THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN

THE HOP, AND ITS SUBSTITUTES, ... 39

XVII. THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN

THE POPPY AND THE LETTUCE, ... 65

XVIIL THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN —

INDIAN HEMP, 102

XIX. THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN —

THE BETEL-NUT AND THE PEPPERWORTS, . . 121

XX. THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN —

COCA, 137

XXI. THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN —

THE THORN-APPLES, THE SIBERIAN FUNGUS, AND

THE MINOR NARCOTICS, . . . .162

XXII. THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN —

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS, . . . .182

XXIII. THE POISONS WE SELECT, .... 201

XXIV. THE ODOURS WE ENJOY —

VOLATILE OILS AND FRAGRANT RESINS, . . 217

XXV. THE ODOURS WE ENJOY —

THE VOLATILE ETHERS AND ANIMAL ODOURS, . 239

XXVI. THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE —

NATURAL SMELLS, .... . 263

vi CONTENTS.

Chap, Page
XXVII. THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE —

SMELLS PRODUCED BT CHEMICAL ART, . . 290

XXVIII. THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE —

THE PREVENTION AND REMOVAL OF SMELLS, . 303

XXIX. WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOE, . 329

XXX. WHAT, HOW, AJ^ID WHY WE DIGEST, . . 359

XXXI. THE BODY WE CHERISH, 385

XXXII. THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER, A RECAPITULATION, 407

XXXIII. THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER, A RECAPITULATION, 430

INDEX, 449

THE

CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE.

CHAPTER XV.

Man's wants progressive. — How he ministers to them. — Narcotics now
in use in dififerent parts of the world. — Map of their distribution. —
Tobacco bi'ought to Europe from Ameiica. — Its rapid spread over the
globe. — Its extended use. — Opposition encourages it. — Is it indige-
nous in China as weU as America? — Present consumption in the
United Kingdom. — It is rapidly increasing. — Circumstances which
affect the quality of tobacco. — Where the best qualities gi-ow. — Forms
in which tobacco is used. — Manufacture of snuff. — Effects prodiiced
by tobacco. — It soothes and excites. — Influence of chmate, constitu-
tion, and temperament in modifying its effects. — Interesting physio-
logical facts. — Does it necessarily provoke to dissipation? — Is the
tobacco reverie a mere absence of thought ? — Chemical ingredients
of the tobacco. — The volatile oil. — The volatile alkali. — The empy-
reumatic oU. — Proportion of these poisonous substances is variable.
— Chemical differences between smoking, chewing, and snuffing. —
Cause of diversities in the quality of tobacco. — Adulterations of
tobacco. — The ash of the tobacco leaf. — The growing of tobacco an
exhausting culture.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

TOBACCO.

Akin to the intoxicating liquors we consume are the
narcotic substances we indulge in ; and if the history
VOL. II. A

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

of the former, in their relations to the social state, be
full of a melancholy interest, that of the latter is still
more striking and extraordinary. I may say, indeed,
that to the economical statist, not less than to the phy-
siologist and psychologist, the connection of man with
the narcotics in common use, in different countries,
forms one of the most wonderful chapters in his entire
history.

In ministering fully to his natural wants and crav-
ings, man passes through three successive stages.

First, the necessities of his material nature are
provided for. Beef and bread represent the means
by which, in every country, this end is attained. And
among the numerous forms of animal and vegetable
food which different nations make use of in the place
of these two staples of English life, a wonderful simi-
larity in chemical composition prevails. Exactly the
same gluten and starch and fat are supplied to the
body in every country, and nearly in the same pro-
portions— so that we are constrained to admire what
may be called the universal instinct by which, under
so many varied conditions of climate and of natural
vegetation, the experience of man has led him every-
where to adjust in the nicest manner the chemical
constitution of the staple forms of his diet to the
chemical wants of his living body.*

Next, he seeks to assuage the cares of his mind
and to banish uneasy reflections. Fermented liquors
are the agents by which this is effected. And here
also it is interesting to remark, not only that this
* See The Bread we eat and the Beef we gook.

ALCOHOLIC DEINKS EVERYWHERE. 3

lightening of care is widely and extensively attained,
but that the chemical substance, by the use of which
it is brought about, is everywhere one and the same.
Savage and civilised tribes, near and remote — the
houseless barbarian wanderer, the settled peasant, and
the skilled citizen — all have found out, by some com-
mon and instinctive process, the art of preparing fer-
mented drinks, and of procuring for themselves the
enjoyments and miseries of intoxication. And thus,
whatever material is employed for the purpose, whether
the toddy of the palm tree, the sap of the aloe, the
juice of the sugar cane, the syrup of honey, the must
of the grape, the expressed liquor of the apple and
pear, the wort of malted grain, or the milk of the
Tartar mare — in every instance the substance called
alcohol is produced by the fermentation, and forms
the intoxicating ingredient of the liquor.

And lastly, he desires to multiply his enjoyments,
intellectual and animal, and for the time to exalt
them. This he attains by the aid of narcotics. And of
these narcotics, again, it is remarkable that almost
every country or tribe has its own, either aboriginal
or imported ; so that the universal instinct of the race
has led, somehow or other, to the universal supply of
this want or craving also.

The aborigines of Central America rolled up the
tobacco leaf, and dreamed away their lives in smoky
reveries, ages before Columbus was born, or the colo-
nists of Sir Walter Ealeigh brought it within the
precincts of the Elizabethan court. The coca leaf,
now the comfort and strength of the Peruvian mule-

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

tero, was chewed as lie does it, in far remote times,
and among the same mountains, by the Indian natives
whose blood he inherits. The use of opium, of hemp,
and of the betel-nut among Eastern Asiatics, mounts
up to the times of most fabulous antiquity. The
same probably is true of the pepper plants among
the South Sea Islands and the Indian Archipelago,
and of the thorn-apples used among the natives of
the Andes, and on the slopes of the Himalayas ;
while in northern Europe the ledum and the hop,
and in Siberia the narcotic fungus, have been in use
from time immemorial. [See Map.)

As from different plants, in different parts of the
world, the favourite intoxicating liquor was obtained,
so from different plants the favourite narcotic was
extracted by different races of men. But this impor-
tant difference prevails between the two classes of
indulgences, that while in all the fermented liquors,
as 1 have said, the same alcohol or intoxicating
spirit exists, each narcotic in use contains its own
peculiar principle. From whatever source obtained,
the fermented liquor produces nearly the same effect
upon the human system. But each narcotic indul-
gence produces its own peculiar and special effect
Tobacco and opium and hemp and coca and the hop
and the toad-stool, while they all exercise a narcotic
influence upon the human frame, do so in a form and
with modifications which in each case are peculiar, in
many respects full of interest, and always worthy of
deep study and consideration. These narcotic sub-

MAP OF THEIR DISTEIBUTION.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

stances, therefore, occupy an important place in the
chemistry and chemico-physiology of common life.

I. Tobacco. — Of all the narcotics I have mentioned.

Fig. 56.

tobacco (fig. 56) is in use over
the largest area, and among
the greatest number of people.
Opium is probably next to it
in these respects, and the
hemp plant occupies the third
place. This is exhibited to
the eye in the map which I
have attached to the pre-
sent chapter. A glance at
this map shows the original
home of each of the most
important narcotics, as well
as the parts of the earth in
which each is known to be at
present cultivated.

Tobacco is believed to be
a native of tropical Ame-
rica; at all events, it was
cultivated and used by the
native inhabitants of various
parts of that continent long
before its discovery by Euro- mcotiana macum-

'' The Virginian Tobacco,

peans. In 1492, Columbus Scale, 1 inch to a foot and a-half.

found the chiefs of Cuba smoking cigars, and Cortes

met with it afterwards, when he penetrated to Mexico.

EXTENSIVE GKOWTH OF TOBACCO. 7

From America it was introduced into Spain by the
Spaniards, it is not certain in what year. In 1560 it
was brought to France by Nicot, and in 1586 to Eng-
land by Sir Francis Drake, and the colonists of Sir
Walter Ealeigh. Into Turkey and Arabia, according
to Mr Lane, it was introduced about the beginning of
the seventeenth century, and in 1601 it is known to
have been carried to Java. Since that time both the
cultivation and the use of the plant have spread over
a large portion of the habitable globe.

Thus the different parts of America in which it is
now grown include Canada, New Brunswick, the
United States, Mexico, the western coast as far as
40° south latitude, Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, and the
other West India islands. In Africa it is cultivated
on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, in Egypt,
Algeria, the Canaries, along the western coast, at the
Cape of Good Hope, and at numerous places in the
interior of the continent. In Europe, it has been
raised with success in almost every country, and it
forms at present an important agricultural product in
Hungary, Germany, Flanders, and France. In Asia, it
has spread over Turkey, Persia, India, Thibet, China,
Japan, the Philippine Islands, Java, Ceylon, Australia,
and New Zealand. Among narcotic plants, indeed,
it occupies a similar place to that of the potato among
food plants. It is the most extensively cultivated,
the most hardy, and the most tolerant of changes in
temperature, altitude, and general climate. From
the equator to the fiftieth degree of latitude it may

THE NAKCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

be raised without difficulty, though, it grows best
within thirty-five degrees of latitude on either side of
the equator. The finest qualities are raised between
the fifteenth degree of north latitude, that of the
Philippines, and the thirty-fifth degree, that of Latakia
in Syria. (See Map.)

1°. Extensive use of Tobacco. — And the use of
the plant has become not less universal than its cul-
tivation. Next to salt, it is supposed by some to be the
article most extensively consumed by man. Tea alone
can compete with it; for although it may not be in
use over so large an area, tea is probably consumed
by as great a number of the human race.* In Ame-
rica, tobacco is met with everywhere, and the consump-
tion is enormous. To its use in some parts of the
United States, at the present moment, King J ames's
description, in the opinion of many, applies more justly
than to the practice in any other part of the world —
" A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose,
harmfuU to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in
the black stinking fume thereof neerest resembling
the horrible Stygian smoake of the pit that is bot-
tomless.''

In Europe, from the plains of sunny Castile to the
frozen Archangel, and from the Ural to Iceland, the
pipe, the cigar, and the snuff-box, are a common solace,
among all ranks and conditions of men. In vain,
when it first came among us, King James opposed it

* See what is said in the succeeding chapter as to the consumption
of the hop in England.

SPKEAD OF THE USE OF TOBACCO.

by his Counterblast to Tobacco ; in vain Pope Urban
tbe Eighth thundered out his bull against it ; in vain
was the use of it prohibited in Kussia, and the knout
threatened for the first offence, and death for the
second. Opposition and persecution only excited more
general attention to the plant, awakened curiosity
regarding it, and tempted people to try its effects.

So, in the East, the priests and sultans of Turkey
and Persia declared smoking a sin against their holy
religion ; yet the Turks and Persians have become
the greatest smokers in the world. In Turkey the
pipe is perpetually in the mouth. In India, all classes
and both sexes smoke. The Siamese chew moder-
ately, but smoke perpetually. The Burmese of all
ranks, of both sexes and of all ages, down even to in-
fants of three years old, smoke cigars — (Crawford).
In China the practice is so universal that every
female, from the age of eight or nine, wears, as an
appendage to her dress, a small silken pocket to hold
tobacco and a pipe.

Indeed, from the extensive prevalence of the prac-
tice in Asia, and especially in China, Pallas argued
long ago that the use of tobacco for smoking in those
countries must be more ancient than the discovery of
America. "Amongst the Chinese," he says, "and
amongst the Mongol tribes, who had the most inter-
course with them, the custom of smoking is so general,
so frequent, and has become so indispensable a lux-
ury ; the tobacco-purse affixed to their belt so neces-
sary an article of dress; the form of the pipes, from

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

which the Dutch seem to have taken the model of
theirs, so original ; and, lastly, the preparation of the
yellow leaves, which are merely rubbed to pieces, and
then put into the pipe, so peculiar, that they could
not possibly derive all this from America by way of
Europe, especially as India, where the practice of
smoking is not so general, intervenes between Persia
and China."*

This opinion of Pallas has since been supported
by high botanical authorities. Thus Meyen says:
"It has long been the opinion that the use of tobacco,
as well as its culture, was peculiar to the people of
America; but this is now proved to be incorrect, by
our present more exact acquaintance with China and
India. The consumption of tobacco in the Chinese
empire is of immense extent, and the practice seems
to be of great antiquity, for on very old sculptures I
have observed the very same tobacco-pipes which are
still used. Besides, we now know the plant which
furnishes the Chinese tobacco; it is even said to grow
wild in the East Indies. It is certain that this to-
bacco plant of eastern Asia is quite different from
the American species." -f*

According to the recent travellers, Messrs Hue
and Gabet, the yellow tobacco of eastern Thibet and
western China is the leaf of the Nicotiana rustica.
In flavour it resembles the finest Syrian tobacco,
which is also the leaf of the N. rustica. The tobacco

* Quoted in M'Culloch's Commercial Dictionary, ed. 1847, p. 1314.
f Botanical Geography {Eay Society), 1846, p. 361.

COMMON GEEEN TOBACCO.

Fig. 57.

of central and southern India is the Nicotiana taha-
cum, or Virginian tobacco ; that of northern India
the iV. rustica — (Hookek).

The common green tobacco (fig. 57) is a smaller
plant than the Virginian, being only
3 to 5 feet in height, and has shorter
and broader leaves and smaller
flowers, with rounded instead of
pointed segments. It is the spe-
cies generally cultivated in Russia,
Sweden, and North Germany, and
two varieties of it are grown in
some parts of Ireland, under the
names of Oronooko and Negro-
head. It is said, I do not know
upon what authority, to have been
imported to Britain from America
in 1570. The variety cultivated in
China is still smaller than the one
represented in the above figure.
If this be really the species cul-
Coi"!fgTeentb"^co tlvatcd in westem China, the argu-
scaie, 1 inch to the foot, meut of Meyeu loses much of its
weight, and the opinion that eastern Asia did not
derive the use of tobacco from America must rest
chiefly on the general prevalence and antiquity of
the custom in China. Other late writers, indeed, dis-
sent from this opinion, and consider that there can
hardly be a doubt but that tobacco was introduced
into the different countries of the East from Europe;

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

and by Europeans — (Crawford). Other considera-
tions, liowever, which it would be out of place here
to discuss, incline me to regard its introduction in this
way as less certain than it appears to Mr Crawford.
The truth may possibly^ be, that species of the tobacco
plant are native to Europe and Asia as well as to
America, and that only the custom of using them as
narcotics was introduced into western Europe from
the New World.

But whichever of these opinions we adopt in regard
to the East, still, one of the most remarkable circum-
stances connected with the history of tobacco is the
rapidity with which its growth has spread, and its
consumption increased, in those countries to which we
are certain that the use of it came from America. In
1662, the quantity raised in Virginia, then the chief
producer of tobacco on the American shores of the
Atlantic, was only 60,000 lb., and the quantity ex-
ported from that colony in 1689 only 120,000 lb.
During the 160 years which have since elapsed, the
produce of this coast has risen to nearly twice as many
millions of pounds !

The enormous extent to which its use has increased
in our own country, may be judged of from the fact,
that while in the above-mentioned year (1689) the
total importation was only 120,000 lb. of Virginian
tobacco, part of which was re-exported, the consump-
tion in the United Kingdom is at present about
30,000,000 lb. ! Thus the quantity entered for home
consumption in —

CONSUMPTION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 13

1851 . . was 28,062,841 lb.

1852 . . „ 28,558,733 „

1853 . . „ 29,737,561 „

And to tliis must be added tiie large quantity of con-
traband tobacco, which the heavy duty of 3s. a lb.
tempts the smuggler to introduce.

That the consumption among us is still rapidly on
the increase, appears from the above numbers ; but
it is more clearly shown by the following table, which
exhibits the quantities consumed at each of the last
four decennial periods : —

Years.

Total consumption.

Population.

Consumption
per head.

1821

15,598,152 lb.

21,282,960

11.71 oz.

1831

19,533,841 „

24,410,439

12.80 „

1841

22,309,360 „

27,019,672

13.21 „

1851

28,062,841 „

27,452,692

16.86 „ *

These numbers show that, during the last of these
periods of ten years, the consumption of the United
Kingdom increased one-fourth, or from 13| to 17
ounces per head. But these last numbers do not truly
represent the consumption in either of our two islands.
Great Britain, as in the case of tea and ardent spirits,
consumes a much larger proportional quantity than
Ireland does. Thus, in 1853, the home consumption
in the two countries was —

Great Britain. Ireland.

Total consumption, 24,940,555 1b. ... 4,624,141 1b.

Consumption per head, 19 ounces ... 12 ounces

—being one-half greater in Britain than in Ireland.

♦ See an interesting paper by Mr Crawford in the Journal of the
Statistical Society, xvi., p. 60,

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

The duty on tobacco is 3s. a lb., and its produce in
the United Kingdom was, in

Total duty. Duty per liead.

^852, . . . £4,560,742 ... Ss. 2d.
1853, . . . 4,751,760 ... 3s. 4d.

In Europe generally, the consumption is restricted
by the heavy duties imposed upon it ; yet the con-
sumption of the United Kingdom is said to be less
than that of most of the other European nations. In
France it is about 1 8| ounces — three-eighths of this
quantity being used in the form of snuff. In Den-
mark, it amounted in 184!8 to about 70 ounces, or
4^ lb. per head ; and in Belgium it averages at
present 7^2 ounces or 41 lb. per head.* These quan-
tities are probably to some extent beyond the Euro-
pean average. But in some of the States of North
America the proportion greatly exceeds these quan-
tities ; while among Eastern nations, where no duty is
imposed upon tobacco, it is believed to be greater still.
Mr Crawford therefore estimates the average consump-
tion of tobacco by the whole human race of 1000 mil-
lions at 70 ounces a-head, and the total produce and
consumption of this favourite narcotic at two millions
of tons, or 4480 millions of pounds ! f At 800 lb. an
acre, this would require upwards of 5^ millions of
acres of rich land to be kept constantly under tobacco

* Anmtaire Statist ique Beige, 1854, p. 123.

f In New South Wales, where tobacco is free from duty, the aver-
age consumption, by recent oflBcial returns, is about 14 lb. per head
of the population, — three times as much as in Belgium. It is doubtful,
however, if as large sums are now anywhere spent upon this indul-
gence as there were in England in the time of King James I., who says
" some of the gentry bestowing three and some fom- hundred pounds a
yeere upon this precious stink."

TOTAL PRODUCE OF TOBACCO.

cultivation. The comparative magnitude of this
quantity will probably strike the reader more for-
cibly when it is stated that the whole of the wheat
consumed by the inhabitants of Great Britain — esti-
mating it at a quarter a-head, or in round numbers
at 20 millions of quarters — weighs only 4^ millions
of tons. The tobacco yearly raised, therefore, for the
gratification of this one form of the narcotic appetite,
weighs as much as the wheat consumed by ten millions
of Englishmen. And reckoning it at only double the
market value of wheat, or twopence and a fraction
per pound, it is worth in money as much as all the
wheat eaten in Great Britain !

The largest growers of tobacco at present are the
United States of America. Their annual production,
at the last two decennial periods of their census
returns, was estimated in

1840 ... at 219,163.319 lb.
1850 ... „ 199,752,646 „

Being about one-twentieth part of the whole supposed
produce of the globe.

2°. Varieties of Tobacco. — As many as forty
species of the tobacco plant have been enumerated by
some writers. The greater number of these are now,
however, regarded as varieties, though eight or ten
distinct species are still retained, of which diflferent
varieties are grown in different countries. Of the
Virginian tobacco {N. tabacum) fig. 56, at least eight
varieties are distinguished and named, and of the
common green tobacco (F. rustica), fig. 57, there are
probably as many more.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

These facts possess an economical and chemical, as
well as a botanical interest; for, on the one hand, the
quality of the tobacco grown in the same locality, and
in the same circumstances, differs with the variety of
plant cultivated ; and, on the other, the proportions of
the chemical ingredients for which tobacco is distin-
guished likewise differ with the species or the variety.

Other circumstances also affect those sensible pro-
perties for which tobacco is prized. The climate, the
soil, the mode of culture, the kind of manure applied,
the period at which the leaves are gathered, the way
in which they are dried and cured, the time they are
kept in store, the distance to which they are carried to
market,* and the process by which they are prepared
for use — all these circumstances exercise a well-known
influence upon the quality of the leaf. These condi-
tions being so varied, there can be only few places in
which they all conspire to the production of the most
valuable crop. Hence, as is the case with the vine,
and with the tea and coffee plants, the localities which
yield tobacco in the greatest perfection are not only
few in number, but generally very limited in extent.

The finest tobacco of America is produced in the
island of Cuba. That of the island of Luzon in the
Philippines, from which the celebrated Manilla cigars
are made, is nearly equal to that of Cuba. A fine
but strong tobacco is produced in the province of
Cadoe in Java, where it is grown in a naturally rich

* Well-packed tobacco, like some wines, improves by a sea voyage.
It undergoes by the way a species of fermentation, by which its flavour
is mellowed. European tobacco is said to be much better when smoked
in America than in its native Europe.

VARIETIES OF TOBACCO.

soil alternately with rice, and without manure. In
Hindostan, a fine tobacco, known by the name of
Bilsah, is grown in the province of Malwa, and in the
province of Guzerat another fine variety called Kaira.
All these are the produce of the Nicotiana tabacum.
In central Asia, the yellow tobacco of China and
Thibet is peculiarly mild and agreeable, though, pro-
bably from its rarity, the inferior tobacco of India,
when carried to Lhassa, sells as high as 30s. a pound —
(Hooker). In western Asia the most prized tobaccos
are those of Latakia (the ancient Laodicea) in Syria,
and of Shiraz in Persia. The former, like the Chinese
tobacco, is the leaf of the N. rustica, the latter that
of a species called N. persica. Thus the finest tobacco
has a wide range of latitude, though the districts in
which it is anywhere produced I have said,

very limited in extent. A warm summer appears to
be necessary to the production of a delicately-flavoured
leaf That of temperate and cold regions is generally
harsh and strong, as if it abounded more in the nar-
cotic ingredients upon which the qualities of tobacco
principally depend. How very much the mercantile
values of the tobacco of different countries differ from
each other, may be judged of by the prices they bear
as they are brought to the English market. These
are very nearly as follows : —

Canada, . 4d. a pound.

Kentucky, . 6d. „

Virginian, . 7d. ,,

Maryland, . 9d. „

St Domingo, 8d. „

VOL. II.

Turkey, . Os. 9d. a pound.

Columbian, . Os. lOd. „

Cuba, ... Is. 6d. „

Havannah, . 3s. 6d. „

18 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

The commercial history of Dutch-grown tobacco is
somewhat curious. In the valley of Guelderland— the
Veluwe, as it is called — about two millions of pounds
of tobacco are raised. Of this nearly one-half is
bought by the French government for the supply of
France. In that country it is used partly for cigars,
and partly for making snuff. The rest of the Guel-
derland tobacco is shipped to North America, and
even to Cuba. The fineness of the leaf, and its free-
dom from thick fibres, make it in request for the
outer covering of cigars. In this case the market
value of the tobacco is independent of its general qua-
lity or its chemical composition. Chinese tobacco is
equally employed for covering cigars.

3°. Forms in which Tobacco is used. — Tobacco
is used in nearly all countries for each of the three
purposes of chewing, smoking, and snuffing. The
first of these practices is in many respects the most
disgusting, and is now rarely seen in this country
except among sea-faring men. On shipboard smok-
ing is always dangerous, and often forbidden, while
snuffing is expensive and inconvenient, and less per-
fectly satisfies the narcotic appetite. If the weed
must be used, therefore, the form of chewing is more
excusable in the sailor.

In some of the southern and western states of North
America, chewing to an offensive extent prevails; and
in Iceland, according to Madame Pfeiffer, tobacco is
chewed and snuffed " with the same infatuation as it
is smoked in other countries." The traveller in

TOBACCO IN ICELAND.

northern Sweden may have observed the hunde who
accompanies or drives his post-horses, putting a large
piuch of snuff from time to time into his mouth, thus
applying to the wrong organ, as he conceives, the
finely-powdered leaf An Icelander applies the snuff
to his nose, but in a peculiar manner. " Most of the
peasants," says Madame Pfeiffer, " and even many of
the priests, have no proper snuff-box, but only a box
made of bone, and shaped like a powder-flask. When
they take snuff they throw back the head, insert the
point of the flask in the nose, and shake a dose of
snuff into it. They then, with the greatest amia-
bility, offer it to their neighbour — he to his ; and so it
goes round till it reaches the owner again." *

The box described in this passage is only a High-
land horn mull, a little different in shape from those
of modern fashion. The Highlander lifts the powder
to his nose with a little shovel : the Icelander, usinsr
the small end of the horn, at once pours it in. But
among the Celto-Scandinavians of northern Britain
there is the ^me love of the powdered tobacco as in
Iceland and northern Scandinavia, and the same
amiability in handing round the box as is seen in
primitive Iceland. Are these not lingering relics of
similar social customs, which still point to the ancient
unity and common origin of the three now discon-
nected peoples ? -f-

* Madame Pfeiffer's Visit to Iceland, London edition, p. 179.
t I insert, in the form of a note, a reference to a use of tobacco of
which I can scarcely speak with confidence. It is said to be employed

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

The practice of using snuff is said to have come
into England after the Restoration, and to have been
brought from France. The name of rappees (rapSs),
which we give to our moist snuffs, is certainly of
French extraction, and a very large proportion of the
tobacco now used in France is in the form of snuff.

For the smoker and chewer, tobacco is prepared in
various forms, and sold under many names. The
dried leaves, coarsely broken, are sold as canister or
knaster. When moistened, compressed, and cut into
fine threads, they form cut or shag tobacco. Softened
with molasses, or with syrup, and pressed into cakes,
they are called Cavendish or negrohead, and are used
indifferently either for chewing or smoking. Moist-
ened in the same way, and beaten until they are soft,
and then twisted into a thick string, they form the
pigtail or twist of the chewer. Cigars are made of
the dried leaves deprived of their midribs, sprinkled
sometimes with a solution of saltpetre to make them
burn better, and rolled up into a short spindle. When
cut straight across or truncated at each^end, as is the
custom at Manilla, they are distinguished as cheroots.

by unprincipled private brewers, in some parts of England, for adul-
terating beer, and by porter-sellers to adulterate porter. The country
laboxirer who cannot afford of an evening to buy more than a single glass
of beer, desires something for his little money which shall not only be
tasty in his mouth, but also in a sensible degree affect his head. A few
tobacco leaves, introduced after the manner of hops, are said to give
this quality to the beer, and a Uttle tobacco-extract to the porter. Seve-
ral trustworthy persons, who profess to know, assui-e me that such a use
of tobacco is by no means uncommon. How is it possible to protect the
poor man against fraudulent persons, whom by a morbid craving he
encourages to conspire against himself ?

MAKING OF SNUFF.

In preparing them for the snuff-taker, the dried
leaves are sprinkled with water, laid in heaps, and
allowed to heat and ferment from one to six months.
During this fermentation a chemical decomposition
takes place in the leaves, and they give off at first
nicotin and ammonia,* and afterwards water and
acetic acid. They are then reduced to powder, moist-
ened with salt and water, and put into close boxes.
Here they again heat and ferment. This gives them
an agreeable ethereal odour and the well-known pun-
gency of snuff. Rappees, or moist snuffs, are usually
prepared from the soft part of the leaves. Dried
snuffs, like the Scotch and Welsh, are made from the
fibres or midribs. The former are variously, scented
to suit the taste of the customer.

The quality and flavour of the snuff are materially
affected by the variety of tobacco used — by the part
of the leaf from which the snuff is formed — by the
extent to which the two fermentations are carried —
by the degree of heat at which the leaves are dried
or roasted for dry snuffs — and by the length of time
during which they are exposed to this heat. The kind
of influence exercised by the fermentation and the
roasting will appear, when I shall have described the
properties of the ingredients on which the activity
of tobacco upon the human system depends.
4°. Effects of Tobacco. — In whichever of the

* Ammonia is an invisible kind of air or gas, which gives its smell to
the hartshorn (liquid ammonia), and to the common smelUng-salts (car-
bonate of ammonia) of the shops. It consists of the two gases, nitrogen
and hydrogen.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

three ways it is used, the effects produced by tobacco
appear to be much the same in kind ; they differ chiefly
in degree. But, extensively as it is consumed, it is
remarkable how very few persons can state distinctly
the effects which tobacco produces upon them — the
kind of pleasure which the daily use of it gives them
— why they began, and for what reason they continue
the indulgence. If the reader be a consumer of to-
bacco, let him ask himself these questions, .and he
will be surprised how little satisfactory the answers he
receives will be. In truth, few have thought much on
these points — have cared to analyse their sensations
when under the narcotic influence of tobacco — or if
they have analysed them, would care to tell truly what
kind of relief it is which they seek in the use of it.

"In habitual smokers," says Dr Pereira, a high
authority in such matters, " the practice, when mode-
rately indulged, provokes thirst, increases the secre-
tion of saliva, and produces that remarkably soothing
and tranquillising effect on the mind, which has
caused it to be so much admired and adopted by all
classes of society, and by all nations, civilised and
barbarous."* Smoked to excess, and especially by
persons unaccustomed to its use, it produces nausea,
vomiting, in some cases purging, universal trembling,
staggering, convulsive movements, paralysis, torpor,
and death. Cases are on record of persons killing
themselves by smoking seventeen or eighteen pipes
at a sitting. With some constitutions it never agrees;

* Materia Medica, third edition, p, 1431.

EFFECTS OF TOBACCO.

but both Dr Pereira, and Dr Christison in his Treatise
on Poisons, agree that " no well-ascertained ill effects
have been shown to result from the habitual practice
of smoking/' Dr Prout, an excellent chemist, and a
physician of extensive medical experience, whom all
his scientific contemporaries held in much esteem,
was of a different opinion. But even he expresses
himself obscurely as to its being generally deleterious
when inoderately indulged in.*

The effects of chewing are of a similar kind ; but
the vapours which accompany the smoke of burning
tobacco are more penetrating, and act more speedily
than the juice which is squeezed from the leaf, as it is
chewed, and occasionally turned over, in the mouth.
Those of snuffing, also, are only less in degree. The
same influence of tobacco which, when the quid or
the pipe is used, promotes the flow of saliva in the

* I give Dr Prout's own ■words : " Tobcacco disorders the assimilating
functions in general, but particularly, as I believe, the assimilation of the
saccharine principle. Some poisonous principle, probably of an acid
nature, is generated in certain individuals by its abuse, as is evident from
then- cachectic looks, and from the dark and often greenish-yellow tint
of the blood. The severe and peculiar dyspeptic sjinptoms sometimes
produced by inveterate snuff-taking are well known ; and I have more
than once seen such cases terminate fatally with malignant disease of
the stomach and liver. Great smokers, also, especially those who
employ short pipes and cigars, are said to be liable to canceroiis affec-
tions of the lips. But it happens with tobacco as with deleterious
articles of diet, the strong and healthy suffer comparatively little, while
the weak and predisposed to disease fall victims to its poisonous opera-
tion. Surely, if the dictates of reason were allowed to prevail, an
article so injurious to the health, and so offensive in all its modes of
enjoyment, would speedily be banished."

Yet reason is not so certainly on Dr Prout's side ; for Locke says,
" Bread or tobacco may bo neglected, but reason at first recommends
their trial, and custom makes them pleasant."

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

mouth, manifests itself, when snuff is taken, in pro-
ducing sneezing, and in increasing the discharge of
mucus from the nose. The excessive use of snuff,
however, blunts the sense of smell, alters the tone of
voice, and occasionally produces dyspepsia and loss of
appetite. In rarer cases it ultimately induces apo-
plexy and delirium.

It is chiefly because of " the soothing and tranquil-
lising effect it has on the mind," as it is expressed by
Dr Pereira, that tobacco is indulged in. And were
it possible, amid the teasing paltry cares, as well as
■ the more poignant griefs of life, to find a mere mate-
rial soother and tranquilliser, productive of no evil
after-effects, and accessible alike to all — to the deso-
late and the outcast equally with him who is rich in
a happy home and the felicity of sympathising
friends — who so heartless as to wonder or regret that
millions of the world-chafed should flee to it for
solace ! I confess, however, that in tobacco I have
never found this soothing effect. This no doubt is
constitutional ; for I cannot presume to ignore the
united testimony of the millions of mankind who
assert, from their ovra experience, that it does produce
such effects. Its influence, indeed, appears very much
to depend upon the constitution and natural tempe-
rament of the consumer. Among Europeans this is
manifested chiefly by the difference of its effects upon
different individuals, causing some to reject and avoid
it, while others constantly and eagerly indulge in it.
But in other countries, as in North America, the

INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES.

effects it produces separate, physiologically, entire
regions from each other. The States of intellectual
New England and New York, for example, taken as
a whole, appear to dislike the use of tobacco ; at least
there is a very large, thinking, and conscientious body
of men in these States, who are exerting themselves
to repress and suppress the use of the weed, and who
even desire a legislative enactment to prevent it.
The western and southern States, on the other hand,
largely, and almost universally, indulge in tobacco ;
and one cannot travel from New York towards those
States without coming in contact with the practices
of smoking and chewing in their most offensive forms.
In the one region the mass of thoughtful and religious
men condemns the use of tobacco, chiefly, I believe, on
moral grounds ; in the other region, a vast majority
of the mind, as well as almost universal practice, up-
hold and maintain it.*

These are very interesting physiological facts, well
worthy of calm study on the part of those whose
feelings will permit them to look at the matter coolly,
and whose minds are capacious enough to take in and
balance contradictory opinions and testimony. Cli-
mate gradually affects constitution and temperament.
It has so affected, I believe, but in different ways, the
two regions of North America to which I have referred.
Upon constitutions and temperaments so diversely
altered the constituents of tobacco act differently, and

* In Russia, the Starovierze, or " Old Believers," a very moral sect
of dissenters from the Greek Church, look with horror on the use of
tobacco — (De Lagny).

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

thus the broadest assertions, both of the abusers and of
the defenders of tobacco in the several regions, may be
strictly true, though decidedly opposed to each other,
and entirely contradictory.*

Again, in New England, it is alleged as a strong
moral argument against the use of tobacco, that it
provokes thirst, and leads almost necessarily to excess
in drinking, to frequent intoxication, and to all the evils
which flow from it. This, which is sometimes alleged
at home, and often with truth, is singularly at vari-
ance with its reputed effects among the Asiatic
nations. Mr Lane, the translator of the Arabian
Wights, says, that " being in a slight degree exhilarat-
ing, and at the same time soothing, and unattended
by the injurious effects which proceed from wine, it
is a sufficient luxury to many who without it would
have recourse to intoxicating beverages, merely to
pass away hours of idleness." Mr Layard, whose
intercourse with Eastern nations has been most
extensive, entertains the same opinion ; while Mr
Crawford, who has also seen much of Eastern life,
" thinks it can hardly be doubted that tobacco must,
to a certain extent, have contributed to the sobriety
both of Asiatic and European nations." f

These opposite facts form another interesting phy-
siological study. In North America the smoking of
tobacco provokes to alcoholic dissipation ; in Asia it

* There is much wisdom in the Irish form of equivocal assent to a
doubtful assertion: "True for you" — meaning, " with my knowledge
you would think differently."

+ Journal of the Statistical Societij, March 1853, p. 62.

TOBACCO FIEST SOOTHES.

restrains the use of intoxicating drinks, and takes
their place. How complicated are the causes out of
which these dififerent effects spring ! Climate, tem-
perament, bodily constitution, habits, and institutions,
act and react upon each other; and according to
the peculiar result of all these actions in this or that
country, the same narcotic substance produces upon
the mass of the people, a salutary, a harmless, or a
baneful effect !

Generally of the physiological action of tobacco
upon the bulk of mankind, and apart from its moral
influences, it may be received as characteristic of this
substance among narcotics —

First, That its greater and first effect is to assuage
and allay and soothe the system in general.

Second, That its lesser and second, or after effect,
is to excite and invigorate, and at the same time
give steadiness and fixity to the powers of thought.

To what special action of its chemical constituents
on the brain and nerves, the soothing action and
the pleasing reverie, so generally spoken of, is to be
ascribed, we can only guess. According to Dr Madden,
" the pleasure of the reverie consequent on the indul-
gence of the pipe, consists in a temporary annihilation
of thought. People really cease to think when they
have been long smoking. I have asked Turks repeat-
edly what they have been thinking of during their
long smoking reveries, and they replied, ' Of nothing.'
I could not remind them of a single idea having
occupied their minds ; and in the consideration of the

28 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

Turkish character there is no more curious circum-
stance connected with their moral condition." *

Is it really a peculiarity of the Turkish or Moslem
temperament, that tobacco soothes the mind to sleep
while the body is alive and awake ? That such is not
its general action in Europe, the study of almost every
German writer can testify. With the constant pipe
diffusing its beloved aroma around him, the German
philosopher works out the profoundest of his results
of thought. He thinks and dreams, and dreams and
thinks, alternately ; but while his body is soothed
and stilled, his mind is ever awake. From what I
have heard such men say, I could almost fancy they
had in this practice discovered a way of liberating
the mind from the trammels of the body, and of thus
giving it a freer range and more undisturbed liberty
of action. I regret that I have never found it act so
upon myself.

5° Chemical Constituents of Tobacco.— The
active substances or chemical ingredients of tobacco or
of tobacco smoke, those by which all its varied eflFects
are produced, are three in number : a volatile oil, and
a volatile alkali, which exist in the natural leaf — and
an empyreumatic oil, which is produced during the
burning of the tobacco in the pipe.

a. The volatile oil. — When the leaves of tobacco
are mixed with water and submitted to distillation,
a volatile oil or fat comes over in small quantity.
This fatty substance congeals or becomes solid, and

* Travels in Turkey, vol. i. p. 16,

CONSTITUENTS OF TOBACCO.

floats on the surface of the water which distils over
along with it. It has the odour of tobacco, and pos-
sesses a bitter taste. On the mouth and throat it
produces a sensation similar to that caused by tobacco
smoke. When applied to the nose, it occasions sneez-
ing ; and when taken internally, it gives rise to giddi-
ness, nausea, and an inclination to vomit. It is
evidently one of the ingredients, therefore, to which
the usual effects of tobacco are owing ; and yet it is
remarkable, that from a pound of leaves only two
grains of this fatty body are obtained by distillation.
Upon such minute quantities of chemical ingredients
do the peculiar action and sensible properties of some
of our most powerful medicinal agents depend !

b. The volatile alkali. — When tobacco leaves are
infused in water made slightly sour by sulphuric acid,
and the infusion is subsequently distilled with quick-
lime, there comes over mixed with the water a small
quantity of a volatile, oily, colourless, alkaline liquid,
which is heavier than water, and to which the name
of nicotin has been given. It has the odour of
tobacco, an acrid, burning, long-continuing tobacco
taste, and possesses narcotic and very poisonous quali-
ties. In this latter respect it is scarcely inferior to
prussic acid, a single drop being sufficient to kill a
dog. Its vapour is so irritating, that it is difficult to
breathe in a room in which a single drop has been eva-
porated. The proportion of this substance contained
in the dry leaf of tobacco varies from 2 to 8 per cent.*

* The reader may recollect the great sensation produced in 1851 bj

THE NAECOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

So far as experiments have been made, the tobaccos
of Havannah and Maryland contain 2 per cent, that
of Kentucky 6, that of Virginia nearly 7, and that of
France from 6 to 8 per cent. It is rare, however, that
a hundred pounds of the dry leaf yield more than seven
pounds of nicotin. In smoking a hundred grains of
tobacco, therefore — say a quarter of an ounce — there
may be drawn into the mouth two grains or more
of one of the most subtle of all known poisons.
For as it boils at 482° F., and rises into vapour at
a temperature considerably below that of burning
tobacco, this poisonous substance is constantly pre-
sent in the smoke. From the smoke of a hundred
grains of slowly-burning Virginia tobacco, Melsens ex-
tracted as much as three-quarters of a grain of nicotin ;
and the proportion will vary with the variety of
tobacco, the rapidity of the burning, the form and
length of the pipe, the material of which it is made,
and with many other circumstances.

c. The empyreumatic oil. — But besides the two
volatile substances which exist ready formed in the
tobacco leaf, another substance of an oily nature is
produced when tobacco is distilled alone in a retort,
or is burned as we do it in a tobacco pipe. This oil
resembles one which is obtained in a similar way from
the leaf of the poisonous fox-glove {Digitalis pur-
purea). It is acrid and disagreeable to the taste,
narcotic and poisonous. One drop applied to the

the trial of the Comte de Bocarm^ at Mons, and his subsequent execu-
tion, for poisoning his brothei'-in-law with nicotin.

TflE JUICE OF CUKSED HEBENON.

tongue of a cat brought on convulsions, and in two
minutes occasioned death. The Hottentots are said
to kill snakes by putting a drop of it on their tongues.
Under its influence the reptiles die as instantaneously
as if killed by an electric shock. It appears to act
nearly in the same way as prussic acid.

The oil thus obtained consists of at least two sub-
stances. If it be washed with acetic acid (vinegar),
it loses its poisonous quality. It contains, therefore,
a harmless oil, and a poisonous alkaline substance
which the acetic acid combines with and removes.
The nature and chemical properties of this alkaline
poison have not as yet been investigated. The crude
oil is supposed to be " the juice of cursed hebenon/'
described by Shakespeare as a distilment.*

Thus three active chemical substances unite their
influences to produce the sensible effects which are
experienced during the smoking of tobacco. All
three are contained in variable proportions in the

* The effects, real or imaginary, of this "juice" are thus described : —

" Sleeping within mine orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole.
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of mine ears did pour
The leperous distilment : whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man,
That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body ;
And with a sudden vigour it doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood : so did it mine ;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about.
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth hody."— Hamlet, Act i. scene v.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

Fig. 58.

smoke of burning tobacco. The form and construc-
tion of the pipe, among other circumstances, influence,
as I have said, the proportion of these ingredients
which the smoke contains. Thus the Turkish and
Indian pipes, in which the leaf burns slowly, and the
smoke is made to pass gently bubbling through water,
arrest a large proportion of the poisonous vapours,
and convey the smoky air in a much milder form to
the mouth. The reservoir of the German pipe retains
the grosser portions of the oily and other products of
the burning tobacco, and the long stem of the small
Kussian pipe has a similar effect. The Dutch and

English clay pipes
retain less; the met-
al (bronze or iron)
pipes of Thibet (fig.
58), by becoming
warm, bring still
more of the consti-
tuents of the mild
Chinese tobacco to
the mouth of the smoker ; while the cigar, especi-
ally if smoked to the end, discharges directly into the
mouth of the smoker everything that is produced by
the burning. Thus, the more rapidly the leaf burns
and the smoke is inhaled, the greater the proportion
of the poisonous substances which is drawn into the
mouth. And finally, when the saliva is retained, the
fullest effect of all the three narcotic ingredients of
the smoke will be produced upon the nervous system

Thibet pipe, tobacco-pouch and steel.

The pipe is of brass or iron, often with an
agate, amber, or bamboo mouthpiece.

SNUFF MILDER IN ITS EFFECTS.

of the smoker. It is not surprising, therefore, that
those who have been accustomed to smoke cigars,
especially of strong tobacco, should find any other
pipe both tame and tasteless except the short black
cutty t which has lately come into favour again among
inveterate smokers. Such persons live in an almost
constant state of narcotism or narcotic drunken-
ness, which must ultimately affect the health, even
of the strongest. The chewer of tobacco, it will be
understood from the above description, does not expe-
rience the effects of the poisonous oil which is pro-
duced during the burning of the leaf. The natural
volatile oil and the nicotin are the substances which
act upon him. These, from the quantity of them which
he involuntarily swallows or absorbs, impair his appe-
tite, and gradually weaken his powers of digestion.

The same remarks apply to the taker of snuff. But
his drug is still milder than that of the chewer.
During the first fermentation which the leaf under-
goes in preparing it for the manufacture of snuff, and
again during the second fermentation, after it is
ground, a large proportion of the nicotin escapes or is
decomposed. The ammonia produced during these
fermentations is partly the result of this decompo-
sition.* Further, the artificial drying or roasting to
which tobacco is exposed in fitting it for the dry snuffs,
expels a portion of the natural volatile oil, as well as

* Nicotin is one of those powerful vegetable principles which, Hke
the theine of tea and coffee, are rich in nitrogen. Of this element it
contains 17 per cent. It is from this nitrogen that the ammonia is
fomed dming the decomposition described in the text.

VOL. IL C

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

an additional portion of the natural volatile alkali or
nicotin. Manufactured snufF, therefore, as it is drawn
up into the nose, and especially dried snuff, is much
less rich in active ingredients than the natural leaf.
Even the rappees, though generally made from the
strongest Virginian and European tobaccos, containing
5 or 6 per cent of nicotin, retain only 2 per cent when
fully manufactured.

I have already stated that in all the sensible pro-
perties by which the unadulterated leaf of the tobacco
plant is characterised, the produce of different coun-
tries and districts exhibits important economical dif-
ferences. All such diversities in quality and flavour,
in strength, mildness, odour, &c., the chemist ex-
plains by the presence of the above-named active
ingredients, sometimes in greater, and sometimes in
smaller proportion ; and it is interesting to find
science in his hands first rendering satisfactory rea-
sons for the long-established decisions of taste. Thus
he has shown that the natural volatile oil does not
exist in the green leaf, but is formed during the dry-
ing ; hence the reason why the mode of drying and
curing affects the strength and quality of the dried
leaf. He has also shown that the proportion of the
poisonous nicotin is smallest in the best Havannah,
and largest in the Virginian and French tobaccos.
Hence a natural and sound reason for the preference
given to the former by the smokers of cigars, who
receive directly into their mouths all the substances
which escape from the burning leaf. And, lastly, by

FLAVOUR OF SYRIAN TOBACCO. 35

showing that both of the poisonous ingredients of
tobacco are volatile, and tend to escape slowly into
the air, he has explained why the preserved leaf, or
the manufactured cigar, improves by keeping, and,
like good wine, increases in value by increase of age.

As to the lesser niceties of flavour by which certain
samples of tobacco are distinguished, these probably
depend upon the presence of other odoriferous ingre-
dients, not so active in their nature, or so essential to
the leaf as those already mentioned. The leaves of
plants, in respect of their odours, are easily affected
by a variety of circumstances, and especially by the
nature of the soil they grow in, and of the manures
applied to them. Even to the grosser senses and less
minute observation of Europeans, it is known, for
example, that pig's dung carries its gout into the
tobacco raised by its means. But the more refined
organs and nicer appreciation of the Druses and
Maronites of Mount Lebanon readily recognise by
the flavour of their tobacco the variety of manure em-
ployed in its cultivation. Hence, among the moun-
tains of Syria, and in other parts of the East, those
samples of tobacco are held in the highest esteem
which have been aided in their growth by the drop-
pings of the goat.

6°. Adulterations of Tobacco.— But in countries
where high duties upon tobacco hold out a tempta-
tion to fraud, artificial flavours are given by various
forms of adulteration. " Saccharine matter (molasses,
sugar, honey, &c.), which is the principal adulterating

36 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

ingredient, is said to be used for the purpose of both
adding to the weight of the tobacco, and of rendering it
more agreeable to the taste. Vegetable leaves— as
those of rhubarb, the beech, and the walnut— mosses,
bran, the sproutings of malt, beet-root dregs, liquor-
ice. Terra japonica, rosin, yellow ochre, fuller s earth,
sand, saltpetre, common salt, sal-ammoniac " * —
such is a list of the substances which have been
detected in adulterated tobacco. How many more
may be in daily use for the purpose, who can tell ?
Is it surprising, therefore, that we should meet with
manufactured tobacco possessing a thousand different
flavours for which the chemistry of the natural leaf
can in no way account ?

Snuff has its own special adulterations, among which
hellebore, to provoke sneezing, is the most deadly.

As substitutes for, or admixtures with tobacco, the
leaves of different species of rhubarb, large and small,
are collected in Thibet and on the slopes of the
Himalaya. The long leaves of a Tupistra, called
Purphiok, which yield a sweet juice, are also gathered
in Sikkim, chopped up and mixed with the tobacco
for the hookah — (Dr Hooker). Other substitutes
for genuine tobacco have been adopted in other coun-
tries, either from poverty or from taste. As a substi-
tute for tobacco snuff, the powdered rusty leaves of
the Rhododendron campanulatum are used in India,
and in the United States of North America the brown
dust which adheres to the petioles of the kalmias

* Pbreira's Materia Medica, 3d edition, p. 1427.

TOBACCO EXHAUSTS THE SOIL.

and rhododendrons. All these plants possess nar-
cotic qualities. The Otomacs, a tribe of dirt-eaters in
South America, also make a kind of snuff from the
powdered pods of the Acacia niopo. This snuff
throws them into a state of intoxication bordering on
madness, and which lasts for several days. While
under its influence the cares and restraints of life are
forgotten, and dreadful crimes are perpetrated.

7°. Tobacco an exhausting Crop. — One other
point in the chemical history of tobacco, though not
connected with its narcotic influence upon the sys-
tem, it may be proper here to notice. I have else-
where explained* that when vegetable substances
are burned in the open air, they leave unconsumed
a portion of mineral matter or ash. The leaves of
plants are especially rich in this incombustible ash,
and those of tobacco are among the richest in this
respect among cultivated leaves. The dried tobacco-
leaf, when burned, yields from 19 to 28 per cent of ash ;
or, on an average, every four pounds of perfectly dry
tobacco contain one pound of mineral or incombustible
matter. It is this which forms the ashes of our
tobacco pipes and the nozzles of our burning cigars.

It is unnecessary here to describe in detail the
composition of this ash, but I may remind my reader
that all the substances it contains have been derived
from the soil on which the tobacco plant was grown,
and that they belong to the class of bodies which are
at once most necessary to vegetation and least abun-
* See The Plant we cuLTrv^AXB.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

dant even in fertile soils. In proportion, therefore,
to the weight of leaves gathered must have been the
weight of these substances withdrawn from the soil.
And as every ton of perfectly dry leaves carries off
four to five hundred-weight of this mineral matter
— as much as is contained in fourteen tons of the
grain of wheat — it will readily appear, even to those
who are least familiar with agricultural operations,
that the growing of tobacco must be a very exhaustive
kind of cultivation. He will see in this, also, one
main reason why tobacco plantations have in past
times gradually become so exhausted as to be inca-
pable, in many instances, of being longer cultivated
with a profit — why once fertile lands are now to be
seen lying waste and deserted — and why the fortunes
of tobacco planters, even in naturally favoured regions,
have gradually declined with the failing fertiUty of
their wearing-out plantations. Upon the Atlantic
borders of the United States of America the best-
known modern instances of the effects of this exhaust-
ing tobacco-culture are to be found. It is one of the
triumphs of the chemistry of the present century, that
it has ascertained what the land loses by such impru-
dent treatment, whatever crop is grown — what is the
cause, therefore, of the barrenness which befalls it— -by
what new management its ancient fertihty may be
restored, and thus how new fortunes may be ex-
tracted from the same old soil*

* See the Author's Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology,
2d editioDj p. 644.

CHAPTER XVL

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

THE HOP, AND ITS SUBSTITUTES.

The hop ; whence derived ; when brought to England. — Consump-
tion in the United Kingdom. — Produce of Belgium. — Importance of
the hop. — Beauty of the hop grounds. — Management of the plant. —
Properties which recommend its use in beer. — Varieties of the hop
cultivated in England. — Qualities of the Farnham, Kent, North
Clay, and "Worcester hops. — Differences in estimation and flavoui'.
— Soils on which they grow. — Chemical constituents of the hop flower.
— The oil of hops. — The aromatic resin. — The lupuline grains. — The
bitter principle. — Physiological action of the hop. — Difference be-
tween ale and beer. — Bitter substances used instead of the hop. —
Cocculus indicus. — Singular qualities of this berry ; its use in adul-
terating beer. — Poisonous picrotoxin contained in it. — Narcotic sub-
stitutes for the hop in South America, in India, and in China. — The
Heetoo, Keesho, and Taddo of Abyssinia. — The marsh ledum used
in northern Europe. — Use of the yarrow, clary, and saffron.

in Germany in the times of the Eoman writers,
but was probably unknown to them. Its use, as an

addition to malt

appears to be of German

40 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

origin. Hop gardens, by the name of Humolarise, are
spoken of in documents of the early part of the ninth
century, and frequently in those of the thirteenth
century. Into the breweries of the Netherlands the
hop seems to have been introduced about the begin-
ning of the fourteenth century. From the Low Coun-
tries, or, as some say, from Artois, which borders upon
them, it was brought to England in the reign of
Henry YIIL, some time after his expedition against
Tournay, and about the year 1524. In the twenty-
second year of his reign (1530), that monarch, in an
order respecting the servants of his household, forbad
sulphur * and hops to be used by the brewers. Three
quarters of a century later (1603) the introduction of
spoilt and adulterated hops was forbidden by James I.
under severe penalties. This appears to show that,
though considerable attention is known to have been
already given to the cultivation of the hop in Eng-
land, a large part of the hops supplied to the home
market was still brought from abroad.

1". Consumption of the Hop. — At present, the
hops consumed in the United Kingdom are almost
entirely of home growth, and the consumption is very
great. For the last four years the quantities retained
for home consumption, and the amount of dutyf paid
into the revenue, amounted to —

* This probably refers to the practice, which still prevails, of whiten-
ing or bleaching hops with fiimes of sulphur, and which may not then
have been so skilfully conducted as it is now.

f The duty is 18s. 8d. the cwt., and five per cent additional.

CONSUMPTION OF THE HOP.

Tears. Consumption. Duty.

1850, 48,267,1581b. ... £232,576

1851, 26,138,906 „ ... 129,580

1852, 50,146,639 „ ... 244,866

1853, 30,949,590 „ ... 152,677

Average, . . . 38,375,573 „ ... £189,425

This average is supposed to represent as large a
quantity of hops as is grown in all the world be-
sides. How different a taste does this large consump-
tion argue now from what must have prevailed in the
beginning of the seventeenth century, when the city
of London petitioned Parliament against two nui-
sances— against Newcastle coals in regard of their
stench, and against hops in regard they would spoil
the taste of drink and endanger the people ! * The
produce of Belgium, which, for its population of
millions, is one of the largest hop-growers in Europe,
amounted in 1853 to 7,653,206 lb.

In Germany, Rhenish Bavaria and the Grand-
duchy of Baden grow much hops, and of excellent
quality ; but the amount of the yearly produce I have
no means of ascertaining. Holland grows little, and
supplies itself in part by importations from the United
States of North America.

In Russia, a variety of the hop grows wild in the
Taurida, the Ural, and the Altai, but the principal
supply is said to be imported from abroad.

The reason why the quantities retained for home
consumption vary so much in the years above given,

* See "Walter Elite's English Improver Improved, 3cl edition.
1653.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

is that the crop is a very variable one, and that the
crop of plenteous years is reserved to meet the de-
mand of the less fruitful. An average consumption
of about forty millions of pounds is very large ; but
the importance of this plant among the narcotics in
which we indulge appears more clearly, when we
compare the average consumption of it with that of
tobacco. These are as follows : —

Hops, average consumption, . 38,375,573 lb.
Tobacco in 1853, . . . 29,737,561 „

8,638,012 „

The yearly consumption of the hop exceeds, by
two-sevenths of the whole, the home consumption
of tobacco. It is the narcotic substance, therefore,
of which England not ouly grows more and consumes
more than all the world besides, but of which English-
men consume more than they do of any other sub-
stance of the same class.

And who that has visited the hop-grounds of Kent
and Surrey in the flowering season will ever forget
the beauty and grace of this charming plant ? Climb-
ing the tall poles, and circling them with its clasping
tendrils, it hides the formality and stiffness of the
tree that supports it among the exuberant profusion
of its clustering flowers. Waving and drooping in
easy motion with every tiny breath that stirs them,
and hanging in curved wreaths from pole to pole, the
hop-bines dance and glitter beneath the bright
English sun — the picture of a true English vineyard,
which neither the Rhine nor the Ehone can equal.

CULTIVATION OP THE HOP.

and only Italy, where lier vines climb the freest, can
surpass.

2°. Cultivation of the Hop. — The hop " joyeth
in a fat and fruitful ground,'' as old Gerard wrote in

Fig. 59.

1596: " it prospereth the
better by manuring.""
And few spots surpass,
either in natural fertility
or in artificial richness,
the hop lands of Surrey,
which lie along the out-
crop of what are called
the green-sand measures
in the neighbourhood of
Farnham. Naturally rich
to an extraordinary de-
gree in the mineral food
of plants, the soils in this
locality have been famed
for upwards of two cen-
turies for the growth of
hops ; and with a view
to this culture alone, at
the present day, the best
portions sell as high as
cC'dOO an acre. And the UgUst Scotch farmer—
the most liberal of manure— will find himself out-
done by the hop-growers of Kent and Surrey. An
average expenditure of ten pounds sterling an acre
for manure over a hundred acres of hops, farmed by

Humuhis lupulus —
The liop plant.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

a single individual, makes this branch of farming the
most liberal, the most remarkable, and the most ex-
pensive of any in England.

This mode of managing the hop, and the peculiar
value and rarity of hop land, were known very early.
They form parts of its history which were probably
imported with the plant itself. Tusser, who lived in
Henry VIII.'s time, and in the reigns of his three
children, in his Points of Husbandry thus speaks of
the hop : —

" Choose soil for the hop of the rottenest mould,
Well-doonged and wrought as a garden-plot should :
Not far from the water (but not overfloune),
This lesson well noted, is meet to be knowne.

The sun in the south, or else southhe and west.
Is joy to the hop as welcommed ghest ;
But wind in the north, or else northerly east.
To hop is as iU as fray in a feast.

Meet plot for a hop-yard, once foimd as is told,
Make thereof account as of jewel of gold ;
Now dig it and leave it, the sun for to bume.
And afterwards fense it, to serve for that turne.

The hop for his profit, I thus do exalt :
It strengtheneth drink, and favoureth malt ;
And being well brewed, long kep it will last,
And drawing abide, if ye draw not too fast." *

3°. Uses of the Hop. — The hops of commerce con-
sist of the female flowers and seeds of the Humulus
lupulus, or common hop-plant (fig. 60). Their prin-
cipal consumption is in the manufacture of beer, and
they possess three properties which particularly fit
them for this use. First, They impart to malt liquors

* Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, London edition of
1812, p. 167.

USES OF THE HOP. 45

a pleasant, bitter, aromatic flavour, and tonic proper-
ties. Second, They give tliem a peculiar headiness,
often confounded with alcoholic strength, and thus
save to the brewer a
certain proportion of
his malt. The sopo-
rific quality of beer,
also, is ascribed in
part to the narcotic
quality of the hop.
Third, By their che-
mical influence they
clarify malt liquors,
and check their ten-
dency to become sour.
They arrest the fer-
mentation at the al-

. . The upper is the male plant and flower :
COhollC stage ; and it the lower is the female flower.

appears, from the history of the art of brewing, that
beer which could be kept for a length of time has
only been manufactured in England since the hop
has been introduced. " The ale," says Parkinson
(1640), "which our forefathers were accustomed only
to drink being a kind of thicker drink than beere, is
now almost quite left off to be made, the use of hoppes
to be put therein altering the quality thereof, to be
much more healthful or rather physicall, to preserve
the body from the repletion of grosse humours which
the ale engendereth."

Fig. 60.

Humulus lupulus — The common hop.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

4° Varieties of the Hop. — Of the cultivated
hop there are many varieties ; but in our principal
English hop-districts, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, only
about five varieties are extensively grown. These
are —

First. The goldings, grown chiefly in middle and
east Kent. They delight in a rocky calcareous soil,
or a rich friable loam. They thrive only in the most
naturally fertile kinds of soil.

Second. The white-bines are the favourites of Fam-
ham and Canterbury. They require the same de-
scription of soil as the goldings, are very similar in
their appearance and growth, and have nearly the
same value in the market. The flower of the white-
bines is considered to possess the most delicate flavour,
while that of the goldings is thought by some brewers
to have more strength.

These two varieties are most esteemed for the
brewing of pale bitter ale. They both require very
long poles, and on the average of years produce
smaller crops than the coarser kind of hop.

Third. The Jones's stand next in favour with the
brewer. They will grow on inferior land ; and as
they require very short poles, and are pretty good
croppers, they are in general favour with many
growers in Kent.

Fourth. The grape has many sub-varieties, and
requires longer poles than the Jones's. This variety
delights in stiff heavy soils, after thorough drainage,

VARIETIES OF THE HOP.

and produces very heavy crops. Hence its prevalence
in the Weald. It is commonly used for the ordinary
sorts of beer.

Fifth. The colegate is a smaller variety of hop than
the grape, but produces enormous crops in Sussex and
the Weald of Kent. It is often surreptitiously passed
off in the market as goldings; but it is greatly disliked
by the brewers, on account of the rankness of its
flavour. It is looked on by many as the worst hop
that is grown.

From the kind of soil on which they grow, these
two varieties are also known by the name of clay hops.
Those which are raised in the Weald of Kent and
Sussex, should, I suppose, be called south clay hops,
as those which grow on the stiff clays of Nottingham-
shire are known in the market as the north clays.

From this brief description of the more common
varieties of this plant, it will be understood that a great
diversity of flavour and quality must prevail among
the hops, not only of different districts, but even of
the same county. Thus the county of Kent produces
hops of various degrees of excellence, the best samples
combining in an eminent degree the qualities of
flavour and strength. The soils of this county rest
( chiefly on the chalk, but partly, also, on its south-
j west border, on the green-sand formation. Its northern
part is covered by the tertiary beds of the London
basin ; and it is around Kochester and Canterbury,
where the clays of these tertiaries and the porous
chalks meet, that the best Kent hops are grown.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

Inferior samples grow on the clays of the Kentish
Weald.

In Surrey, again, the hops of the neighbourhood
of Farnham have from time immemorial borne the
highest price in the British hop-market. They grow
on the marly soils rich in phosphate of lime, which
are formed from the rocks of the green-sand forma-
tion ; and so much does their excellence depend upon
the natural quality of the soil, that the value of the
crop changes sometimes on the mere crossing of a
hedge. The change of quality in the soil in this
locality is often sharp and sudden, and hence the
equally sudden change in the quality of the crops it
produces.

The clay hops of Kent and Sussex are coarse and
rank, but those of the small district of Retford in
Nottinghamshire, called the north clays, are pre-
eminent in rankness. They give a coarse flavour to
beer, which is almost nauseous to those who are unac-
customed to it. The stiff clays of the county of Not-
tingham, on which these hops grow, lie in the valley
of the Trent, and are formed chiefly from the debris
of the new red sandstone, through which the Trent
flows, with admixtures from the coal measures, mag-
nesian limestone, and lias clay brought down by the
feeders of the Trent. Probably a more thorough
drainage of this district would improve the quality
of its hops.

To those who are accustomed to the mild flavour
of the Kent hops, that of the north clays is almost

MILD WORCESTEE HOPS.

nauseous. But the Kent hops, again, are disrelished
by those who have been accustomed to the still milder
flavour of the Worcester hops. These excel in this
respect the best Kent goldings, and are usually very
taking to the eye. In practice, they are found to
ripen beer sooner than any other variety of hop.
They grow on the red soils of the vale of Severn,
and, in the opinion of beer-drinkers, possess a grateful
mildness not to be found in any other hops. Hence,
in Lancashire, Cheshire, and some other counties,
where the taste for the Worcester hops exists, even
fine Kent hops would be rejected as unsaleable. A
nice Lancashire beer-drinker calls beer hopped with
Kent hops 'porter ale. They do not answer, however,
for the best descriptions of malt liquor, such as the
pale ale, because they do not impart so fully the
keeping quality.

The red soils of Worcestershire are formed from
the debris of the new red sandstone, sifted and sorted
by the waters of the Severn. The traveller passes
through part of this hop region on his way from
Worcester to Malvern. The red soils of Hereford, on
which also hops are largely grown, are derived from
the old red sandstone, and in mildness of quality the
hops they yield are, I believe, similar to those of
Worcester. Rich, open, and friable, these red soils
so far resemble those of Kent and Surrey, from which
the Canterbury and Farnham hops are gathered.
The variety of hop grown in this region differs, how-

VOL. II. -n

50 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

ever, from those of Kent and Surrey. It is supposed
to be a descendant of the Flemish red-bine.*

Thus the soil or locality in which they are grown,
and the variety raised, have much influence upon the
flavour which the hops will impart to beer. But
besides these, the time of picking, the mode of drying
and curing, the care bestowed on the bagging, the
place in which they are afterwards kept, and the
length of time they have been gathered, all affect
the finer qualities of the hop flower. And, if to these
we add the numerous minute variations which occur
in the process of brewing, from time to time, even in
the same establishment, it will no longer appear sur-
prising that a very great variety of flavours should be
given to beer by the use of hops alone.

5°. Active ingredients of the Hop. — In so far as
such diversities of flavour depend upon the quality of
the hop itself — and not upon the quality of the water
employed, which much affects the flavour of beer —

* The proportions in which these several kinds of hops are grown
and used in England, may be judged of by the amount of duty paid by
those of each locaUty in 1852 and 1853.

1852.

1853.

Rochester,

. £97,174

£61,085

Canterbury,

52,746

33,628

Kent,

. 149,920

94,713

Sussex,

63,654

38,668

Worcester,

12,625

11,283

Farnham,

16,311

6,909

North clays,

942

225

Essex,

1,200

807

Sundries, .

210

£244,862

£152,674

CONSTITUENTS OF THE HOP.

they are probably due, as in tbe case of tobacco, to
the different proportions in which the active chemical
ingredients of the flower exist in the several samples.
These active ingredients, in so far as is yet known,
are three in number — a volatile oil, a slightly aro-
matic resin, and a bitter principle.

a. The volatile oil. — When hop flowers are distilled
with water, they yield as much as 8 per cent of their
weight of a volatile oil. This oil has a brownish-yel-
low colour, a strong smell of hops, and a slightly bitter
taste. In this oil of hops it was supposed that a por-
tion of the narcotic influence of the flower resided.
Recent experiments render this opinion doubtful.
The raw oil is a mixture of two volatile oils, and
sometimes exhibits narcotic properties. When recti-
fied, these properties disappear. It seems probable,
therefore, that in the case both of tobacco and of the
j hop, a minute but variable proportion of a volatile
1 narcotic substance distils over along with the oil, and
I that to this other substance the oil owes the narcotic
qualities it sometimes exhibits. The nature of this
volatile narcotic body has not been examined.

The hop has long been celebrated for its sleep-
giving qualities. To the weary and wakeful the hop
pillow has often given refreshing rest, when every
other sleep-producer had failed. It is to the escape
of the volatile narcotic ingredient above mentioned,
in minute quantity from the flowers, that this sopo-
rific effect of the hop is most probably to be ascribed.
Upon the same volatile ingredient depends the

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

odour which is perceived in store-rooms where hops
are kept, and much of the aroma they impart to
beer. It is owing to the escape of this ingredient,
even from the most closely-pressed hops, that they
deteriorate in quality so much by keeping, as usually
to fall one-third in value when upwards of a year old.
By boiling in the wort, also, a portion of the same
delicate aromatic principle is driven off and lost to
the beer.

b. The aromatic resin. — When dry hop-flowers
are beat, rubbed, and sifted, a fine yellow dust sepa-
rates from them, which is equal in weight to about a
sixth part of that of the hops. This fine powder is
sometimes distinguished by the name of lupulin.
Hop-buyers talk of it as the " condition " of the hop.
Under the microscope the powder is seen to consist
of minute, somewhat transparent, grains or glands of
a rounded form, a golden-yellow colour, and a cellu-
lar texture. By drying they lose their round form
(see fig. 61), and when put into water they give
Fig. 61. out an immense number of

minute globules. The function
of these organised lupulinic
glands, as a part of the plant.

Dried hipuline grains greatly is iuvolved in mUch obsCUrit}^
magnified — showing
a. Granules in the interior, ihoy pOSSOSS a StrOUg agrOO-
6. The liilum or point of at- , , , •■ i

tachmeut to the flower, able odour, auQ a Dittor taste.
When taken internally they are aromatic and tonic.
They soothe, also, and tranquillise, allay pain,
reduce the pulse, and in a slight degree provoke
sleep. Alcohol extracts from them, and dissolves out

THE BITTER PKINCIPLE.

more than half their weight of a reddish-yellow tran-
sparent resin, which is slightly aromatic, but when
pure is not at all bitter. This is the aromatic resin
of the hop flower, of which it forms one-twelfth part,
or 8 per cent by weight. What share this resin has
in producing the effects which follow from swallowing
the entire grains, is not satisfactorily known.

c. The bitter principle. — Besides the resin, the
little grains contain 2 per cent of a volatile oil, 2
per cent of tannin, and 10 per cent of a peculiar bitter
principle. This last is the best-known constituent of
the hop, and. gives bitterness to our beers. In the
other parts of the flower, also, there exists a bitter
ingredient, upon which few accurate experiments have
been made. The bitter matter of the grains is said not
to be narcotic, but what is its true action on the system
is not known. The tannin helps to clarify the beer.

But though the specific action of each of the che-
mical principles contained in the hop flower has not
been very well ascertained, the united action of all of
them together is well known. The tinctures and
extracts of hops which we use in medicine, and intro-
duce into our beers, contain them all, so that all the
virtues of the hop, in whichever of the ingredients it
resides, are present in them in a greater or less degree.
Hence well-hopped beer is aromatic, tonic, soothing,
tranquillising, and in a slight degree narcotic, seda-
tive, and provocative of sleep. The hop also aids in
clarifying malt liquors, arrests the fermentation before
all the sugar is converted into alcohol, and thus
enables them to be kept without turning sour.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

Ale was the name given to unhopped malt-liquor
before the use of hops was introduced. This is alluded
to in the passage already quoted from Parkinson, and
in the two old lines —

" Hops, reformation, bays and leer
Came into England all in one year."

The words of Gerard, also, show the original meaning
of the two words. " The manifold virtues in hops do
manifestly argue the wholesomeness of heer above ale;
for the hops rather make it physicall drinke, to keep
the body in health, than an ordinary drink for the
quenching of our thirst." When hops were added, it
was called beer by way of distinction ; I suppose, be-
cause we imported the custom from the Low Coun-
tries, where the word beer was still in use.* Ground
ivy (Nepeta glechoma), called also alehoof and tun-
hoof was generally employed for preserving ale before
the use of hops was known.

To the general reader it may appear remarkable —

* This word is found both in the new and old dialects of the high
and low German, Dutch, and Flemish, in the form of bier. In France
it is biere, and in Italy birra. In these latter countries it has super-
seded the old word cervoise, still used in Languedoc ; cervogia, still heard
in Italy — both of which, like the Spanish cerveza, are from the Latin
cervisia, a word used by Pliny for a drink made from malt.

In Anglo-Saxon it was beor; in new and old Norsk, bior; in Gaelic,
beoirj in Breton, ber or bier; and the Britons are said by Tacitus to have
made a sort of wine from barley which they called haer.

But this word for the drink disappeared from England, and ale took
its place, till it was brought in again to denote hopped ale, a sense which
it did not originally bear. It disappeared also from the Welsh, whose
name for beer is ciorw. But though it has penetrated into France and
Italy, 61 is still the only word in use in Scandinavia. This Scandinavian
name, which prevailed among us after the Romans left, points, like so
many other relics, to the race which has chiefly predominated in the
island since.

DEFECTS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE. 55

perhaps he may even think it a reproach to science —
that the chemistry of a vegetable production in such
extensive use as the hop should still be so imperfect,
our knowledge of its nature and composition, and of
the special physiological effects of its several consti-
tuents, so unsatisfactory. But the well-read chemist,
who knows how wide the field of chemical research
has become, how rapidly our knowledge of it as a
whole is progressing, and who endeavours in his daily
studies to keep up with that progress, — he will feel no
surprise. He must wish, indeed, to see all such
obscurities and difficulties cleared away ; but he will
feel more inclined to thank and praise the many
ardent and devoted men who in every country are
now labouring in this department, and to encourage
them in what they are doing, than to blame or reproach
them for being obliged to leave a part of the extensive
field for the present uncultivated.

The hop, as we have seen, is to be placed among
the most largely-used narcotics, especially in England.
It differs, however, from tobacco and the other favourite
narcotics to be hereafter mentioned, in being rarely
employed alone except medicinally. It is added to
infusions like that of malt, to impart flavour, taste,
and narcotic virtues. Used in this way it is unques-
tionably one of the sources of that pleasing excitement,
gentle narcotic intoxication, and healthy tonic action
which well-hopped beer is known to produce upon
those whose constitutions enable them to drink it.
Other common vegetable productions will give the

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

bitter flavour to malt liquors. Horehound, worm-
wood, gentian, quassia, camomile, fern leaves of differ-
ent species, broom tops, ground ivy, common gale, the
bark of the box-tree, dandelion, chicory, orange peas,
picric acid, chirayta, the poisonous strychnia,* and
many other substances, have been employed or recom-
mended in England, to replace or supplant the use of
the hop. But none of these are known to approach it
in imparting those peculiar properties which have
given the English bitter beer of the present day its
high reputation.

It is interesting to observe how men carry with
them their early tastes to whatever new climate or
region they go. The love of beer and hops has been
planted by Englishmen in America. It has accom-
panied them to their new empires in Australia, New-
Zealand, and the Cape. In the hot East their home
taste remains unquenched, and the pale ale of Eng-
land follows them to remotest India. Who can tell
to what extent the use of the hop may become natu-
ralised, through their means, in these far-off regions ?
Inoculated into its milder influence, may not the
devotees of opium, and the intoxicating hemp, be
induced hereafter to abandon their hereditary drugs,
and to substitute the foreign hop in their place ? From

* strychnia is an intensely bitter substance contained in nux vomica ;
chirayta, an intensely bitter plant from India ; and picric acid, an almost
equally bitter substance produced by the action of nitric acid upon ia-
digo. The latter two have only recently been tried for giving bitter-
ness to beer. The fii'st is too poisonous for any but very reckless people
ever to recommend. It is so bitter that its taste can be detected when
dissolved in 600,000 times its weight of water.

COCCULUS INDICUS.

such a cliange in one article of general consumption
how great a change in the character and habits of
the people might we not anticipate ?

III. CoccuLUS Indicus can scarcely be classed
among the narcotics in which we voluntarily indulge,

and yet it is one
"v^hich our hum-
bler beer-drink-
ers involunta-
rily consume to
a very consider-
able extent. It
is the fruit or
berry of the
Anamirta coc-
culus (fig. 62), a
beautiful climb-
ing-plant, which
is a native of the
Malabar coast
and of the In-
dian Archipela-
go. It is some-

Ammirta cocculus — The Cocculus indicus plant.

times called the

Levant nut, or the Bacca orientalis. It has some
resemblance to the bay berry, and in 1850 was im-
ported into this country to the extent of 2859 bags,
of one hundredweight each. It is chiefly used for
adulterating cheap beer, and it is really wonderful in

Fig. 62.

58 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

how many ways this singular substance is fitted to aid
the dishonest brewer in saving both malt and hops.
I mention three of its properties which offer tempta-
tions too strong to be resisted by many unscrupulous
people.

If the bruised seeds are digested in water, they
yield an extract which, when added to beer, produces
the following effects : —

First. It imparts to it an intensely bitter taste,
and can thus be substituted cheaply for about one-
third of the usual quantity of hops, without materially
affecting the flavour of the beer.

Second. It gives a fulness and richness in the
mouth, and a darkness of colour, to weak and inferior
liquors. In these respects, a pound of Cocculus indi-
cus is said to be equivalent to a sack (four bushels)
of malt. Or, to a thin brewing of beer, a pound of this
drug will give an apparent substance equal to what
would be produced by an additional sack of malt.

Third. It produces upon those who drink it some
of the symptoms of alcoholic intoxication, and thus
adds to the apparent strength and inebriating quality
of the liquor. Like hops, it also prevents second fer-
mentation in bottled beer, and enables it to keep in
warm climates.

This array of tempting qualities causes it to be used
largely by some brewers, chiefly of the disreputable
class, who seek to gratify, at a cheap rate,* certain
wishes and desires of their customers. The use of it

* It is sold at 19s. to 21s. a hundredweight, or 2Jd. a-pound.

FRAUDS ON THE HUMBLEE CLASSES. 59

is forbidden, by act of Parliament, under a penalty of
£200 to the brewer, and of ^500 to the druggist who
sells it to a brewer. But an extract is prepared and
sold, and there is reason to believe that it is exten-
sively used — (Pereira). Some writers on brewing
give plain directions for using the drug; and the
quantity recommended by Morrice to the honest
brewer (!) is 3 pounds of Cocculus indicus to every
10 quarters of malt. By the dishonest, as much as
1 pound is sometimes added to the barrel of 54 gal-
lons, with Calamus aromaticus and orris root to fla-
vour it. If 1 pound really save 4 bushels of malt,
the 2359 cwt. imported in 1850, if all employed for
this purpose, must have saved to the adulterators who
used it the enormous quantity of 1,056,000 bushels !

It is chiefly the humbler classes upon whom this
fraud is practised. The middle classes in England
prefer the thin wine-like ales and bitter beers. The
skilled labourer prefers what is rich, full, and substan-
tial in the mouth; and the poor peasant, after his
day's toil, likes to find at the bottom of his single pot
what will sensibly affect his head. It is thus chiefly
among the working men that the heavy drugged beer
of the adulterator is relished and consumed ; and it
is probable that something of the peculiarly beastly
forms of intoxication sometimes seen among these
classes is to be ascribed to the influence of Cocculus
indicus.

The effects which this substance produces are said,
by those who have drunk beer drugged with it, to be

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

more upon " the voluntary muscles than upon the in-
tellectual powers." * If so, a man under its influence
may be surprised by finding his body helpless while
his mind is comparatively clear, and still capable
of reasoning and judging with tolerable correctness.
Others say, however, that its efifect is chiefly on the
brain, so that its mode of action probably varies in
some degree with the constitution of the individual
who takes it.

In large doses it is poisonous to all animals, and a
well-known use of it is for the stupefying of fish.f Al-
though, therefore, its special effects upon the human
constitution have not been accurately ascertained by
scientific physiologists, the frequent use of Coccu-
lus indicus, even in small doses, can scarcely fail
sooner or later to injure the health.

This poisonous quality is derived chiefly from a
white crystalline intensely bitter substance called
jpicrotoxin, which exists in the inner portion of the
berry. The way in which this poisonous ingredient
acts upon the system is still involved in considerable
obscurity; but there cannot be a doubt as to the moral
criminality of introducing substances of so dangerous

* Pereiea, Materia Medica, 3d edition, page 2155.

■f In India, the bruised leaves of PhyllantJms conami, and the cap-
sules of the Xanthophyllum hastile (Lindlet), and on the Himalayas
the seeds of the Chaubmoogra, and the fimit of the evergreen Took,
or Hydrocarpus, are used for intoxicating fish — (Hooker). The bmised
root of the liandia dumetorum has a similar effect — (Roxburgh). I am
not aware that any of these is ever administered to man. The Indians
of South America use bruised Angostura bark to intoxicate fishes —
(Hancock) ; and the Peruvians make the same use of Cinchona bark —
(Saunders).

SUBSTITUTES FOR THE HOP.

a kind into the common drink of tlie least-protected
part of the people.

IV. Other substitutes for the Hop. — Other
narcotic substances more or less powerful are in dif-
ferent countries substituted occasionally for the hop.
And, like Cocculus indicus, the most injurious of these
substitutes are generally introduced into the liquor
without the knowledge of the drinker. Thus —

1°. In South America the bitter stalks of the
ScJiinus molle are mixed with the chica, which is pre-
pared by chewing the sweet pods of the Prosopis
algaroha.* What is the action of this bitter sub-
stance on the drinker of the chica is not stated.

2°. In India, when the raw cane-sugar (jaggery)
is fermented with a view to the distillation of rum,
chips of the dried bark of the Acacia ferruginea or
A. leucophlea, are added to the liquor. It is sup-
posed to act like hops in moderating the fermentation,
and probably gives a flavour and other peculiar qua-
lities to the rum distilled from it, but it is not known
to be added with a view to any narcotic effects. The
rum itself is described by Buchanan as being exe-
crable.-f-

3°. In China a kind of beer, called tar-asun, is
made from barley or wheat. In brewing this beer,
a prepared hop is added to the wort, which both
causes fermentation and performs at the same time

* See The Liquors we ferment, p. 304.
t Journey through the Mysore, vol. i. p. 39.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

the duties of the hop. Of what this preparation con-
sists my authority does not say. *

4° In Africa.— In preparing their hydromel, or
mead, the Abyssinians add to the solution of honey a
portion of a bark called heetoo. The leaves and fruit
of the tree from which this bark is taken are narcotic
and poisonous. It is probable, therefore, that the
bark, which is described as bitter, astringent, and
tonic, may also possess a portion of the same narcotic
virtue, and impart it to the mead.

The leaves of a tree called keesho are likewise
used in Abyssinia for mixing with mead,f but it is not
stated if they possess narcotic properties. Other tra-
vellers speak of a root called taddo as being in com-
mon use among Ethiopian tribes, as an addition to
the mixture of malted barley and honey of which
their favourite drink is made. But nothing is known
of the chemical history of these and the other sub-
stances.

5°. In Northern Europe. — The Ledum palustre
(the marsh ledum, or wild rosemary), fig. 68, a heath-
plant common in the north of Europe, was formerly
used in Sweden and North Germany for giving bit-
terness and apparent strength to malt liquors. Its
leaves, when infused in the wort, render the beer
unusually heady, so as to produce headaches, nausea,
and even delirium, when drunk to excess. In Ger-
many the use of it for this purpose is now forbidden by

* MOREWOOD On Inebriating Liquors, p. 120.
f Harris's Highlands of Ethiopia.

THE MARSH LEDUM.

law. Like Cocculus indicus among ourselves, how-
ever, it is said* to be still used extensively by fraudu-
lent brewers in the northern
part of that country, to give a
dangerous intoxicating power
to their beer. When and how-
shall the poor and the ignorant
find shelter from knowing
fraud ?

The Ledum latifolium pos-
sesses similar narcotic proper-
ties, and, where it occurs in
sufficient abundance, is used
instead of, or along with the
palustre.

In North America, both
these plants are known by the
name of Labrador tea, and are
used as substitutes for Chinese

Ledum latifolium — The Labrador . m . i j_ • j.

Tea, or broad-leaved Ledum, tea. Jsoth are Very astringout ;
. Scale, 1 inch to 2 feet. ^ud, in addition to the tannic

Leaves and flowers nearly natu-
ral size. acid to which this property is

due, probably contain also a narcotic principle not

yet examined. To this narcotic principle both the

qualities which fit these plants to be used in cold

climates as a substitute for tea, and those which

enable it to impart intoxicating properties to beer,

are to be ascribed. According to Dr Richardson, the

narrow-leaved L. palustre is the better suited of the

* Beckwith's History of Inventions (Bohn's edition), vol. ii. p. 385.

Ledum palustre — The Marsh
Ledum, or Labrador Tea.

The undermost flower and leaf
represent those of

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

two for the making of tea * Both plants would pro-
bably well repay a detailed chemical examination.

The leaves of yarrow or millefoil (Achillea mille-
folia) have the property of producing intoxication.
These are also used in the north of Sweden by the
Dalecarlians to give headiness to their beer.

6°. In England, clary (Salvia sclarea) is said to
give an intoxicating quality to beer. Saffron also, the
dried stigmas of the Crocus sativus, has a similar
effect. It exercises a specific influence on the brain
and nerves, and when taken in large doses, causes
immoderate mirth and involuntary laughter. Its ex-
hilarating qualities are so remarkable that it has been
supposed to be the nepenthes of Homer ; and to de-
note a merry temper it became a proverb, "Dor-
mivit in sacco croci" — (he has slept in a saffron bag.)
It has the singular property, also, of counteracting
the intoxication produced by alcoholic liquors, as hops
to some extent do. This was known to Pliny, who
says that it allays the fumes of wine and prevents
drunkenness. " It was therefore taken in drink by
great wine-bibbers, to enable them to drink largely
without intoxication." -|- Its effects, however, are
very uncertain, and it is now little used in medicine,
and still less, I believe, for adulterating beer.

* See The Beverages we infuse, p. 194.
. + For much more on saffron, see Phillips' History of Cultivated
Vegetables, vol. ii. p. 180.

CHAPTEE XVII.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

THE POPPY AND THE LETTUCE.

The poppy, ancient and modern use of. — Preparation of opium. — Mode
of collecting. — How opium is used. — Effects of opium. — It sustains
the strength. — Delightful reveries produced by. — De Quince/s expe-
rience.— That of Dr Madden. — Final results of opium indulgence, —
Seductive influence of opium. — Case of Coleridge. — Impotence of the
will under its influence. — Difficulty of giving it up. — Bodily and
mental tortures in doing so. — Extent to which opium is used. — Pro-
duce and consumption in India and China. — Consumption in Great
Britain. — Its use as an indulgence in this country. — Drugging of
children, and its effects. — Chemical constituents of opium. — Proper-
ties of morphia. — Little known of the true action of opium. — Average
composition of opium. — Varieties in its strength. — Proposed opium
culture in France. — Influence of the variety of poppy on the propor-
tion of morphia. — Morphia not so poisonous to inferior animals. —
Dilution of opium in India and Java. — Influence of race in modifying
the effects of opium. — The Javanese, the Malay, and the Negro. —
Corrosive sublimate eaten with opium. — Effects of opium compared
with those of wine. — Is opium necessarily deleterious. — Dr Eatwell's
testimony, — Practical conclusions. — Substitutes for opium. — Bull-
hoof. — The lettuce, lactucarium and lactucin ; resemblance to opium
in properties and physiological effects, — Syrian or Steppe rue ; its
uses in the East as a narcotic indulgence,

Y. The Poppy, — The use of the common white
poppy {Papaver somniferum), fig. 64, as a soother
of pain and a giver of sleep, has been familiar from

VOL. II. E

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

the earliest periods. This is partly shown by the
na^mes—poppy in English and papaver in Latin-
Fig. 64. which are said to have been
given to the plant because it was
commonly mixed with the food
of young children (pap or papa)
to ease pain and secure sleep.
In this country, the chief use of
the poppy is as a medicine.

In the East, however, it is used
as an exhilarating narcotic. The
Tartars of the Caucasus, who,
though professedly Mahomedans,
drink wine publicly, make it very
heady and inebriating, by hang-
ing the unripe heads of poppies
in the casks while the fermenta-
tion is going on. A decoction of
poppies also, called koJcemaar, is
sold in the coffeehouses of the
Persian cities, where it is drunk
scalding hot, and produces amus-
ing effects. As it begins to ope-
rate, the drinkers quarrel with
and abuse each other, but without
coming to blows ; and afterwards, as its effect increases,
make peace again. One utters high-flown compliments,
and another tells stories ; but all are extremely ridi-
culous both in their words and actions — (Ta vernier).
1°. Preparation of Opium. — But it is the dried

Papaver somni/erum —
Common white Poppy.

Scale, 1 inch to the foot.

COLLECTION OF OPIUM.

or concrete juice of the poppy head that is generally
and extensively employed as a narcotic indulgence.
This dried juice is called by the Persians afioun, and
by the Arabs afioum, and hence our European name
opium.

This important drug is obtained by making inci-
sions into the capsules or seed-vessels of the poppy
plant when they are nearly ripe, allowing the milky
juice which exudes to thicken upon the capsules for
twenty-four hours, and then scraping it off. The
incisions are made downwards through the outer skin
only. For this purpose a small knife, called a Nash-
tur, is used, which consists of three or four minute
blades fastened together (fig. 65). These knives make
as many parallel incisions,
which allow the juice freely to
escape.

The appearance of the poppy
fields in Bengal, and the way
in which the dried juice is
collected by the natives, is re-
presented in fig. 66.

The best opium of com- l- Poppy heads, showing the

parallel iucisious.

merce is a soft unctuous mass, 2. Nushturs, or poppy knives.

of a reddish or blackish-brown colour, a waxy lustre,
a strong disagreeable odour, and a bitter, acrid,
nauseous taste, which remains long in the mouth. It
is chiefly collected in Asiatic Turkey, in Persia, and
in India. The opium which comes from Smyrna is
most esteemed in the European markets, while that

Fig. 65.

TPIE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

which is produced in India is the most extensively
used in Eastern countries. The greatest yield of good

Fig. 66,

^^^^^

Indians scraping the dried juice from
the poppy heads.

opium in our In-
dian possessions is
stated to be 41 lb.
per imperial acre,
and the average to
be 20 to 25 lb.

2° How IT
USED. — As a
cotic

opium is used in
one or other of
three ways. It is
swallowed in the
solid state in the
form of pills ; or in

nar-

indulgence,

that of fluid tinctures, such as our common laudanum ;
or it is smoked in minute pipes, after the manner of
tobacco. The first practice prevails in Mahomedan
countries, especially in Turkey and Persia ; the second
among Christian nations, when individuals happen to
become addicted to the practice ; the third in China
and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. In pre-
paring it for smoking, the Chinese extract from the
Indian opium all that water will dissolve. This is
generally from one-half to three-fourths of the whole
weight. They then evaporate the dissolved extract
to dryness, and make it into little pills. One of these
they put into a short tiny pipe, often made of silver.

HOW IT IS SMOKED.

inhale a few puffs at a time, or one single long puff,
and return the smoke through the nostrils and ears.
This they repeat till the necessary dose has been
taken (fig. 67).

Fig. 67.

Opium-box, pipe, lamp, and needle.
The needle is put through two holes on the opposite sides of the pipe, the
pill is fixed on the middle of the needle, as seen in the figure, and imme-
diately over the central hole of the pipe-bowl. The lamp is then applied,
and the vapours sucked in.

At Singapore, the mode of using it is much the
same as in China. " The opium shops," says Captain
Wilkes, " are among the most extraordinary sights
in Singapore. It is inconceivable with what avidity the
smokers seek this noxious drug at the shop-windows.
They then retire to the interior, where a number of
sickly-looking persons, in the last stage of consump-
tion, haggard, and worn down with care, are seen
smoking. The drug is sold in very small pieces, and
for ten cents enough to fill a pipe once is obtained.
With it are furnished a pipe, a lamp, and a couch
to lie on, if such it may be called. The pipe is of a

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

peculiar construction, and is in part of metal, having
an interior or cup just large enough to contain a piece
the size of a pea. The opium is difficult to ignite, and
it requires much management in the smoker to
obtain the necessary number of whiffs to produce
intoxication in one habituated to its use. The couch
is sometimes a rude bench, but more often a mat on
the floor, with a small raised bench; and, in the
frequented shops, is generally occupied by a pair of
smokers, who have a lamp between them."*

In Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, the extract is not
evaporated to dryness; but, while still liquid, it is
mixed with finely-chopped tobacco and betel till the
whole is absorbed. This is then made up into pills
about the size of a pea. ^At convivial parties a dish
of these peas is brought in along with a lamp, when
the host takes the pipe, puts in one of the pellets, takes
two or three long whiffs, returning the smoke through
his nostrils, and, if he be an adept, through his eyes
and ears. He then passes the pipe round the company,
each of whom does the same with the same pipe ; and
so they continue smoking till all are intoxicated.f

3°. Effects of Opium. — Used in any of the three
ways I have mentioned, its sensible effects are nearly
the same, varying of course with the quantity taken,
with the constitution of the taker, and with the fre-
quency of its previous use. The essential and pri-
mary action of the drug is upon the nervous system.

* United States Exploring Expedition, vol. ii. p. 299.
t Marsden's History of Sumatra, p. 238.

SUSTAINS THE STEENGTH.

When taken in a moderate dose, the usual results
of this action are, that the mind is exhilarated, the
ideas flow more quickly, and a pleasurable or com-
fortable condition of the whole system is experienced,
which it is difficult to describe. It thus acts in a
similar way to our wines and spirituous liquors, and
it is chiefly as a substitute for these that it is used
in China.

It possesses, however, a wonderful power of sus-
taining the strength, which is not found in alcoholic
drinks, and of enabling men to undergo fatigue and
continued exertion under which they would otherwise
inevitably sink. Thus the Halcarras, who carry litters
and run messages through the provinces of India, when
provided only with a small piece of opium, a bag of
rice, and a pot to draw water from the wells, perform
almost incredible journeys. The Tartar couriers also,
who travel for many days and nights continuously^
make much use of it. With a few dates or a lump
of coarse bread, they traverse the trackless desert,
amidst privations and hardships which can only be
supported under the influence of the drug — (Foebes).
And hence travellers in the Ottoman dominions gene-
rally carry opium with them in the form of lozenges
or cakes stamped with the Turkish legend, " Mash
Allah/' the Gift of God — (Geiffith). Even the horses
in the East are sustained by its influence. The Cutchee
horseman shares his store of opium with his flagging
steed, which thus makes an incredible stretch, though
apparently wearied out before — (Burnes).

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

The Turkish Theriakis, or opium-eaters, generally
begin with doses of from half a grain to two grains
a-day, and gradually increase the quantity till it
amounts to 120 grains, or sometimes more. The
effect shows itself in one or two hours after it has
been taken, and lasts for five or six. It produces a
high degree of animation, which the Theriakis repre-
sent as the summit of happiness.

De Quincey took laudanum for the first time to
dispel pain, and he thus describes the effect it had
upon him : — " But I took it, and in an hour, oh,
heavens ! what a revulsion ! what an upheaving, from
its lowest depths, of the inner spirit ! what an apoca-
lypse of the world within me ! That my pains had
vanished was now a trifle in my eyes. This negative
effect was swallowed up in the immensity of those
positive effects which had opened before me — in the
abyss of divine enjoyment thus suddenly revealed.
Here was a panacea — a (papnuKov vrjirevBes for all human
woes. Here was the secret of happiness, about which
philosophers had disputed for so many ages, at once
discovered ! Happiness might now be bought for a
penny, and carried in the waistcoat pocket ; portable
ecstasies might be had corked up in a pint-bottle ;
and peace of mind could be sent down in gallons by
the mail-coach."

Dr Madden describes more soberly his sensations
when under the influence of the drug in one of the
coffee-houses at Constantinople. " I commenced with
one grain. In the course of an hour and a half

DR MADDEN'S EXPEEIENCE.

it produced no perceptible effect. The coffeeliouse-
keeper was very anxious to give me an additional pill
of two grains, but I was contented with half a one ;
and in another half-hour, feeling nothing of the
expected reverie, I took half a grain more, making
in all two grains in the course of two hours. After
two hours and a half from the first dose, my spirits
became sensibly excited ; the pleasure of the sensation
seemed to depend on a universal expansion of mind
and matter. My faculties appeared enlarged ; every-
thing I looked at seemed increased in volume ; I had
no longer the same pleasure when I closed my eyes
which I had when they were open ; it appeared to
me as if it was only external objects which were acted
on by the imagination, and magnified into images of
pleasure : in short, it was ' the faint exquisite music
of a dream ' in a waking moment. I made my way
home as fast as possible, dreading at every step that
I should commit some extravaofance. In walking-, I
was hardly sensible of my feet touchiug the ground ;
it seemed as if I slid along the street, impelled by
some invisible agent, and that my blood was composed
of some ethereal fluid, which rendered my body lighter
than air. I got to bed the moment I reached home.
The most extraordinary visions of delight filled my
brain all night. In the morning I rose pale and
dispirited ; my head ached ; my body was so debili-
tated that I was obliged to remain on the sofa all day,
dearly paying for my first essay at opium-eating." *

* Madden's Travels in Turkey, vol. i. p. 25.

74 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

These after-effects are the source of the misery of
the opium-eater. The exciting influence of the drug
is almost invariably followed by a corresponding
depression. The susceptibility to external impres-
sions and the muscular energy are both lessened. A
desire for repose ensues, and a tendency to sleep.
The mouth and throat also become dry ; the thirst is
increased; hunger diminishes; and the bowels usually
become torpid.

When large doses are taken, all the above effects
are hastened and heightened in proportion. The
period of depression comes on sooner ; the prostration
of energy increases to actual stupor, mth or without
dreams ; the pulse becomes feeble, the muscles ex-
ceedingly relaxed, and, if enough has been taken,
death ensues.

Of course all these effects are modified by the con-
stitution of the individual, by the length of time he
has accustomed himself to take it, and by the circum-
stances in which he is placed. But upon all persons,
and in all circumstances, its final effects, like those of
ardent spirits taken in large and repeated doses, are
equally melancholy and degrading. " A total attenua-
tion of body," says Oppenheim, " a withered yellow
countenance, a lame gait, a bending of the spine,
frequently to such a degree as to assume a circular
form, and glassy deep-sunken eyes, betray the opium-
eater at the first glance. The digestive organs are
in the highest degree disturbed; the sufferer eats
scarcely anything, and has hardly one evacuation in

EANEFUL EFFECTS.

a week. His mental and bodily powers are destroyed
- — he is impotent/'

And then, " when the baneful habit has become
confirmed, it is almost impossible to break it off.
His torments, when deprived of the stimulant, are as
dreadful as his bliss is complete when he has taken
it. Night brings the torments of hell, day the bliss
of paradise ; and after long indulgence, he becomes
subject to nervous pains, to which opium itself brings
no relief He seldom attains the age of forty, if he
have begun the practice early.""

Dr Madden thus describes what he saw of its
effects upon the confirmed Theriakis, as they are
called, in the coffee-houses of Constantinople : " Their
gestures were frightful ; those who were completely
under the influence of the opium talked incoherently,
their features were flushed, their eyes had an unna-
tural brilliancy, and the general expression of their
countenances was horribly wild. The effect is usually
produced in two hours, and lasts four or five ; the
dose varies from three grains to a drachm. I saw
one old man take four pills, of six grains each, in the
course of two hours : I was told he had been usins:
opium for five-and-twenty years. But this is a very
rare example of an opium-eater passing thirty years
of age, if he commence the practice early. The
debility, both moral and physical, attendant on its
excitement is terrible ; the appetite is soon destroyed,
every fibre in the body trembles, the nerves of the
neck become affected, and the muscles get rigid :

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

several of these I have seen in this place at various
times, who had wry necks and contracted fingers;
but still they cannot abandon the custom ; they are
miserable till the hour arrives for taking their daily
dose ; and when its delightful influence begins, they
are all fire and animation. Some of them compose
excellent verses, and others address the bystanders in
the most eloquent discourses, imagining themselves
to be emperors, and to have all the harems in the
world at command."

The seductive influence of opium, and the almost
irresistible and domineering power it acquires over
the minds of its votaries, are not less wonderful than
the mental happiness it confers during the exciting
stage of its action on the body. Of this power of
seduction even over the less dehcate and susceptible
organisation of our North European races, and of the
absolute slavery to which it can reduce even the
strongest minds among us, we have two remarkable
examples in the celebrated Coleridge, and in the
author of the English OiJium-Eater. For many
years Coleridge was a slave to opium, and the way in
which he became addicted to it is thus described by
himself, in a letter dated April 1814;— "I was
seduced into the accursed habit ignorantly. I had
been almost bed-ridden for many months with swell-
ing in my knees. In a medical journal I unhappily
met with an account of a cure performed in a similar
case, by rubbing in laudanum, at the same time
taking a given dose internally. It acted like a

Coleridge's case.

cliarai — like a miracle. I recovered the use of my
limbs, of my appetite, of my spirits ; and this con-
tinued for near a fortnight. At length the unusual
stimulus subsided, the complaint returned, the sup-
posed remedy was recurred to — but I cannot go
through the dreary history. Sufficient to say, that
effects were produced which acted on me by terror
and cowardice of pain and sudden death " — and
Coleridge became the slave of opium.

Subsequently, while living at the house of a friend
in Bristol, he put himself in the hands of a medical
man ; and here the most melancholy part of his case
exhibited itself. For, while he was pretending to be
gradually lessening the dose under medical instruc-
tions, and while his friends were congratulating
themselves that he was absolutely cured, by being
brought down to twenty drops a-day, he was all the
while buying laudanum secretly, and drinking it in
large doses as before ! How his moral sense must have
been overborne, and by how powerful a fascination,
before he could have stooped to a deception so
degrading as this !

And how extreme his own misery and sense of
impotence, when he could write of himself : " There
is no hope. 0 God, how willingly would I place my-
self under Dr Fox in his establishment ; for my case
is a species of madness, only that it is a derangement,
an utter imiootence of the volition, and not of the
intellectual faculties. You bid me rouse myself Go
bid a man, paralytic in both arms, to rub them briskly

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

together, and that will cure him. ' Alas !' he would
reply, ' that I cannot move my arms is my complaint
and my misery,' "

And even greater misery he paints in another letter
written in the same year (1814). " Conceive a poor
miserable wretch, who for many years has been
attempting to beat off pain, by a constant recurrence
to a vice that reproduces it. Conceive a spirit in hell
employed in tracing out for others the road to that
heaven from which his crimes exclude him! In
short, conceive whatever is most >vretched, helpless,
and hopeless, and you will form as tolerable a notion
of my state as it is possible for a good man to
have."*

Coleridge lived twenty years after the above was
written, and conquered the evil habit. But after what
struggles and tortures, mental and bodily, who can
tell ? De Quincey also, after a seventeen years' use,
and an eight years' abuse, of the powers of opium,
shook off his slavery. He has left us a graphic and
impressive sketch of the terrible trials and tempta-
tions he had to withstand in finally abandoning the
drug. " On the 24th of June 1822," he says, " I began
my experiment, having previously settled in my own
mind that I would not flinch, but ' would stand up to
the scratch' under any possible ' punishment.' About
170 or 180 drops had been my ordinary allowance
for many months ; occasionally I had run up as high
as 300, and once nearly to 700 : in repeated preludes

* Cottle's Early Recollections, vol. ii. p. 185.

TRIALS OF DE QUINCEY.

-79

to my final experiment, I liad also gone as low as 1 00
drops, but had found it impossible to stand it beyond
the foiuiih day, which, by the way, I have always
found more difficult to get over than any of the pre-
ceding three. I went off under easy sail — 180 drops
a-day for three days; on the fourth I plunged at
once to 80. The misery which I now suffered ' took
the conceit out of me' at once ; and for about a
month I continued off and on about this mark : then
I sunk to 60 ; and the next day to — none at all.
This was the first day for nearly ten years that I had
existed without opium. I persevered in my absti-
nence for ninety hours — i. e., upwards of half a week.
Then I took — ask me not how much. Say, ye severest,
what would you have done ? Then I abstained again ;
then took about 25 drops ; then abstained — and
so on.''*

Under manifold pains, irritations, and distresses,
some of which he has described, he manfully, and
for months, persevered, and finally achieved his liberty.
" I triumphed : but think not, reader, that therefore
my sufferings were ended. Nor think of me as of one
sitting in a dejected state. Think of me as of one,
even when four months had passed, still agitated,
writhing, throbbing, palpitating, shattered; and much
in the situation of him who has been racked, as I col-
lect the torments of that state from the affecting
a,ccount of them by William Lithgow, the most inno-
cent sufferer of the times of James I. Meantime, I

* Confessions qf an English Opium-Eater, Appendix.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

derived no benefit from any medicine, except one
prescribed for me by an Edinburgh surgeon of great
eminence — ammoniated tincture of valerian."

What a lesson does the experience of these two
men read to us !

Similar effects are described as resulting from the
smoking of opium in China. It appears to be very
much a matter of indifference, therefore, whether the
drug be taken in the solid form of pills, in the liquid
form of laudanum, or in the more subtle form of
heated vapour. The smoke acts more immediately
than the other forms of the drug, but its final effects
are very much the same.

4°. Extent to which Opium is used. — It is im-
possible to arrive at anything like an approximate idea
of the quantity of opium consumed by the different
nations of the world. Meyen asserts that the quan-
tity consumed by the Malays of the Indian Archi-
pelago, in Cochin-China and Siam, as well as in India
and Persia, is so immense that, if we could obtain an
exact statement of it, the amount would be quite
incredible. In India we know that at least six and
a-half millions of pounds of opium are annually bought
by the East India Company from the native growers,
and manufactured into a marketable condition. To
produce this quantity will require upwards of 300,000
acres of land. It yields a revenue to the Company
of three and a-half millions sterling, and is for the
greatest part exported.

But besides this, the quantity consumed in India

CONSUMPTION IN CHINA.

itself must be immense. The Kajpoots, and other
Hindoo tribes, present opium, at their visits and enter-
tainments, with the same familiarity as the snuff-box
is presented in Europe — (Forbes). And in some dis-
tricts, as I have already mentioned, it is even admi-
nistered to the horses. Within the Company's terri-
tories opium is given out with a permit to licensed
dealers, so that the quantity there sold is pretty
well known ; but of the amount of the Indian con-
sumption beyond their territories we can form no
estimate.

As to China, we know that, in the season 1837-8,
it imported from India three millions of pounds, and
the importation has probably increased considerably
since that time. To this importation must also be
added the opium which China receives by land from
the countries which border it towards the west. The
consumption of China at the present moment is pro-
bably not less than four or five millions of pounds'
weight, having a market value of as many pounds
sterling. In the same year (1837-8) India exported
about a million and a half of pounds to the islands
of the Indian Archipelago and other places.

The consumption of the United Kingdom is of
course trifling when compared with that of India or
China ; it is, however, greatly on the increase. Thus,
the quantity imported into Great Britain was in

1839 41,000 pounds.

1852 114,000 „

VOL. II. F

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

Or it has increased nearly three times within fifteen
years. This implies either the application of the drug
to new purposes, or a greatly increased demand for
the uses to which it was formerly applied.

Much uncertainty exists as to the extent to which
the use of opium as a narcotic indulgence, in any of
its forms, really prevails among our full-grown healthy
adult population, either in town or country. Accord-
ing to De Quincey, opium-eaters were already numer-
ous among us thirty years ago. But those he men-
tions were either persons of talent and eminence,
whom the gnawings of indigestion drove to opium as
a stiller of pain, or poverty-stricken operatives in
Manchester and other large towns, who of a Saturday
evening soothed their cares and stayed their hunger
with a grain or two of opium. And although the
opinion is hazarded from time to time that the prac-
tice of opium-eating is extending among the body of
the people, and individual cases occur now and then
in which it is certain that the drug has been largely
used,* yet statistical data are altogether wanting to
support the idea that the consumption of opium as a
narcotic indulgence is now, or is likely soon to become,
a national vice among the inhabitants of any of the
three kingdoms.

* A child died, for example, from the effects of opium in September
1853, at Boxworth in Cambridgeshire, the mother, because it was
unwell, having placed a piece of crude opium in its mouth to suck. To
the announcement of this fact in the newspapers it was added, " that
the mother and her family are all opium-eaters, and, though labouring
people, spend 4s. a- week on the drug!" In my own frequent visits
to the rural districts I have never heard of the use of opium as an
indulgence in Scotland, and only in one country paiish in the centre
of England.

THE OPIUM EVIL IN ENGLAND.

Another form of the opium evil, however, has been
shown, upon unquestionable evidence, extensively to
prevail. In the large manufacturing towns of Lanca-
shire it is a common thing for mothers who work in
the factories to put out their children to nurse, and it
is equally common for the nurses to dose the children
with opium for the purpose of keeping them quiet or
of setting them to sleep. It was stated by the Rev.
Mr Clay, that in the town of Preston alone, in 1843,
" upwards of sixteen hundred families were in the
habit of using Godfrey's Cordial, or some other equally
injurious compound," and that in one of the burial
clubs in that town, " sixty-four per cent of the mem-
bers die under five years of age."* The obvious con-
clusion was, that the fatality among the children was
connected with the use of the drug.

A writer in the Morning Chronicle of the 4th of
January 1850 thus describes the effects which this
use of opium produces upon the health of the chil-
dren : " The consequences of this system of drugging
are suffusion of the brain, and an extensive train of
mesenteric and glandular diseases. The child sinks
into a low torpid state, wastes away to a skeleton,
except the stomach, producing what is known as pot-
belly. One woman said, ' The sleeping stuff made
them that they were always dozing, and never cared
for food. They pined away. Their heads got big,
and they died.' "

It cannot be denied, therefore, that in one melan-

* First Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Large
Towns, 1844. Appendix, pp. 46, 48,

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

choly form at least the evil effects of opium are to be
seen amongst us. And it is curious that this should
be the very form of drugging from which the poppy
is said to have derived its name. The diffusion of
knowledge among the mothers of the factory districts
is one of the most likely ways to remove this evil.

5°. Chemical constituents of Opium. — In regard
to its chemical history, opium is probably the best known
of all the vegetable extracts or inspissated juices used
in medicine. It has been the subject of numerous
and elaborate experimental and analytical investiga-
tions, and the results of these fill many interesting
pages in our newest systems of organic chemistry.

How very complicated a substance even the purest
opium is, the general reader will infer from the for-
midable list of peculiar principles which have been
found in it. Besides familiar substances, such as
gum, mucilage, resin, fat, caoutchouc, volatile oil, &c.,
it contains morphine, narcotine, codeine, narceine,
thebaine, opianine, meconine, pseudomorphine, por-
phyroxine, papaverine, and meconic acid — eleven
peculiar organic compounds, which occur in greater
or less quantity in nearly every sample of pure
opium !

Of all these, the most active is that now almost
universally known under the name of morphine or
morphia. Of this invaluable medicine the best qua-
lities of opium contain as much as ten per cent. It
is colourless, void of smell, and nearly insoluble in
water, but possesses an exceedingly bitter, unpleasant

CONSTITUENTS OF OPIUM.

taste, and what are called by chemists alkaline pro-
perties. It is powerfully narcotic and poisonous,
soothes nervous irritation, stills pain, and when taken
in large doses, imparts a remarkable itchiness to the
skin. It is described by some as producing upon the
system all the effects of the natural opium. This,
however, is not generally the case. Hence it has not,
I believe, been anywhere attempted to substitute this
pure chemical compound — the chemical composition
of which is fixed, and the physiological effects con-
stant and certain — for the crude and uncertain opium,
in the production of pleasurable excitement and grati-
fication.

The reason of this obviously is, that the full and
peculiar effect of the natural drug is due to the com-
bined and simultaneous action of all the numerous
substances it contains. Each of these modifies the
effect which would be produced by any one of the
others taken singly — as the attraction of each planet
modifies the course which would be taken by every
one of the others, were it the only one which revolved
round the sun. It is from the result of all these con-
joined actions that the singular pleasure of the opium
consumer is derived.

At least three of the constituents of opium which
have been named above are known to be narcotic and
poisonous. These are morphine, codeine, and the-
baine. The codeine, in doses of five or six grains,
produces in some a state of excitement resembling
intoxication. The special action of the other con-

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

stituents upon the system is still unknown or unde-
cided. Indeed, it is a remarkable thing in chemico-
physiological history, that long as opium has been
known, extensively as it has been used, both as a
medicine and a luxurious indulgence, and numerous
as are the opinions in regard to its mode of action
which have been promulgated by medical authorities,
we are still so unable to say what is the true action
of this drug, that, in the words of Dr Pereira, " we
shall save ourselves much time and useless specula-
tion by at once confessing our ignorance on this
point." So far does physiology appear still to lag
behind, where our chemistry is tolerably advanced.

It is no doubt the complicated nature of the pro-
blem which renders the physiological solution so diffi-
cult In the crude opium, as I have said, nearly a
dozen different substances are mixed up in different
proportions and given at once. The effects of such a
mixture we can scarcely hope, in all cases, satisfac-
torily to explain.

6°. Average composition of Opium. — The propor-
tions in which the several active ingredients are mixed
up in the opium of commerce varies much in differ-
ent samples of the drug. The country, or locality, in
which the plant is grown, the variety of poppy which
is cultivated, the state of ripeness when the poppy
head is cut, the peculiarities of the season during
which the sap is collected, the way in which it is dried
and afterwards prepared for market — all these cir-
cumstances influence the proportions of its consti-

COMPOSITION OF OPIUM.

tuents, and consequently modify tlie action of the
mixed substance upon the human system. The
Smyrna opium is generally considered the best in
the European market ; but even in this the active
ingredient morphia varies from four to fourteen per
cent.

The mean of five analyses of Smyrna opium, made
by Mulder, give for this variety the following average
composition in a hundred parts

Morphine,

Narcotine,

Codeine,

Narceine,

Meconine,

Meconic acid,

Fat,

Caoutchouc,
Resin,

Gummy extractive,
Gum,
Mucilage,
Water, and loss.

6.3
7.7
0.7
9.0
0.6
6.1
2.2
4.5
2.7
25.3
1.7
18.7
14.5

100

Besides the substances above 'mentioned, five
others, thebaine, opeanine, pseudo-morphine, poi-phy-
roxine, and papaverine, are found in opium in small
proportions. All these have been discovered since
the period of Mulder's analysis.

Of the above-named ingredients, morphia, being the
most active, is also the most valuable, and, by the
proportion in which it exists in the samples from
difi'erent localities, determines very much their rela-
tive estimation in the market. Hence the best Indian
opium is inferior to the Turkish. It never yields

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

more than five per cent of morphia ; but it is richer
in the less esteemed ingredient narcotine. The opium
of Persia is equally poor in morphia.

These latter facts show that, though opium is
chiefly collected and used in warm climates, yet that
mere warmth of climate, whatever may be its other
effects on the white poppy, does not alone cause the
juice of its ripening capsules to be rich in morphia.
On the contrary, British and German grown opium
has been found to contain more morphia than that of
commerce, and opium collected in France has yielded
as much as 16 to 28 per cent of this ingredient.

This large yield of morphia possesses in this part of
the world more of a scientific than of an economical
interest, since both the deamess of labour and the
variableness of climate in the British Islands are
opposed to the idea of a profitable cultivation of
opium. It may possibly be otherwise in some parts
of France, Kecent experiments made in that coun-
try are supposed to show that the variety of poppy
already cultivated there for its seed may be so treated
as to yield a harvest of opium at an expense which
need not exceed one-fourth of the market value of
the drug obtained. And as the seed which afterwards
ripens uninjured, will pay all the ordinary cost of
culture, it is believed by many that in the collection
of opium there is the prospect of great futm'e advan-
tage to the agriculture of France.

In this plant, as in tobacco, variety as well as loca-
lity has an influence on the quantity of the active in-

PKOPERTIES OF MORPHIA.

gredients contained in its sap. Thus opium collected
in Germany from the white poppy (variety album)
yielded only 7 per cent of morphia, while other sam-
ples collected from the black poppy (variety nigrum)
yielded 16^ per cent.

It is a singular circumstance in the physiological
history of morphia and its compounds, that, though so
poisonous to man, it can be swallowed with compara-
tive impunity, and in large doses, by apes, dogs, cats,
hares, birds, and other animals. A full dose of mor-
phia for a grown man is one-eighth of a grain ; and of
acetate or muriate of morphia, one-fourth of a grain :
but an ape has been known to swallow 500 grains
of morphia in a single month. It passes off harm-
lessly in the urine, which, in the case of the above
ape, sometimes contained as much as one per cent
of morphia — (Flandin).

It is a curious physiological fact, that even in man
the active narcotic ingredients of opium often escape
in a similar way. Morphia has been detected in the
urine, and children have been poisoned by the milk
of nurses who took much laudanum. This character
the active constituents of opium possess in common
with many other narcotic principles, such as those of
the deadly nightshade, the henbane, the thorn-apple,
the intoxicating fungus, and with many other sub-
stances used in medicine.

In India the opium is given out for sale with a per-
mit to licensed dealers. But it is so much reduced in
strength by admixtures of various kinds before it

THE NAKCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

reaches the retailers in the bazaars, that it does not
possess one-thirtieth of the intoxicating power of the
natural drug — (Hooker) * In Java, where it is also a
government monopoly, it is sold to Chinese dealers,
who are bound to dilute it with tobacco and betel in a
prescribed proportion, which varies with the quality
of the opium, and to sell it thus reduced at a fixed
price. Thus prepared for consumption, it is known
by the name of tandou, and is extensively used. The
opium houses are only allowed to be open in the day
time, that accidents from quarj^elling may be as much
as possible prevented.

7°. Influence of eace and constitution. — This
precaution is the more necessary in Java, because of the
peculiarly exciting influence which opium exercises
over the Javanese, the Malays, and the negro races.

Although both Coleridge and De Quincey have
given such glowing descriptions of the action of
opium in their individual cases, yet the British opium-
eater in general is by no means subject to the extra-
ordinary excitement either of body or of mind which
these writers describe. The common effect, accord-
ing to Dr Christison, " is merely to remove torpor
and sluggishness, and to make the opium consumer,
in the eyes of his friends, an active and conversable
man."t

But, as we have seen, the general effects of the
drug in Turkey and Persia, as related by travellers,

* Himalayan Journals, vol. i. p. 86.
f Treatise on Poisons, p. 721.

EXCITABILITY OP THE JAVANESE. 91

are very diflferent. And they are still more exciting
in the Indian Archipelago, and among some of the
African races.

" The Javanese," says Lord Macartney, " under an
extraordinary doze of opium, become frantic as well
as desperate. They acquire an artificial courage ;
and, when suffering from misfortune and disappoint-
ment, they not only stab the objects of their hate, but
sally forth to attack in like manner every person they
meet, till self-preservation renders it necessary to
destroy them/' They^ shout, as they run. Amok,
amok; which means, "kill, kill;"" and hence the
phrase, running a-muck. Captain Beeckman was
told of a Javanese who ran a-muck in the streets of
Batavia, and had killed several people, when he was
met by a soldier, who ran him through with his pike.
But such was the desperation of the infuriated man,
that he pressed himself forward on the pike, until he
got near enough to stab his adversary with a dagger,
when both expired together.

On the Malays the effects of opium are described
as being nearly the same both in kind and in degree.
In reading of them, one is reminded of the excite-
ment which formerly prevailed in a less fatal form at
Donnybrook and other Irish fairs, when an unusual
dose of poteen had been administered to the boys.

The influence of race, as it affects the physiological
action either of substances introduced into the stom-
ach, or of ideas presented to the mind, is the same
in kind as the influence of individual constitution. It

92 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

is only greater in degree, and startles us sometimes
because of the extent to which it appears exaggerated.
The influence of constitution is recognised and con-
sidered in every dose of medicine we take or admi-
nister, and in the way in which good or evil tidings
are communicated to our friends. We more rarely
allow for differences of race in dealing with foreign
nations, or in criticising their behaviour and actions
under given circumstances.

In the Malays and Javanese we have the excitable
temperament, accompanied by the unrestrained out-
ward forms of expression, which are characteristic of
Eastern nations. What affects us Anglo-Saxons
lightly or slowly, touches them instantly, and pene-
trates deep. The emotions which, when awakened,
we are accustomed to restrain and hide, they openly
and vividly display, and by indulgence heighten often
to an overpowering degree. The Negro tribes par-
take of a similar organisation. " In this respect,"
says Mrs Beecher Stowe, "they have an Oriental
character, and betray their tropical origin. Like the
Hebrews of old, and the Oriental nations of the pre-
sent day, they give vent to their emotions with the
utmost vivacity of expression, and their whole bodily
system sympathises with the movements of their
minds. When in distress, they actually lift up their
voices to weep, and ' cry with an exceeding bitter
cry.' When alarmed, they are often paralysed, and
rendered entirely helpless." This susceptibility affects
all their relations both to living and dead thmgs.

USE OF COKEOSIVE SUBLIMATE. 93

Opium operates upon different individuals among
them in different ways, as it does upon the different
individuals of European races ; but upon all of them
it produces those more marked and striking effects
which, among ourselves, we only see in rare instances,
and in persons of uncommonly nervous temperament.

A singular Illustration of the effect of mixed sub-
stances upon the human constitution, when in a state
of disease, is presented in the use of a mixture of
opium with corrosive sublimate by the confirmed
opium-eaters of the Ea§t. The drug, in its usual form,
gradually loses its effect upon the habitual consumer,
so that the dose must be increased from time to time,
if the influence of the drug is to be maintained. But
at length, even this resource fails the inveterate
opium-eaters of Constantinople, and no increase of
dose will procure for them the desired enjoyment, or
even relieve them from bodily pain. In this emer-
gency, they have recourse to the poisonous corrosive
sublimate. Mixing at first a minute quantity of this
substance with their daily dose of opium, they increase
it by degrees, till they reach the limit of ten grains
a-day, beyond which it is usually unsafe to pass.
This mixture acts upon their long-tortured frames,
when neither of the ingredients, taken alone, will
either soothe or exhilarate. But the use of the new
medicine only protracts a little longer the artificial
enjoyment, which has become a necessary of life,
finally bringing to a more miserable termination the
career of the debilitated and distorted Theriaki.

94 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

8° Opium compared with wine.— I have said that
in moderate doses opium acts in a similar way to our
wines and spirituous liquors, and that it is as a sub-
stitute for these that the Chinese use it. By this I
do not mean that its physiological effects are precisely
the same, although the main purpose for which both
are used by many — that of care-dispellers — may be
the same. On the contrary, there are many points
of difference in the effects which alcoholic drinks and
opium respectively produce.

The English Opium-eater thus enumerates some of
the points by which, according to his experience, their
several actions are distinguished : " Wine robs a man
of his self-possession ; opium greatly invigorates it.
Wine unsettles and clouds the judgment, and gives a
preternatural brightness and a vivid exaltation to the
contempts and the admirations, the loves and the
hatreds, of the drinker ; opium, on the contrary, com-
municates serenity and equipoise to all the faculties,
active or jDassive ; and with respect to the temper and
moral feelings in general, it gives simply that sort of
vital warmth which is approved by the judgment, and
which would probably always accomj)any a bodily
constitution of primeval or antediluvian health. . . .
To sum up all in one word, a man who is inebriated,
or tending to inebriation, is, and feels that he is, in a
condition which calls up into supremacy the merely
human — too often the brutal — part of his nature ; but
the opium-eater (I speak of him who is not suffering
from any disease, or other remote effects of opium)

IS OPIUM DELETERIOUS?

feels that the diviner part of his nature is paramount;
that is, the moral affections are in a state of cloudless
serenity ; and over all is the great light of the majestic
intellect."

This language of the Opium-Eater must be read
with that amount of allowance which we naturally
concede to poetical writers, who aim at effect in the
language they select, and are not afraid of the
startling and uncommon.

9°. Is Opium necessarily deleterious ? — We
have been in the habit, in this country, of regarding the
use of opium in the way of indulgence as an unmiti-
gated evil. And although to accede to the highly-
coloured eulogium of Mr De Quincey would be to
rush to the opposite extreme, yet it may perhaps
be conceded that our attention has been generally
too much directed to the most dismal features of the
practice, and that we may have judged too hastily as
to its more general effects. Thus Dr Burnes, long
resident in Cutch and at the court of Scinde, says,
that " in general the natives do not suffer much from
the use of opium " and that it " does not seem to
destroy the powers of the body, nor to enervate the
mind, to the degree that might be imagined." And
as to the Chinese, Dr Macpherson observes, that
*' although the habit of smoking opium is universal
among rich and poor, yet they are a powerful, muscu-
lar, and athletic people, and the lower orders more
intelligent, and far superior in mental acquirements,
to those of corresponding rank in our own country.''

96 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

Among those also who have seen much of the use
of opium in Eastern countries, there are some who
so far from pronouncing the practice to be an unmi-
tigated evil, actually prefer its general use to that
of alcoholic drinks. Thus Dr Eatwell, of the East
India Company's Service, whose knowledge of the
history and action of opium is acknowledged to be
most extensive, writes as follows : —

" The question to be determined is not what are
the effects of opium used in excess, but what are its
effects on the moral and physical constitution of the
mass of individuals who use it habitually, and in
moderation, either as a stimulant to sustain the
frame under fatigue, or as a restorative and sedative
after labour, bodily or mental ? Having passed three
years in China, I can affirm thus far, that the effects
of the abuse of the drug do not come very frequently
under observation, and that when cases do occur, the
habit is frequently found to have been induced by
the presence of some painful chronic disease, to
escape from the sufferings of which the patient has
fled to this resource. That this is not always the
case, however, I am perfectly ready to admit ; and
there are doubtless many who indulge in the habit
to a pernicious extent, led by the same morbid influ-
ences which induce men to become drunkards in
even the most civilised countries ; but these cases do
not, at all events, come before the public eye. As
regards the effects of the habitual use of the drug on
the mass of the people, I must affirm, that no inju-

CHINESE EXPERIENCE.

xious results are visible. The people generally are a
muscular and well-formed race, the labouring portion
being capable of great and prolonged exertion under
a fierce sun, in an unhealthy climate. Their disposi-
tion is cheerful and peaceable, and quarrels and
brawls are rarely heard even amongst the lower
orders ; whilst in general intelligence they rank
deservedly high amongst orientals.

" I conclude, therefore, with observing, that the
proofs are still wanting to show that the moderate
use of opium produces more pernicious effects upon
the constitution than the moderate use of spirituous
liquors ; whilst at the same time it is certain that the
consequences of the abuse of the former are less
appalling in their effects upon the victim, and less
disastrous to society at large, than the consequences of
the abuse of the latter." *

That the effects of opium-eating and opium-
smoking in China are not so melancholy as we have
been accustomed to suppose, and that, on the whole,
they are not worse than those which are produced
among ourselves by fermented liquors, — this is the
substance of Dr Eatwell's testimony ; and so far it is
both interesting and satisfactory. But his language
is not laudatory like that of De Quincey. He pal-
liates the vicious indulgence, but says nothing which
should recommend the practice to his readers. The
medical missionaries to China inform us that con-

* Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. xi. p. 364.
VOL. II. a

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

firmed opium-consumers use daily from thirty to two
hundred grains of the pure extract, which is equal to
twice as much of the crude opium* But were such
cases very numerous, they ought to come more
frequently under the public eye than, from the testi-
mony of Dr Eatwell, appears to be the case.

10°. Practical conclusions— The true state of
the question in its practical bearings upon ourselves
may be summed up as follows : —

First^ It is certain that opium, like spirituous
liquors, produces most melancholy body -and -soul-
destroying effects upon those who give themselves up
to its use as a narcotic indulgence. If day brings
them the bliss of heaven, night brings with it the
torments of hell.

Second, It is certain also that some can continue
for years to use it in small doses as a narcotic indul-
gence, without becoming slaves to it, or without
appearing to be sensibly affected by it in their
general health.

Third, But that it is of all indulgences the most
wonderfully seductive, and is therefore a most
dangerous substance to become familiar with. The
infatuation sometimes reaches such a point that the
certainty of death, and of all the fearful infirmities
which in this case precede death, have no influence
on the victim. He coldly answers those who warn
him of his danger that the opium happiness is beyond
compare — (Pouqueville).

* Ten grains cost 22 cash, about one penny.

SUBSTITUTES FOR OPIUM.

Fourth, That to give up the indulgence produces
tortures of mind and body which make cowards and
recreants of the most resolute. To this fact, the
testimony of Coleridge and De Quincey has been
already quoted.

Am I then — is the practical question each of my
readers will put to himself — am I possessed of moral
and physical courage, such as will enable me to resist
the fascinations of this insidious drug, to give it to,
or to withhold it from, myself^ as may be most for my
good ? Do those around me, and who may be influ-
enced by my example, possess equal self-control ? The
wisest, I believe, will hesitate to answer these questions
in the aflSrmative, and, for themselves and those they
love, will most anxiously shun the great risk.

VI. Substitutes for Opium. — Substitutes for
opium have been sought for and used in diflPerent
countries.

1°. Bull-Jioof. — In Jamaica, the Muracuja
ocellata, or bull-hoof, has been called Dutchman's
laudanum, because certain parts of the plant are
supposed to possess the same virtues as the poppy.
The flowers are principally employed, and when
infused or mixed in the state of powder with wine
or spirits, they are regarded as a safe and effectual
narcotic — (Brown).

2°. The Lettuce.— In Europe, the different species
of the lettuce (Laduca) are capable, to a certain
extent, of supplying the place of the poppy. The

100 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

juice of these plants, when collected and dried, has
considerable resemblance to opium.

If the stem of the common lettuce, when it is
coming into flower, be wounded with a knife, a milky
juice exudes. In the open air this juice gradually
assumes a brown colour and dries into a friable mass.
The smell of this dried juice is strongly narcotic,
recalling that of opium. It has a slightly pungent
taste, but, like opium, leaves a permanent bitter in
the mouth. It acts upon the brain after the manner
of opium, and induces sleep.

To this crude extract the name of Lactucarium has
been given. Like opium, it dissolves in water to the
extent of about one-half, and in this soluble portion
the narcotic virtue resides. The principal active
ingredient is supposed to be a peculiar substance
named lactuci/n, of which the crude extract contains
about one-fourth of its weight. It contains other
active ingredients, however — the chemical nature and
physiological influence of which have not as yet been
rigorously investigated.

The lactucarium is one of those narcotics in which
many of us unconsciously indulge. The eater of green
lettuce as a salad takes a portion of it in the juice of
the leaves he swallows; and many of my readers, after
this is pointed out to them, will discover that their
heads are not unaffected after indulging copiously in
a lettuce salad. Eaten at night, the lettuce causes
sleep ; eaten during the day, it soothes and calms and
allays the tendency to nervous irritability. And yet

THE SYEIAN KUE.

101

the lover of lettuce would probably take it very much
amiss if he were told that he ate his green leaves,
partly at least, for the same reason as the Turk or
Chinaman takes his whiff from the tiny opium-pipe
— that, in short, he was little better than an opium-
eater, and his purveyor than the opium smugglers on
the coast of China.

3°. Syrian Rue. — The seeds of the Peganum
harmala, the Syrian or Steppe rue, are used by the
Turks as a spice, and as a red dye. But they are
also eaten as a narcotic indulgence, in the place of
opium and hemp. I do not know to what extent this
practice now prevails ; but, according to Belonius, the
Turkish emperor Solyman kept himself intoxicated
by the use of the seeds of Syrian rue.

The active virtues of this seed appear to reside in
its husk. From this husk Fritsche has recently ex-
tracted two interesting peculiar principles, to which
he has given the names of Harmin and Harmalin.
The chemical properties of these substances have
been studied to some extent, but their physiological
action on the system has not been investigated. We
are therefore still in the dark as to the immediate
cause of the intoxicating effects of these seeds.

CHAPTEE XVIIL

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

INDIAN HEMP.

The common Em-opean the same as the Indian hemp. — Its narcotic
resin more abundant in warm climates. — Mode of collecting the resin.
— The Churrus or Kirs, Gunjah, Bang, and alcoholic extract. — Forms
in which the hemp is used. — TheHaschischof Tm-key. — Antiquity and
extent of its use. — The nepenthes of Homer, an Egyptian drag. — The
tombeki of India. — Origin of the word "assassin." — Use of hemp in
Africa and America. — Effects of hemp on the system. — Sometimes
produces catalepsy. — Experience of M. Moreau. — Excitability pro-
duced by it. — Errors of perception. — Its effects vary with the indi-
vidual and with the race. — Influence on Orientals gi-eater, on Euro-
peans less. — Experience of M. de Saulcy. — Chemistry of the hemp
plant. — Its volatile oil. — The natural resin and resinous extract
probably contain sevei-al substances. — Hemp com2Jared with opium.
— Differences in theii- comparative effects, — Extent to which hemp is
used.

VII. Indian Hemp. — Little is popularly and prac-
tically known in northern Europe of the use of hemp
as a narcotic indulgence ; yet in the East it is as
familiar to the sensual voluptuary as the opium
treated of in the preceding chapter.

Our common European hemp (Cannabis sativa),
fig. 68, so extensively cultivated for its fibre, is the

DISTRIBUTION OF THE HEMP PLANT.

Fig. 68.

same plant with the Indian hemp {Cannabis Indica),
which from the remotest times has been celebrated
among Eastern nations for its
narcotic virtues. The plant
came to Europe from Persia,
and is supposed by many to
be a native of India ; but, like
tobacco and the potato, it has
a wonderful power of adapt-
ing itself to differences in soil
and climate. Hence it is now
cultivated, not merely on the
plains of Persia, India, and
Arabia, but in Africa, from
its northern to its southern
extremities ; in America, all
over its north-eastern states
and provinces, and on the flats
of Brazil ; and in Europe, in
almost every kingdom and
country. In northern Russia
it is an important article of
culture, even as far north as

Archangel, and from that re- tomas;, .ahm-The cultivated
gion our manufacturers have scaie, haunch to a foot,
been accustomed to receive large supplies of its
valuable fibre.

In the sap of this plant— probably in all countries
—there exists a peculiar resinous substance, in which
the esteemed narcotic virtue resides. In northern

104 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

climates, the proportion of this resin in the several
parts of the plant is so small as to have escaped
general observation. The whole plant, indeed, has a
peculiar smell, even when grown in Europe, which,
though not unpleasant to every one, often gives head-
ache and giddiness to persons who remain long in a
hemp field. This probably arises from an escape
into the air of a small quantity of a volatile narcotic
principle.

But in the warmer regions of the East, the resinous
substance is so abundant as to exude naturally, and
in sensible quantity, from the flowers, from the leaves,
and from the young twigs of the hemp plant. We
have already seen that climate modifies considerably
the proportions of the active ingredients contained in
the dried leaf of tobacco, and in the dried juice of
the poppy. The hemp plant exhibits a still more
striking illustration of the influence of climate upon
the chemical changes which take place in the interior
of living vegetables. It grows well, and produces
abundance of excellent fibre in the north, but no
sensible proportion of narcotic resin. It grows still
better, and more magnificently, in tropical regions;
but there its fibre is worthless and unheeded, while
for the resin it spontaneously yields it is prized and
cultivated.

1°. Mode of collecting the resin and plant.
— In India the resinous exudation of the hemp-plant
is collected in various ways. In Nepaul it is gathered
by the hand in the same way as opium. This variety

THE HEMP KESIN.

105

is very pure, and much, prized. It is called momeea,
or waxen churrus. It remains soft, even after con-
tinued drying ; has a fragrant narcotic odour, which
becomes strong and aromatic on heating. Its taste
is slightly hot, bitterish, and acrid, yet balsamic. In
Central India, men covered with leather aprons run
backwards and forwards through the hemp-fields,
beating the plants violently. By this means the
resin is detached and adheres to the leather. This
is scraped off, and is the ordinary churrus of Cabul.
It does not bring so high a price as the momeea. In
other places the leather aprons are dispensed with,
and the resin is collected on the naked skins of the
coolies. In Persia it is collected by pressing the
resinous plant on coarse cloths, and afterwards scrap-
ing the resin from these, and melting it in a little
warm water. The churrus, or " kirs," of Herat is con-
sidered one of the best and most powerful varieties
of the drug.

The plant itself is often collected and dried for the
sake of the resin it contains. The whole plant gathered
when in flower, and dried without the removal of the
resin, is called gunjah. In this form it is sold in the
markets of Calcutta in bundles about three inches
in diameter, and containing each twenty-four plants.
The larger leaves and seed capsules separated from
the stalks are called bang, subjee, or sidhee. This
form is less esteemed than the gunjah.* The tops
and tender parts of the plant, the flowers, and even

* Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. i. p. 490.

106 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

the pistils of the flowers, are separated, and when
dried alone are very powerful, and much esteemed.
The seeds, I believe, are never used as a narcotic
indulgence. In some medical works they are spoken
of as cramp-stilling and pain-removing ; but if they
really possess these virtues, it must be in a very
inferior degree ; and they probably reside in the
husk,* and not in the body of the seed itself.

When boiled in alcohol the gunjah yields as
much as one-fifth of its weight of resinous extract,
and hence this method of preparing the drug in a
pure state has been recommended as the most effi-
cient and economical. I am not aware, however,
that it is anywhere adopted in the East.

2°. Forms in which hemp is used. — Among the
ancient Saracens and the modern Arabs, in some
parts of Turkey, and generally throughout Syria, the
preparations of hemp in common use were, and are
still, known by the names of haschisch, hashash, or
husheesh. The most common form of haschisch, and
that which is the basis of all others, is prepared by
boiling the leaves and flowers of the hemp with
water to which a certain quantity of fresh butter has
been added, evaporating the decoction to the thick-
ness of a syrup, and then straining it through cloth.
The butter thus becomes charged with the active ^
resinous principle of the plant, and acquires a green-
ish colour. This preparation retains its properties

* As is the case with the Syrian rue, Peganum harinala, described
at the close of the preceding chapter.

FOKMS IN WHICH IT IS USED.

107

for many years, only becoming a little rancid. Its
taste, liowever, is very disagreeable, and bence it is
seldom taken alone, but is mixed with confections
and aromatics — camphor, cloves, nutmegs, mace, and
not unfrequently ambergris and musk — so as to form
a sort of electuary. The confection used among the
Moors is called el mogen^ and is sold at an enormous
price. Dawamese is the name given by the Arabs to
that which they most commonly use. This is fre-
quently mingled, however, with other substances of
reputed aphrodisiac virtues, to enable it to administer
more effectually to the sensual gratifications, which
are the grand object of life among many of the
orientals.

The Turks give the names of hadschy malach
and madjoun to the compositions they use for pur-
poses of excitement. According to Dr Madden, the
madjoun of Constantinople is composed of the pistils
of the flowers of the hemp plant ground to powder,
and mixed in honey with powdered cloves, nutmegs,
and saffron.

Thus the Indian hemp and its products are used in
one or other of four different forms : —

First, The whole plant dried and known by the
name of gunjah ; or the larger leaves and capsules
dried and known as bang, subjee, or sidhee ; or the
tops and tender parts of the plants collected after they
have been in flower, and which in some places are
called haschisch ; or the dried flowers, called in Mo-
rocco Jdef, a pipe of which, scarcely the size of an

108 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

English pipe, is sufficient to intoxicate ; or the dried
pistils of the flower as they enter into the composi-
tion of the madjoun of the Turks. These several
parts of the dried plant, when newly gathered, have
a rapid and energetic action. Their efficacy dimin-
ishes, however, by keeping.

Second, The resin which naturally exudes from the
leaves and flowers, and is, when collected by the
hand, called momeea ; or the same beaten off mth
sticks, and sold by the name of churrus.

Third, The extract obtained by the use of butter,
which, when mixed with spices, forms the dawamese
of the Arabs, and is the foundation of the haschisch
of many Eastern countries and districts.

Fourthj The extract obtained by means of alcohol
from the gunjah. This is said to be very active, but
I am not aware of its being in use in the East.

The dried plant is smoked and sometimes chewed.
Five or ten grains reduced to powder are smoked
from a common pipe along with ordinary tobacco, or
from a water pipe (narghile), with a variety of tobacco
called tombeki.* The resin and resinous extract are
generally swallowed in the form of pills or boluses.

3°. Antiquity and extent of its use. — In one or
other of the forms above mentioned the hemp plant
appears to have been used from very remote times.
The ancient Scythians are said by Herodotus to have

* The tombeki is said to be the leaf of a species of Lobelia. It is
smoked in a narghile, and is exceedingly narcotic ; so much so that it is
usually steeped in water for a few hours, to weaken it before it is iised,
and the pipe is charged with it while it is still wet.

THE WOKD "ASSASSIN."

109

excited themselves by " inhaling its vapour." Homer
makes Helen administer to Telemachus, in the house
of Menelaus, a potion prepared from the nepenthes,
which made him forget his sorrows. This plant had
been given to her by a woman of Egyptian Thebes ;
and Diodorus Siculus states that the Egyptians laid
much stress on this circumstance, arguing that Homer
must have lived among them, since the women of
Thebes were actually noted for possessing a secret
by which they could dissipate anger or melancholy.
This secret is supposed to have been a knowledge of
the qualities of hemp. Under the name of heng
it is also mentioned in the Arabian Nights, translated
by Lane, as the narcotic used by Haroun al Raschid
and other heroes of the tales.

It is curious how common and familiar words some-
times connect themselves with things and customs of
which we know absolutely nothing. The word
assassin — a foreign importation now long natural-
ised among us — is of this kind. M. Sylvester de
Sacy, the well-known orientalist, says that this word
was derived from the Arabic name of hemp. It was
originally used in Syria to designate the followers of
"the old man of the mountain," who were called
Haschischins, because among them the haschisch
was in frequent use, especially during the perform-
ance of certain of their mysterious rites. Others say
that, during the wars of the Crusaders, certain of the
Saracen army, intoxicated with the drug, were in the
habit of rushing into the camps of the Christians

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

and committing great havoc, being themselves totally
regardless of death ; that these men were known by
the name of hashasheens, and that thence came our
word " assassin." The oriental term was probably in
use long before the time of the Crusades, though the
English form and use of the word may have been in-
troduced into Europe at that period.

Nor is the use of hemp less extended than it is
ancient. In the plains of India it is consumed in
every form, and on the slopes of the Himalayas, it
is cultivated for smoking, as high up as the valleys
of Sikkim. In Persia, in the east of Europe, and in
Mahommedan countries, it is in extensive use. In
Northern Africa it is largely employed by the Moors.
In central and tropical Africa it is almost everywhere
known as a powerful medicine and a desired indul-
gence. In Southern Africa the Hottentots use it
under the name of dacha, for purposes of intoxica-
tion ; and when the Bushmen were in London, they
smoked the dried plant in short pipes made of the
tusks or teeth of animals. And what is more
astonishing, when we consider the broad seas which
intervene, even the native Indians of Brazil know its
value, and delight in its use ; so that over the hotter
parts of the globe generally, wherever the plant pro-
duces in abundance its peculiar narcotic principle, its
virtues may be said to be known, and more or less
extensively made use of.*

4°. Effects of hemp on the system. — This wide

* See Maf of the distribution of the Narcotics, p. 5.

EFFECTS OP THE HEMP EESIN. Ill

use of the plant implies that the effects of hemp upon
the system are gen erally very agreeable. In India it is
spoken of as the increaser of pleasure, the exciter of
desire, the cementer of friendship, the laughter-mover,
and the causer of the reeling gait, — all epithets indi-
cative of its peculiar effects. Linnasus describes its
power as "narcotica, phantastica, dementens, ano-
dyna et repellens while in the words of Endlicher,
" Emollitum exhilarat animum, impotentibus desi-
deriis tristem, stultam Isetitiam provocat, et jucun-
dissima somniorum conciliat phantasmata."

a. The effects of the churrus or natural resin have
been carefully studied in India by Dr O'Shaughnessy.
He states that when taken in moderation it produces
increase of appetite and great mental cheerfulness,
while in excess it causes a peculiar kind of delirium
and catalepsy. This last effect is very remarkable,
and we quote his description of the results of one of
his experiments with what is considered a large dose
for an Indian patient : —

" At two P.M. a grain of the resin of hemp was
given to a rheumatic patient; at four P.M. he was
very talkative, sang, called loudly for an extra sujDply
of food, and declared himself in perfect health. At
six P.M. he was asleep. At eight p.m. he was found
insensible, but breathing with perfect regularity. His
pulse and skin were natural, and the pupils freely
contracted on the approach of light. Happening by
chance to lift up the patient's arm, the professional
reader will judge of my astonishment when I found

112 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

it remained in the posture in which I placed it. It
required but a very brief examination of the limbs to
find that by the influence of this narcotic the patient
had been thrown into the strangest and most extra-
ordinary of all nervous conditions, which so few have
seen, and the existence of which so many still dis-
credit— the genuine catalepsy of the nosologist. We
raised him to a sitting posture, and placed his arms
and limbs in every imaginable attitude. A waxen
figure could not be more pliant or more stationary in
each position, no matter how contrary to the natural
influence of gravity on the part ! To all impressions
he was meanwhile almost insensible."

This extraordinary influence he subsequently found
to be exercised by the hemp extract upon other
animals as well as upon man. After a time it passes
off entirely, leaving the patient altogether uninjured.

In this effect of the hemj) in India we see a counter-
part of many of the wonderful feats performed by the
fakeers and other religious devotees of that country.
It indicates probably the true means also by which
they are enabled to produce them.

How much power a little knowledge gives to the
dishonest and designing of every country, over the
ignorant and unsuspecting masses !

h. Again, the effects of the haschisch of the Ara-
bians, which probably differ little from those of hemp
taken in any of its forms, have been described to us
from his own personal experience by a French physi-
cian, M. Moreau. When taken in small doses, its

HAPPINESS PRODUCED BY IT. 113

eflPect, he says, is simply to produce a moderate exhi-
laration of spirits, or at most a tendency to unseason-
able laughter. Taken in doses sufficient to induce the
fantasia, as its more remarkable effects are called in
the Levant, its first influence is the same as when taken
in a small dose ; but this is followed by an intense
feeling of happiness, which attends all the operations
of the mind. The sun shines upon every thought
that passes through the brain, and every movement
of the body is a source of enjoyment. M. Moreau
made many experiments with it upon his own person
— appears indeed to have fallen into the habit of
using it even after his return to France — and he de-
scribes and reasons upon its effects as follows : —

" It is really happiness which is produced by the
haschisch; and by this I mean an enjo3m[ient entirely
moral, and by no means sensual, as might be supposed.
This is a very curious circumstance, and some remark-
able inferences might be drawn from it

For the haschisch-eater is happy, not like the gour-
mand, or the famished man when satisfying his
appetite, or the voluptuary in the gratification of his
amative desires — but like him who hears tidings
which fill him with joy, or like the miser counting
his treasures, the gambler who is successful at play,
or the ambitious man who is intoxicated with success."

This glowing description of the effects of the
haschisch, though given by one who had often used
it, is on that very account, like the pictures of the

VOL. II. TT

114 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

opium-eater, open to suspicion. We feel as if it were
intended as a kind of excuse or justification of the
indulgence on the part of the writer.

When first it begins to act, the peculiar eflfects
of the haschisch may be considerably diminished, or
altogether checked, by a firm exertion of the will,
"just as we master the passion of anger by a strong
voluntary effort." By degrees, however, the power
of controlling at will and directing the thoughts
diminishes, till finally all power of fixing the attention
is lost, and the mind becomes the sport of every idea
which either arises within itself, or is forced upon it
from without.

" We become the sport of impressions of every
kind. The course of our ideas may be broken by the
slightest cause. We are turned, so to speak, by every
wind. By a word or a gesture, our thoughts may be
successively directed to a multitude of dilFereni sub-
jects with a rapidity and lucidity which are truly
marvellous. The mind becomes possessed with a
feeling of pride, corresponding to the exaltation of
its faculties, which it is conscious have increased in
energy and power. The slightest impulse carries it
along. Hence those who make use of the haschisch
in the East, when they wish to give themselves up to
the intoxication of the fantasia, withdraw themselves
carefully from everything which could give to their
delirium a tendency to melancholy, or excite any-
thing but feelings of pleasurable enjoyment. They
profit by all the means which the dissolute manners

ERRORS OF PERCEPTION CAUSED BY IT. 115

of the East place at their disposal. It is in the midst
of the harem, surrounded by their women, under the
charm of music and of lascivious dances performed by
the almees, that they enjoy the intoxicating dawa-
mese; and, with the aid of superstition, they find
themselves almost transported to the scene of the
numberless marvels which the Prophet has collected
in his paradise."

The errors of perception, in regard to time and
place, to which the patient is liable during the period
of fantasia, are remarkable. Minutes seem hours, and
hours are prolonged into years, till at last all idea of
time seems obliterated, and the past and the present
are confounded together. Every notion, in this curious
condition, seems to partake of a certain degree of
exaggeration. One evening M. Moreau was traversing
the passage of the opera when under the influence of
a moderate dose of haschisch. He had made but
a few steps when it seemed to him as if he had been
there for two or three hours; and as he advanced, the
passage seemed interminable, its extremity receding
as he pressed forward.

The effect produced by hemp in its different forms
varies, like that of opium, both in kind and in degree,
with the race of men who use it, and with the indi-
vidual to whom it is administered. Upon orientals, its
general effect is of an agreeable and cheerful character,
exciting them to laugh, dance, and sing, and to com-
mit various extravagances— acting as an aphrodisiac,
and increasing the appetite for food. Some, however,

116 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

it renders excitable and quarrelsome, and disposes to
acts of violence. It is from the extravagant behaviour
of individuals of this latter temperament that the use
and meaning of our word assassin have most probably
arisen. It is from such effects of this substance also
that we obtain a solution of the extravagances and
barbarous cruelties which we read of as practised
occasionally by Eastern despots.

Yet, even among orientals, according to Dr Moreau,
there are some on whom the drug produces no eflfect
whatever — upon whom, at least, doses are powerless
which are usually followed by well-marked pheno-
mena. As is the case with opium, long use also makes
larger doses necessary. To some even a drachm of
the churrus becomes a moderate dose, though suf-
ficient to operate upon twenty ordinary men.

Upon Europeans generally, at least in Europe, its
effects have been found to be considerably less in
degree than upon orientals. "In India, Dr O'Shaugh-
nessy had seen marked effects from half a grain of
the extract, or even less, and had been accustomed to
consider one grain and a half a large dose ; in Eng-
land he had given ten or twelve or more grains, to
produce the desired effect."* In kind, also, its effects
upon Europeans differ somewhat from those produced
upon Asiatics. It has never been known, for example,
to produce that remarkable cataleptic state, described
in a previous page as having been observed in India
even from a comparatively small dose of the hemp ex-

* Pereiba, Materia Medico, p. 1242.

EXPERIENCE OF DE SAULCY.

117

tract ; nor, so far as I am aware, has it ever obtained a
footing in any part of Europe as a narcotic indulgence.

It requires, indeed, a long and gradual training to
its use before its boasted effects can be fully expe-
rienced, and this fortunately is not attempted yet in
Europe. While in Jerusalem, M. de Saulcy, with
the view of passing pleasantly a tedious evening,
indulged himself in a dose of haschisch, which, upon
his uninitiated constitution, produced only unpleasant
results. He thus speaks of it —

" The experiment to which we had recourse for pass-
ing our time, turned out so utterly disagreeable that
I may safely say not one of us will ever be tempted
to try it again. The haschisch is an abominable
poison, which the dregs of the population alone drink
and smoke in the East, and which we were silly enough
to take in too large a dose on the eve of new-year's
day. We fancied we were going to have an evening
of enjoyment, but we nearly died through our impru-
dence. As I had taken a larger dose of this perni-
cious drag than my companions, I remained almost
insensible for more than twenty-four hours; after
which I found myself completely broken down, with
nervous spasms, and incoherent dreams, which seemed
to have endured a hundred years at least." *

5°. Chemical constituents of the Indian Hemp.
— Of the chemistry of the Indian hemp comparatively
little is yet known. Had it been as long familiar to
Europeans, or used as extensively by them, as it is in

* Journey round the Dead Sea. By F. de Saulot. Vol. i. p, 140.

118 TI-IE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

the East, it would probably, like opium, have already
been the subject of repeated chemical investigations.
The volatile oil and the resin of hemp are the only
two substances which chemists have yet extracted
from this remarkable plant.

a. The volatile oil. — When distilled with water,
the dried leaves and flowers, like those of the hop,
yield a volatile oil in small quantity. The properties
of this volatile oil, and its action upon the system,
have not been studied. It is not supposed, however,
to have any important connection with the remarkable
effects of the plant upon the living animal.

b. The natural resin. — But the whole hemp plant
is impregnated, especially in warm climates, with a
resinous substance in which most active virtues reside.
When collected as it naturally exudes, this resin forms
the churrus of India. It is extracted when the leaves
are boiled with butter to form the basis of the hasch-
isch, or when the dried plant is treated with alcohol
to obtain the hemp extract. It is soft, dissolves
readily both in alcohol and ether, and is separated
from these liquids in the form of a white powder
when the solutions are mixed with water. It has a
warm, bitterish, acrid, somewhat balsamic taste, and
a fragrant odour, especially when heated.

Both the resin which naturally exudes from the
hemp plant, and the extract it yields to spirituous
liquids, are probably mixtures of several substances
possessed of different properties and relations to ani-
mal life. The remarkably complex composition of

HEMP COMPARED WITH OPIUM. 119

opium justifies such an opinion. And the analogy
of the same substance makes it probable that the
produce of the plant will differ in different localities
and countries — so that the churrus of India, and the
haschisch of Syria, may produce very different effects
on the same constitution. But these points have not
as yet been investigated either chemically or physio-
logically. This substance, therefore, holds out the
promise of a rich and interesting harvest to future
experimenters.

6°. Hemp compared with Opium. — The extract
of hemp differs considerably from opium, not only
in its sensible properties, but in its effects upon
the system. It does not lessen but rather excites
the appetite. It does not occasion nausea, dry-
ness of the tongue, constipation, or lessening of
the secretions, and is not usually followed by that
melancholy state of depression to which the opium-
eater is subject. It differs also in causing dilatation
of the pupil, and sometimes catalepsy, in stilling pain
less than opium does, in less constantly producing
sleep, in the peculiar inebriating quality it possesses,
in the phantasmata it awakens, and in its aphrodisiac
effects. It operates likewise in a smaller dose, and
does not produce that apathy to external impressions
by which opium is characterised. On the contrary,
to the intellectual activity imparted by opium it adds
a corresponding sensitiveness and activity of all the
feelings, and of the senses both internal and external.
From the effects of opium a man must be roused by

120 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

shaking and bodily movement. Those of haschisch
are allayed by gentle soothing, and bodily stillness.
This drag seems, in fact, to be to the oriental a
source of exquisite and peculiar enjoyment, which
unfits him for the ordinary affairs of this rough life,
and with which happily we are, in this part of the
world, still altogether unacquainted.

It is impossible to form any estimate of the quan-
tity of hemp, of hemp resin, or of the artificial extract
which is now used in different parts of the world for
purposes of indulgence. It must, however, be very
large, since the plant is so employed in one form or
another by probably not less than two or three hundred
millions of the human race !

CHAPTEK XIX.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

THE BETEL-NUT AND THE PEPPERWORTS.

The betel-nut and betel palm ; plantations of, in the East ; extensive
growth in Sumatra. — How this nut is used, and prepared. —
Fondness for the betel in India. — Sensible eflfects of betel-chewing ;
its narcotic effects ; counteracts opium'. — Constituents of the betel-
nut; its astringent principle. — Consumption of betel. — Substitutes
for betel. — Catechu and gambir extract ; extending consumption
of the latter. — The pepperworts. — Betel pepper or pawn. — Beauty
of the plant, and its importance as an agricultural product. — Mode of
cultivation. — Effects of the betel pepper. — The intoxicating long
pepper or ava. — Chemistry of the pepperworts. — Piperin ; its use
against fevers. — Grains of Paradise, or malagueta pepper ; their use
as a spice in Africa and in England. — Use in adulterating beer and
spirituovis liquors.

VIII. Betel-nut. — The Areca or Betel Nut, or
Pinang, is the seed of the Areca catechu, one of the
most graceful species of palm. On the slopes of the
Khasia mountains in the Himalaya, above the flat
Bheels, where palms are numerous, " the cultivated
areca raises its graceful head and feathery crown,
like an arrow shot down from heaven, in luxuriance
and beauty above the verdant slopes"— (Dr Hookee).
Almost everywhere in India it is extensively culti-

l^i THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

vated. In Ceylon, throughout Malabar, and higher
up the coast, it is seen in vast plantations. The pro-
duce of these planta-
tions is of great im-
portance. As every
one chews betel, the
consumption of are-
ca nuts in India is
incredibly great. It
forms, therefore, a
most important arti-
cle of traffic.

In the Sunda
Islands the areca
palm grows wild.
In the Philippines,
the labourer is paid
in betel rolls, as he
is with coca leaves
in some parts of
Peru ; and the betel-
nut is one of the most valuable articles of pro-
duce in Sumatra. Whole ship-loads are yearly
sent off from the latter island to Malacca, Siam, and
Cochin-China. The total export was, a few years
ago, estimated at 80,000 or 90,000 piculs (each! 33^ lb.
English), the greater part of which went to China.*
1°. How THE Betel-nut is used. — The Betel-nut
is about the size of a cherry, slightly pear-sha23ed,

* Ten to twelve millions of pounds.

Fig. 69.

Areca catechu— The Betel-nut Palm.
Height, thirty feet.
Fruit, half the natural size.

HOW BUYOS ARE MADE.

123

very hard, and externally not unlike a nutmeg of
inferior quality. It is chewed along with the leaf of
the betel pepper and a little quicklime, and a supply
of each of these is often carried by the betel-chewer
in a box, provided with compartments for the purpose.
In describing his visit to the Sultan of Sooloo, Cap-
tain Wilkes says : " On the left hand of the Sultan sat
his two sons, on the right his councillors, while im-
mediately behind him sat the carrier of his betel-nut
casket. The casket was made of filagree silver, about
the size of a small tea-caddy, of oblong shape, and
rounded at the top. It had three divisions — one for
the nut, another for the leaf, and a third for the lime.
Next to this ofi&cial was the pipe-bearer, who did not
appear to be held in equal estimation." *

In preparing the betel for chewing in India, the
nut is cut into long narrow pieces, and rolled up in
leaves of the betel pepper, previously dusted on one
side with moist chunam (the quicklime of calcined
shells). In LuQon, one of the Philippines, Meyen
found in every comer of the house a little box or
dish in which are kept the betel rolls {buyos), pre-
pared for the day's consumption ; and a buyo is there
offered to every one who enters, just as a pinch of
snuff or a pipe is with us. " Travellers, and those who
work in the open air, carry the buyos for the day in
little boxes or bags, as the Peruvians do their coca.
The preparation of the betel falls on the female mem-

* United States' Exploring Expedition (London edition), vol. ii.
p. 277.

124

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

bers of the family, who, during the forenoon, may
generally be seen lying on the ground and making
buyos. The consumption of these is very great.
Every one who can afford it puts a fresh buyo in his
mouth every hour, which he can chew and suck for
half an hour at least." * Persons who have lost their
teeth have the ingredients ground up into a paste, so
as to render chewing unnecessary.

The fondness for the betel in these eastern coun-
tries amounts to something like a passion. It is
spoken of with enthusiasm. Many would rather
forego both meat and drink than their favourite
betel— (Blume). The Tagali maidens regard it as a
proof of the uprightness of the intentions of a lover,
and of the strength of his affection, if he take the
buyo from his mouth — (Meyen). The betel-nut is
to the Eastern Archipelago what the coca is to
Eastern Peru.

2°. Effects of the Betel-nut. — The visible
effects of the betel are, that it promotes the jflow of
the saliva, and lessens the perspiration from the skin.
It tinges the saliva red ; so that when spit out, it falls
on the earth like blood. It gives a red colour to the
mouth, teeth, and lips, which, though at first sight
disgusting to Europeans, is by the natives considered
ornamental It imparts also an agreeable odour to
the breath, and is supposed to fasten the teeth, cleanse
the gums, and cool the mouth. The juice is usually,
but not always, swallowed.

* Meyen, Geography of Plants (Ray Society), p. 352.

EFFECTS OF THE BETEL-NUT,

125

Its e£fects as a narcotic have not been so clearly
detailed. To persons not accustomed to it, ttie nut is
powerfully astringent in the mouth and throat, and
the quicklime often removes the skin, and deadens
for a time the sense of taste. But it causes giddiness
when chewed to any extent. On those who are accus-
tomed to use it, however, the betel produces weak
but continuous and sustained exhilarating eflfects.
And that these are of a most agreeable kind, may be
inferred from the very extended area over which the
chewing of betel prevails among the Asiatic nations.
In the damp and pestiknt regions of India, also,
where the natives live upon a spare and miserable
diet, it is really very conducive to health. Part of
its healthful influence in fever-breeding districts is
probably to be ascribed to the pepper-leaf which is
chewed along with the betel-nut.

Its alleged effect in rousing persons who are under
the influence of opium, as tea counteracts that of spi-
ritous liquors, is somewhat remarkable. During the
visit of Captain Wilkes to the Sultan of Soolpo, he
had the opportunity of seeing the betel used for this
purpose. The sultan's son, shortly after taking a few
whiffs from the opium pipe, was entirely overcome,
and became stupid and listless. When but partially
recovered from the stupor, he called for his betel-
nut, to revive him by its exciting effects. This was
carefully chewed by his attendant to a proper con-
sistency, moulded into a ball, and then slipped into
his mouth.

126 THE NAECOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

3°. Constituents of the Betel-nut. — The chemis-
try of the betel-nut is quite obscure. It is very astrin-
gent, and abounds in a peculiar species of tannin,
which is extracted in India by boiling the nut in
water, and is l)rought to this country under the name
of catechu. In the moist, relaxing climates of the
East, this strongly astringent substance acts bene-
ficially upon the system. To it are probably to be
ascribed some of the good effects experienced by Per-
ron, who states that he " preserved his health, during
a long and difl&cult voyage, by the habitual use of
betel ; while his companions who did not use it. died
mostly of dysentery."

But the ordinary and understood action of a merely
astringent substance does not account for the giddiness
caused by the betel-nut in a young chewer, nor for
the gentle intoxication it produces in all. These pro-
perties seem to imply the presence in the nut of some
narcotic ingredient which is as yet unknown. From
the circumstance of no such substance having been
yet discovered in the nut, some writers are inclined
to ascribe the intoxicating influence of the buyos alto-
gether to the pepper-leaf in which the nut is enclosed.
Upon this point, however, we must suspend our judg-
ment until the chemist has had an opportunity of
submitting both nut and leaf to a rigorous chemical
examination. My own opinion is, that the coveted
effect upon the system is the result of the combined
influence — first, of the constituents of the nut ; second,
of those of the fresh pepper; and, third, of substances

SUBSTITUTES FOR BETEL.

127

which are produced or evolved in the mouth in con-
sequence of the chemical action of the lime and of the
saliva upon the ingredients of both nut and leaf.
Upon all this, light will no doubt be thrown before a
long time elapses.

4°. Consumption of Betel. — We have no means
of estimating the absolute quantity of this nut which
is consumed yearly by the Asiatic nations ; but it must
be very great. It is chewed by probably not less than
fifty millions of men ! If we allow to each chewer ten
pounds weight a-year, which is less than half an ounce
a-day, this would give the enormous consumption of
five hundred millions of pounds' weight every year !
Only tobacco, among the narcotics in common use, is
used in larger quantity than this.

The small quantity of the betel-nut imported into
this country is converted into charcoal for tooth-pow-
der, probably from some imaginary idea that it is
superior for this purpose to other kinds of charcoal.

IX. Substitutes for Betel.— As substitutes for
the betel-nut, astringent extracts are coming into
extensive use in the East. Thus —

a. The catechu, which is extracted, as above de-
scribed, by boiling the areca nut, is extensively chewed
in India, in place of the nut itself. It is there called
cashu, and is known in this country by the older
name of Terra Japonica.

In the north of India, towards the foot of the
Himalayas, a similar catechu is extracted by boiling

128 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

the wood of the Mimosa catechu, which grows wild
there and in Ava. This is chewed in the same way
as the areca catechu.

h. The gambir extract— which greatly resembles the
Terra Japonica, but has a sweetish taste, and is still
more astringent— is another substitute for the nut.
The Nauclea gamhir, and N. aculeata, are shrubs
six or seven feet in height, the leaves of which, by
boiling with water, yield the gambir extract. In the
island of Sumatra, in Java and the other Dutch col-
onies, in India, Malacca, Singapore, and many other
localities, large plantations of these shrubs exist. The
leaves are gathered from two to four times a-year, and
are boiled with water for five or six hours in iron
kettles. The decanted liquor is then thickened by
further boiling, and poured into moulds, when it
hardens. This extract is of a blackish-brown colour,
has at first a sweetish taste, and a pleasant aromatic
flavour, which afterwards becomes astringent and
bitter. It is chewed by the Malays in Sumatra, and
in the Dutch colonies generally, in place of, or along
with, the betel-nut; and the use of it is said to be
rapidly extending throughout India.

Very salutary virtues are ascribed to the gambir
extract, and it is said especially to assist digestion. It
is no doubt a mixed substance, containing several che-
mical ingredients. It has not, however, been chemically
investigated ; so that what it contains in addition to
the astringent principle, or whether it possesses any
narcotic virtues, we have as yet no means of knowing.

BETEL PEPPER.

129

The quality, and probably the composition, varies in
different localities. The most esteemed samples are
those from Penang and the coast of Bengal.

In 1833 the quantity of this substance produced on
the island of Penang alone amounted to seventy thou-
sand pickuls, and in Singapore to twenty thousand —
or together, to ten millions of pounds — (Meyen).
The production in these localities was at that time
rapidly extending, so that the total Eastern consump-
tion must now, in 1854, be something quite enor-
mous.

X. The Pepperworts. — Various species of pepper
are known to be possessed of narcotic properties,
and several of these are in constant and most exten-
sive use in tropical countries. The pepperworts are
for the most part climbing plants, and where they
grow wild, frequently strangle the tree they embrace.

1°. The betel pepper or Fig. 70.

PAWN.— The leaf of the betel
pepper {Ghavica betle and C.
Sirahoa), fig. 70, is always
chewed along with the betel-
nut, as above described. The
almost universal use of the
betel-nut makes the culture
of this pepper one of e-reat c-Aawca The Betei

^ ^ leaf, or Betel Pepper.

importance in the East, espe- scaie, 1 inch to 3 inches,
cially in the neighbourhood of large towns. Every

VOL. II. J

130

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

person who possesses a little bit of land usually
grows the leaves for his own consumption ; and
it may often be seen clinging round the stems
of the beautiful betel palms which overshadow their
dwellings. But in the towns, incredible quantities are
every day sold in the markets, and piles of the leaves,
three or four feet high, are carried about in baskets.
The plantations of betel pepper are laid out like our
bean-fields, but the plants stand eighteen inches apart,
and their large beautiful heart-shaped leaves give the
whole field a bright gTeen colour, such as belongs to
few other plants. They require much water, and are
allowed to climb on poles like hops for the first
eighteen months. They are then detached, and are
directed round fast-growing young trees, which have
meanwhile been planted between them. The leaves
may be gathered in the third or fourth year, and the
plants bear for six or seven years, after which they
die and must be replaced. — (Meyen).

In Northern India, and towards the Himalayas,
the plant, though in almost equal demand, cannot be
cultivated in the open fields, and is therefore raised
under cover where the atmosphere is sufficiently moist
Dr Hooker, when traveUing on the banks of the
Mahanuddee, towards the foot of the Himalayas,
observed some curious low sheds erected for the growth
of pawn or betel pepper. These sheds were twenty
to fifty yards long, eight or twelve broad, and scarcely
four feet high. They were of bamboo, wattled all

INTOXICATING LONG PEPPER.

131

round, and over the top. Inside the sheds slender
upright rods were placed a few feet apart, up which
the pepper climbed, and speedily filled the place
with their deep green glossy foliage. The native
enters every morning and carefully cleans the plants
Great attention is paid to them, as they would not
live twenty-four hours if exposed to the open air ;
but the cultivation is, nevertheless, very profitable.
This mode of culture extensively prevails.

I have already described the effects of the betel-
chewing in general. What portion of these effects is
due to the pepper leaf in which the nut is wrapped
up, has not been experimentally ascertained. But as
other varieties of pepper, which are used alone, are
known to possess narcotic properties, some are in-
clined to ascribe the greater part of the peculiar
infiuence of betel-chewing to this pepper leaf I do
not coincide with this opinion. As I have already
explained, the observed effects are, in the present
state of our knowledge, to be ascribed rather to
the conjoined influence of the constituents of both
nut and leaf, and to the chemical action of the quick-
lime used along with them, and of the saliva upon
both.

2°. The intoxicating long pepper— The nar-
cotic effects of the Ava, or Macropiper methysticum,
are more certain and more celebrated.

This plant has a thick, woody, rugged, aromatic
wood-stalk, which, when reduced to a pulp and then

132

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

steeped in water, forms an intoxicating beverage.*
This is in extensive use among the South Sea
Islanders, both as a medicine and as an inebriating

Fig. 71.

Macropiper methysticum — The Ava Pepper shrub.

Scale, 1 inch to 3 feet.
Leaf, 1 inch to 2 inches. Outline of leaf, natural size.
Part of stem and root, showing section, natural size.

indulgence. It possesses a recognised narcotic influ-
ence, which is derived from some ingredient con-
tained in the root. The same ingredient probably
exists in the leaves, which are chewed along with the
betel nut instead of those of the betel pepper.

The roots and thickest parts of the stems of long

* See The Liquors we ferment.

INTOXICATING LONG PEPPER.

133

pepper, cut into small pieces and dried, form a
considerable article of commerce all over India,
under tlie name of Pipida moola ; * but I am not
aware if they are used for narcotic or intoxicating
purposes.

Of the chemistry of the peppeiworts we as yet
know comparatively little. They all yield, when dis-
tilled with water, a volatile oil, which has the taste
and smell of pepper. This oil is colourless, and is
usually of the same chemical composition as the oils
of turpentine, lemons, and orange-peel or neroli.
Alcohol extracts from the pepperworts several resin-
ous substances, which possess the acrid properties of
pepper in great perfection. But they all contain,
besides these, a solid white crystallisable substance
known by the name of Piperin, which is said to equal
quinine in its influence over intermittent fevers. All
the three constituents, indeed, which I have men-
tioned— the oil, the resin, and the piperin — exercise
a beneficial action in cases of intermittent fever ; and
to this action we are safe, I think, in ascribing a
portion at least of their salutary influence in tropical
regions. While in betel -chewing the astringent
principle of the nut checks the tendency to internal
relaxation, the fever-chasing principles of the pepper
leaf preserve the health amid the steaming vapours
which the hot sun draws forth from swamps and
jungles and irrigated paddy-fields.

* Pebeiea, Materia Medica, p. 1260.

134 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

3°. Grains of Paradise.— Guinea grains or Mala-
gueta pepper are the seeds, not of a pepperwort, but
of a species of Cardamum (Amo7)ium melegueta).
They are imported from the coast of Guinea, where
they are used by the natives as a spice for seasoning
their food, and are held in great esteem. The
seeds are small and angular, and consist of a glossy
dark -brown husk, enclosing a perfectly white
kernel, which has a hot, pungent, peppery taste.
In Africa they are considered to be exceedingly
wholesome.

Grains of paradise were also very anciently in use
as a spice in English cookery. The ancient fee-
favour of the city of Norwich is twenty-four herring
pies, each containing five herrings, to be carried to
court by the lord of the manor of Carleton ! In 1629
these pies were described as being seasoned with half
a pound of ginger, half a pound of pepper, a quarter
of a pound of cinnamon, one ounce of cloves, one
ounce of long pepper, half an ounce of grains of
paradise, and half an ounce of galangals. I am not
aware that they are now in use anywhere in England
for the seasoning of food.

About forty thousand pounds of this seed are at
present imported yearly into England. With the
exception of what is used in veterinary medicine,
all this is said to be employed for the pui-pose of
imparting a fictitious appearance of strength to malt
and spirituous liquors. By 56 Geo. III. c. 58, " no

USE OF GKAINS OF PAKADISE.

135

brewer or dealer in beer shall have in his possession
or use grains of paradise, under a penalty of .£'200
for each offence ; and no druggist shall sell the sub-
stance to a brewer under a penalty of .£500 for each
offence. Nevertheless, it is both sold and used, prin-
cipally along with capsicum and juniper berries, to
give a hot strong flavour to London gin ; and along
with Cocculus indicus and other bitters, to give a relish
and warmth to country beer. In passing through
Staffordshire some time ago, I was assured by a
person connected with a large manufactory, that he
had himself seen, in a druggist's shop, as much as
ten pounds of grains of paradise sold to a single
customer, for putting into beer.

The effect of hot substances like this in giving to
liquors the appearance of strength, is illustrated by
the qualities of a drink prepared in some of the
Turkish provinces. A greatly esteemed liquor is
there made by digesting mint and pimento in water.
This liquor possesses so much of what is taken for
alcoholic strength, that the person who drinks it for
the first time supposes he has swallowed " the most
ardent alcohol." No wonder the iron smelters and
puddlers of Staffordshire drink beer three whole days
out of the fortnight, if their thirst be provoked by
grains of paradise, so that the more they drink the
thirstier they become ! It is satisfactory to think,
however, that though a provoker to drunkenness, this
adulteration is not known to be poisonous in itself.

136 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

But the chemistry of this seed is still unknown.
It has not hitherto been chemically examined, so
that we do not know either what peculiar principles
it contains, or what special physiological action it
exercises upon the system.

CHAPTEE XX.

THE NAECOTICS WE INDULGE IK

COCA.

Coca, the narcotic of the Andes ; description of the plant ; mode of
cultivation. — Ancient use of the coca leaf ; its necessity to the
Indian of Peru ; how he uses it ; its remarkable effects. — Melan-
choly temperament of the Indian. — Testimony of Von Tschudi and of
Dr Weddell. — General effects of the coca leaf. — Intolerable craving
of the confirmed coquero. — EvU effects of the coca leaf. — Testimony
of Poppig and other travellers. — Opinions of old Spanish writers. —
Indian reverence for the plant ; its characteristic effects. — Lessens
the necessity for ordinary food. — Prevents difficulty of breathing in
ascending hills. — Experience and testimony of Von Tschudi. — Its
introduction into Europe recommended. — Chemical history of the
coca leaf. — The odoriferous resin. — The bitter piinciple. — The tannic
acid. — How the coca leaf acts. — Difficulties as to its action. — How it
resembles tea, the hop, hemp, and opium. — Like opium, it sustains
and inclines to retirement. — Consumption of coca. — Probable ex-
tent and money value of the yearly growth of coca.

Coca, the narcotic of tlie Andes, is not less inter-
esting than the narcotics of the East, either in its
social or in its physiological relations. It is little
known in Europe — its use as an indulgence being in
a great measure confined to the native Indians of
Bolivia and Peru.
The Erythroxylon coca is a bush which attains

VOL. II. K

138

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

the height of six or eight feet, and resembles the
black thorn in its small white flowers and bright

Fig. 72.

EryUiroxylon coca — The Coca-leaf plant.

Scale, 1 inch to 3 feet.

Coca leaf, natural size, showing the upper and under sides of the leaf.
The under side exhibits the remarkable arclied line on each side of the
midrib by which this leaf is distinguished.

green leaves, (fig. 72). It is a native of the tropical
valleys which occur on the eastern slope of the Andes,

THE COCA OF COMMERCE.

139

in Bolivia and Peru, and it still grows wild in many
parts of these countries. That which is used by the
people, however, is chiefly the produce of cultivation.
In the inhabited parts of the above valleys it forms
an important agricultural crop. Like our common
thorn, it is raised in seed beds, from which it is
planted out into regularly arranged coca-plantations.
The steep sides of the valleys, as high up as 8000
feet above the level of the sea, where the mean
temperature is from 64° to 68° Fahr., are often
covered with these plantations of coca. They are
arranged in terraces rising above one another, as in
the vineyards of Tuscany and the Holy Land. The
province of Yon gas is the principal seat of this culti-
vation in Eastern Bolivia. In three years the bushes
come into full bearing, and in favourable localities
yield three, and, where irrigation is used, even four
crops of leaves in a year. The leaves are about the
size of those of the cherry-tree ; and when ripe enough
to break on being bent, they are collected by the
women and children, and dried in the sun. The total
produce averages about 800 lb. of dry leaves per Eng-
lish acre. It is sometimes one half more, but often
also very much less. When nearly dry they emit an
odour similar to that of new-made hay, in which much
mellilot or sweet-scented vernal grass is contained ;
hence they occasion headaches among new-comers,
as haymaking does with delicate persons among our-
selves.

These sun-dried leaves form the coca of commerce.

140

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

When of good quality they are of a pale green
colour. Dampness causes them to become dark
coloured, in which state they are less esteemed, and
their smell less agreeable. If they heat through
dampness, they become altogether useless. Their
taste is not unpleasant ; it is slightly bitter and aro-
matic, and resembles that of green tea of inferior
quality. It becomes more piquant and agreeable
when a sprinkling of quicklime or plant ashes is
chewed along with them.

ANCIENT USE OF THE COCA LEAF.

141

1°. Ancient use of the coca leaf. — The use of
this plant among the Indians of South America dates
from very remote periods. When the Spanish con-
querors overcame the native races of the hilly country
of Peru, they found extensive plantations of an herb
called coca, * (see Map). And they observed among
these races the singular custom of chewing the leaves
of this plant during frequent short periods of repose,
specially set apart for the purpose. So general, in-
deed, was the use of this plant, and so common the
demand for it, that it formed the usual money, or
medium of exchange, in Peru.-f- The practice of
using this plant was already ancient among the In-
dian races, and its origin was lost in the mists of
remote antiquity. After the introduction of gold
and silver money it became the principal article of
traffic. Its cultivation was a care of the native govern-
ments during the reign of the Incas, and it continues
equally prevalent to the present day. The beloved
leaf is still to the Indian of the mountains the delight,
the support, and in some measure the necessity of his
life. He is never seen without the leathern pouch
(his chuspa) to contain his coca leaves, and his little
gourd-bottle to hold powdered unslacked lime — or, if
he is a Bolivian, the alkaline ashes of the quinoa, of
the musa root, or of certain other plants.

_ * The word Coca is derived from the Aymara (Indian) word Khoka,
signifying "plant," in the same way as in Paraguay the indigenous
tea-plant is called Yerba, "the plant" par excellence.

t As tobacco does now among the Damaras, Ovampo, and other
tribes of South- Western Africa, lately visited by Mr Galton.— See his
Trovical South Africa, p. 206.

142

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

When preparing to acullicar^ or chew, he first
makes himself as comfortable as circumstances will
permit. He lays down his burden, if he has one; he
seats himself, and putting his chuspa between his
knees, he pulls out, one by one, the leaves which are
to form his new ball. The attention he gives to this
operation is worthy of remark. The satisfaction with
which he dips his hand into the midst of the leaves
of a full chuspa, and the regret with which he looks
upon his little bag when it is nearly empty — these
little things prove that to the Indian the custom is a
source of real happiness, and not the mere conse-
quence of a want — (Weddell). Always three, and
sometimes four times a-day, he rests from his mining
or other labour, or pauses in his journey, and lays
down his burden, to chew in quiet the beloved leaf.

When riding, or walking, or labouring, the leaves
have little effect. As with opium and hemp, stillness
and repose are indispensable to his full eujoyment of
the luxury it produces. In the shade of a tree he
stretches himself at ease, and from time to time puts
into his mouth a few leaves rolled into a ball (an
acullico), and after each new supply a little un slacked
lime on the end of a slip of wood moistened and
dipped into his lime-flask. This brings out the true
taste of the leaf, and causes a copious flow of greenish-
coloured saliva, which is partly rejected and partly
swallowed. When the ball ceases to emit juice it is
thrown away, and a new supply is taken.

PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF COCA. 143

The interval of enjoyment conceded to the labour-
ing Indian lasts from fifteen minutes to half an hour,
and is generally wound up by the smoking of a paper
cigar. Kepeated three or four times a-day, his average
consumption of coca is an ounce or an ounce and a half
in the twenty-four hours, and on holidays double that
quantity. The owners of mines and plantations have
long found it for their interest to allow a suspension
of labour three times a-day for the chaccar, as it is
called ; and the Indian speedily quits an employer
who endeavours to stint or deprive him of these
periods of indulgence. During these periods his
phlegm is something marvellous. No degree of
urgency or entreaty on the part of his master or
employer will move him; while the confirmed coquero,
when under the influence of the leaf, is heedless of
the thunderstorm which threatens to drown him where
he lies, of the roar of approaching wild beasts, or of
the smoking fire which creeps along the grass and is
about to suffocate or scorch him in his lair.

The Indians of the Peruvian Andes are subject to
fits of melancholy, or are generally perhaps of a
gloomy temperament. " In their domestic relations,"
says Von Tschudi, "the Indians are unsocial and
gloomy. Husband, wife, and children live together
with but little appearance of affection. The children
seem to approach their parents timidly, and whole
days sometimes elapse without the interchange of a
word of kindness between them. When not en^ag-ed

144 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

in out-door work, the Indian sits gloomily in his hut,
chewing coca and brooding silently over his own
thoughts." *

Dr Weddell, who has lately travelled in Bolivia,
bears a similar testimony in regard to the appearance
and manners of these people. " It is difficult," he
says, " to have lived for any time among these men
without being struck by the expression of concentrated
melancholy which can be read upon their features, and
which seems to speak of an undefined but constant
suffering. This physiognomy is, above all, remark-
able among the Aymaras, whose character is also
more taciturn than that of the Quichuas, who inhabit
along with them the table-lands of the Andes." f

One would have supposed that when the free
republics of South America were established, the
trials of the long-oppressed aborigines would have
been at an end, and that something like political
equality would have been established among the dif-
ferent races. But such is not the case. In Bolivia,
every Indian from eighteen to fifty years of age is
subjected to a poll-tax of five dollars if he is a
labourer, and from six to ten if he is a proprietor;
and this tax is collected half-yearly. No equivalent
tax is imposed upon the whites, and from this source
four and a half millions of dollars are derived — the
total yearly revenue of the republic being only ten
and a half millions. The unhappy race, therefore, is

* Travels in Peru, 1838 to 1842, p. 450. London, 1847.

+ Weddell. Voyage dans It Nordde la BoUvie, V&ris, P. 61.

EFFECTS OF THE COCA LEAF.

145

still ground down by the dominant blood, and the
melancholy feeling of inferiority is still perpetuated.

It does not appear, however, that the coca adds to
the gloom of the unhappy Indian ; on the contrary,
he takes it to relieve himself for the time from the
peculiarities of his temperament. Silence and ab-
straction are necessary to the enjoyment, but the use
of it makes him cheerful ; and it is to the unhappy,
often oppressed, and always poor Peruvian, the source
of his highest pleasures. It has come down to him as
a relic of the ancient enjoyments of his people, and
during the fantasy it produces, he participates in
scenes and pleasures from which in common life he
is altogether excluded. Dr Weddell very sensibly
remarks, that, as a relic of the past, he attaches " su-
perstitious ideas to the coca, which must triple, in his
imagination, the benefits he receives from it," and that
its value to him is further enhanced by its being the
" sole and only distraction which breaks the incom-
parable monotony of his existence."

2°. Geneeal effects of THE Coca leaf. — The
coca leaf acts differently according to the way in
which it is used. When infused and drunk like tea,
it produces a gentle excitement, followed by wakeful-
ness ; and, if taken strong, retards the approach of
hunger, prevents the usual breathlessness in climbing
hills, and, in large doses, dilates the pupil and renders
the eye intolerant of light. It is seldom used in this
way, however, but is usually chewed in the form of a
i)all or quid, which is turned over and over in the

VOL. IL T,

146 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

mouth as is done with tobacco. In this way its action
is more gradual and prolonged than when the infu-
sion only is taken. It is also very different in its
character, because the constant chewing, the con-
tinued action of the saliva, and the influence of the
lime or ashes chewed along with it, extract from the
leaf certain other active constituents which water
alone does not dissolve when it is infused after the
manner of tea.

The cultivation and use of the coca has extended
from the slopes of the Andes eastward, to different
parts of Brazil, and to the river of the Amazons.
But here it is used somewhat differently. The leaves
are dried and reduced to powder in a wooden mortar
along with the ash of the leaves of Cecropia peltata,
and in this mixed state are preserved for use. From
time to time a portion of this greenish grey powder is
introduced into the mouth, especially when it is desired
to overcome hunger or drowsiness. It augments the
secretion of saliva, produces a sensation of fulness and
warmth in the mouth, stills hunger, and increases
bodily activity.

We have no detailed account, by an actual chewer
of the leaf, of the special effects which it produces ;
but these must be very seducing, since, though long
stigmatised, and still very generally considered as a
degrading, purely Indian, and therefore despicable
vice, many white Peruvians at Lima and elsewhere
retire daily at stated times to chew the coca. Even
Europeans in different parts of the country have

CRAVING OF THE COQUERO.

147

fallen into the habit. A confirmed chewer of coca is
called a " coquero," and he is said to become occa-
sionally more thoroughly a slave to the leaf than the
inveterate drunkard is to spirituous liquors.

Sometimes the coquero is overtaken by a craving
which he cannot resist, and he betakes himself for
days together to the silence of the woods, and there
indulges unrestrained in the use of the weed. Young
men of the best families in Peru become sometimes
addicted to this extreme degree of excess, and are
then considered as lost. Forsaking cities and the
company of civilised men, and living chiefly in woods
or in Indian villages, they give themselves up to a
savage and solitary life. Hence the term, a white
coquero, has there something of the same evil sense
as irreclaimable drunkard has with us.

The chewing of coca gives " a bad breath (abomin-
able, according to Weddell), pale lips and gums,
greenish and stumpy teeth, and an ugly black mark
at the angles of the mouth. The inveterate coquero
is known at the first glance. His unsteady gait, his
yellow skin, his dim and sunken eyes encircled by a
purple ring, his quivering lips, and his general apathy,
all bear evidence of the baneful effects of the coca
juice when taken in excess." — (VoK TscHUDi).

Its first evil effect is to weaken the digestion ; it
then gradually induces a disease locally named the
opilacion. Biliary affections, with all the painful
symptoms which attend them in tropical climates,
and, above all, gall stones, are frequent and severe.

148 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

The appetite becomes exceedingly uncertain, till at
length the dislike to all food is succeeded by an inor-
dinate appetite for animal excrement. Then dropsical
swellings and boils come on ; and the patient, if he
can get it, flies to brandy for relief, and thus drags out
a few miserable years, till death relieves him.*

These descriptions are sufficiently repulsive, but
they exhibit only the dark side of the picture. A
similar representation could be truthfully made of the
evil effects of wine or beer in too numerous cases,
without thereby implying that these liquors ought
either to be wholly forbidden, or of our own accord
entirely given up. Where coca was most in use, Dr
Weddell states that he met with none of the extreme
cases mentioned by Poppig. The chewing of the leaf,
he says, produces ill effects sometimes upon Europeans
who have not contracted the habit in their youth.
And in two or three cases which came under his
observation, he ascribed to the abuse of it the pro-
duction of a " peculiar aberration of the intellectual
faculties characterised by hallucinations." Von
Tschudi also, as the sum of his inquiries, says : " Set-
ting aside all extravagant and visionary notions on
the subject, I am clearly of opinion that the moderate
use of coca is not merely innoxious, but that it may
even be very conducive to health. In support of this
conclusion, I may refer to the numerous examples of
longevity among Indians who, almost from the age of

* PoPPiG, Reise in Chile, Peru und aufdem Amazon Strom, 1827 to
1832, chap. iv.

OPINION OF THE INDIANS.

149

boyhood, have been in the habit of masticating coca
three times a -day. Cases are not unfrequent of
Indians attaining the great age of 130 years; and
these men, at the ordinary rate of consumption, must
in the course of their lives have chewed not less than
2700 lb. of the leaf, and yet have retained perfect
health. Even the Indian coquero, who takes it in
excess, reaches the age of fifty years. It is consumed
both more abundantly, however, and with less baneful
results, in the higher Andes than in the lower and
warmer regions."

It is certain that the Peruvian Indians have always
ascribed to it the most extraordinary virtues. Clu-
sius, writing in 1605, says that when he asked the
Indians why they always had the coca in their mouths,
the answer was, that, when using it, neither hunger
nor thirst annoyed them, while their strength and
vigour were confirmed ; and Dr Unanui, in the title
of his Dissertation on the plant (Lima, 1794), speaks
of it as " La famosa planta del Peru nombrada coca."

At the present day the Indians still regard it as
something sacred and mysterious. This impression
they have probably inherited as a fragment of their
ancient religion, for in all the ceremonies, whether
warlike or religious, of the times of the Incas, the
coca was introduced. It was used by the priests
either for producing smoke at the great offerings to
the gods, for throwing in handfuls upon the sacrifice,
or as the sacrifice itself

" During divine worship the priests chewed coca

150 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

leaves, and unless they were supplied with them, it
was believed that the favour of the gods could not be
propitiated. It was also deemed necessary that the
supplicator for divine grace should approach the
priests with an acullico in his mouth. It was believed
that any business undertaken without the benediction
of coca leaves could not prosper, and to the shrub
itself worship was rendered. During an interval of
more than three hundred years Christianity has not
been able to subdue this deep-rooted idolatry, for
everywhere we find traces of belief in the mysterious
powers of this plant. The excavators in the mines
of Cerro de Pasco throw chewed coca on hard veins
of metal, in the belief that it softens the ore and ren-
ders it more easy to work. The origin of this custom
is easily explained, when it is recollected that in the
time of the Incas it was believed that the cozas — the
deities of metals — rendered the mountains impene-
trable if they were not propitiated by the odour of
coca. The Indians, even at the present time, put
coca leaves into the mouths of dead persons, to secure
to them a favourable reception on their entrance into
another world ; and when a Peruvian Indian on a
journey falls in with a mummy, he, with timid reve-
rence, presents to it some coca leaves as his pious
offering." — (VON TscHUDi).

3°. Characteristic effects of the Coca leaf.
— Even those Europeans who are best acquainted with
the Indian races, and have seen most of the action of
this plant upon them, do not deny that, in addition to

LESSENS THE DESIRE FOR FOOD.

151

the ordinary properties of a weak narcotic, the coca
leaves possess two extraordinary qualities not known
to co-exist in any other substance. These are —

First, That when chewed they lessen the desire, and
apparently the necessity also, for ordinary food. They
not only enable the chewer, as brandy and opium do, to
put forth a greater nervous energy for a short time, but
actually, with the same amount of food, perseveringly
to undergo more laborious fatigue or longer-continued
labour. With a feeble ration of dried maize, or bar-
ley crushed into flour, the Indian, if duly supplied
with coca, toils under heavy burdens, day after day,
up the steep slopes of the mountain passes ; or digs for
years in the subterranean mines, insensible to weari-
ness, to cold, or to hunger. He believes, indeed, that
it may be made a substitute for food altogether ; and
an instance given by Von Tschudi seems almost to
justify this opinion.

" A cholo of Huari, named Hatan Huamang, was
employed by me in very laborious digging. During
the five days and nights he was in my service he never
tasted any food, and took only two hours' sleep each
night. But at intervals of two and a half or three
hours he regularly chewed about half an ounce of coca
leaves, and he kept an acullico continually in his
mouth. I was constantly beside him, and therefore
I had the opportunity of closely observing him. The
work for which I engaged him being finished, he
accompanied me on a two days' journey of twenty-
three leagues across the level heights. Though on

152 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

foot, he kept up with the pace of my mule, and halted
only for the chaccar. On leaving me, he declared he
would willingly engage himself again for the same
amount of work, and that he would go through it
without food, if I would but allow him a sufficient
supply of coca. The village priest assured me that
this man was sixty-two years of age, and that he
had never known him to be ill in his life."

How this remarkable effect of the coca is to be
accounted for, in accordance with received notions on
the subject of animal nutrition, it is not easy to see.
Dr Weddell, who is less decided in his praise of the
virtues of the leaf, says that the facts in favour of the
o]3inion that it is capable of sujDportiug the strength,
in the absence of all other nourishment, have been
advanced by so many persons worthy of credit, that
we must push our scepticism very far if we are to
doubt them. He asserts however, that, as commonly
used, coca does not satisfy the appetite. The Indians
who accompanied him in his tour, though they chewed
all day, yet at night ate like hungry men, and some-
times at a single meal swallowed as much as would
serve him two days. The power of enabling them to
support abstinence, therefore, is all he is willing, from
his limited experience, to concede to the plant. It
produces, he says, a j)eculiar excitement, slow and
sustained, not like that of tea and coffee, exercised
chiefly on the brain, but diffused generally over the
nervous system.

The least we can concede to the plant, therefore.

AIDS THE RESPIRATION.

153

seems to be, that it enables the body to feed upon
itself, so to speak, for a length of time, without the
hunger-pains and weakness which usually accompany
the prolonged abstinence from ordinary food.

Second, The other extraordinary property of the
leaf is, that, either when chewed or when taken in the
form of infusion, like tea, it prevents the occurrence
of that difficulty of respiration which is usually felt in
ascending the long and steep slopes of the Cordillera
and the Puna.

" When I was in the Puna," says Yon Tschudi, " at
the height of fourteen thousand feet above the level
of the sea, I drank always, before going out to hunt,
a strong infusion of coca leaves. I could then, during
the whole day, climb the heights and follow the swift-
footed wild animals, without experiencing any greater
difficulty of breathing than I should have felt in simi-
lar rapid movements on the coast. Moreover, I did
not suffer from the symptoms of cerebral excitement
or uneasiness which other travellers have experienced.
The reason perhaps is, that I only drank the decoc-
tion on the cold Puna, where the nervous system is
far less susceptible than in the climate of the forests
beneath. However, I always felt a sense of great
satiety after taking the coca infusion, and I did not
feel a desire for my next meal until after the time at
which I usually took it."

The reason of this action of the leaf is not less diffi-
cult to make out than that of its alleged strength-
sustaining capabilities.

154 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

When the Spanish conquerors took possession of
Peru, the Indians and all their customs were treated
by them with equal contempt ; but everything con-
nected with their religion was especially denounced
by the Spanish priests. Hence the use of coca was
condemned and forbidden.

A council of the church denounced it in 1567 as a
" worthless substance, fitted for the misuse and super-
stition of the Indians \ and a royal decree, in 1569,
condemned the idea that coca gives strength, as an
" illusion of the devil.'' But these fulminations were
of no avail. The Peruvians still clung to their
esteemed national leaf, and the owners of mines and
plantations, discovering its efficacy in enabling their
slaves to perform the heavy tasks they imposed upon
them, soon became its warm defenders. Even church-
men at last came to regard it with indulgence, and,
stranger still, to recommend its introduction mto
Europe.

One of the warmest advocates of the plant was the
Jesuit Don Antonio Julian, who, in a work entitled
Perla de America, laments that coca is not intro-
duced into Europe instead of tea and coffee. " It is,"
he observes, " melancholy to reflect that the poor of
Europe cannot obtain this preservative against hun-
ger and thirst, and that our working people are not
supported by this strengthening plant in their long-
continued labours."

Dr Don Pedro Nolasco Crespo, again, in a treatise
published in 1793, insisted upon the advantages which

ITS USE RECOMMENDED.

155

mio-ht be derived from the introduction of the plant
into the European navies. More recently Von
Tschudi has also recommended it as fitted " to afford
a nutritious refreshment to seamen in the exercise of
their laborious duties, and to counteract the unwhole-
some effect of salt provisions/' And, lastly, Professor
Schlechtendal, who has lately written upon the coca,
after commending it as tonic, soothing, and nutritive,
— as preventing weakness of the stomach, and the
obstructions, colic and hypochondria, to which such
weakness gives rise, — adds that, " without doubt, the
leaves might be usefully employed in Europe."

With all this testimony in its favour, we may, I
think, dismiss those fears of the coca leaf which old
Spanish prejudices awakened, and which representa-
tions, like those of Poppig, have tended to perpetuate
in Europe. There is no good reason why it should
not be tried among ourselves. In our climate, and
after so long a sea voyage, no doubt its effects would
be weaker than in its native country, but good may
possibly follow from the use of it nevertheless.

4°. Chemical history of the Coca leaf. —
Of the chemical history of this remarkable leaf we are
as yet in a great measure ignorant. It is known, how-
ever, to contain at least three different constituents,
upon the joint action of all of which the observed
effects of the leaf probably in some measure depend.
These are an odoriferous resinous substance, a bitter
principle, and a species of tannic acid.

First, The odoriferous resin. — As they reach this

156 THE NAECOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

country, the leaves are coated or smoothed over with
a resinous or waxy substance, which is only sparingly
soluble in water, but which ether readily dissolves.
When digested in ether for the purpose of extracting
this substance, a beautiful dark green solution is ob-
tained, which, on being evaporated in the open air,
leaves a brownish resin, possessed of a powerful, pecu-
liar, and penetrating odour. When exposed for a
length of time to the air, this resinous matter dimin-
ishes in quantity, and gradually loses the whole of
its smell, leaving a fusible, nearly inodorous matter
behind. Ether therefore extracts at least two sub-
stances from the leaf, one of which is very volatile, and
has a powerful odour. It is probable that in this
volatile substance the narcotic qualities of the leaf
reside. And this is consistent with the fact, that the
leaves gradually lose their smell and virtue, and, after
twelve months, are generally considered worthless ;
and with the assertion of those who live in the coca
country, that only among them are the real virtues
of the leaf ever experienced by the consumer. It is
usual to make up leaves into hard packages, covered
with fresh hides which shrink and compress the
whole as they dry. But notwithstanding this close
packing, resembling that of hard-pressed hop-jDockets,
they insensibly give off their volatile ingi^edients
as hops do, and by transport and keeping con-
tinually diminish in value and estimation. The
volatile resinous matter extracted by ether is, there-

ITS CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 157

fore, one of the most important ingredients of the
coca leaf. — (Johnston.)

Second, The hitter principle. — We have seen in
a preceding chapter* that tea and coffee, besides the
volatile ingredients to which their aroma is owing, con-
tain a white, bitter, crystallisable substance known by
the name of theine ; and that to this theine the re-
markable properties of these beverages are partly to be
ascribed. Coca also contains a bitter principle, which
alcohol is capable of dissolving out of the leaves —
(Fremy). But this bitter compound does not crys-
tallise, and has not yet been obtained in a pure state,
or rigorously examined. It can scarcely be doubted
that the effect of the leaf upon the coca-chewer is
due in part to the presence of this coca bitter ; but
what is the exact nature of its action upon the system
has not as yet been physiologically investigated.

Third. Besides these two substances, the coca leaf
contains also a portion of a tannic acid, which, like
the tannic acid of tea, gives a black colour with what
are called ^er salts -f- of iron. — (WACKlENRirDER).

The proportions in which these several known in-
gredients occur in the leaf have not been determined.

5°. How THE Coca leaf acts.— It will strike the
reader that even this imperfect knowledge of the
chemistry of the plant shows a singular analogy be-
tween the coca leaf, the hop flower, and the tea leaf

* See The Beverages we inpuse, vol. i. pp. 171, 208.

+ These are compounds of the red orjoer-oxide of iron with acids.

158

THE NARCOTIC'S WE INDULGE IN.

of China. All contain a volatile, aroma-giving ingre-
dient ; in all a bitter principle exists ; and from all
of them a tannic acid can be extracted. Yet if, with
this small amount of chemical knowledge — aided
even by what we know of the action of tea and the
hop — we attempt to explain the remarkable effects
produced by the coca leaf, we utterly fail.

How the mere chewing of one or two ounces of these
leaves in a day, partly rejecting and partly swallow-
ing the saliva,* but wholly rejecting the chewed leaf —
how this supports the strength, or can materially
nourish the body in the ordinary acceptation of the
term, we cannot understand. It cannot give much
to the body ; it must therefore act simply in prevent-
ing or greatly diminishing the ordinary and natural
waste of the tissues which usually accompanies
bodily exertion. As wine and tea act upon the nerv-
ous system of the aged, so as to restrain the natural
waste to a quantity which the now weakened diges-
tion can readily replace, and thus maintain the
weight of the body undiminished, — so it is probably
with coca. In the young and middle-aged it lessens
the waste of the tissues, and thus enables a smaller
supply of food to sustain the weight and strength of
the body.

The coca leaf resembles that of hemp, in the nar-
cotic quality of dilating the pupil, which opium does
not possess. But, on the other hand, it resembles

* Dr Weddell states that the saliva is never rejected ; and, being a
later authoritj' than Von Tschudi, whom I have followed in the text,
he is probably correct.

COCA RESEMBLES OPIUM.

159

opium in the new strength it imparts to the worn
and weary body. The Turkish courier, or the Cutchee
horseman, under the influence of opium, reminds us
of the Peruvian miner or muleteer who has plenty of
coca. In spite of fatigue and exhaustion, both compel
their failing limbs to new exertion, and, unconscious
of new pain, accomplish most wonderful labours. And
in the proneness of the coca-eater to a solitary life we
recognise an influence of this herb similar to that which
opium exercises upon those who have experienced its
highest enjoyments. It is alone and in retirement that
the Eastern opium-eater finds his greatest pleasure.
And in our own less sunny climate the same inclination
appears to exist. " Markets and theatres," says De
Quincey, " are not the appropriate haunts of the
opium-eater when in the divinest state incident to
his enjoyment. In that state crowds become an
oppression to him, music even too sensual and gross.
He naturally seeks solitude and silence as indispen-
sable conditions of those trances or profoundest reve-
ries, which are the crown and consummation of what
opium can do for human nature. At that time I
often fell into these reveries on taking opium ; and
more than once it has happened to me on a summer
night, when I have been at an open window, in a
room from which I could overlook the sea at a mile
below me, and could command a view of the great

town of L at about the same distance, that I

have sat from sunset to sunrise, motionless, and with-
out wishing to move."

160 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

This description recalls exactly the picture of the
confirmed coquero reclining for hours beneath his shel-
tering tree, absorbed, abstracted, and heedless of all
external things. Whether his apathy and phlegm
ever approached to that of the coquero, the English
Opium-eater does not inform us.

6° Consumption of Coca leap.— We have no
accurate data from which to form an estimate of the
actual weight of coca leaf collected and consumed in
Bolivia and Peru. Poppig estimates the money value
of the yearly produce to be about four and a half
millions of Prussian dollars, which, at Is. a pound,
the price it yields to the grower, would make the
annual produce nearly 15,000,000 lb. This approxi-
mation is sufficient to show us its importance to the
higher regions of South America, in an agricultural
and commercial, as well as in a social point of view.

Dr Weddell again, who has recently travelled in
Bolivia, informs us that the province of Yongas, in
Bolivia, in which the coca is much cultivated, alone
produces 9,600,000 Spanish pounds. The total pro-
duce, therefore, is probably much beyond the
15,000,000 lb. deduced from the statement of
Poppig.

The importance of the plant is shown also by an-
other fact mentioned by the same traveller — that the
revenue of the state of Bolivia, in 1850, amounted to
ten and a-half millions of francs, of which nine hun-
dred thousand, or one-twelfth of the whole, is derived
from the tax on coca. Had he told us the amount of

CONSUMPTION OF COCA.

161

the tax per pound, we should have been able to ap-
proximate more nearly to the total produce of the
state of Bolivia.

When we consider that eastward from Bolivia and
Peru, the culture and use of coca have extended into
parts of Brazil and to the banks of the Amazon, it
will not appear exaggerated if we estimate the actual
growth and consumption of the dried coca-leaf at
80,000,000 lb. a-year. At Is. a pound, this is worth
a million and a-half sterling ; and at the average pro-
duce of 800 lb. an acre, it implies the use of 37,000
acres of good and carefully cultivated land for the
growth of this plant. We may estimate also that the
chewing of coca is more or less indulged in among
about ten millions of the human race.

VOL. II.

CHAPTEE XXL

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

THE THORN-APPLES, THE StBERIAN FUNGUS, AND THE
MINOR NARCOTICS.

The red thorn-apple ; its use among the Indians of Peru ; its remark-
able effects ; taken by the Indian priests ; frenzy induced by it ;
used in the temples of the Andes and of Greece ; Delphic oracles
inspired by it ; singular coincidence in priestly deceptions. — The
common thorn-apple ; its use in Europe for criminal purposes — In
Eussia, for giving headiness to beer ; in India, to ardent spirits —
How it is employed by the poisoners of India— Spectral illusions
occasioned by the use of it — Narcotic qualities of the leaves. —
Chemical history of the thorn-apples. — The poisonous datm-in and
the empyreumatic oil ; their joint influence in smoking. — The
Siberian fungus ; how collected and used ; its intoxicating effects ;
delusions created by it ; its active principle escapes in the urine ;
may be again used repeatedly, and by different persons ; Siberian
custom. — The common puff-ball ; narcotic quahties of its smoke
when burning. — Chemistry of the poisonous fungi ; they contain
amanitin. — Empyreumatic oil of the burning puff-ball. — The minor
narcotics : The emetic holly, the narcotic of Florida ; how it is
used. — The deadly nightshade ; its remarkable effects ; desti-uction
of a Norwegian army in Scotland. — The common henbane. — The
bearded darnel gives headiness to beei-, and poisons bread. — Sweet
gale ; its use for giving bitterness to beer. — Heather beer of the
Picts and Danes. — The rhododendrons, poisonous and narcotic. —
The Azalea pontica gives its peculiar quahties to the Euxine or
Trebizond honey. — The andromedas and kalmias of North America
act as narcotics. — Poisoning by partridge flesh. — Narcotic effects of
sweet odours on some constitutions.

XII. The Thorn-apples. — The history of the
thorn-apples as familiar narcotics is no less interest-

THE KED THOEN-APPLE.

163

ing, and their effects upon tlie system not less re-
markable, than those of any of the substances I have
hitherto described. Two species are known to be
employed in different parts of the world.

1°. The EED Thoen-apple (Datura sanguinea),
fig. 73, is in use among the Indians of the Andes, by
some tribes of whom Fig. 73.

the coca leaf, al-
ready described, is
principally consum-
ed. It grows on the
less steep slopes of
the Andean valleys,
and is called by the
natives Bovachero,
or Yerba de huaca.
The fruit of the
plant is the part
employed, and from
it the Indians pre-
pare a strong nar-
cotic drink, which
they call Tonga.
By the use of this
drink they believe that they are brought into com-
munication with the spirits of their forefathers. Von
Tschudi had an opportunity of observing an Indian
under the influence of this drug, and he thus describes
its effects : " Shortly after having swallowed the beve-
rage, he fell into a heavy stupor. He sat with his eyes

Datura sanguinea— The Eed Thorn- Apple.
Scale, one inch to nine inches.

164 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

vacantly fixed on the ground, his mouth convulsively
closed, and his nostrils dilated. In the course of about
a quarter of an hour his eyes began to roll, foam issued
from his half-opened lips, and his whole body was
agitated by frightful convulsions. These violent
symptoms having subsided, a profound sleep of seve-
ral hours succeeded. In the evening, when I saw
him again, he was relating to a circle of attentive
listeners the particulars of his vision, during which he
alleged he had held communication with the spirits
of his forefathers. He appeared very weak and ex-
hausted." *

In former times, the Indian priests, when they
pretended to transport themselves into the presence
of their deities, drank the juice of this thorn-apple,
in order to excite themselves to a state of ecstasy.
And although the establishment of Christianity has
weaned the Indians from their idolatry, it has not
yet banished their old superstitions. They still be-
lieve that they can hold communication with the
spirits of their ancestors, and that they can obtain
from them a clue to the treasures concealed in the
huacas, or graves : hence the Indian name of the
thorn-apple, Huaca-cachu — grave-plant — or Yerba de
huaca.

When the decoction is taken very strong, it brings
on attacks of furious excitement. The whole plant
is narcotic, but it is in the seeds that the greatest
virtue resides. These are said by some authors to

* Von Tsohudi, Travels in Peru, p. 269.

PRIESTLY DECEPTIONS.

165

have been used also by the priests of the Delphic
temple in ancient Greece to produce those frenzied
ravings which were then called prophecies. Such a
practice certainly obtained in the Temple of the Sun
at Sogamossa — (Lindley). This Sogamossa is near
Bogota, in the Andes of New Granada.

It is sufficiently strange to see how similar modes
and means of imposition were made use of by the
priests of nearly every false religion in ancient times,
for the purpose of deluding their credulous country-
men. But it is truly remarkable that among the
mountains of Greece, in the palmiest days of that
classic country, the same observed effects, of the same
wild plant, should have been employed by the priests
of Apollo to deceive the intellectual Greeks, as at the
same time were daily used by the priests of the sun
to deceive the rude and credulous Indians among the
far distant mountains of the Andes. The pretended
second-sight, and the other marvels told of the old
seers of the Scottish Highlands, may owe their origin
to nothing more noble or mysterious than a draught
of thorn-apple, nightshade, or belladonna tea.

2°. The common Thorn-apple {Datura stramo-
nium) has been long known even in Europe to possess
narcotic properties. In Germany and France the
seeds are said to be frequently made use of for the
perpetration of crime.* In Russia they are added to
beer to make it heady and intoxicating— a practice
which formerly prevailed also in China, but has been

* Christison On Poisons, p. 841.

166

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

now long forbidden — (Gmelin). In Upper India, the
mountain villagers of Sirinagur, and other provinces,
employ the same seeds to add to the intoxicating
qualities of their common spirituous liquors. In
Lower India, the poisoners, who all belong to the
caste of Pasie, or dealers in toddy, make use of the
seeds of the datura in plying their odious craft. They
go about singly or in gangs, haunting the traveller's
resting-places, where they drop half a rupee weight
of seeds, pounded or whole, into his food. This pro-
duces an intoxication of twenty hours' duration, during
which he is robbed, and left either to recover or to
sink under the stupefying effects of the narcotic. The
seed is gathered at any time, place, or age of the
plant, without apparent influence upon its efficacy —
(Dr Hooker).*

In this country the seeds are rarely used, except
under the direction of a medical man, or when they
happen to be swallowed by mistake ; and it is singu-
lar that when an overdose does happen thus to be
taken, especially if it is by a child, the delirium it
occasions is often accompanied by spectral illusions
more or less wild. A little girl who had taken a
drachm and a half of the seeds became furiously deli-
rious in two hours, saw spectral illusions, and so con-
tinued during the night, with intervals of lethargic
sleep. Next morning she fell fast asleep, and after some
hours awoke quite well— (Fowler). The symptoms
of this case very closely resemble the reputed effects

* Himalayan Journals, vol. i. p. 66.

THOEN-APPLE CIGAES.

167

of the seeds of tlie red datura on the Indians of New-
Granada. They remind us of the supposed meetings
with their ancestors, which, under the influence of the
infusion, the Indians esteem themselves privileged to
hold.

The narcotic property is not confined to the seeds,
but is probably possessed by the whole plant. Alarm-
ing narcotic effects have been produced by applying
the leaves to an extensive bum, where, from the
removal of the skin, the ingredients of the leaf were
capable of being absorbed into the system of the
patient. In this country the dried leaves and plant
are frequently smoked by persons affected with certain
forms of spasmodic asthma. For this use they are
sometimes made up into the form of cigars, and sold
by the druggists for smoking in the same way as
tobacco. The smoke is generally swallowed, but few
persons, I believe, attempt to use it, except by the
direction of a medical adviser.

All the species of thorn-apple, so far as they have
hitherto been examined, contain a solid, white, crys-
talline, poisonous compound, to which the name of
daturin has been given. The taste of this substance
is at first bitterish, it then becomes acrid, and recalls
the taste of tobacco. When taken internally, it
strongly dilates the pupil, and in its general action
upon the system very much resembles the poisonous
principle contained in the well-known common hen-
bane {Hyoscyamus niger). It is to the action of this
ingredient that the singular effects produced by the

168 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

seeds, as above described, are believed to be chiefly
due.

But when the thorn-apple, leaf and stem, are
smoked, an empyreumatic oil is produced similar to
that which is yielded by tobacco leaves when burning
in the pipe of the smoker.* Like that of tobacco,
also, this empyreumatic oil is very poisonous. The
narcotic, soothing, and spasm-stilling effects of the
smoke of the thorn-apple, are partly due to the pre-
sence of the vapours of this oil. The poisonous da-
turin of the stramonium leaf may also rise in vapour
and mingle with the smoke, as the poisonous nicotin
does with the smoke of burning tobacco (p. 29) ; but
this has not as yet been tested by experiment. If so,
then, as in the case of tobacco, the full effect experi-
enced by smoking the datura is made up of the joint
influence of the mixed vapours of the daturin and
of the empyreumatic oil which the smoke contains.
The presence of these powerfully narcotic and poison-
ous principles explains why, as experience has proved,
the smoking of the thorn-apple is by no means unat-
tended with danger. The custom of swallowing the
smoke causes more of the poisonous ingredients to be
absorbed into the system than is usually the case in
the smoking of tobacco.

XIII. The Siberian or intoxicating fungus
(Amanita muscaria) is to the native of Kamtschatka
what opium and hemp are to the eastern Asiatics,

* See the chapter on Tobacco, p. 30.

THE SIBERIAN FUNGUS. 169

coca to the Peruvian, and tobacco to the European
and North American races. The natural craving for
narcotic indulgences has in Siberia found its gratifica-
tion in a humble toadstool.

This fungus has a close resemblance to some of the
edible fungi, and is not unlike our common mush-
room (fig. 74). It grows very abundantly in some
parts of Kamtschatka, and
hence its use in that coun-
try. It is either collected
during the hot months,
and hung up to dry in the
air, or it is left in the
ground to ripen and dry,
and is afterwards gather-
ed. The latter are more
narcotic than those which
are artificially dried.
• "When steeped in the ex-
pressed juice of the native

■whortleberry (VaCCinium Amanita ,««.mna- Siberian or lu-
uliginOSUm), this fungus toxicatlng Fungus.

imparts to it the intoxicating properties of strong
wine. Eaten fresh in soups and sauces, it exhibits a
less powerful intoxicating quality. But the most
common way of using it is to roll it up like a bolus,
and to swallow it whole without chewing. If chewed,
it is said to disorder the stomach.

One large or two small fungi are a common dose to
produce a pleasant intoxication for a whole day. If

Fig. 74.

170

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

water be drank after it, the narcotic action is in-
creased. The desired effect comes on in the course of
an hour or two after the dose is taken. Cheerfulness
is first produced, then the face becomes flushed, giddi-
ness and drunkenness follow in the same way as from
wine or spirits, involuntary words and actions succeed,
and sometimes the final effect is an entire loss of con-
sciousness. In some it provokes to remarkable activ-
ity, and stimulates to bodily exertion. In too large
doses it induces violent spasms. Upon some indivi-
duals it produces effects which are very ludicrous. A
talkative person cannot keep silence or secrets. One
fond of music is perpetually singing ; and if a person
under its influence wishes to step over a straw or small
stick, he takes a stride or a jump sufficient to clear the
trunk of a tree.

The haschisch produces similar erroneous impres-
sions as to size and distance as the one last mentioned.
And it is singular that the erroneous perceptions to
which these drugs give rise temporarily — and in the
case of haschisch, with a half consciousness of their
deceptive character — exist permanently in many
lunatics. The reader may also have met with de-
scriptions of old women who were proved to be
witches by their being unable to step over a straw !

But the most singular effect of the amanita is the
property it imparts to the fluid excretions. It has
been known from time immemorial to the inhabi-
tants of Siberia that the fungus gives to the urine an
intoxicating quality. This continues for a consider-

REMAEKABLE PROPEETY. 171

able time after taking it, so that a man who is mode-
rately intoxicated the one day, and has slept himself
sober by the next morning, will, by drinking — as is
the custom — a tea-cup of his own urine, become more
completely intoxicated than before. It is not un-
common, therefore, for confirmed drunkards in that
country to preserve their urine as a precious liquor
in case of a scarcity of the fungus. This intoxicating
property of the fluid is capable of being propagated,
so to speak ; for every one who partakes of it is
similarly affected. Dr Langsdorff says, that if a
second person takes the urine of the first, a third that
of the second, and so on, the intoxication may be
propagated through five individuals. Thus, with a
very few amanitee, a party of drunkards may keep up
their debauch for a week.

We have already seen that morphia, the active
principle of opium, passes through the body into the
milk and other liquid excretions. The same is the
case also with the active principles of cinchona bark,
of hemlock, of belladonna, aconite, &c. The Siberian
fungus no doubt contains, like most of these, a
strongly poisonous narcotic principle. This narcotic
ingredient, however, has never been obtained in a
separate state, as no chemical investigation of this
species of fungus has ever yet been made. We can
only judge from analogy, therefore, as to the nature
of the active substance it contains.

We have no experience as yet in this part of
Europe of any effects so remarkable as these beino-

172 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

produced by any species of fungus. The qualities of
this class of plants seem to vary with the climate in
which they are grown ; but it is probable that some
of our poisonous fungi, when tried in the same way,
will be found to possess properties analogous to those
of the amanita of Siberia. This is rendered more
likely by the fact that our common puff-ball, the
Lycoperdon proteus, which is not poisonous, emits
fumes when burned which possess narcotic properties
in a high degree.

It has long been observed, indeed, that poisonous
fungi in general, when eaten, produce narcotic among
their other effects. It has also been popularly known
in this country that the smoke of the burning puff-
ball, though in itself wholesome and eatable, has the
property of stupefying bees, and it has frequently been
used for that purpose when a hive was to be robbed.
But it has recently been tried upon higher orders of
animals, and similar effects have been found to be
produced upon them also. When the fumes of the
burning fungus are slowly inhaled, all the ordinary
symptoms of intoxication gradually appear. These
are followed first by drowsiness, and then by perfect
insensibility to pain, like that which follows the use
of chloroform; and if the inhalation be continued,
this is succeeded by convulsions, occasionally by
vomiting, and after some time by death. While
recovering from its action, an animal is sometimes
perfectly conscious, while it is still insensible to pain.*

* Medical Times, June 11, 1853, and Chemist, July 1853.

CHEMISTEY OF THESE FUNGI. 173

The chemistry of this tribe of plants is still very
obscure. Two active principles, however, have been
recognised in such of the fungi as are possessed of
poisonous properties. When distilled with water,
they yield a volatile acrid principle which has been
little examined ; and when extracted by water and
alcohol, a brown solid substance is obtained, to which
— on the supposition that it is the active principle
of the genus Amanita — the name of amanitin has
been given. But neither the chemical relations nor
the specific action of these substances on the human
body have as yet been investigated. It may be
to their conjoined influence upon the system that
the singular effects of the Siberian fungus are to be
ascribed.

The unpoisonous puff-ball has not yet been shown
to contain any narcotic ingredient resembling the
amanitin of the poisonous species. The narcotic
effects produced by its smoke when burning must,
therefore, at present, be ascribed to the empyreu-
matic oil, which, like tobacco and the thorn-apples, it
yields when burned. This mingles with the smoke,
and along with the smoke is drawn into the lungs and
there absorbed.

XIV. The minor NAECOTics.~Besides the narco-
tics already mentioned, which may be regarded as
national indulgences, and are used by large bodies of
men, there are several which possess so much of a
local or historical interest, as to make them not

174 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

unworthy of a brief consideration. I class these toge-
ther under the name of Minor Narcotics.

1°. The emetic Holly {Ilex vomitoria) is the
narcotic of the Indians of Florida. An infusion or
decoction of the leaves is drunk before the opening
of their councils, and on other important occasions.
That their heads may be clear when grave questions
are about to be discussed, they are said to fast three
whole days, drinking meanwhile the infusion of this
plant. This infusion is sometimes spoken of as the
black drink, probably from its colour.

In moderate doses it acts upon the kidneys and
increases the perspiration. Taken more largely, it
moves the bowels and causes vomiting. Used in the
proper manner, it also induces a state of excitement
and frenzy, so that among the Seminoles it serves
the same purposes as opium does in the East. How-
it is administered to produce these more purely nar-
cotic effects, I have not found described by any author
to whom I have had access.

The chemical history of this plant is quite unknown.
As a holly, however, (Ilex), it is botanically related to
the plant which yields the Paraguay tea.* It pro-
bably contains an active principle, therefore, which
has an analogy to the theine of the tea leaf

2°. The deadly Nightshade. — The black berries
of the deadly nightshade or dwale (Atropa MUor
donna), by their beautiful brightness sometimes tempt
the young to eat them by mistake. They are power-

* See The Beverages we iNrusE.

THE DEADLY NIGHTSHADE.

175

fully narcotic, and among their earliest symptoms in-
duce the appearance of the most besotted drunkenness.
The dried leaves, or an infusion of the leaves, acts in
a similar manner. Even a small dose causes an extra-
vagant delirium, which is usually of an agreeable kind.
This is sometimes accompanied by excessive and un-
controllable laughter, sometimes by incessant talking,
but occasionally by a complete loss of voice. The
state of mind sometimes resembles somnambulism, as
in the case of a tailor who for fifteen hours was speech-
less and insensible to external objects, and yet went
through all the operations of his trade with great
vivacity, and moved his lips as if in conversation —
(Christison).

This narcotic is never now used among us except
as a medicine. It possesses an historical interest,
however, from the circumstance, related on the autho-
rity of Buchanan the historian, " That the destruc-
tion of the Danish army, commanded by Sweno, king
of Norway, when he invaded Scotland, was owing to
the intoxicating qualities of the berries of this plant,
which the Scots mixed with the drink they were
obliged to furnish to the invaders. For while the
Danish soldiers lay under its soporific influence, the
Scotch fell upon them, and destroyed so many, that
there were scarcely sufl&cient left to carry the king on
board of the only ship that returned to Norway.''*

3°. Common Henbane.— The roots of black hen-
bane {Hyoscyamus niger) are strongly narcotic and

* Morehouse On Intoxicating Liquors, p. ]04.

176 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

Fig. 75.

inebriating. Three grains of the dried watery extract
of this root are about equal to one of opium, but it is
not so certain in its effects. I am not aware that it
has ever been used as a narcotic indulgence.

4°. The beaeded Darnel. — Of the home-grown
narcotics, natives of our islands, the bearded darnel
[Lolium temulentum), fig. 75, commonly called sturdy
or ryle, creeps occasionally into our fermented liquors

and our bread. This grass
grows in many places as an
abundant weed in the corn-
fields of some of our more
slovenly farmers. When
ripe, it is cut down and
thrashed with the corn
among which it grows ; and
when the grain is after-
wards imperfectly cleaned,
these seeds remain among
it. They have been long
known to possess narcotic

loUum temulentum— Bea.rdei Dar- q^q^J singularly intoxicatiug
nel or Ryle.

Scale, an inch to a foot. properties. When malted
Seeds, natural size. aloug with barley, which,

when the grain is ill cleaned, sometimes uninten-
tionally happens, they impart their intoxicating qua-
lity to the beer, and render it unusually and even
dangerously heady. When ground up with wheat
and made into bread, they produce a similar effect,
especially if the bread be eaten hot. Many instances

USE OF SWEET GALE.

177

are on record in which effects of this kind, sometimes
amusing and sometimes alarming, have been pro-
duced by the unintentional consumption of darneled^
bread or beer.

A recent case occurred on Christmas-day (1853) at
Koscrea, in Ireland, where several families, contain-
ing not less than thirty persons, were poisoned by
eating darnel flour in their whole-meal bread. They
were attacked by giddiness, staggering, violent tre-
mors similar to those experienced in the delirium
tremens produced by intoxicating liquors, impaired
vision, coldness of the skin and extremities, partial
paralysis, and in some cases vomiting. By the use
of emetics and stimulants all were recovered, though
greatly prostrated in strength.

The narcotic principle in these seeds has not yet
been discovered. "When distilled with water they
yield a light and a heavy volatile oil ; but that the
narcotic virtue resides in these oils, has not yet been
shown. No volatile alkali, like the nicotin of tobacco
(p. 29), has been detected in the water and oils which
distil over.

5°. Sweet Gale. — Though now, I believe, out of
use in this country, the sweet gale [Myrica gale) is an-
other native narcotic, of which the qualities appear to
have been familiar to the ancient inhabitants of our
islands. All the northern nations are said to have
used this plant in former times to give bitterness and
apparent strength to their fermented liquors. In
Sweden this practice still prevails ; and, as far back as

VOL. II.

178 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

1440, King Christopher of Sweden confirmed an old
law, which inflicted a fine upon those who collected
this plant before the proper season, or fromanother
person's land.*

A tradition prevails in Ireland that the Danes
knew how to make beer out of heather ; and Boethius
has preserved an early Scotch tradition of a similar
kind. " In the deserts and moors of Scotland," he
says, " there grows an herb named heather, very nutri-
tive to beasts, birds, and especially to bees. In the
month of June it produces a flower of purple hue as
sweet as honey. Of this flower the Picts made a deli-
cious and wholesome liquor. The manner of making
it has perished with their extermination, as they never
showed the craft of making it except to their own
blood. "t It is just possible that the grain of truth
contained in this tradition may be, that the Picts
flavoured their barley-worts with twigs of flowering
heather ; or that, like other northern nations, they
used the narcotic gale which grows among the heather
to give a bitter flavour and a more intoxicating qua-
lity to the liquor they made from them.

6°. The Khododendrons form a well-known group
of plants in which much narcotic virtue resides. The
flowers of the Rhododendron arboreum are eaten as
a narcotic by the hill people of India. The rusty-

* Beckwith's History of Inventions (Bohn's edition), vol. ii. p. 385.

■f A more precise tradition, current in Teviotdale, has been preserved
in Leyden's Remains, p. 320, and in Mr Christmas's veiy curious book,
The Cradle of the Twin Giants (vol. ii. p. 198), to which I am indebted for
the above extract fi'om Boethius.

THE PONTIC AZALEA.

179

76), a kindred shrub.

Fig. 76.

coloured leaves of the Ehododendron campanulatum
are used as snuff by the natives of India, and the brown
dust which adheres to the petioles of the kalmias
and rhododendrons is used for a similar purpose in
the United States of North America — (Decandolle).
The Rhododendron chrysanthemum, a Siberian bush,
is one of the most active of narcotics ; but whether
it is employed in its native country as a narcotic
indulgence, I am not aware.

The Azalea pontica (fig.
which grows abundantly
on the borders of the
Black Sea, and hangs out
its tempting flowers in the
season of honey-making,
is said to be the source
of the narcotic quality for
which theTrebizond honey
is famous. The effects of
the Euxine honey, accord-
ing to Pallas, resemble
those produced by the
bearded darnel, and occur
where no true rhododen-
drons grow. The natives,
he adds, are well aware

of the poisonous qualities ^^a^mpon^MheArmeml Azalea.

of this azalea. Goats whioh ^"i*'^ p'^"*^ ^iti^

v^uaub, wuicn leaves unoxpanded. 1 inch to 5 feet.

browse on its leaves before floS, IZtZ'l C^c^!''^''' °'
the pastures become green, feel its influence, and both

180

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

cattle and sheep are sometimes killed by it. The
extraordinary effects which the honey, extracted from
the flowers of this azalea, produced upon the soldiers
of Xenophon,* bear ample testimony to their narcotic
qualities.

I might notice many other plants which, though
not employed as indulgences, have yet been frequently
observed in common life to exhibit narcotic effects.
Thus, among heath-plants, the Andromeda polifolia,
a small shrub found wild in the bogs of northern
Europe and America, is an acrid narcotic, and proves
fatal to sheep. Similar properties have been observed,
in the United States, in the Andromeda mariana,
which is there called kill-lamb, or stagger-bush,
because it is supposed to be poisonous to lambs and
calves, producing a disease called the staggers.

In the same country the leaves of the Kalmia
latifolia are poisonous tp many animals, and are re-
puted to be narcotic, but their action is feeble.
Bigelow states that the flesh of pheasants which have
fed on the young shoots is poisonous to man ; and
cases of severe illness are on record which have been
ascribed to this cause alone. This property reminds
us of those active ingredients of opium and the
Siberian fungus which can pass unchanged through
the milk and other liquid excretions of persons who
consume them.

About New York and in Long Island the Kalmia
angustifolia is believed to kill sheep, and is known
* See The Sweets wb extract.

NAKCOTIC ODOUES.

181

by the names of sheep-laurel, sheep-poison, lamb-
laurel, and lamb-kill. The flowers of the kalmia
exude a sweet honey-like juice, which is said when
swallowed to bring on a mental intoxication, both
formidable in its symptoms and long in duration —
(Torrey). In this it appears closely to resemble the
Armenian azalea.

Finally, I may remark that, according to Dr Bird,
the odour of vanilla intoxicates the labourer who
gathers it. Even the perfumes of the rose, the pink,
and other common sweet-smelling flowers, act on some
persons as narcotic poisons — (Orfila). And the
vapours arising from large quantities of saffron are
said to produce similar effects — headache, apoplexy,
and sometimes death. So much does the constitution
of the individual exalt and increase the physiological
action of substances which, to the mass of mankind,
are not only harmless, but really sources of refined
pleasure and enjoyment.

CHAPTEE XXII.

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

Extended use of narcotic indulgences, — Numbers of men among whom
they are consumed. — The use of them to be restrained chiefly by
moral means. — Their agricultural and commercial importance. —
Total annual production and value. — Their wonderful properties, and
interest to the physiologist. — Analogy between diseased states of
mind, natural and artificial. — Do all oui- feeUngs arise from physical
causes ? — Special properties of the different narcotics — Defective state
of our knowledge. — National influence of narcotics. — They react
upon the constitution and character. — Coincidences in Asiatic and
American customs. — Ancient connection between the continents. —
General summary.

I CANNOT dismiss the subject of the narcotics of com-
mon life, without drawing the attention of my readers
to a few of the more interesting considerations which
the facts above enumerated suggest to us.

1°. Their extended ese. — And the first reflec-
tion which occurs, as we cast a backward glance over
the whole subject, is the almost universal use of nar-
cotic indulgences. Siberia has its fungus — Turkey,
India, and China, their opium — Persia, India, and

UNIVERSAL USE OF NARCOTICS.

183

Turkey, with all Africa from Morocco to the Cape
of Good Hope, and even the Indians of Brazil,
have their hemp and haschisch — India, China, and
the Eastern Archipelago their betel-nut and hetel-
pepper — the Polynesian islands their daily ava —
Peru and Bolivia their long-used coca — New Granada
and the Himalayas their red and common thorn-
apples — Asia and America, and all the world, we may
say, their tobacco — the Florida Indians their emetic
holly — Northern Europe and America their ledums
and sweet gale — the Englishman and German their
hop, and the Frenchman his lettuce. No nation so
ancient but has had its narcotic soother from the
most distant times — none so remote and isolated but
has found within its own borders a pain-allay er and
narcotic care-dispeller of native growth — none so
savage which instinct has not led to seek for, and
successfully to employ, this form of physiological
indulgence. The craving for such indulgence, and
the habit of gratifying it, are little less universal than
the desire for and the practice of consuming the
necessary materials of our common food.

Thus it may be estimated that the several narcotics
are used —

Tobacco, among 800 millions of men.
Opium, „ 400 „ „

Hemp, „ 200 to 300

Betel, „ 100 „ „

Coca, „ 10

A tendency which is so evidently a part of our
general human nature, is not to be suppressed or

184

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

extinguished by any form of mere pliysical, fiscal, or
statutory restraint. It may sometimes be discouraged
or repressed by such means, but even this lesser
result is not always attainable. This was proved by
the failure of the Spaniards, in their attempts to
check the consumption of coca in Peru, of kings and
priests to prohibit the spread of smoking in Europe
and western Asia, and more recently by the similar
failure of the imperial crusade against the use of
opium in China. An empire may be overthrown by
inconsiderate statutory intermeddling with the na-
tural instincts, the old habits, or the growing customs
of a people, while the instincts and habits them-
selves are only strengthened and confirmed.

While he laments, therefore, the excesses to which
some are led in the use of narcotic substances, the
enlightened philanthropist will look to moral rather
than to physical or fiscal means as most likely to
repress them. The minds of the people who use
them must be enlightened. They must be taught to
understand what will promote in the greatest degree
both their bodily health and their permanent mental
comfort. And what will operate more than all, they
must be trained up to self-control and self-restraint,
and to the habit of reining in their natural desires
for this or that form of gratification. This, unhap-
pily, mere intellectual culture will never do.

It is, indeed, not less melancholy than it is remark-
able, that some of the most striking known instances

THEIR AGRICULTURAL IMPORTANCE. 185

— of the abuse of opium, for example — have occurred
amoEg men of great mental powers, and of more
than ordinary intellectual attainments. The reader
of the preceding pages will recollect the total paralysis
of the bodily and mental energies which befell our
great Coleridge while he was a slave to opium ; and
how the English Opium-eater, as well as many others,
found mere intellectual power unable to contend with
the excited instinctive cravings of their bodily consti-
tutions, when by long indulgence they had become
diseased. Examples like these ought to impress
upon every one a Christian sense of his own weakness,
and incline him voluntarily to turn aside from the
temptations which such men were unable to resist.*

2° Their agricultural and commercial im-
portance.— Then in regard to these narcotic sub-
stances, it may be questioned whether many more
people are employed in raising the common neces-
saries of life, than in cultivating and preparing these
apparently unnecessary indulgences. Certainly no
other crops, except corn, and perhaps cotton, repre-
sent more commercial capital, employ more shipping
and other means of transport, are the subject of a
more extended and unfailing traffic, and the source
of greater commercial wealth. The correctness of

* It is comparatively easy to avoid acquiring habits, but it is very
difficult to overcome such as are already formed. It was stated the
other day at a temperance meeting in London, that of six hundred
thousand persons in the United States who had taken the pledge, four
hundred and fifty thousand had broken it !

186 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

this may be judged of by the following estimates of
the annual produce and value of a few of the narcotics
I have mentioned : —

Produce
per acre.

Total produce
in lb.

Acres em-
ployed.

Value
per lb.

Total value
in pounds
sterling.

Tobacco,

800 lb.

4,480,000,000

5,600,000

2d.

£37,000,000

Opium, .

20 „

20,000,000

1,000,000

20s.

20,000,000

The Hop,

660 „

80,000,000

120,000

Is.

4,000,000

Coca,

800 „

30,000,000

37,000

Is.

1,500,000

5,610,000,000

6,725,000

£60,500,000

Besides these, there are consumed in the East
five hundred millions of pounds of betel, and twenty
millions of pounds of catechu and gambir extract.

Of course, all these estimates are to a great extent
conjectural, but they are sufficiently near the truth to
show how important an influence the narcotic appetite
exercises upon the rural labours and commercial
intercourse of mankind.

Its influence on domestic economy becomes equally
apparent when we consider how large a proportion of
the weekly earnings is often among ourselves expended
in gratifying this appetite. But in India, where, on
an average, not more than sixpence a-head is yearly
spent by the whole population in the purchase of
clothing,* narcotic indulgences form the second great
necessary of common life.

* Bombay Gazette.

THEIR WONDERFUL EFFECTS. 187

3°. Their wonderful action upon the system is
not less worthy of attention. The haschisch, besides
the more usual intoxicating effect by which it makes
the patient, like the infatuated lover, see

"Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt,"

brings on that remarkable, rare, and inexplicable con-
dition of the living body, which is distinguished by
the name of catalepsy. The limbs of the patient may
be moved at will by the bystander ; but in opposi-
tion to the law of gravity, and apparently without an
effort on the part of the patient, they remain for an
indefinite period in any position in which they may
be placed. The thorn-apple calls up spectral illusions
before the deceived eye, and enables the forlorn and
down-trodden Indian to hold refreshing converse with
the spirits of his rich and powerful ancestors. The
Siberian fungus gives insensibility to pain, while con-
sciousness still remains, and, in common with the
haschisch, it creates the singular delusion that a straw
is too formidable an obstacle to be stepped over. The
common puff-ball deprives the patient of speech,
motion, and sensibility to pain, while he remains alive
to all that passes around him. It thus realises, and
proves to be possible, that nightmare of our dreams,
in which we imagine ourselves stretched on the fune-
ral bier, sensible to the weeping of real, and the secret
satisfaction of pretended friends ; aware of the last
screw being fixed in the coffin, and the last sod clapped
down above us in the grave-yard, and are yet unable

188

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

to move a lip for our own deliverance ! And then how
melancholy the idiotic laughter produced by the
deadly nightshade— so like that which, in rare and
mournful cases, is seen on the old and withered fea-
tures of one who, in the vigour of his manhood,
charmed the world by the brilliancy of his genius, or
astonished it by the majesty of his intellectual powers !
How singular, in fine, that influence of cocculus indi-
cus, which leaves the mind clear and strong after the
limbs have become feeble and the gait tottering, as
if the whole man were deadly drunk !

In all these effects the physiologist finds matter of
most attractive, most interesting, most useful, and
yet most profound and mysterious study. By what
kind of action upon the system does the active
ingredient of hemp produce the diseased condi-
tion we call catalepsy; or that of the thorn-apple,
the condition in which men see visions and dream
dreams ; or that of the fungus, the fearful state of the
most fearful nightmares ; or that of the nightshade,
the melancholy drivelling of the long-strained and
worn-out intellectual faculties? How interesting
such questions, yet how impossible, in the present
state of our knowledge, to answer them !

And yet towards the understanding of these re-
markable phases of the human mind, chemistry has
already brought us far on our way. It has put into
our hands distinct chemical substances, by which any
one of these states can be produced temporarily, and
at will. Is it by the agency of similar substances.

HOW INSANITY IS PKODUCED. 189

formed naturally in the system, that these diseased
states of mind are naturally produced ? If so, can we
artificially, and by chemical means, counteract these,
so as either to retain the mind in a sound condition,
or to restore it to its natural health ?

Can we produce, for example, virtual insanity —
imaginary happiness,* imaginary misery, or the most
truth-like delusions — by introducing into the stomach,
and thence into the blood which is passing through
the hair-like blood-vessels of the brain, a quantity of
a foreign body too minute to be recognised by ordi-
nary chemical processes ; and may not real natural
insanity, in any of its forms, be caused by the natural
production within the system itself of minute quan-
tities of analogous substances possessing similar vir-
tues ? And, if so produced, will our future chemistry
teach us to remove the mental disease, by preventing
the production of the cause, or by constantly neutral-
ising its effects ?

And these are not merely ends to be aimed at.
Even now they appear to be not beyond the pale
of hope. For what are so like to each other as
the natural and artificial states of mental derancre-
ment, and how much light do they throw upon
each other? A monomaniac, in apparently perfect
bodily health, takes the strangest fancies into his
brain, and talks of and reasons upon them as if
they were real. A person labouring under delirium

* " Madness hath imaginary bliss, and most men have no more "

— TUPPER.

190

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

sees sights wliicli are invisible to others, and speaks
of tliem to his attendant, as real and present. The
second-sighted seer, in his gifted moments, receives
strange warnings from shadowy ghosts, and with full
faith believes in and reveals them. A strong man,
under the influence of haschisch, or the Siberian fun-
gus, sees a huge tree in a tiny straw, and persists in
his inability to step over it, as if the tree were really
there. A child swallows common thorn-apple seeds,
and forthwith spectral illusions dance before it, which
the child regards as real. A decoction of a similar
plant calls up to the presence of the Indian of Peru
the spirits of his ancestors ; he converses with them ;
and when the effects of the drug have disappeared, he
relates these imaginary conversations to his neigh-
bours, believing them to be real, and, what is stranger
still, they are listened to with an equal faith in their
reality. An excited, nervously susceptible, or epilep-
tic female sees lights streaming from human graves,
and will-o'-the-wisps dancing around the poles of a
magnet, or issuing in flickering mistiness from the
finger-tops of an operator ; she believes and describes
them as real, and, like the credulous Indians, hundreds
around her believe the odylic * moonshine to be real
too. But are the things seen in any one of these
cases more true and real than they are in all the rest ?

* Reichenbach ascribes these appearances to an imaginary power
which he calls the Od force, and hence the term Odylic appUed to the
phenomena themselves.

ORIGIN OF OUR EMOTIONS.

191

Are they not all delusions alike — mere mockeries,
which deceive the diseased or drug-affected senses ?
And if so nearly allied in nature, may they not be so
also in cause and in cure ? At all events, what inte-
resting chemico-physiologlcal experiments are sug-
gested by these striking analogies !

Some physiologists, reasoning from analogy, go still
farther. They ascribe not only these rarer states
of mind, but those also which are much more fre-
quent and common, to the direct physiological action
I of material substances. M. Moreau, for example,
I guided by his personal experience of the action of
j the resin of hemp on his own mind, throws out the

I J conjecture, " that every feeling of joy and gladness,
even when the cause of it is exclusively moral — that
those enjoyments which are least connected with ma-
, terial objects, the most spiritual, the most ideal — may
be nothing else but sensations purely physical deve-
loped in the interior of the system, in the same way as
those which are produced by means of the haschisch."
In so far as relates to our internal consciousness,
at least, he adds, " that there is no distinction to
be made between these two orders of sensations, in
spite of the diversity of causes to which they are due.''
! This conjecture is eminently suggestive of experimen-
tal research, but it goes deeper into the connection
between mind and matter than any positive know-
ledge we possess enables us as yet safely to penetrate.
: 4°. The special properties by which they are

192

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

severally distinguished are also remarkable features
of the narcotics I have described. Thus, while to-
bacco soothes, and, according to some, sets the mind
to sleep, opium and hemp stimulate and exalt the
mental faculties, giving the feeling and sense of in-
creased intellectual power. In the case of opium, the
activity of mind thus produced resembles the activity
of the mind in sleep. It seems as if, all the bodily
organs being at rest, the thoughts and images floated
over or through the quiescent brain without fatiguing
or wasting it, as cloud and sunshine flit over a fair
landscape without stirring or physically changing it.
With hemp it is otherwise. It occasions hunger along
with the mental activity. Prolonged thought in the
waking man makes the head smoke, as it were. Like
physical exertion, it exhausts the body, and brings on
a hunger which can only be stayed by ordinary food.
And so the mental activity occasioned by hemp re-
sembles more that of the waking than of the sleeping
man. This agrees with another observed difference
between the two. Opium lessens the susceptibility
to external impressions, while haschisch increases and
quickens it in a high degree. The one shuts up the
mind, as it were, within itself, while the other throws
it open to the most lively influence of every bodily
sense. It is also in agreement with all these difier-
ences, that the action of opium is interrupted and
lessened by disturbance and bodily motion, while
that of hemp is diminished by stillness and repose.

HOW DEFECTIVE. OUR KNOWLEDGE. 193

In this latter quality hemp agrees with ardent
spirits.

Coca and opium, again, agree in sustaining the
strength, in certain circumstances, in a marvellous
manner ; yet they differ in two important qualities.
The former never induces sleep as opium does, and
even when taken in great excess, it moves the bowels,
while opium usually makes them torpid and costive.
Betel rouses from the effects of opium, as tea does
from that of ardent spirits. The Siberian fungus
opens and shows the heart as good wine is said to do.
Secrets drop out spontaneously under its influence,
and either the will or the ability to retain them has
for the time gone to sleep.

Such specialties are curious and interesting in
themselves; but they are so also in showing that
the several narcotic substances act upon the system,
and disturb the mind in different ways. They
strengthen the probability, therefore, that, by the
use of special chemical substances, we may be able
hereafter to control the similarly differing mental
affections by which natural diseases are so often
accompanied.

5°. How DEFECTIVE OUR KNOWLEDGE IS. — Yet

though, from what we do know, we may venture to
express such hopes as these, it must have struck the
reader of the preceding chapters how very defective
our knowledge is, both of the chemical nature and of
the physiological action of the narcotics in which we
VOL. II. n

194 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

indulge. The field of study which they present is
indeed captivating and extensive ; but hitherto the
materials and opportunities for cultivating it have
presented themselves rarely, at intervals, and to few
individuals. The growing sense of the importance of
chemical physiology to the art of medicine, however,
promises by-and-by to make the value of a higher
acquaintance with chemistry more manifest to medi-
cal men, and thus to lead a greater number of that
profession to qualify themselves for chemico-physio-
logical investigations. As this desirable change takes
place, we may expect to see many gaps in our present
knowledge gradually filling up.

6°. National influence of narcotics. — We have
seen that almost every part of the world grows and
consumes its own peculiar narcotic. The use of each
of these in the country which produces it seems na-
tural enough. It is consumed, as the national species
or variety of grain is, because it is most easily and
plentifully obtained. But when different narcotics
are equally accessible, why is one selected rather than
another ? England, for example, drinks much hopped
beer, while Scotland and Ireland drink comparatively
little. It is, no doubt, owing to some peculiarity in
the national character and constitution that the nar-
cotic hop, and probably also tobacco, are used more
largely in the south than in the north of our island —
that the German and Swede smoke more than the
Frenchman — that opium and haschisch, so loved in the

NARCOTICS AFFECT THE CONSTITUTION. 195

East, have made such slow progress in our European
affections. And so the different forms in which the
same substance is used are probably, in part at least,
constitutional. France, the north of Scotland, Iceland,
and Northern Scandinavia, are great consumers of
snuflP. England, Germany (high and low). Southern
Scandinavia, and Russia, prefer to burn their tobacco
and inhale its smoke. Snuff is much used also by
the African races who live between the Red Sea and
the Upper Nile, while the Mograbins are great
chewers, and the Turks and Arabs as constant
smokers — (Werne). It may be said that differences
such as these are mere matters of taste ; but national
taste, though sometimes the child of habit, is more
frequently the offspring of constitution and bodily
temperament.

But does the use of the peculiar narcotic not again
react upon the constitution, and gradually change
the disposition and temperament ? It probably does.
The soothers and exciters we indulge in to excess
are seen gradually to affect the constitution, and
sensibly to modify the temper and constitution of
individuals. Let the use of these become general,
and similar changes will in time affect the whole
people. We cannot tell how far such constitutional
alterations may proceed. • But it is a problem of
interest to the legislator, not less than to the physio-
logist and psychologist, to ascertain how far and in
what direction such changes may go — how much of

196 THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

the actual tastes, habits, and character of existing
nations has been created by the prolonged consump-
tion and prevailing forms of the narcotics in daily
use — how far tastes and habits have been modified
by the changes in these forms which have been
adopted within historic times— and what influence
their continued use is likely to exercise on the final
fortunes of this or that people. The fate of nations
has frequently been decided by the slow operation of
long-acting causes, unthought of and unestimated by
the historian, which, while the name and local home
of the people remained the same, had gradually
changed their constitution, their character, and their
capabilities.

7°. Asiatic and American customs. — In connec-
tion with this subject, it is also very striking that so
many close coincidences should exist between Asiatic
and American customs. Such are the very ancient
use of tobacco in China, as well as in Central America
— the use of hemp by the natives of Brazil, as well
as by those of India and the East — the practice of
chewing lime or plant ashes with the coca in Peru,
and with the betel in India and China* — the use
of the red thorn-apple by the hill Indians of the
Andes, and of the common thorn-apple by the hill

* It is a singnlar circumstance, with which I was not acquainted
while writing the chapter on tobacco, that the Mogi-abins of Northern
Africa chew natron (the natron carbonate of soda of the desert border-
ing countries) with their tobacco ; and that the blacks of Gesira make
a cold infusion of natron and tobacco, with a mouthful of which they
delight to rinse their mouths for a quai'ter of an hour, and then reject

INDICATE NATIONAL ANALOGIES.

197

people on the slopes of the Himalayas, All these
coincidences can scarcely be the result of chance;
they are evidences rather of ancient intercourse
between Asia and America — possibly even of an-
cient family relationship between their early in-
habitants.

We are accustomed to trace analogies among na-
tions by means of alphabets, names of things, forms
of speech, modes of writing, religious rites, &c., and
from these to infer a family connection or a commu-
nity of origin. But old habits and peculiar customs
of common life, clung to often not only with the
fondness of a natural instinct, but with a reverence
inspired by high national antiquity — these are not less
important evidences of ancient intercourse. They are
also more persistent. They may survive after power,
civilisation, language, alphabets, writings, and even
old religions, have disappeared. The chewing of
coca in Peru has outlived all these. The common-
life customs and the bodily features of the people
have alone survived.

Philological travellers describe, as the most ancient
race among the Mexican mountains, a tribe of Indians
speaking a monosyllabic language which bears con-
siderable resemblance to the Chinese. The similarity

it. Is this custom of chewing soda with tobacco an imitation of the
betel and lime used by the Indian traders to the African ports of the
Eed Sea ?— or is the origin of both customs to be found in the abvm-
dance of natron about the natron lakes and elsewhere in Northern
Africa ? In either case, it is equally remarkable that a sunilar practice
should prevail on the Andes of Peru.

198

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

of customs above described is equally close and strik-
ing. And the most cautious ethnologist will scarcely
refuse to consider the two kinds of evidence as mate-
rially aiding each other, and giving strength to the
conclusion to which they both point— that a remote
family connection exists between the Indian inhabi-
tants of America and the most ancient populations of
Eastern Asia.

8° General summary. — From all that we know
on the subject of the narcotics, we may, I think,
extract these general propositions : —

First, That there exists a universal craving in the
whole human race for indulgences of a narcotic kind.
This is founded in the nature of man.

Second, That this craving assumes in every coun-
try a form which is more or less special to that
country. It is modified most by climate, less by
race, and least, though still very sensibly, by
opportunity.

Third, That among every people the form of
craving special to the whole undergoes subsidiary
modifications among individuals. These are deter-
mined by individual constitution first, and next by
opportunity. Hence different professions, in conse-
quence of acquired habits and states of body, show the
craving in differently modified forms. And hence,
also, the different classes of society, because of their
unlike means and opportunities, exhibit similar dif-
ferences.

(

OUR HUMAN WEAKNESS.

199

Fourth^ That differences in physiological action,
which are sometimes very slight, separate —

a. The more dreaded from the less dreaded narco-
tics— opium and hemp from tobacco and the hop.

h. The narcotics from the fermented liquors —
opium from alcohol.

c. The milder from the fiercer alcoholic drinks —
the beers and wines from the brandies.

d. The mildest fermented drinks from the beve-
rages we infuse — the beers from^'the teas and coffees.

All these indulgences shade into each other, often
by almost imperceptible degrees, and our constitu-
tions, in favourable circumstances, insensibly adapt
themselves to them all. How much, therefore, ought
we to be on our guard against their insidious at-
tractions.

Lastly, I may remark that, with the enticing
descriptions before him, which the history of these
narcotics presents, we cannot wonder that man, whose
constant search on earth is after happiness, and who,
too often disappointed here, hopes and longs, and

strives to fit himself for happiness hereafter we

cannot wonder that he should at times be caught by
the tinselly glare of this corporeal felicity, and should
yield himself to habits which, though exquisitely
delightful at first, lead him finally both to torture of
body and to misery of mind ;— that, debilitated by
the excesses to which it provokes, he should sink more
and more under the influence of a mere druo- and

200

THE NARCOTICS WE INDULGE IN.

become at last a slave to its tempting seductions.
We are indeed feeble creatures, and small in bodily
strength, wben a grain of haschiscli can conquer, or a
few drops of laudanum lay us prostrate ; but how
much weaker in mind, when, knowing the evils they
lead us to, we are unable to resist the fascinating
temptations of these insidious drugs !

CHAPTER XXIIL

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

The consumption of white arsenic. — Action of arsenic upon the sys-
tem.— Practice of using it in Styria. — Its effects in improving the
complexion and removing breathlessness, — Quantity taken. — Length
of time it may be used with impunity. — Illness produced by discon-
tinuing it. — Its effects upon horses. — Its chemico-physiological action
in producing these effects. — Ancient love-philtres and charms. — In-
credible things formerly believed. — The eating of clay. — Practice in
Guinea, in the West Indies, in Java, in the Himalayas. — Use of
bread-meal and mountain-meal in Sweden, Finland, and North Ger-
many.— The Otomacs in South America. — Humboldt's account. —
Does clay support life ? — Eaten by the Indians of BoUvia and Peru. —
Its physiological action. — Our ignorance still great.

j I SHOULD omit from this outline of the chemistry
of common life some of the most remarkable features
it presents, were I not to add to the preceding
chapters on narcotic indulgences a brief notice of two
other forms of indulgence not less wonderful and
extraordinary. These are, the habitual consumption

' of arsenic, and the practice of eating clay.

I. The CONSUMPTION of White Arsenic.

Arsenic, as we commonly call it — the white arsenic

of the shops and the arsenious acid of the chemist

is well known as a violent poison. Swallowed in

VOL II. p

202

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

large doses, it is what medical writers call an irritant
poison. In very minute doses it is known to pro-
fessional men as a tonic and alterative, and is some-
times administered with a view to these effects. It
is remarkable also for exercising a peculiar influence
upon the skin, and is therefore occasionally employed
in cutaneous diseases. The use of arsenic, however,
is unfrequent among regularly educated practitioners,
and it is never, I believe, used as a household medi-
cine by the people.

In some parts of Lower Austria, however, in
Styria, and especially in the hilly country towards
Hungary, there prevails among the common people
an extraordinary custom of eating arsenic. During
the smelting of lead, copper, and other ores, white
arsenic flies off in fumes, and condenses in the solid
form in the long chimneys which are usually attached
to the smelting furnaces. From these chimneys, in
the mining regions, the arsenic is obtained, and is
sold to the people by itinerant pedlars and .herbal-
ists. It is known by the name of Eidri* and the
practice of using it is of considerable antiquity. By
many it is swallowed daily throughout a long life,
and the custom is even handed down hereditarily
from father to son.

Arsenic is thus consumed chiefly for two purposes
— First, To give plumpness to the figure, cleanness
and softness to the skin, and beauty and freshness to
the complexion. Second, To improve the breathing

* A corruption of Hutter-rauch, smelt-liouse smoke.

EFFECTS OF ARSENIC UPON MAN.

203

and give longness of wind, so that steep and continu-
ous heights may be climbed without difficulty and
exhaustion of breath. Both these results are de-
scribed as following almost invariably from the pro-
longed use of arsenic either by man or by animals.

For the former purpose young peasants, both male
and female, have recourse to it, with the view of
adding to their charms in the eyes of each other ;
and it is remarkable to see how wonderfully well they
attain their object, for those young persons who
adopt the practice are generally remarkable for clear
and blooming complexions, for full rounded figures,
and for a healthy appearance. Dr Von Tschudi gives
the following case as having occurred in his own
medical practice : " A healthy, but pale and thin
milkmaid, residing in the parish of H , had a

j lover whom she wished to attach to her by a more
agreeable exterior ; she, therefore, had recourse to
the well-known beautifier, and took arsenic several
times a-week. The desired effect was not long in
showing itself; for in a few months she became stout,
rosy-cheeked, and all that her lover could desire. In
order, however, to increase the effect, she incautiously
increased the doses of arsenic, and fell a victim to her
vanity. She died poisoned, a very painful death." The
number of such fatal cases, especially among young

I persons, is described as by no means inconsiderable.

; For the second purpose— that of rendering the

! breathing easier when going uphill— a small frag-
ment of arsenic is put into the mouth, and allowed to

204

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

dissolve, which it does very slowly. The effect is
described as astonishing. Heights are easily and
rapidly ascended, which could not otherwise be sur-
mounted without great difficulty of breathing.

The quantity of arsenic taken by those who are
beginning the practice varies with the age, sex, and
constitution, but it never exceeds half a grain. This
dose is taken two or three times a-week, in the morn-
ing fasting, till the patient becomes accustomed to it.
The dose is then cautiously increased as the quantity
previously taken diminishes in its effect. " The

peasant K says Dr Von Tschudi, " a hale man

of sixty, who enjoys capital health at present, takes
for every dose a piece about two grains in weight. For
the last forty years he has continued the habit, which
he inherited from his father, and which he will trans-
mit to his children."

No symptoms of illness or of chronic poisoning are
observable in any of these arsenic-eaters, when the
dose is carefully adapted to the constitution and
habit of body of the person using it. But if from
want of material, or any other cause, the arsenic be
left off for a time, symptoms of disease occur which
resemble those of slight arsenical poisoning. Espe-
cially a great feeling of discomfort arises, great indif-
ference to everything around, anxiety about their own
persons, deranged digestion, loss of appetite, feeling of
overloading in the stomach, increased flow of saliva,
burning from the stomach up to the throat, spasms
in the throat, pains in the bowels, constipation, and

EFFECTS OF AKSENIC UPON ANIMALS. 205

especially oppression in the breathing. From these
symptoms there is only one speedy mode of relief,
namely, an immediate return to arsenic-eating.

This custom never amounts to a passion like that
of opium-eating in the East, betel-chewing in India,
or coca-chewing among the Peruvians. It is not, like
opium or hemp, a source of intense pleasure, the
craving for which cannot be resisted ; but, the habit
once acquired, the fear of pain compels its con-
tinuance. The use of arsenic has become a necessity
of life.

Upon animals the effects are similar to those which
are produced upon man. It fattens and plumps out
the horse, gives it a bright and glossy skin, and an
appearance of high health and condition. Hence
this use of arsenic is very common in Vienna, espe-
cially among gentlemen's grooms and coachmen.
They either sprinkle a pinch of it among the oats, or
they tie a piece as big as a pea in linen, and fasten it
to the bit when the bridle is put into the horse's
mouth. There it is gradually dissolved by the saliva,
and swallowed. The sleek, round, glossy appearance
of many of the first-rate coach-horses, and especially
the foaming at the mouth, which is so much admired,
is owing to the arsenic they get. In mountainous
districts also, where horses have to drag heavy bur-
dens up steep places, the drivers often put a dose of
arsenic into the last portion of food they give them.
This practice may be continued for years, with horses
as with men, without the least injury ; but if a horse

206

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

which is used to it comes into the possession of one
who does not give arsenic, it loses flesh and spirits, and
its strength sensibly diminishes. In this state the
most nutritious food is unable to restore the animal
to its former appearance; but a few pinches of
arsenic speedily bring it round again,*

Though very different in its nature from the nar-
cotic substances described in the preceding chapters,
yet the effects which result from the use of arsenic
resemble some of those which are produced by the
use of narcotics. Thus arsenic resembles coca in
making the food appear to go farther, or to have more
effect in feeding or fattening the body ; and, like
coca, it gives the remarkable power of climbing hills
without breathlessness. Farther, it resembles both
coca and opium, and especially the latter, in creating
a diseased and uncomfortable state of body, when the
practice of eating it is interrupted, and in thus be-
coming through long use a necessity of life.

The chemico-physiological action of arsenic in pro-
ducing these curious effects has not as yet been expe-
rimentally investigated. The peculiar influence exer-
cised by arsenic upon the skin is the cause of the im-
proved appearance in the complexion of the human
subject, and in the outer coat of the horse ; but the
physiological nature of this influence, and how arsenic
comes to exercise it, we cannot even conjecture.

* Medecinische Wochenschrift of Vienna, lltli October 1851, quoted
in the " British Journal of Homoeopathy." The facts, I believe, are
undisputed.

ACTION OF AESENIC UPON THE SYSTEM. 207

Among other ways in which it acts chemically upon
the system, experiment will probably show that it
lessens the natural waste of the body, and especially
that it diminishes the quantity of carbonic acid dis-
charged from the lungs in a given time. The con-
sequence of this action upon the lungs will he— first,
that less oxygen will require to be inhaled, and hence
a greater ease in breathing under all circumstances,
but which will be especially perceived in climbing
hills ; second, that the fat of the food which would
otherwise be used up in supplying carbonic acid to be
given oif by the lungs, will be deposited instead in
the cellular tissue beneath the skin, and thus will
feed, plump out, and render fat and fleshy the animal
which eats it.

Still, how arsenic produces or can produce such a
lessening of the carbonic acid formed within the body,
and discharged by the lungs, is quite inexplicable : it
is another of the chemico-physiological mysteries of
which common life, both animal and vegetable, is so
full.

The perusal of the above facts regarding arsenic —
taken in connection with what has been previously
stated as to the effects of the resin of hemp — recalls
to our mind the dreamy recollections of what we have
been accustomed to consider as the fabulous fancies
of easy and credulous times. Love-philtres, charms,
and potions start up again as real things beneath the
light of advancing science. From the influence of hemp
and arsenic no heart seems secure— by their assistance

208

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

no affection unattainable. The wise woman, whom the
charmless female of the East consults, administers to
the desired one a philtre of haschisch, which deceives
his imagination — cheats him into the belief that charms
exist, and attractive beauty, where there are none,
and defrauds him, as it were, of a love which, with
the truth before him, he would never have yielded.
She acts directly upon his brain with her hempen
potion, leaving the unlovely object he is to admire
really as unlovely as before.

But the Styrian peasant-girl, stirred by an uncon-
sciously growing attachment — confiding scarcely to
herself her secret feelings, and taking counsel of her
inherited wisdom only — really adds, by the use of
hidri, to the natural graces of her filling and rounding
form, paints with brighter hues her blushing cheeks
and tempting lips, and imparts a new and winning
lustre to her sparkling eye. Every one sees and
admires the reality of her growing beauty : the young
men sound her praises, and become suppliants for her
favour. She triumphs over the affections of all, and
compels the chosen one to her feet.

Thus even cruel arsenic, so often the minister of
crime and the parent of sorrow, bears a blessed jewel
in its forehead, and, as a love-awakener, becomes at
times the harbinger of happiness, the soother of
ardent longings, the bestower of contentment and
peace !

It is probable that the use of these and many
other love-potions has been known to the initiated

THE EATING OF CLAY.

209

from very early times — now given to the female to
enhance her real charms — now administered to the
lords of the creation, to add imaginary beauties to
the unattractive. And out of this use must often have
sprung fatal results, — to the female, as is now some-
times the case in Styria, from the incautious use of the
poisonous arsenic ; to the male, as happens daily in
the East from the maddening effects of the fiery hemp.
They must also have given birth to many hidden
crimes which only romance now collects and pre-
serves— the ignorance of the learned having long ago
pronounced them unworthy of belief.*

II. The eating of clay. — Among the extraordi-
nary passions for eating uncommon things is to be

* The many real follies which the history of love-potions contains, in
a great measure justify such incredulity. Such, for example, are the
absurdities mentioned in the following passage : " To be brief, — to as
great effect does the virgin parchment serve, as doth the amorous
potion or love-drink, of which, as the saying is, Lucretius the poet
died ; and Caligula the emperor became with such another to be en-
raged, and, in a sort, distracted, and out of his wits ; his wife Csesonia
having given him such a kind of drink, who, for that cause, was also
slain by the soldiers that had before killed her husband, as Josephus
reporteth. And more than so, this seemeth to be that Hippomanes,
which is apt to stir and procure love, no less than the true Hippomanes
plucked from the forehead of a horse colt, whereof Virgil, Propertius,
and other poets speak much ; or that Hippomanes which, as Theo-
critus reporteth, was planted amongst the Arcadians ; or that fish
called Remora, which, as Aristotle saith, was good for love, and for
happy success in suits of law ; or the bird called Sippe, spoken of by
the same Aristotle ; or the hzard, bruised and infused in wine, accord-
ing as Theocritus prescribeth ; or the hair which is found in the end
of a wolfs tail ; or else the bone of a frog or toad, which hath been cast
into a nest of ants, by whom the flesh thereof hath been gnawed away,
as Pliny affirmeth."— T/te Cradle of the Twin Giants, Science and His-
tory. By Henry Christmas, M.A. Vol. ii. p. 261.

210

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

reckoned that wliicli some tribes of people exhibit
for eating earth or clay. Though not so directly or
immediately poisonous as arsenic, the swallowing of
clay, with our ordinary European constitutions and
habits, could scarcely be otherwise than injurious to
the bodily health ; but in Western Africa the negroes
of Guinea have been long known to eat- a yellowish
earth, there called caouac, the flavour or taste of
which is very agreeable to them, and which is said
to cause them no inconvenience. Some addict them-
selves so excessively to the use of it, that it becomes
to them a kind of necessity of their lives — as arsenic
does to the Styrian peasant, or opium to the Theriaki
— and no punishment is sufficient to restrain them
from the practice of consuming it.

When the Guinea negroes used in former times to
be carried as slaves to the West India Islands, they
were observed to continue the custom of eating clay ;
but the caouac of the American islands, or the sub-
stance which the poor negroes attempted in their
new homes to substitute for the African earth, was
found to injure the health of the slaves who ate it.
The practice, therefore, was long ago forbidden, and
has probably now died out in our West India colo-
nies. In Martinique, a species of red earth or yel-
lowish tufa was still secretly sold in the markets in
1751 ; but the use of it has probably ceased in the
French colonies also. Whether the custom still
exists in Cuba and Brazil, where the slave-trade
is not yet entirely extinguished, we do not know.

"beead-meal" and "mountain-meal." 211

Eecent information upon the subject is wanting not
only from these countries, but also from the western
coast of Africa.

In Eastern Asia a similar practice prevails in
various places. In the island of Java, between Sou-
rabaya and Samarang, Labillardiere saw small square
reddish cakes of earth sold in the villages for the pur-
pose of being eaten. These have been found by
Ehrenberg to consist for the most part of the remains
of microscopic animals and plants, which had lived
and been deposited in fresh water. In Runjeet val-
ley, in the Sikkim Himalaya, a red clay occurs, which
the natives chew as a cure for the goitre — (HooKEK.*)
The chemical nature of this Indian clay has not been
examined.

In Northern Europe, especially in the remote
northern parts of Sweden, a kind of earth known by
the name of bread-meal is consumed in hundreds of
cart-loads, it is said, every year. In Finland a simi-
lar earth is commonly mixed with the bread. In
both these cases the earth employed consists for the
most part of the empty shells of minute infusorial
animalcules, in which there cannot exist any ordinary
nourishment. In north Germany also, on various
occasions where famine or necessity urged it — as in
long -protracted sieges of fortified places — a similar
substance, under the name of mountain -meal, has
been used as a means of staying hunger.

In Southern America, likewise, the eating of clay

* Himalayan Journals, vol, i. p. 145.

212

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

prevails among the native Indians on the banks of
the Orinoco, and on the mountains of Bolivia and
Peru. The most precise and detailed accounts we
possess on this subject, in regard to the Indians of
the Orinoco, is given by Humboldt. In north lati-
tude 7° 8', and west longitude 67° 18', he met with
the tribe of the Otomacs, of which he writes as
follows : —

" The earth which the Otomacs eat is an unctuous,
almost tasteless clay — true potter's earth — which has
a yellowish-grey colour, in consequence of a slight
admixture of oxide of iron. They select it with
great care, and seek it in certain banks on the shores
of the Orinoco and Meta. They distinguish the fla-
vour of one kind of earth from that of another, all
kinds of clay not being alike acceptable to their
palate. They knead this earth into balls measuring
from four to six inches in diameter, and bake them
before a slow fire, until the outer surface assumes a
reddish colour. Before they are eaten the balls are
again moistened. These Indians are mostly wild
uncivilised men, who abhor all tillage. There is a
proverb current among the most distant tribes living
on the Orinoco, when they wish to speak of anything
very unclean — ' so dirty that the Otomacs eat it.'

" As long as the waters of the Orinoco and the Meta
are low, the people live on fish and turtles. They
kill the former with arrows, shooting the fish, as they
rise to the surface of the water, with a skill and dex-
terity that has frequently excited my admiration. At

CLAY DEVOURED BY THE OTOMACS. 213

the periodical swelling of the rivers the fishing is
stopped, for it is as difficult to fish in deep river
water as in the deep sea. It is during these intervals,
which last from two to three months, that the Oto-
macs are observed to devour an enormous quantity
of earth. We found in their huts considerable stores
of clay balls piled up in pyramidal heaps. An
Indian, will consume from three-quarters of a pound
to a pound and a quarter of this food daily, as we
were assured by the intelligent monk, Fray Kamon
Bueno, a native of Madrid, who had lived among
these Indians for a period of twelve years. Accord-
ing to the testimony of the Otomacs themselves, this
earth constitutes their main support in the rainy
season. They eat however, in addition, when they
can procure them, lizards, several species of small
fish, and the roots of a fern. But they are so partial
to clay, that even in the dry season, when there is an
abundance of fish, they still partake of some of their
earth-balls, by way of a bonne bouche after their
regular meals.

" These people are of a dark copper-brown colour,
have unpleasant Tartar-like features, and are stout,
but not protuberant. The Franciscan, who had lived
amongst them as a missionary, assured us that he had
observed no difference in the condition and well-being
of the Otomacs during the periods in which they lived
on this clay. The simple facts are therefore as follows :
The Indians undoubtedly consume large quantities of
clay without injuring their health ; they regard this

214

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

earth as a nutritious article of food — that is to say,
they feel that it will satisfy their hunger for a long
time. This property they ascribe exclusively to the
clay, and not to the other articles of food which they
contrive to procure from time to time in addition to
it. If an Otomac be asked what are his winter pro-
visions— the term winter in the torrid parts of South
America implying the rainy season — he will point to
the heaps of clay in his hut." *

Although the mouths of the Orinoco are at no
great distance either from the West India Islands or
from the colonies of Guiana, this custom of the Oto-
macs differs so much from that of the Guinea nesroes
that we can scarcely believe it to have been borrowed
by them from any runaway negro slaves. It is more
probably of old date, if not indigenous to the
country.

This is rendered more likely by the fact that a
similar practice prevails towards the south-west, in
the hill-country of Bolivia and Peru. In describing
the various articles he saw exposed for sale in the
provision-markets of La Paz, on the eastern Cordillera,
Dr Weddell says : " Lastly, the mineral kingdom con-
tributes its share to the Bolivian markets, and it is
sufficient to see the important place which this con-
tingent occupies on the stalls of La Paz, to be satis-
fied that the part it plays is deserving of much atten-
tion. The substance I allude to is a species of grey-
coloured clay, very unctuous to the touch, and dis-

* Humboldt's Views 0/ Nature, pp. 143-144. Bohn's edition.

PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF CLAY.

215

tinguished by the name of fahsa. The Indians, who
are the only consumers of it, commonly eat it with
the bitter potato of the country, Papa amargas.
They allow it to steep for a certain time in water, so
as to make a kind of soup or gruel, and season it
with a little salt. It has the taste of ordinary clay.

" At Chiquisaca, the capital of the State, as I was
informed, small pots are made of an earth called
chaco, similar to the pahsa of La Paz. These are
eaten like chocolate. I was told of a senorita who
had killed herself by an extreme fondness for these
little pots, but it appears that the moderate use
of pahsa is followed by no bad effects. The chemical
examination of these substances shows that they
cannot, in any way, contribute to the nourishment
of the body."*

The eating of certain varieties of earth or clay may,
therefore, be regarded as a very extended practice
among the native inhabitants of the tropical regions
of the globe. It stays or allays hunger, in some
unknown way, stilling probably the pain and craving
to which hunger gives rise. It enables the body to be
sustained in comparative strength with smaller sup-
plies of ordinary food than are usually necessary, and
it can be eaten in moderate quantities even for a
length of time without any sensible evil consequences.
A fondness even is often acquired for it, so that it
comes at last to be regarded and eaten as a dainty.

In what way such effects can be produced by such

* "Weddeix, Voyage dans le nord de la Bolivie, p. 161.

216

THE POISONS WE SELECT.

substances we do not understand. That they are
produced is testified by so many witnesses that we
cannot refuse our belief. Yet they appear so con-
trary to all our common experience as to the depen-
dence of animal life and strength on what we
usually call the necessaries of life, that we naturally
hesitate to believe what we are so unable to explain.
The more we consider, however, the statements con-
tained in this and the preceding chapters regarding
the beverages, the narcotics, and the poisons, the more
we shall be satisfied of the imperfect state of our
knowledge as to what concerns the maintenance and
comfort of our lives. We are especially ignorant still
of the conditions as to quantity and forms of food
under which man will refuse to live in the varied cir-
cumstances of climate, habit, and constitution to
which he is subject. But this will come under our
notice again, in a succeeding chapter, when we con-
sider What, how, and why we digest.

CHAPTEE XXIV.

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

VOLATILE OILS AND FRAGRANT RESINS.

Vegetable odours. — The volatile oils ; how extracted. — Quantity-
yielded by plants. — The otto of roses ; how collected. — The oils exist
in different parts of plants. — Simple and mixed perfumes. — Analogy
between odours and sweet sounds. — Odours may resemble and blend
with each other. — Extraction of oils by maceration. — Quantity of
volatile oils imported. — Composition of oils of lemons, oranges, &c.
— Isomeric oUs. — Oils containing oxygen. — Volatile oils of almonds
and cinnamon. — Artificial essences. — OU of spiraea ; can be prepared
by art. — Manufactured substitutes for oil of bitter almonds. — Nitro-
benzol, or essence de Mirbane. — Nitro-benzyl another substitute. —
The camphors. — Chinese and Borneo camphors. — Balsams of Peru
and Tolu. — The odoriferous resins ; why they become fragrant on
red-hot charcoal ; their use as incense. — Vanilla, its fragi-ance, and
analogy to the balsams. — The Tonka bean ; coumarin, the odori-
ferous principle of this bean. — The same principle in vernal grass,
melilot, and other plants. — Gives fragrance to hay, and probably
produces hay fever.

Among the appliances of common life by which the
comfort of man in a civilised state is very materially
affected, are the odours he enjoys and the smells he
dislikes. Upon the origin, nature, mutual relations,
and physiological action of these, modern chemistry
has thrown much light. I shall, therefore, in this
place briefly illustrate their chemical history.

VOL. II. Q

218

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

The odours we enjoy are nearly all derived, either
directly or indirectly, from the vegetable kingdom.
Among scents in common use, musk, civet, and
ambergris, are the only ones which owe their origin
to animal life ; while with pleasant smells of a purely
mineral origin we are as yet altogether unacquainted.

I. Vegetable Odoues.— The odoriferous sub-
stances yielded by plants are of three kinds — the
volatile oils, such as the oils of lemons and lavender —
the camphors, balsams, and sweet-smelling resins —
and the volatile ethers, such as those which give
their agreeable bouquet to different kinds of wine.

1°. The volatile oils.— When the parts of odori-
ferous plants are distilled with water, an oil passes
over along with the steam, and floats on the surface
of the water, which condenses in the receiver. This
volatile oil usually exhibits in a high degree the pecu-
liar smell, and often also the taste of the plant from
which it is extracted. In this way are obtained the
oils of roses, lavender, lemons, oranges, orange flowers,
cinnamon, peppermint, and many others, which in
smell and taste remind us at once of the plants
from which they have been distilled.

The greater part of the oil usually floats on the
surface of the water which distils over along with it.
But this water always retains a small portion of the
oil in solution, and from this oil it acquires both
smell and taste. Thus rose-water, lavender-water,
peppermint-water, &c., are simply waters impregnated

OTTO OF EOSES.

219

with a minute quantity of the oil from which they
severally derive their names. The water distilled
from myrtle flowers forms that very agreeable per-
fume known in France by the name of eau, d'ange.

The quantity of oil yielded by some plants is so
small, that the water which distils over along with it
retains it all in solution. In such cases the oil is dif-
ficult to obtain, and is in consequence very expensive.
Roses are among the flowers which yield their oil in
such minute quantities, and hence the high price of
the pure attar of roses. The rose-gardens at Ghaze-
pore are fields in which small rose-bushes are planted
in rows. In the morning they are red with blossoms,
but these are all gathered before mid-day, and their
leaves distilled in clay stills, with twice their weight
of water. The water which comes over is placed in
open vessels, covered with a moist muslin cloth to
keep out dust and flies, and exposed all night to the
cool air or to artificial cold — as we set out milk to
throw up its cream. In the morning, a thin film of
oil has collected on the top, which is swept off with a
feather, and carefully transferred to a small phial.
This is repeated, night after night, til] nearly the
whole of the oil is separated from the water. Twenty
thousand roses are required to yield a rupee weight
of oil, which sells for £10 sterling — (Hookee).*
Pure attar of roses is therefore rarely to be met with.

* The weight of a mpee is something less than 176 grains. Others
say that a thousand roses yield less than 2 grains of oil. Of course
the quantity must vary very much as the scent of the rose is greater
or less.

220

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

That which is sold in the Indian bazaars is adulter-
ated with sandal-wood oil, or diluted with sweet
salad oils. What we obtain in Europe is generally
still more diluted, as the price we usually give for it
sufficiently shows.

The odoriferous principle is not always diffused
uniformly over the whole plant. In some, as in mint
and thyme, it resides in the leaves and stem; in
others, as in the cinnamon tree, it is in the bark ; in
others, as in the sandal and cedar trees, it is in the
wood ; in others, like the rose, the lily, the violet, and
the jasmin,* it is in the leaves of the flower. In
many, like the Tonquin bean, the anise, and the carra-
way, it is in the seed ; while in some, like ginger, the
iris, and the vitivert, it is in the root. It sometimes
even happens that distinctly different scents are ex-
tracted from different parts of the same plant. Thus
the orange tree, from its leaves, yields a perfume
called petit grain — from its flowers, another called
neroli — and from the rind of its fruit the essential
oil of oranges, called also essence of Portugal.

These volatile oils and scented waters are used as
perfumes for the toilet, to flavour the bonbons of the
confectioner, or for giving an agreeable relish to the
finer dishes of the cook. The oils of roses, lavender,
orange-flowers, &c., are sold only for toilet use, and
for scenting the preparations of the perfumer ; while

* Pure oil of jasmin is almost as rare and dear as pure attar of roses.
At the Great Exhibition of 1851, six ounces of it were exhibited, the
piice of which was £9 an ounce.

ODOURS DEFINITE AND FIXED

221

those of lemons, peppermint, cinnamon, cloves, gin-
ger, &c., are employed almost solely by the confec-
tioner and the cook.

Every pure volatile oil is a definite chemical com-
pound, possessed of properties which are constant and
peculiar to itself. Among other properties, it pos-
sesses an odour, more or less pronounced, by which it
can in most cases readily be recognised. Upon this
odour, when agreeable, its value and estimation de-
pend ; and the quality of the odour determines the
purpose, in perfumery or otherwise, for which it is
employed. The pure and unmixed odours of such
single oils are often highly esteemed, and by some per-
sons preferred to all other scents. But in preparing
delicate perfumes it is seldom that a single oil, or the
parts of one plant only, are employed for the purpose.
The art of the perfumer is shown by the skill with
which he combines together the odoriferous principles
of various flowers, or mingles together many volatile
essences, so as to produce a more grateful scent than
any single plant can be made to yield. In this way
the huille de mille fieurs (oil of a thousand flowers)
professes to be made ; and the secret recipe for the
popular Eau de Cologne — called the perfection of
perfumery — depends for its excellency on the same
principle.*

Odours resemble very much the notes of a musical
instrument. Some of them blend easily and naturally
with each other, producing a harmonious impression,

* Mejport of the Juries of the Great Exhihition o/1851, p. 608.

222

THE ODOUllS WE ENJOY.

as it were, on tlie sense of smell. Heliotrope, vanilla,
orange blossom, and the almond blend together in
this way, and produce different degrees of a nearly
similar effect. The same is the case with citron,
lemon, vervain, and orange peel, only these produce
a stronger impression, or belong, so to speak, to a
higher octave of smells. And again, patchouly,
sandal-wood, and vitivert form a third class. It re-
quires, of course, a nice or well-trained sense of smell
to perceive this harmony of odours, and to detect the
presence of a discordant note. But it is by the skilful
admixture, in kind and quantity, of odours producing
a similar impression, that the most delicate and un-
changeable fragrances are manufactured. When per-
fumes which strike the same key of the olfactory
nerve are mixed together for handkerchief use, no
idea of a different scent is awakened as the odour dies
away; but when they are not mixed upon this prin-
ciple, perfumes are often spoken of as becoming sickly
or faint, after they have been a short time in use.*
A change of odour of this kind is never perceived in
genuine eau de Cologne. Oils of lemons, juniper,
and rosemary are among those which are mixed and
blended together in this perfume. None of them,
however, can be separately distinguished by the ordi-
nary sense of smell ; but if a few drops of hartshorn
be added to an ounce measure of the water, the lemon
smell usually becomes very distinct.

But though, as I have said, each volatile essence is
* Septimus Piesse, Annals of Pharmacy and Chemistry.

PEOCESS OF MACERATION.

223

chemically distinct, and possesses properties peculiar
to itself, among which the odour is one, yet the deli-
cacy and fragrance of this odour is found to vary con-
siderably with the locality in which the plant that
yields it has been grown. Thus on the shores of the
Mediterranean, near Grasse and Nice, the orange
tree and the mignonette bloom to perfection in the
low, warm, and sheltered spots ; while, in the same
region, the violet grows sweeter as we ascend from
the lowest land and approach to the foot of the Alps.
So lavender and peppermint grown at Mitcham, in
Surrey, yield oils which far excel those of France or
other foreign countries, and which bring eight times
the price in the market. This effect of soil and
climate on the odour of plants resembles that
which they exercise in so remarkable a manner
on the narcotic constituents of tobacco, opium, and
hemp.*

The small proportion of volatile oil which many
flowers jrield by distillation has led to other modes of
extracting it for use in perfumery. The flowers are
moistened with olive or other oil, or with pomatum,
and, after lying for awhile, are submitted to pressure;
or they are put into hot water and well shaken, with
a portion of oil or pomatum, which is afterwards
skimmed off. In either way the oil or fat is impreg-
nated more or less strongly with the odour of the
flowers, and has acquired a proportionate value. This
process is called maceration, enfieurage, &c., and fats
* See The Narcotics we indulge in.

224

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

SO perfumed are generally called French pomatums.
Spirit of wine extracts the odoriferous principle from
these scented fats, and the solutions are employed for
the manufacture of perfumed waters.

The economical importance of these essential oils
may be judged of from the facts that,

In 1852 there were imported into this country of essential oils about
200,000 lb. weight, paying a duty of Is. a-pound ;

Eau de Cologne to the value of £20,000 sterling ;

French pomatums and other perfumery valued at £2200 ;

And that the total duty of every kind paid in Great Britain, for
scents and perfumes, has been calculated at £40,000 a-year,*

2°. Compositions of the Volatile Oils. — A
large number of the odoriferous essences of plants is

* The quantities of essential oils paying Is. a-pound duty entered for
home consumption in 1853 were as follows :
Bergamot,
Carraway,

Cassia,
Cloves,
Lavender,
Lemon,

Mint and spearmint.
Otto of roses,
Peppermint,
Thyme,

Lemon grass, )
CitroneUa, >
Oils not described, )

28,574 lb.
3,602 „
6,163 „
595 „
12,776 „
67,348 „
163 „
1,268 „
16,059 „
11,418 „

47,380 „

195,346 lb.

The otto of roses comes chiefly from Constantinople and Smyrna ;
the oil of lemons from Sicily and Portugal ; bergamot in large propor-
tion from Sicily ; and anise from Germany and the East Indies. The
oil of cloves imported is small in quantity ; but the consumption
is probably ten times as much, the EngUsh wholesale druggists being
themselves large distillers of this oil. Carraway is also largely distilled
at home, while of oil of lavender probably as much as 6000 lb. are
distilled in England, besides much oil of peppermint.

COMPOSITION OF THESE OILS. 225

composed of the two elementary bodies, carbon and
hydrogen only. And what is very remarkable, many
of them, which are otherwise very distinct, consist of
these two elements united together in the same pro-
portions. Thus, a hundred pounds of pure oil of
tui'pentine consist of —

Carbon, 88.24 lb.

Hydrogen, .... 11.76 „

100 lb.

And the oils of lemons, of oranges, of juniper, of rose-
mary, of copaiba, of the queen of the meadow, and
many others, though so different in their properties from
the oil of turpentine and from each other, consist of
exactly the same proportion (88^ lb.) of carbon united
to the same weight (llf lb.) of hydrogen. Sub-
stances thus differing in properties, and yet agreeing
in composition, are distinguished among chemists
by the name of Isomeric bodies. The difference
of properties they exhibit is believed to be a con-
sequence of the unlike ways in which the minute
molecules or atoms of the carbon and hydrogen are
arranged and grouped together in the different com-
pounds.

Another class of these volatile odoriferous oils con-
tains a small proportion of oxygen combined with the
carbon and hydrogen of which they chiefly consist.
To this class belongs the volatile oil which bitter
almonds (fig. 77) yield when distilled with water-
This fragrant oil is very different from the fixed oil
which almonds, both sweet and bitter, yield when

226

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

submitted to pressure, and is much used by the con-
fectioner and cook.

Of the same kind is the oil of cinnamon, which
the young bark of the cinnamon laurel (fig. 78) yields

Fig. 77. Fig. 78.

Amygdahis communis, var. amara —
The Bitter Almond.

Scale, 1 inch to 20 feet.
Scale for flowers, leaf, fruit, stone, and
kernel, 1 inch to 3 inches.

Cinnamonium zeylanicum — The
Cinnamon Laurel.

Scale, 1 inch to 20 feet.
Scale for leaf, 1 inch to 4 inches.
Fruit, natural size.

when distilled with water ; and also the oil which is
obtained from anise seed by a similar process. But in
this class, the proportions of the several constituents
are rarely the same in two different oils. Thus the
three oils above mentioned consist respectively of —

Carbon,
Hydrogen,
Oxygen, .

Oil of Anise.

81.08
8.11
10.81

Oil of Cinnamon.

81.81
6.07
12.12

Oil of Bitter
Alraouds.

72.4

13.8

100

Oil of peppermint and many others belong to this
class. They all differ from one another in composi-

ARTIFICIAL ESSENCES.

227

tion, the proportions of the three ingredients varying
in each case.

8°. Artificial Essences. — It is a character of all
the volatile oils of the kinds above mentioned, that
they cannot as yet be formed or imitated by chemical
art. The progress of chemistry, however, has recently
made us acquainted with one odoriferous essence,
somewhat peculiar in kind, which can be prepared by
an artificial process ; and this is probably only the
forerunner of many similar discoveries by which our
power over matter is hereafter to be enlarged.

I have already mentioned the volatile oil of the
queen of the meadow (Spircea ulmaria), fig. 79, as
having the same composi-
tion as oil of turpentine.
But when the flowers of this
plant are distilled with
water, they yield, besides
this oil, another sweet-
smelling substance, known
as the essence of spiroea,
which differs from the oil
in its properties, has a dif-
ferent composition, and con-
tains oxygen. This essence
resembles in its odour the
oil of bitter almonds, and
is remarkable for possess-
ing acid properties. Hence it is known to chemists
by the name of salicylous acid.

Fig. 79.

Spircea ulmaria — The Queen
of the Meadows.
Scale, 1 inch to 1 foot.

228

THE ODOUES WE ENJOY.

When water is boiled upon the bark of the willow
tree (salix), it extracts from the bark a bitter sub-
stance, to which the name of salicine is given, and
which possesses many of the fever-dispelling virtues
of the well-known quinine. When this bitter sub-
stance is heated along with bichromate of potash and
sulphuric acid, it is converted into essence of spiraea or
salicylous acid. Thus we have a method of forming
this essence without the use of the natural flowers of
the spiraea itself. And although this method is too
expensive to be adopted on a large scale for the manu-
facture of the essence for practical purposes, it holds
out the prospect, and will probably lead to the dis-
covery of cheaper methods, by which not only this,
but more valuable perfumes also may be prepared in
an economical manner.

Indeed, we already possess processes, by means of
which we can imitate, at a cheap rate, though not
actually form, another of the volatile oils above men-
tioned— the volatile oil of bitter almonds. This oil,
as is well known, is highly prized, extensively used,
and comparatively costly. The methods by which it
is imitated are as follows : —

First, When common coal is distilled in our gas-
works, a quantity of tarry matter (coal tar) comes
over along with the gas which is used for lighting our
streets. When this tarry matter is again distilled by
itself, a thin, very combustible liquid, known as coal
naphtha, is obtained. This coal naphtha is a mixture
of various substances, one of which is a very light

ARTIFICIAL ESSENCES.

229

colourless liquid, distinguished by tlie name of benzole.
When this benzole is carefully mixed with nitric acid
(aquafortis), it unites with it and forms a sweet
scented compound (nitro-henzol), which in odour and
general appet^^ance can scarcely be distinguished from
oil of bitter almond. It is known and sold in com-
merce under the names of artificial oil of hitter
almonds, and of Essence de Mirbane. It differs in com-
position from the true volatile oil of bitter almonds ;
but it resembles it very closely in odour, and is an ex-
cellent substitute for it in the scenting of soaps. It
is also safer than the natural oil for use in confections
and cookery, because it can never contain the prussic
acid which is sometimes present in the natural oil.

The second mode of imitating this volatile oil has
recourse to substances of a very different origin. The
urine of the horse and the cow contains an acid sub-
stance which is easily extracted from it in the solid
state, and which is known to chemists by the name
of hippuric acid. When this acid is heated over a
lamp, it melts, and at 460° F. the melted acid begins
to boil. There then distils over a liquid substance,
containing 13 per cent of nitrogen, to which the name
of nitro-benzyl has been given. The odour of this
liquid is so similar to that of the volatile oil of bitter
almonds that it may readily be mistaken for it. We
may expect it therefore to be used in perfumery
instead of the more costly oil. For as the drainings
of our stables and cow-houses are plentiful, and the
hippuric acid can be cheaply extracted from them,

230

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

the fragrant nitro-benzyl may be manufactured at a
moderate cost.

The thoughtful reader will rightly appreciate the
tendency and social importance of results and re-
searches such as these, with which modern chemical
investigations abound. They tend to give a new
value to waste materials, by discovering new uses for
them, and to cheapen at the same time, and bring
within reach of the manv, the luxuries and material
refinements heretofore confined to the few.

4°. The Camphors, Balsams, and Odoriferous
Besins are all more or less solid, possess a fragrance

Fig. 80.

more or less agreeable,
and always contain oxy-
gen as one of their con-
stituents. By combina-
tions with oxygen, many
of the volatile oils be-

come changed into

resms.

Lauras camphora—The CamphorLaurel,
or Camphire tree.
Scale, 1 inch to 20 feet.
Scale for flower and leaf, 1 inch to 4 inches.

a. The Camphors. —
There are several
known varieties of cam-
phor. The two most fa-
miliar in commerce are
the camphor of Japan,
called also Dutch cam-
phor, because it is
usually brought to Eu-
rope by the Dutch,

THE CAMPHOES AND BALSAMS. 231

and the China or Formosa camphor. Every part of
the camphor tree {Laurus camphora), fig. 80, is
impregnated with the perfume. It is extracted by
chopping the branches and boiling them in water;
the camphor rises to the surface, and becomes solid
when the water is afterwards allowed to cool.

The odour of the camphors is powerful, very cha-
racteristic, and to many persons very agreeable. It
is used for scenting soaps, tooth-powders, and nume-
rous other preparations for the toilet.

What is called Borneo camphor is obtained from a
different tree (Bryobalanops), but by the action of
nitric acid is converted into common camphor. An
artificial camphor also is prepared from oil of turpen-
tine; but it does not possess the composition or fra-
grance of the laurel camphor, and cannot be used as
a substitute for it.

h. The balsams are thick, more or less fragrant,
fluids, which, like the common turpentines, are ob-
tained by making incisions into the bark of the trees
which yield them. The balsam of Peru, and the
balsam of Tolu, which are among the best known,
are extracted in this way from different species of
myrospermum which grow in Peru, New Granada,
and on the banks of the Magdalena in South
America. They consist chiefly of an odoriferous
volatile oil, which comes over when they are dis-
tilled alone, and of a resin nearly void of smell which
remains behind. The balsam of Peru has a power-
ful but agreeable odour, resembling that of vanilla.

232

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

The balsam of Tolu is very fragrant, though less
powerfully so than that of Peru. The fragrance of both
is increased, and somewhat changed, when they are
dropped on a red-hot coal. While burning, the in-
odorous resin decomposes, and gives off an agreeable
scent.

For their natural odour these balsams are used to
flavour marmalades and other sweetmeats, and as an
ingredient in various perfumes. For the additional
scent they give off when burned, they are employed
as incense, and in preparing the fumigating pastiles
which we burn in the chambers of the sick and else-
where to disguise or overpower unpleasant smells.

c. The odoriferous resins, such as myrrh and
frankincense, have comparatively little natural fra-
grance. The balsamic resins, such as storax and
benzoin, have more decided odours, and, like the true
balsams, recall the sweet smell of vanilla. Like the
camphors and balsams, all are used to some extent in
preparing articles for the toilet.

But it is for the odours they evolve when burned
that they are chiefly used and valued. When thrown
in the state of powder upon burning charcoal, myrrh,
frankincense, aloes, benzoin, storax, olibauum, and
other resins of this kind, emit an agreeable fragrance.
Hence they are largely used for burning as incense in
the Greek and Roman churches and in Pagan temples.
When burned in this way, three effects are produced
— First, The volatile oil is driven off in vapour, and
diffuses through the air the scent emitted by the resin

THE AROMATIC VANILLA.

233

in its natural state. Second, White vapours of a
volatile fragrant acid, which exists ready formed in
the resin,* ascend and mingle their smell with that
of the volatile oil. And, thirdly^ Another volatile
aromatic oil is produced by the decomposition of the
resin upon the red-hot charcoal. The vapours of this
oil also rise and unite with those of the other sub-
stances, and thus produce the full effect upon the
olfactory nerves for which the most esteemed varie-
ties of incense are valued.

d. Vanilla. — I have described the balsams as pos-
sessing an odour which resembles that of vanilla,
fig. 81). This highly-prized perfume resides in the
pods of an orchidaceous plant (Vanilla aromatica,
or planifolia), long known to the ancient Mexicans
for its remarkable fragrance, and probably used by
them, as it is now, for flavouring their favourite
chocolate. The best vanilla is still brought from
Mexico, though less esteemed varieties are produced
by species of the plant which grow in other parts of
tropical America. -f- The fruit of this plant, as shown
in the annexed figure, is a long pulpy pod, filled with
rounded seeds. When ripe, the pod is said to yield
from two to six drops of a liquid which has an exqui-

* From benzoin the fragrant benzoic acid is given off— from storax,
and tlie balsams of Peru and Tolu, the cinnamic acid. The benzoic acid is
white, solid, and crystalline ; and, though so different in its properties,
is remarkable for possessing the same chemical composition as the
volatile essence of spiraea already described. It is often used as an
ingredient of pastiles. The cinnamic acid is very like the benzoic, and
derives its name from the fragrant oil of cinnamon, which, by combining
with oxygen, forms cinnamic acid.

t See Map of Vanilla Countries, p. 140.

VOL. II. T>

234

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

site odour, and bears the name of balsam of vanilla.
This balsam, however, is never seen in Europe. The

Pig. 81.

Vanilla aromatica — The Aromatic Vanilla.
Scale for plant, 1 inch to 6 feet.
Scale for flowers and fruit, 1 inch to 6 inches.

pods are dried in the sun, and afterwards slightly fer-
mented, for the purpose of developing their odour,
as, when fresh, they are said to be without smell. In
some places they are afterwards rubbed over with
oil, and in this state sent to market.

The odoriferous principles of the vanilla have not
yet been accurately determined. One of them is a
peculiar fragrant volatile oil, and another a fragrant
acid, probably the cinnamic. Hence the similarity
of the odour of vanilla to that of the balsams.

THE TONKA BEAN.

235

As a perfume, vanilla is tighly esteemed. Its prin-
cipal use, however, is in flavouring chocolate, ices,
creams, and other confectionary. Coffee, and even
tea, are sometimes also flavoured with it. Physiolo-
gically, it acts upon the system as an aromatic stimu-
lant, exhilarating the mental functions, and increas-
ing generally the energy of the animal system. Like
^i^- some other odours —

those of camphor and
patchouli, for example
— that of vanilla some-
times exhibits narcotic
effects upon those who
are much exposed to it.

Five or six hundred-
weight of vanilla are
yearly imported into
this country.

e. Coumarin. — Near-
ly allied to the fra-
grant resins is an in-
teresting and widely-
diffused natural per-
fume, to which che-
mists have given the
name of coumarin.
A fragrant bean, the
Tonka or Tonga bean
(fig. 82), the fruit of the
Dipterix odomta, formerly well known in this

DipUrix odorata — The Tonka Bean-tree.

Scale, 1 inch to 40 feet.
Leaves and raceme of flowers, 1 inch to
4 inches.

a. Flower ; b. Kernel or bean ; c. Pod or fruit.
1 inch to 2 inches.

236

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

country, and much employed for perfuming snuff,
contains this substance coumarin. Alcohol readily
extracts it from the bean ; and by evaporating the
alcoholic solution, we obtain the substance in a solid
state. It forms white brilliant needles, possessed of
an agreeable aromatic odour. When heated, it rises
in vapour ; and this vapour, when inhaled, acts power-
fully upon the brain. It consists of carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen, in the following proportions : —

Carbon,

Hydrogen,

Oxygen,

73.97
4.11
21.92

100

So that it is richer in oxygen than any of the volatile

Fig. 83.

Anthoxa nthum odoratum-~
Sweet-sceuted verual grass.
Scale, 1 inch to 9 inches.
Single flower, glume, and
seed, natural size.

oils of which the composition
has been given above.

But the interesting circum-
stance in the history of this sub-
stance is, that, though discovered
first in a foreign bean, the pro-
duce of a warm climate, it has
since been found to exist in, and
to impart their well-known
agreeable odours to, several of
our most common European
plants. Among these, the sweet-
scented vernal grass (fig. 83), to
which we are in the habit of
ascribing the fragrance of well-
made hay, deserves especial

SWEET-SMELLINa GEASSES.

237

mention. This grass contains coumarin, and imparts
to dry hay the odour of this substance.

The following is a list of the sweet-smelling plants
in which coumarin has already been found : —

Dipterix odorata, or Tonka bean.

Angra9cum fragrans, the Faham tea-plant of Mauritius.

Asperula odorata, the common sweet woodruff.

Anthoxanthum odoratum, the sweet-scented vernal grass.

Melilotus officinalis, or common melilot.

Melilotus cserulea, the blue or Swiss melilot.

It is the same odour, therefore, which gives fra-
grance to the Tonka bean, to the Faham tea of the
Mauritius, to our melilot trefoil, and to sweet-smell-
ing hay-fields, in which melilot and vernal grass
abound. In Switzerland the blue melilot is mixed
with particular kinds of scented cheese, and the cou-
marin it contains gives to that of Schabzieger its
peculiar well-known odour.

Many other sweet-smelling grasses are known, such
as Hierochloe borealis. Ataxia horsfieldii, Andropo-
gon Iwacancusa, Andropogon schoenanthus or lemon
grass, &c. &c., in which coumarin probably does not
exist. Indeed, the Andropogon muricatus (the kus-
kus of India) yields a favourite fragrant oil, used as a
medicine in that country. There are other sweet-
smelling substances therefore, without doubt, from
which grasses dried for hay, in different countries,
may derive an agreeable odour.

I have alluded to the influence which, in the form
of vapour, coumarin exercises upon the brain. It is
not improbable that the hay fever, to which many

238

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

susceptible people are liable, may be owing to the
presence of this substance in the air in unusual quan-
tity* during the period of hay-making. In seasons
which are peculiarly hot, and in localities where the
odoriferous grasses occur in uncommon plenty, such
an abundance of coumarin vapour in. the air is by
no means unlikely to occur.

* Such fevers may possibly arise also from the difFiision through the
air of the pollen of these odoriferous plants. This pollen is supposed,
like that of the kalmias and rhododendrons, to possess narcotic proper-
ties, and, when drawn in by the nose and mouth, to produce narcotic
fever-causing effects upon the system.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE ODOUES WE ENJOY.

THE VOLATILE ETHERS AND ANIMAL ODOURS.

Wine ether, how prepared. — Nitric ether and acetic ether. — Wood
spirit and wood ether. — Potato spirit, or oil of grain, and potato
ethers. — Oil of winter-gi'een, a natural ether ; how prepared arti-
ficially.— Sweet-smelling ethers manufactured as perfumes. — Pear oil,
or essence of jargonelle. — Apple oil. — Grape and cognac oils. — Pine-
apple oil. — Essence of melons. — Essence of quinces. — Hungarian wine
oil, and other artificial fragrances. — Capryhc ethers. — The flavour of
whisky. — Propyhc ethers. — The houquet of wines. — CEnanthic ether
gives the generic flavour to grape wines. — Characteristic fragrant
principles of different wines. — Use of the sweet flag in flavouring
spirits and beer ; its abundance in Norfolk. — Odoriferoiis substances
of animal origin. — Musk ; the musk deer ; lasting smell of musk.- —
Civet. — Effect of dilution upon odoriferous substances.— Use of civet
in Africa. — Castoreum and hyraceum. — Ambergris and perfumes
prepared from it. — Insect odours. — General reflections. — Extreme
diffusiveness of odours. — Delicacy of the organs of smell. — How che-
mistry increases our comforts, gives rise to new ai-ts^and generally
civilises.

II.— The Volatile Ethers yielded by plants are
at the present moment the most interesting to the
chemist of all the natural perfumes. This interest
arises from the circumstance that a careful analytical

VOL. II. S

240

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

examination of some of those produced in living
plants, has given us the key not only to the true
chemical composition of these substances themselves,
but also to the mode of producing by art an almost
endless variety of odoriferous compounds.

l^ Wine ethers.— When spirit of wine (alcohol)
is mixed with twice its bulk of common oil of vitriol
(sulphuric acid) in a retort, and distilled by the aid of
heat, a very light, volatile, and somewhat fragrant
liquid passes over, which is known by the name of
ether, or wine ether. It differs in composition from
alcohol only in containing less of the elements of
water.

If into the retort, along with the alcohol and sul-
phuric acid, a sufficient quantity of nitrate of potash
(saltpetre) be introduced before the mixture is dis-
tilled, the nitric acid of the saltpetre* unites with the
ether as it is produced, and a compound ether dis-
tils over, which is the nitric ether of the shops.
This consists of wine ether and nitric acid combined
together, and is very light, volatile, and not unplea-
santly odoriferous. If, instead of saltpetre, acetate of
potash be introduced into the retort, acetic acid unites
with the ether during the distillation, and acetic
ether, anotlier volatile ethereal compound, distils
over.

By similar processes many other acids may be
made to unite with wine ether, producing in each

* Nitric acid, known commonly by the name of aquafortis, unites
with potash, and forms nitrate of potash, or saltpetre. Acetic acid
(vinegar) and potash form acetate of potash.

WOOD AND POTATO ETHEKS. 241

case a new compound ether, possessed of a composi-
tion and properties peculiar to itself.

2°. Wood ethers. — When dry wood is distilled in
iron retorts for the manufacture of wood vinegar,
there comes over, along with the tar, water, and vine-
gar, a quantity of a peculiar alcohol, which is sepa-
rated and sold under the name of wood spirit.

When this wood spirit is distilled with sulphuric
acid, as in the first of the processes above described,
a peculiar ether comes over, which is known as wood-
spirit ether, or wood ether. This ether differs from
wood spirit as wine ether does from wine spirit (com-
mon alcohol), in containing less of the elements of
water. From wood spirit, compound ethers, also
containing the simple ether combined with an acid,
may be formed nearly in the same way as they are
formed from the wine spirit. These compound ethers
have a general resemblance, in properties and compo-
sition, to those formed from the wine spirit; but each
of them possesses a peculiar composition and sensible
properties, by which it can be distinguished more or
less readily from every other compound body.

8°. Potato ethers. — When brandy is manufac-
tured from potatoes,* there comes over along with it,
in the first distillation, a quantity of a third peculiar
spirit or alcohol, which is known as potato spirit. It
exists also in the crude spirits distilled from grain,-f-
and from grape husks (vol. i. p. 340), and gives to

* See vol. i. pp. 244, 334,

t Hence it is called also oil of grain, and by the Germans Fusel oil.

242

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

these varieties of brandy their disagreeable flavour.
By rectification it is separated from the brandy, and
may thus be obtained in a pure state. It is more
unpleasant to the taste and smell, and more madden-
ingly intoxicating than wine alcohol ; and hence the
peculiar, violent, and often poisonous effects produced
by ill-rectified grain and other raw spirits.

"When this potato spirit is distilled with oil of
vitriol, it also yields a peculiar volatile ethereal liquid
— the potato -spirit ether, or briefly the potato ether ;
and by processes similar to those already described,
compound ethers are readily obtained, in which this
potato ether is combined with the nitric, the acetic,
and many other acids.

For certain chemical reasons, which it is unneces-
sary here to state —

Wine spirit is called also Ethjlic alcohol.
Wood spirit ... Methylic alcohol.
Potato spirit ... Amylic alcohol

In like manner —

Wine ether is called Ethylic ether, or Oxide of ethyle.
Wood ether ... Methylic ether, or Oxide of meihxjle.
Potato ether ... Amylic ether, or Oxide of amyle.

And the compound ethers they severally form are
named after the acid and ether they respectively
contain. Thus the common nitric-ether I have men-
tioned is nitrate of oxide of ethyle, common acetic
ether the acetate of oxide of ethyle, and so on.

With the aid of this preliminary explanation, the

THE OIL OF WINTEE-GREEN.

243

non-chemical reader will readily understand and
appreciate all that follows regarding the progress and
actual position of our knowledge on the subject of
ethereal perfumes.

4°. Oil of winter-green. — In the State of New
Jersey, in North America, the partridge-berry, tea-
berry, or winter- Fig. 84.
green (Gaultheria
procumbens), fig.
84, grows abund-
antly in the woods
and drier swamps.
It is a dwarf
evergreen fragrant
heath - plant, and
possesses an agree-
able aromatic odour resembling that of the sweet
birch. It has long been gathered and distilled,
like other fragrant plants, for the sake of the volatile
oil, which in this way may be extracted from it. This
natural essence is largely imported into Europe as a
perfume, and is known in commerce by the name of
oil of winter-green.

Only a very few years ago, a French chemist (M.
Cahours), in experimenting with this oil, discovered
that, unlike the sweet-scented volatile oils usually
yielded by plants — those of peppermint, cinnamon,
anise, juniper, &c. — this was a compound body belong-
ing to the known family of compound ethers, and,
like them, was capable of being decomposed and again

Gaultheria procumbens — Winter-green of
New Jersey.

Scale, 1 inch to 5 inches.

Flower and fruit, natural size.

244

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

re-compounded by chemical art. This was the first
step in a new direction, and opened up a new field
of practical inquiry, which, though as yet only par-
tially cultivated, has already yielded most unexpected
fruits.

I have already spoken (p. 228) of the bitter substance
salicine, which by a peculiar process can be converted
into the fragrant essence of spiraea. By another
simple process this salicine is converted into a solid
crystalline acid substance, the salicylic acid; when
combined with wood ether, the salicylic acid forms
oil of winter-green.* This compound is produced
naturally in the GauUheria procumbens ; but the same
esteemed perfume, now that we know its nature, we
can also make by art. But the salicine required in
the process is too costly to admit of its being economi-
cally employed, as yet, for the manufacture of this
oiLf

5°. Artificial sweet-smelling ethers. — Chemi-
cal research, however, had meanwhile been discovering
in the laboratory other compound ethers, not yet
known to occur in nature, but which were distinguished
by smells so sweet as to entitle them to be placed
amongst valuable perfumes. Many of these have
already a well-established place in the market, and

* Or the salicylate of oxide of methyle.

■f Salicine is largely extracted from willow bark, and is but little
used in this part of Em-ope. It is employed, however, in preference to
quinine amid the marshes of the Danube in Tm-key, and in the Eastern
Archipelago — being less stimulating, and therefore better suited to the
constitution and circumstances of the native inhabitants of these parts
of the earth. This outlet for the saUcine keeps up its price

AETIFICIAL SWEET-SMELLING ETHERS. 245

have become articles of extensive and profitable
manufacture. Thus, under the name of —

a. Pear oil, or essence of jargonelle pears, is sold
a spirituous solution of acetate of amyle oxide, the
compound of vinegar with potato ether.* This ether,
when pure, has a peculiar fruity smell, but when
mixed with six times its bulk of spirit of wine, it ac-
quires the peculiar pleasant odour and flavour of the
jargonelle pear ! Whether the pear, when ripe, really
contains any of this ether, is not known. It is largely
manufactured, however, chiefly for the use of the con-
fectioners. Among other purposes, they employ it to
flavour pear-drops, which are merely barley-sugar
flavoured with an infinitesimal quantity of this ether.

h. Apple oil^ again, is a compound of the same
potato or amylic ether, with an acid known to chemists
by the name of the valerianic. It is easily prepared,
by substituting the 6z-chromate of potash for the ace-
tate of potash employed in the manufacture of pear
oil. The pure ether becomes the commercial apple-
oil when it is dissolved in five or six times its bulk of
alcohol. It has then a most agreeable flavour of apples,
and is employed largely by the confectioners.

c. Grape oil and cognac oil are also compounds
of the amylic or potato ether with acids. They are
used for giving the desired cognac flavour to British-
made and other inferior brandies : what acids they
contain is not yet known to chemists.

* Prepared, as already described, by distilling potato spirit with oil of
vitriol and acetate of potash.

246 THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

It will strike the reader as not unworthy of remark,
that the same potato-spirit which, because of its
offensive smell and taste, is carefully removed by the
rectifier from the ardent spirits he distils, should, un-
der the hands of the chemist, become possessed of the
most agreeable and coveted fragrance !

d. Pine-apple oil, again, is common wine-ether
combined with butyric acid, and then dissolved in
alcohol. It has the pleasant flavour of the pine apple,
and is employed in England to flavour an acidulated
drink or lemonade called pine-apple ale. In Ger-
many it is used to flavour bad rums.

The butyric acid contained in this compound ether
is the substance which gives its peculiar, agreeable
odour to fresh butter. One mode of preparing the
ether is to make butter into a soap, and to distil this
soap with alcohol and sulphuric acid.*

This ether cannot be safely employed in perfumery
for handkerchief use. When frequently inhaled, it
produces a disagreeable irritation of the air -tubes
of the lungs, which, when prolonged, is followed by
intense headache. It is well adapted, however, for
many of the purposes of the manufacturing perfumer,
and as a flavouring material to the confectioner it is
invaluable.

e. Essence of melons is a compound of wine ether

* Another mode is, to mix sugar or starch with powdered chalk and
a little curd of milk in water, and set it aside. The curd gradually
causes the sugar to change, first into lactic acid, and then into but3Tic
acid, which combines with the lime of the chalk. This butjn-aie of lime,
distilled with alcohol and sulphuric acid, gives the pine- apple oil.

ARTIFICIAL SWEET-SMELLINa ETHERS. 247

with the coccinic acid, an acid which exists in cocoa-
nut oil. It may be prepared in the same way as the
pine-apple oil, substituting only, for the butter soap,
a soap made from cocoa-nut oil.

/. Essence of quinces is wine ether combined with
pelargonic acid. When dissolved in alcohol it pos-
sesses, in the highest degree, the agreeable odour of
the oil which is extracted from the peel of the quince.
It is most easily obtained by distilling oil of rue with
diluted nitric acid (aquafortis).

g. Hungarian wine -oil is wine ether in com-
bination with a peculiar acid called the oenanthic
acid. This compound exists in all grape wines, and,
when extracted, is employed for flavouring an artificial
cognac which can scarcely be distinguished from the
genuine. For this purpose it was very lately on sale
in Breslau, at the price of sixty-nine dollars a pound !
It was prepared in Hungary — whence its name — and
was distilled from vdne husks. It has recently been
examined by Schwartz, who, besides making out its
composition and chemical relations, has also suggested
a cheap process by which it may hereafter be abun-
dantly prepared.

h. Other artificial fragrances. — The above are
only samples, so to speak, of the almost endless variety
of artificial compound ethers, possessed of sweet smells,
which are either already manufactured, or are capable
of being so, easily and cheaply for use as perfumes.

There are, for example, many other acids which are
capable of uniting with each of the three simple ethers

248 THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

I have mentioned, and of forming with them com-
pounds possessed of agreeable odours. We know
already that the formic and hippuric acids* each yield,
when united with the wine and wood spirit ethers,
very agreeable perfumes which are still nameless ; and
the number of similar compounds which may be
formed with other acids is almost inexhaustible.

Then, besides the three simple ethers prepared
from wine, wood, and potato spirits, there are many
other simple ethers, not so commonly known as these,
each of which, with the same host of acids, forms
compounds of a more or less odoriferous character.
Thus—

Caprylic ether, or oxide of capryle, yields with
acetic acid a compound of a most intense and plea-
sant smell. Those which it forms with other acids
are still scarcely known, but many of them are re-
markable for their aromatic odour. To the drinkers
of whisky it may be interesting to know that the pe-
culiar flavour of this liquor is believed to be due to
the presence of a compound of this caprylic ether.f
Again —

Propylic ether, or oxide of propyle, when combined
with butyric acid, yields a pure odour of ananas (pine
apple) superior to that which the same acid gives

* The formic acid is tlie acid of ants, but it can also be formed arti-
ficially. The hippuric acid is extracted from the drainings of stables.

f Caprylic ether is prepared from one of the acid substances con-
tained in butter. The peculiar turpentine manufactured in some parts
of Germany from the Scotch fir {Pinus sylveslris), very closely ap-
proaches the oil of whisky in smell. This, however, is merely a variety
of turpentine, and not an ether.

THE BOUQUET OF WINES.

249

when combined with wine ether. And many other
sweet smells, still unknown, will no doubt become
familiar to us when the compounds of this singular
substance are further investigated.*

6°. The bouquet of wines. — Among the odours
we enjoy is to be reckoned the bouquet of our favour-
ite wines. This bouquet is owing mainly to the pre-
sence of one or more volatile ethereal oils, similar to
those I have above described.

Generally speaking, the peculiar character of a wine
is dependent upon at least two volatile compounds
possessed of odours more or less distinct. One of
these is common to all good grape-wines, the other is
characteristic of the kind of wine, sometimes even of
the sample we are examining. As in a well-made
eau-de-Cologne, the excellence of a bouquet, or the
value it imparts to the wine which possesses it, de-
pends very much upon the way and degree in which
the odours of these several compounds harmonise and
flow into each other.

When a vinous liquor of any kind is submitted to
distillation, it yields, besides common wine-alcohol, a
portion of a peculiar ether, to which the name of
oenanthicf ether has been given. It is the same as
the Hungarian wine-oil already described, and con-

* Propylic ether, or oxide of propyle, is prepared from another fatty
acid— the propionic ; and I have called it a singular substance because,
while this oxide of propyle yields delightful odours, another compound
of the same propyle yields repulsive smells, like those of boUed crabs,
herring brine, and stinking fish.

t From Oivov, wine ; and AuBa, a flower.

260

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

sists of common wine-ether united to a peculiar acid,
the cenanthic. This ether, when pure, possesses the
characteristic odour of grape wine in so very high a
degree as to be almost intoxicating. It gives what
may be called the fundamental or generic flavour to
all grape wines.

But if the residue of the wine — that which remains
after the alcohol and cenanthic ether have been dis-
tilled off — be mixed with quicklime and again dis-
tilled, a volatile odoriferous substance passes over,
which possesses in a high degree the peculiar bouquet
of the wine we are examining — (Winckler).* Every
variety of wine, when treated in this way, yields its
own peculiar and characteristic fragrant principle.
This specific bouquet, in combination with the general
vinous odour of the cenanthic ether, common to all
wines, produces the full effect on the senses of smell
and taste for which each particular wine is distin-
guished and esteemed. The rapidity with which the
bouquet of a wine is lost, depends partly upon the
greater or less volatility of the peculiar odoriferous
substances it contains, and partly on the ease with
which they oxidise, or otherwise change, when exposed
to the air.

Little is known as yet with regard to the true chemi-
cal nature of these specific odoriferous substances.
They are said by Winckler to possess basic or alkaline
properties, to contain nitrogen, and to exist in the
wines in combination with peculiar volatile acids.

* Chemical Gazette, January 1853, p. 36.

ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURING OF WINES. 251

They are always associated with the oenanthic ether
above described, but are not ethers themselves.
When, they have been more fully examined, they
may probably make us acquainted with another large
family of agreeable odours. And the questions will
then naturally arise — Can we prepare these sub-
stances by artificial processes? — Can we teach the
wine manufacturer to flavour at will one pipe with
the bouquet of Lafitte, and another with that of
Johannisberg ? — and so on.

I need scarcely observe that the practice of flavour-
ing brandies and beers, so as to give them an esteemed
bouquet, has been long known and extensively prac-
tised. I have already mentioned certain compound

Fig. 85.

ethers — the Hungarian wine-
oil, and the pine-apple oil
for example — which are em-
ployed to give the flavour
of cognac or of rum to in-
ferior spirits, and the use of
juniper in the manufacture of
gin is known to every one.
A less familiar flavourer is
the sweet flag, the calamus
of the Song of Solomon (fig.
85). This imparts at once
an aromatic taste and an
agreeable bouquet odour to
the liquid in which it is

infu=;pd It is llSPrl bv ^can« caZam?<^-The Sweet Flag.

miUSeU. IL IS USea Dy tne Scale, l inch to lO inches.

262 THE ODOUKS WE ENJOY.

rectifiers to improve the flavour of gin, and is
largely employed to give a peculiar taste and fra-
grance to certain varieties of beer. It abounds
in the rivers of Norfolk, and from this locality the
London market used to be principally supplied. As
much as £4iO is sometimes obtained for the year s
growth of a single acre of the river-side land, on
which it naturally grows.

III. Animal Odoues. — Most species of animals
emit from their skin an odour peculiar to themselves,
by which other animals, keen of scent, can recognise
and trace them. The blood and flesh of animals also
possess a peculiar smell, and only long habit prevents
us from distinguishing in this way the flesh of the
ox, the sheep, and the pig. The parts of animals
have rarely so powerful an odour as to cause them on
that account to be either rejected or selected for econo-
mical purposes. It is different with the secretions of

animal bodies. Some
of these are offensive-
ly disagreeable to the
sense of smell, while
others are sought after
and valued as agreeable
perfumes. Among the
latter, musk, civet, and
ambergris are the most
important

MoscJmt moschatus— Musk Deer. 1°. MUSK is a Sub-

Fig. 86.

THE MUSE DEER AND MUSK. 253

stance which, is found secreted in a small bag, at-
tached to the under part of the body of a ruminat-
ing animal of the size of a roebuck (fig. 86), which
inhabits the mountains of China, Thibet, Tonquin,
Tartary, and Siberia. It is obtained only from the
male animal. When fresh, it is in the state of a soft,
salve-like, reddish-brown mass. It possesses a pecu-
liar, penetrating, long-continuing odour, and a bitter,
astringent, aromatic, slightly saline taste. By
keeping, it dries, becomes blackish-brown, and as-
sumes the form of little rounded grains, which give a
brown streak upon paper, and are easily rubbed to
powder. It is one of the most powerful, most pene-
trating, and most lasting of odoriferous substances.
It attaches itself, and gives a durable scent to every-
thing in its neighbourhood. Different qualities of
musk are met with in the market, and from its high
price it is very liable to adulteration. When pure, it
dissolves in water to the extent of three-fourths of the
whole.

The chemical nature of musk is not thoroughly
understood. It contains several less valuable ingre-
dients, the general properties and origin of which
are known ; but the chemical characters and compo-
sition of that ingredient which emits the valuable
odour have not yet been rigorously investigated.
As is the case with the special bouquet of wine, it
appears to consist of a volatile acid united to a vola-
tile alkali, which are separated from each other by
distillation with lime — (Winckler). Imperfect as our

254

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

knowledge of musk at present is, however, observa-
tions already made render it probable that, before
many years have elapsed, we shall be able to produce
it by art.

So persistent and apparently indestructible is the
odorous principle of musk, that when taken inter-
nally, as it frequently is in cases of spasms, it passes
through the pores of the skin, and impregnates the
perspiration with a strong smell of musL When kept
in capsules of wax, however, or in contact with lime,
with milk of sulphur, with sulphurate of gold, or with
syrup of almonds, musk loses it smell. But in all
these cases the smell is restored by moistening it with
liquid ammonia (hartshorn).

The flesh of the crocodile is said to smell of musk,
and the same odour is sometimes emitted by plants.
Thus our common beet has a musky smell, and the
musk-plant of our gardens possesses it more distinctly.
But the Delphinium glaciale, a plant which grows on
the Himalayas at the height of 17,000 feet, has so
strong and disagreeable a smell of musk, that the
natives believe the musk deer, which is found on
the mountain slopes, to derive its smell from eating
this plant. Another Delphinium, the J), hrunonia-
num, which grows on the western slopes of the Hima-
layas, has a similar smell of musk, though less dis-
agreeable— (Hooker). The nature of the musky-
smelling substances contained in these plants is not
yet known.

About six thousand ounces of musk are imported

THE CIVET CAT AND CIVET.

255

Fig. 87.

into this country every year, besides that which comes
from China and Kussia — (Poole). Each natural pod
or sac weighs only about six drachms, less than half of
which consists of musk. It is somewhat remarkable
that while this scent is so much esteemed in England
and other countries, it is extensively disliked in Italy,
and makes many persons ill.

2°. Civet. — The substance known in commerce by
the name of civet, is secreted by two animals of the
genus Viverra,(K
zibetha and V.
civetta), one of
which is a native
of Asia, and the
other of Africa.
It is of a pale yel-
low or brownish
colour,hasusually
the consistence of honey, and possesses a somewhat
acrid taste. Its smell resembles that of musk. When
undiluted, this smell is so powerful as to be offensive
to many ; but when mixed with a large quantity of
butter, or other diluting substance, it becomes agree-
ably aromatic, fragrant, and delicate.* It is used

* It throws some light upon the diversity of taste which prevails in
regard to scents, that the same substance may be agreeable in a diluted,
which is offensive in a concentrated state. The volatile oils of neroli,
thyme, and patchouli are in themselves unpleasant, but when diluted
with a thousand times their bulk of oil or spirit, then- fragrance is de-
lightful. So the odoiiferous ethers require to be diluted with six times
their weight of alcohol.

VOL. II. T

Viverra civetta — Civet Cat.

256

THE ODOUES WE ENJOY.

only as a perfume, and chiefly to mingle with, and
improve the odour of, less costly scents. Lavender
and other scented waters are made more agreeable
by a skilful addition of civet, in minute proportions.

Over Northern Africa, between the Red Sea and
Abyssinia, the civet cat, called by the Arabs kedis, is
highly valued. Numbers of them are kept in wicker
cages for the purpose of collecting the civet they
secrete. It is used by the women for the purpose of
powdering the upper parts of their body, their necks,
&c. Its strong odour overpowers the disagreeable
effluvium which often escapes from their dusky skins
in that arid climate.*

Castor eum, yielded by the beaver, is a natural secre-
tion, similar in its origin and its properties to musk
and civet. Like these substances, it has, when fresh,
a powerful penetrating odour, and a bitter acrid taste.
The odour, however, is fetid and disagreeable : it is
only used in medicine, therefore, and never as a per-
fume.

Hyraceum is a similar substance obtained from
the mountain badger (Hyrax capensis). It resembles
castoreum in smell, and is sometimes used medi-
cinally in its stead.

3°. Ambeegris is an odoriferous substance which
is found floating on the sea near the Molucca Islands,
in other parts of the Indian Ocean, and off the coast
of South America. It is believed to be rejected by

* Werne's African Wanderings {Travellers' Library), pp. 187,
260.

AiATBERGRIS AND ITS USES. 257

the spermaceti whale {Physeter maa-ocephalus), ia
which it has sometimes been found.

Fig. 88.

PhyseUr macrocepyia^w-Spermaceti Wliale.

When fresh, ambergris is solid, greyish, streaked
or marbled, and somewhat soft. It has a strona
agreeable odour, resembling that of musk, and a
fatty taste. It consists, to the amount of six-sevenths
of the whole (eighty-five per cent), of a fragrant
substance, soluble in alcohol, to which the name of
ambreine has been given. To this principal ingre-
dient Its use as a perfume is owino-.

Ambergris is rarely employed done. The essence
of ambergris of the perfumer is an alcoholic tincture
of the substance, to which the oils of roses, cloves, &c
are added, according to fancy. What is called tir^-
ture ofavet is formed by macerating half an ounce
of civet with a quarter of an ounce of ambergris in a

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

quart of rectified spirit. Either of these tinctures,
added in minute quantity to lavender water, to tooth-
powder, hair-powder, toilet soaps, &c., communicates
to them the peculiar odour of ambergris.

In fixity and permanence of scent the animal
odours are unrivalled. A handkerchief scented with
ambergris retains the odour even after it has been
washed : musk and civet are scarcely less permanent.
To this property these substances owe their chief use
in perfumery. They impart to volatile handkerchief-
scents a smell which continues after the less fixed
ingredients have disappeared. A favourite mixed
perfume of this kind, the extrait d'ambre of the
Parisian perfumes, is compounded of —

Esprit de rose triple, . . . i pint-
Extract of ambergris, . . . 1 »
Essence of musk, . . . . i >>
Extract of vanilla, .... 2 ounces.

When well perfumed with this, a handkerchief,
though washed, retains an odour still.

The high price which ambergris, like musk and
civet, brings in the market, leads to frequent adultera-
tions, both in this country and in those from which it
is imported. The chemistry of this substance is not
yet so well understood as to justify us in hoping soon
to produce its odoriferous ingredient by artificial pro-
cesses. Yet the observation, that dried cow-dung
smells of ambergris — (Redwood) — and that even
nightsoil, under certain forms of treatment, assumes
a powerful odour of this substance — (Homberg)* —

* Memoirs oftJie French Academy, 1711.

INSECT ODOUES.

259

suggest lines of research, by following which a mode of
manufacturing ambergris may hereafter be discovered.

4°. Insect odours. — Among animal odours of an
agreeable kind, those given off by certain insects are
deserving of mention. To entomologists, many strong-
smelling insects are known, though some of these, of
course, are far from being agreeable to our senses.

The Geramhyx moschata (fig. 89), a coleopter-
ous insect, derives its specific name
musky odour it emits. Most
of the ants of Europe give
off, when crushed, a well-known
penetrating odour of formic
acid : those of Bahia in South
America, which are very trouble-
some and destructive, give off Ceraml,. mosckata.

when squeezed a strong smell Hair natural size,
of lemons— (Wetherell). The Gyrmus natator of
Linnseus has so strong an odour, that, when seve-
ral of the insects are collected together, they may
be scented at a distance of five or six hundred
paces— (Raesel). It is to the eating of these insects
that Mr Lloyd* is inclined to ascribe the remark-
able odour emitted by the grayling {Thymallus
vulgaris), which by different writers has been likened
to that of thyme or of honey.

I do not multiply examples of this kind, as nothing
is yet known as to the chemical nature of the odori-
ferous substances which insects emit ; nor have any of

* Scandinavian Adventures, L 128.

260

THE ODOUES WE ENJOY.

them as yet been employed for purposes of luxury or
economy.

Many reflections are suggested by the facts I have
brought together in the present chapter. Want of
space forbids me to indulge in more than one or
two.

First. One circumstance which presses very strongly
upon our attention, is the extremely minute state of
diffusion in which the odoriferous substances of
animal origin still make themselves perceptible to
our senses. A fragment of musk not only gives off a
strong smell when it is first exposed to the air, but
it continues to do so for an almost indefinite period
of time. Yet the odour must be caused by particles
of matter which are continuously escaping from the
musk, so long as it continues exposed to the air.
How inconceivably small in weight, how infinitely
minute in size, the molecules must be of which this
constantly-flowing stream of matter consists !

And to vegetable perfumes the same observations
almost equally apply. A morsel of camphor will for
days fill a large room with its scent without suffering
any material diminution in weight. A single leaf of
melilot will for years preserve and manifest its sweet
odour, and yet the quantity of coumarin it contains
would probably be inappreciable by the most delicate
balance. We know in this country how a stalk of
mignonette, placed in an open window, will scent the
air that enters, through the whole of a long summer's
day. But in hot climates, especially during the morn-
ing and evening hours, this diffusiveness of perfumes

DELICACY OF THE ORGANS OF SMELL. 261

is still more striking. "The odour of the balsam-
yielding Humeriads has been perceived at a distance
of three miles from the shores of South America — a
species of Tetracera sends its perfume as far from
the island of Cuba — and the aroma of the Spice
Islands is wafted out to sea." *

The quantity of ethereal oil which gives its peculiar
aroma to grape wine has been estimated at one-forty-
thousandth only of the bulk of the wine, and that
which gives the aroma to roasted coffee, at one-fifty-
thousandth of its weight ; but the ozone which exists
in the atmosphere is distinctly perceptible to the
smell when mixed with five hundred thousand times
its bulk of air.

Second. The nicety of the bodily organs by which
we perceive these extremely diluted perfumes is
equally a subject for admiration. The sense of smell
detects and determines the presence of these infini-
tesimally minute molecules. This is remarkable.
But it does much more. It distinguishes between
them, pronouncing the impression it derives from
one class to be agreeable, and from another class
the reverse. It then further pronounces upon the
amount and kind of the pleasurable sensation pro-
duced by each, and this through a long series of
varieties and degrees. How delicate the structure of
the organs of smell must be ! How surprising that
they should continue uninjured and unimpaired,
amid so much thoughtless usage, and for so long a
series of years !

* Mrs Somerville's Physical Geography, ii. 122.

262

THE ODOURS WE ENJOY.

Third. This history of the odours we enjoy Illus-
trates in a remarkable manner, how, out of the most
vile materials, chemistry, by its magical processes, can
extract the sweetest aud most desirable substances.
How wonderful this power, how delightful to possess
it, how useful its results ! Artificial musk and am-
bergris ! Manufactories of oil of bitter almonds !
Essences of spiraea and winter-green prepared in
chemical laboratories ! Humble wines successfully
flavoured to compete with the produce of the most
costly vintages ! Ethereal fragrances without number,
and unknown by name, added to the list of enjoyable
odours ! Pleasing scents, in cheap abundance, of
which the wealthiest in ancient times could form
no conception, and which they had no means of
obtaining !

This history presents, in truth, another striking
illustration of the way in which modern chemical
research leads to the establishment of new arts and
manufactures — to the addition of new and unknown
luxuries to those already within our reach — to the
cheapening of luxurious comforts to all, — and thus to
the refining, and softening, and polishing of the whole
community. It displays, also, to the reader the
existence of a new field for practical and economic
research which is almost boundless, shows how valu-
able chemistry is in almost every walk of life, and
how the studies of the laboratory may be made a
source even of money profit in the most unexpected
departments of economic pursuit.

CHAPTER XXVL

THE SMELLS WE . DISLIKE.

NATURAL SMELLS.

Difference of opinion as to smells. — Disagreeable mineral smells. — Sul-
phuretted hydrogen ; its properties, and production in nature. —
Sulphurous acid given off from volcanoes ; its suffocating reputa-
tion.— Muriatic acid gas. — Unpleasant vegetable smells. — Garlic and
the onion. — Oil of garlic. — Sulphuret of allyle. — Sulphur an ingre-
dient of many fetid smells. — Assafoetida, a concrete juice. — Oil of
assafoetida. — Extensive use of vegetable substances containing allyle ;
they satisfy some natural craving ; extensive distribution of them in
nature. — Horse-radish and mustard also contain allyle. — The stink-
ing goosefoot. — The peculiar sti-Ong-smelling compound contained in
this plant exists also in putrid fish ; economical use of it in the
cuisine. — Carrion plants. — The saussurea and the stapehas. — Smells
often disagreeable only because of the things or memories associated
with them. — Disagreeable animal odours ; the goatj the badger, and
the skunk. — Effects of minute doses of sulphur and tellurium. —
Stenches as weapons of defence. — Insect smells. — The putrefaction
of animal bodies ; conditions which promote it ; substances given
off ; their unwholesome character. — Burying-vaults and grave-yards.
— The droppings of aiumals ; peculiar substances and smells given
off by these.

The smells we dislike are probably quite as nume-
rous as the odours we enjoy. Between the two,
however, there is a wide debatable ground, in regard
VOL. II. U

2G4

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKK

to which the utmost diversity of opinion prevails.
What is fragrance to one person is sometimes abomi-
nation to another. Plutarch tells us that a Spartan
lady paid a visit to Berenice, the wife of Dejotarus ;
but that one of them smelled so much of sweet oint-
ment, and the other of butter* that neither of
them could endure the other ; and it is so still, even
among the most cultivated and refined. For although
cultivation may very much improve this taste, and
though individual constitution modifies in a certain
degree the effect which odoriferous substances produce
upon the organs of smell, yet early habit determines
for the most part the judgments we form as to the
agreeable and the disagreeable.

Still, as there are certain odours which nearly all
persons enjoy, so there are certain smells which almost
every one dislikes. These are distinctly indicated
by the old English word stinks. Of these acknow-
ledged bad smells some are produced naturally, while
others are the result of artificial processes. In the
present chapter I shall consider only the bad smells
which occur in nature. Of these some are of mineral,
some of vegetable, and some of animal origin.

I. MiNEKAL Smells. — Of disagreeable mineral
smells, the most common are sulphuretted hydrogen
and sulphurous acid. The former gives its dis-

* The use of butter came to tlie Greeks from Thrace and Phrygia,
and to the Romans from Germany. They used it only in medicine, and
as an ointment in their baths. — Beckman, Art. Butter.

SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN.

265

agreeable smell and taste to sulphureous mineral
waters, like those of Harrogate ; the latter is given
off from the mouths of active volcanoes, and from
cracks and fumaroles in volcanic countries. Muri-
atic acid is also occasionally discharged by active
volcanoes.

1°. Sulphuretted Hydrogen. — When common sul-
phur and iron-filings are melted together in a red-
hot crucible, they combine chemically, and form a
black sulphuret of iron. If this black substance be
put into a flask or retort, along with diluted sulphuric
acid (oi] of vitriol), a gas is given off, generally with-
out the application of heat. This gas consists of sul-
phur and hydrogen, and is therefore called sulphur-
etted hydrogen. This gas may be collected over
water in the usual way, (fig. 90). It has no colour,
but is distinguished by a sulphury taste, and a strong

Fig. 90.

fetid sulphureous smell resembling that of rotten
eggs. It is about one-fifth heavier than common air,
burns with a blue flame and a smell of sulphur, and
is very poisonous when breathed. A single gallon of

266

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

it, mixed with 1200 of air, will render it poisonous
to birds, and one in a hundred will kill a dog. A
very small proportion of it, therefore, mingled with
the air we breathe, will render it injurious to human
health. Water dissolves two and a half times its bulk
of this gas, and acquires at the same time its smell
and taste.

This gas is often produced naturally in the interior
of the earth, and, rising upwards through the rocks, is
absorbed by springs, and gives them the unpleasant
smell familiar to us in many mineral waters. It is
the sulphuretted hydrogen they contain which causes
these waters to blacken when mixed with those of
other springs which contain iron.

From marshy and stagnant places also, where
vegetable matter is undergoing decay in the presence
of water containing gypsum (sulphate of lime), this
gas is often given off ; and its smell may in most
cases be perceived in moist soils, where gypsum lies
in contact with decaying roots and leaves. In vol-
canic countries, it frequently issues from the earth in
larger quantities. From fissures and openings in the
solfataras of Italy, for example, as in that of Puzzuoli,
it rushes out, mixed with steam and other gases, and
diffuses its fetid odour sometimes to great distances.
In such localities the smell of this substance becomes
a serious annoyance and source of dislike.

The iron pyrites of our coal mines, when thrown
up in heaps in the open air, undergoes decomposition
through the action of the moisture of the atmosphere.

SULPHUEOUS ACID.

267

One of the results of this decomposition is the evolu-
tion of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, sometimes in suf-
ficient quantity to be both oflfensive and unwholesome
to the immediate neighbourhood.

This gas consists, as I have said, of sulphur and
hydrogen only, in the proportions, in a hundred parts,
of—

Hydrogen, 5.9

Sulphur, 94.1

100

So that a comparatively small proportion of hydrogen
causes sulphur to assume the gaseous form, and to
exhibit the fetid odour and remarkably poisonous
properties possessed by this gas.

2° Sulphurous Acid. — When sulphur is kindled
in the air, it burns with a pale blue flame, and is con-
verted into a heavy acid vapour or gas, which is dis-
tinguished by a peculiar suffocating smell. This is
well known as the smell of burning sulphur. It is
formed by the union of the sulphur with its own
weight of the oxygen of the atmosphere, and is called
by chemists sulphurous acid gas. It is two and a
fifth times heavier than common air ; and when in-
haled, it first provokes cough, and if continued, causes
suffocation.

This gas is given off from the mouths of active vol-
canoes, from vents and fissures in the earth in volcanic
countries, and from the solfataras which often exist
where volcanic action is going on. It is not less dis-
liked for its smell than sulphuretted hydrogen is, and
it is even more suffocating when breathed.

268

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

The universal dislike of this gas is indicated by the
place so generally assigned to it, in figurative descrip-
tions, of a future place of torment. Thus, in the
Book of Revelations, we have "the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death;"
and in Milton's description, it is a place

" Where peace
And rest can never dwell ; hope never comes,
That comes to all ; but torture without end
StiU urges, and a fiery deluge, fed
With ever-hurning sulphur, unconsvmied."

3°. Muriatic Acid Gas. — When oil of vitriol
(sulphuric acid) is poured upon common salt, white
vapours are given ofi", which provoke cough, are very
suffocating, and affect the sense of smell in an ex-
ceedingly unpleasant manner. These are vapours of
muriatic acid, or spirit of salt. They are absorbed
by water with great rapidity ; and when conducted
by a bent tube into a bottle of water (fig. 91) till
the latter is saturated, they form the strongly cor-
p.^ gj rosive acid liquid usu-

ally known by the name
of spirit of salt.

Vapours of this gas
are sometimes given off
from the mouths of
active volcanoes ; but
they rarely prove an
annoyance to the neigh-
bouringpopulation. The
two most common and

VEGETABLE SMELLS.

269

best known evil smells of mineral origin, therefore,
are those of the sulphuretted hydrogen, and the sul-
phurous acid gases. Of these, the former is by far the
most widely diffused, and the most frequently observ-
ed, and is productive of the most general annoyance.
The sulphurous acid gas is naturally produced only
in the neighbourhood of volcanoes, or where sulphur,
by some natural means, is made to burn in the air.

II. Vegetable Smells. — Of the smells we dis-
like, a much greater number are of vegetable than of
mineral origin ; and of these, some are given off by
living plants, which produce and contain essential
oils, to which their smells are owing. Among these,
I advert more particularly to the garlic tribe, the
assafoetida plant, and the stinking goosefoot, both
because they all emit smells which, in a concentrated
form, are generally considered very unpleasant, aird
because the chemistry of the evil-smelling substances
they contain is at present better understood than that
of any other known substances of the same kind and
origin.

1° Garlic and the Onion. — A familiar plant in
many of our moist woods and shady meadows is
the common ramps, or ramsons {Allium ursinum).
When in flower, this plant diffuses its disagreeable
garlic odour through the air, and imparts its unpleas-
ant flavour to the milk of the cows that feed upon it.
When distilled with water in a retort, a heavy vola-
tile oil passes over and collects beneath the water.

270

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

Allium sativum— The
Cultivated Garlic.

Scale, 1 inch to a foot.

which condenses in the receiver. The common onion,
Fig. 92. the chive, the chalot,

the leek, the common
garlic, and other species
of this strong-smelling
tribe of plants, yield the
same oil when distilled
with water.

This oil is of a brown-
ish - yellow colour, is

Allium cejia — The i • .i , i

Common Onion, xieavier than water, and
possesses the peculiar
smell of the class of plants which yields it, but in a
highly pungent and concentrated form. It is their
strong - smelling principle or ingredient ; and the
strength of its odour may be judged of from the fact
that, powerfully smelling as garlic is, from thirty to
forty pounds of it are required to yield one ounce of
the oil*

We have seen that a large class of the volatile per-
fumes which are extracted from plants — such as the
oils of roses, lemons, &c. — consist of the two elemen-
tary substances, carbon and hydrogen only. In this
fetid oil of garlic there also exists a volatile substance
consisting of carbon and hydrogen only, to which,
from the generic name {allium) of the plants in
which it is found, the name of Allyle has been given.
This substance, however, instead of an agreeable, has

* A hundredweight of garlic will give three or four oimces of oil.

GARLIC AND THE ONION.

271

a very unpleasant smell. It combines with sulphur
also, and forms with it a volatile oil possessed of an
intensely fetid odour. This compound oil is called
by chemists sulphuret of allyle ; and it is this sub-
stance which exists in garlic, and gives both to garlic
and the onion their peculiar smell. The chive, the
chalot, the leek, the rocambole, and the onion [Allium
leptophyllum), which is eaten by the hill people of
India, all derive their smell from the same sulphur-
containing oil of garlic. The relative mildness of
these several vegetable productions, as well as that of
different varieties of the common onion, depends upon
the proportions of garlic oil they severally contain.
And the bad smell of the breath after eating any of
these plants is caused by the constant presence of a
small quantity of this oil among the air we exhale
from our lungs.

This strong-smelling compound, by the intensity
and persistence of its odour, reminds us of the animal
perfumes — musk, civet, and ambergris — described in
the preceding chapter. Like musk, also, it exudes
through the pores of the skin of the garlic-eater, giv-
ing its smell to the perspiration ; while, like the nar-
cotic principles of opium,* it passes, probably un-
changed, into the milk of the animals which swallow
it. And both the intensity and adhesiveness of its
odour are shown by the well-known fact that a knife
which has been used to cut an onion retains for a long

* See The Narcotics we indulge in, p. 89.

272

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

time, and communicates to other substances, the smell
and taste of this oil.

It is not unworthy, also, of the attention of the
reader, that, as the most fetid mineral smells I have
described are compounds of sulphur, so this fetid
vegetable oil of garlic is also a compound of sulphur
(sulphuret of allyle). We shall have occasion to
remark a similar connection of sulphur with other
evil smells, both natural and artificial.

2°. Assafoetida is the concrete juice of the Ferula
assafcdida. It is collected by cutting the stalk of
the plant across immediately above the root — as
represented in the woodcut (fig. 93) — leaving the root
Fig. 93. in the ground, and scrap-

ing off the sap as it flows
upwards, and dries on
the cut surface. It pos-
sesses an odour similar
to that of garlic, but still
stronger, more fetid, and
generally much more
disagreeable to Euro-
peans. On the borders
of Asia, however, the
concrete juice is not con-

Ferula assa/wiida—lhe Assafoetida plant, sidcrod Unplcasant. On

a. Boot, with the crown cut off, to ,■■ , '+ ? , o-cr

allow the gum to exude ; b. Crown, with tUC Contrary, II; lb cA-
root-l eaves; c, Flowering stem. . ^ n j. j 1J

Scale, 1 inch to a foot and a half. tcnSlVely COilected, SOld,

and used as a condiment for food.

When this resinous substance is distilled with

OIL OF ASSAFCETIDA.

273

water, it also yields a volatile oil in small quantity.
On cooling, this oil becomes solid, and gives off, in a
concentrated form, the fetid odour of the natural drug.
Its smell has a certain resemblance to that of garlic,
but it is, if possible, still more offensive ; and it is
remarkable that, in composition also, it resembles the
oil of garlic. It contaius the same peculiar strong-
smelling body allyle, already spoken of, and also in
combination with sulphur. The only difference in
the composition of the two oils seems to be, that the
oil of assafoetida contains a larger proportion of sul-
phur than the oil of garlic.

Three circumstances are interesting in connection
with these compound oils and the condiments in
which they occur.

First, That vegetable productions so unlike to each
other as the onion, the garlic, and the assafcetida
plants are, and growing in climates so different, owe
their smell and taste to the presence of the same
peculiar compound (allyle).

Second, That the fetid quality of the oils they
severally contain is connected with the presence of
sulphur in them as an essential part of their chemical

constitution ; and that the more fetid of the two

the oil of assafoetida — contains the largest proportion
of sulphur.

Third, That without any knowledge of these close
chemical relations among the plants in question, dif-
ferent races of men, in different parts of the world,
have long selected and largely used them as condi-

274

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

ments to their food. The Englishman, to a certain
limited extent, relishes his onion, and the Frenchman
mildly flavours his more savoury dishes with a touch
of garlic or chalot. But in Portugal and Spain the
onion and the garlic are the relishes of common and
everyday life. This taste the Peninsula has probably
acquired from Northern Africa. Over the whole of
the latter region — from the shores of the Mediter-
ranean to the sources of the Njle — garlic and the
onion are most esteemed seasoners of the universal
food; Arab, Moorish, and Ethiopian tribes equally
delight in them ; * and this taste is of very remote
origin. The Israelites, during their sojourn in the
wilderness, murmured, saying, " we remember the
cucumbers and the melons, the leeks, the onions, and
the garlic.'' Among the ancient Egyptians them-
selves, the onion formed an object of worship ; and the
modern Egyptians assign it a place in their paradise.
To the present day, the onion of the Nile borders
possesses a peculiar excellence and flavour. The
Eastern Asiatics appear to require more powerful
condiments. With them the assafoetida takes the
place both of the milder onion, and of the stronger
garlic.

Strange that the peculiar taste for these compounds
of sulphur and allyle should so extensively prevail,
and that vegetable productions, so unlike in external
appearance, should have been selected for the purpose

* Garlic and salt, placed under the tongue, are considered by the
Arab as a cure for thii-st and fever.

TASTE FOR THESE PLANTS.

275

of gratifying it ! As in the case of the beverages and
the narcotics, men seem to have been led to this
selection by a kind of human instinct, guiding them
blindly, as it were, to plants which were capable of
yielding to the body the same chemical com-
pounds.

And to facilitate, as it were, the guidings of this
instinct — to afford the means of gratifying the natu-
ral craving — these garlic-smelling compounds appear
to be much more extensively diffused throughout the
vegetable kingdom than physiologists are yet aware
of. Several species of Petiveria, which are common
in the West Indies, in Brazil, and on the eastern
slopes of the Andes, are possessed of a strong garlic
odour. Such is the case with the Petiveria alliacea,
the guinea-hen weed of the West Indies ; with the
P. tetrandra ; with the Seguiera alliacea, the root,
wood, and leaves of which have a powerful odour of
garlic or assafcetida, and are employed to form medi-
cated baths in Brazil ; and with a species of Petiveria
called Ajo del montS^ which forms one of the giant
ornaments of the Bolivian forests on the eastern slopes
of the Cordilleras.

Future research will probably show that these
compounds of allyle exercise a peculiar physiological
action upon the system, by which certain of its natu-
ral cravings are allayed, and its general comfort pro-
moted. This is rendered more probable by the re-
markable circumstance that horse-radish and mus-
tard— the use of which as condiments so extensively

276

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

prevails — owe their peculiar properties to the presence
of compounds of the same substance — allyle.

3°. Horse-radish and Mustard. — When the root
of the common horse-radish is distilled with water,
it yields a volatile oil, which possesses the pungent
smell and taste of the natural root in a highly con-
centrated state. This smell is not disliked, I believe,
by most people ; but I mention the oil in this place,
because it contains the same compound body, allyle,
which exists in the oils of garlic and assafoetida. In
the horse-radish, however, it is combined not only
with sulphur, but also with a second substance known
to chemists by the name of cyanogen. To the pre-
sence of this cyanogen the difference of properties
possessed by the horse-radish are to be ascribed. The
smell and taste of the oil it yields are very strong
and pungent, but it has little of the fetid character
which distinguishes those of garlic and assafoetida.

Mustard owes its peculiar penetrating odour, burn-
ing taste, and blistering quality, to the presence of
the same volatile oil which is found in horse-radish.
It exists also in scurvy grass {Gochlearia officinalis)^ in
the roots of Alliaria officinalis, and probably in our
common cress, rape, radish, and similar pungent tribes
of plants. To the presence of this oil they most likely
owe their peculiar pungent virtue ; and, as in the case
of those which possess the garlic smell, it is probably
an instinctive consciousness of their salutary influence
upon the system that has led to the extended use of
them all in so many parts of the earth.

THE STINKING GOOSEFOOT.

277

4°. The StinJcing Goosefoot (Chenopodium olidum,
fig. 94) is another plant which has been long known
for its disagreeable smell. In pjg^ 94,

botanical works, this smell is
compared to that of putrid salt-
fish. The substance to which
this smell is owing, has recently-
become quite as interesting to
the chemical physiologist as
those which give their smell to
garlic and assafoetida.

If a portion of this plant be
distilled along with a solution of
common soda, a volatile alkaline
substance passes over, which has
the smell of stockfish, of boiled
crabs, of herring brine, or of Findhorn haddocks
which have been long kept. To this substance
chemists have given the somewhat ponderous name
of trimethylamine.

One of the interesting circumstances connected
with this vegetable product is, that if herring brine
be distilled in the same way along with soda, the
same volatile substance passes over in still greater
abundance than from the stinking goosefoot. In a
living and growing plant, therefore, and in the sub-
stance of dead and decaying fish, one and the same
chemical compound is naturally produced, and im-
parts to each the same well-known penetrating and
offensive odour for which it is everywhere remarkable.

Chenopodium olidum — The
Stinking Goosefoot.

Scale, 1 inch to 6 inches.

278

TflE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

The history of this substance {trimethylamine)
presents also an interesting illustration of the way in
which chemistry throws light on natural phenomena.
It was formed and obtained in the laboratory by
special chemical processes, and its peculiar properties
ascertained before it was extracted either from the
evil-smelling plant, or from the decaying fish. It
was the smell of the artificial compound which sug-
gested first that it might possibly be the cause of
the repulsive odour of the living plant, and after-
wards of that of the dead animal. Subsequent
research showed the correctness of these conjec-
tures, by actually extracting it from both by the pro-
cesses I have described. As is the case with some
of the natural vegetable perfumes, therefore, we can
now prepare by art the stinking constituent of the
goosefoot, should its production ever be likely to
lead to profit.*

* Trimethylamine is not the only substance known to be possessed
of this fishy odom-. Another volatile alkaUne compound, caXiQd propyla-
mine, is in smell scai'cely distinguishable from trimethylamine. The
two substances consist also of the same elements united together in the
same proportions, — that is to say, they are isomeric (see above, p. 225).
Their chemical relations, however, and their chemical constitution, are
very imlike. The grouping of the six atoms of carbon (C), nine of
hydrogen (H), and one of nitrogen (N), of which the two compounds
consist, is thus represented respectively —

Trimethylamine. Propylamine.
Co lis ^ H

C2 Hs VN H
C2 Hs

H Kl
Cs H, j

The sum being, Cs H9 N Co Hg N

The meaning of this mode of rationally representing the composition
of the two compounds, is this —

CARRION PLANTS.

279

The interest which attaches to the disagreeable-
smelling compounds of this class is very different
from that which distinguishes the compounds of
allyle. The latter have been sought for and used
most extensively: the former have been generally
avoided ; no instinct or experience of their good
effects upon the system has hitherto led any tribe of
men to seek after or indulge in the use of them.

I may suggest to the cook, however, as a possible
use to which these fishy-smelling compounds may
hereafter be put in the cuisine — the flavouring of
imitation fish-cakes, crab, lobster, cray-fish, and
oyster-pates, fish-sauces, such as the anchovy, &c. &c.
Such preparations as these, by the application of
a little skill, may pass off at table, and be made to
please the palate as well as genuine salt-water pro-
ductions, though containing nothing that ever lived
in the sea !

5° Carrion Plants. — As the goosefoot smells
like putrid fish, so some plants smell like putrid

C3 H3 represents a substance called methyl.
C« H7 propyl.
H -j

Hj N or H vN represents ammonia.
H j

Now, if for one of the atoms of hydrogen (H) in ammonia, we substi-
tute one of propyl, we produce propylamine, represented as above ; or,
if for each of the three atoms of hydrogen we substitute one of methyl,
we have trimethylamine, also as above represented. Such substitu-
tions we can actually make in our laboratories ; and thus we are en-
abled to form a rational idea of the way in which compound bodies
may contain the same elements in the same proportions, and yet differ
very much from each other in properties.

VOL. II. -V-

280

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

flesh. The flowers of the bladder-headed saussurea
have the smell of putrid meat ; and the stapelias,
because of their putrid and disagreeable odour, are
distinguished by the name of carrion-flowers. The
fermented juice of the Mexican agave also, which
forms the pulque so popular in Central America,* is
remarkable for its odour of putrid meat.

The chemical compound (or compounds) to which
this carrion smell is owing, are still unknown. It is
produced as a natural secretion, so to speak, in the
living stapelias — as the result of fermentation in the
juice of the agave — and as a consequence of putre-
faction in dead and decaying flesh. It may either
be the same substance which gives the smell in all
these cases, or it may be caused by different sub-
stances of the same chemical nature — all belonging
most probably to the same class of volatile alkaline
compounds as the trimethylamine of the goosefoot
and the stock-fish.

It is interesting to trace close chemical coincidences
like these between vegetable and animal productions
as regards even things subordinate and disagreeable.
They are at least more unexpected, and apparently
less necessary, than those we have already had occa-
sion to remark between the entire substance of the
animal body, and the staple forms of vegetable food
by which it is supported. -j*

We have seen in this and the preceding chapter

* See the Liquors we ferment, vol. i. p. 330.
t See the Bread we eat, and the Beef we cook.

CHEMICAL COINCIDENCES.

281

how tastes diflfer in regard to sweet odours. The
history of the Mexican pulque illustrates how the
disagreeableness of a smell may also be a mere
matter of taste. Some relish a slight taint in butcher
meat, or a game flavour in wild animals, because
it indicates, and is usually accompanied by, a greater
tenderness of the flesh. And so, notwithstanding
its fetid odour, the Mexican loves his native liquor,
and rejoices in it above every other drink. We
seem to love or detest the putrid taint, not because
of any positively painful efi'ect it produces upon
our organs of sense, but because of the associations
with which it is connected. Let the odour in early
life remind the smeller of an agreeably acid, thirst-
quenching, and exhilarating liquor, and it will ever
after come to his nostrils as an agreeable perfume.
Let it first reach his sense of smell, and become fami-
liar to him, as the repulsive emanation from a dead
and decaying animal body, and it will always remind
him thereafter of disagreeable death, of hated worms,
and of the dread dissolution his own frame must
■ eventually undergo. It will never be to him other-
wise than as a noisome stench. So much are the
indications of our senses dependent upon the circum-
stances in which, when consciousness first began to
dawn upon us, we happened to have been placed.

III. Animal Smells. — Unpleasant odours natural
to animals are famihar to the inhabitants of almost
every part of the globe. The he-goat, the badger,

282 THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

and the polecat in this country, the skunk in North
America, the beautifully striped viverras of the
South American plains, and the great ant-eater
from the same country, now to be seen in the zoolo-
gical gardens, are each characterised by peculiar and
unpleasant smells. Some of them, as they pass
along, even sensibly infect the air with their pesti-
lential odour.

In the case of the goat it is probably the perspira-
tion from the skin in which the bad smelling sub-
stance resides. In the skunk it is lodged in a pecu-
liar receptacle, from which
the animal has the power
of ejecting it at will — pro-
bably as a means of self-
defence. The intensity and
durability of the odour of
the skunk remind us of the
same properties in the
more agreeable musk and
civet, which are also of
animal origin. The purpose of defence supposed to
be served by the smell of the skunk, would seem to
imply that it is naturally offensive to the senses, alto-
gether independent of early association.

Many other animals emit unpleasant odours from
their skin, especially in the rutting season; but of
the chemical nature or composition of the substances
to which all these animal stinks belong, we are as yet
entirely ignorant. One known chemical fact in re-

INFLUENCE OF THE FOOD.

283

gard to the smells themselves, however, is sufficiently
remarkable. This is, that the entire effluvia given off
by an animal is often affected not only by the general
nature of the whole food that it eats, but by the
introduction of most minute quantities of foreign
substances into the stomach. Thus the swallowing of
a little pellet of finely powdered sulphur frequently
gives a decided and disagreeable smell to the whole
skin, and for many days after. And what is still
more remarkable, a single grain of a compound of
the metal tellurium administered to a healthy man,
will make his neighbourhood perfectly intolerable for
weeks, and sometimes even for months, after he has
swallowed it.

Tellurium is still a comparatively rare substance,
and we know little as yet of the combinations it is
capable of producing with organic substances. So
far, however, it appears probable that they are of a
still more fetid and disgusting character than those
produced by sulphur. With the compound allyle —
already spoken of as the peculiar strong-smelling
principle of garlic, assafoetida, and mustard — tellu-
rium will probably form a compound body more
intolerably offensive still than the oils of garlic or
assafoetida. And if we cannot use such compounds
as means of sensual gratification, it may not be im-
possible to employ them as weapons of offence or
defence. Imitating the natural habit of the skunk
in this respect, we might far surpass it in the intensity
and offensiveness of our artificial stinks. Squirted

284

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

from the walls of a besieged city, projected into the
interior of a fortified building, or diffused through the
hold of a ship of war, the Greek fire would be nothing
to them ; and as for the stink-pots of the Chinese,
they must be mere bagatelles to the stenches we can
prepare.*

As there are insects which give off agreeable
odours, so many are known which emit disagreeable
smells. That of the common bug tribe (cimicidce)
is probably more offensive, because of the unplea-
sant sensations which the smell recalls. The same
is the case also with the tree bug (pe7itatoma),
and with the flying bug, which is one of the insect
pests of the Ganges about Benares. The last of these
is a large hemipterous insect of the genus derecteryx,
which insinuates itself between the skin and the
clothes. It diffuses a dreadful odour, which is in-
creased by any attempt to touch or to remove it; but
the natural dislike for its smell is no doubt increased
by the other annoyances which the insect occasions.

In regard to the chemistry of insect stinks, nothing
whatever is known.

IV. Smells peoduced by Decaying Sub-
stances.— The most numerous class of disagreeable
smells is that which is produced by the decay or
decomposition of animal and vegetable substances.
Our dislike of these smells arises partly no doubt from
their being associated in our minds with unpleasant

* See the succeeding Chapter, p. 295.

PUTEEFYING BODIES.

285.

sights and ideas, and partly from their being found,
by experience to be injurious to human health.

1°. The Putrefaction of Animal Bodies. — The
general nature and odour of the ill-smelling sub-
stances produced during the putrefaction of animal
bodies are determined by the sulphur and phosphorus
which are contained in them. During their decay
the sulphur combines with the constituents of the
animal matter, and forms fetid compounds similar
to those already described as occurring in the min-
eral and vegetable kingdoms. The phosphorus also
enters into combinations scarcely less unpleasant and
injurious. And with both of these classes of com-
pound bodies are associated others peculiar to animal
forms of matter, which have not yet been separately
examined. All these unite in producing those mixed
smells which distinguish so repulsively the natural
decay of animal substances in the open air.

Of the presence of sulphur in such cases, a familiar
example is presented by a rotten egg. When such
an egg is broken, the smell of sulphuretted hydrogen
is at once perceived, and a silver spoon put into it
becomes black immediately from the action of sul-
phur. As the decay proceeds, other smells gradually
become sensible, and these mingling with that of the
sulphuretted hydrogen, occasion that growing offen-
siveness which the rotting egg is known to exhibit.

In warm climates, decomposition of this kind pro-
ceeds more rapidly, and the strong-smelling sub-
stances are produced both sooner and in greater abun-

286

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

dance. The intensity of the odours emitted, and the
distances to which they are diffused through the air
in hot countries, may be inferred from the extremely
short period of time required to bring the vulture and
the condor even from great distances. They scent afar
off the decaying carcass, where the human organs
refuse to give any indications of its presence.

Air, moisture, and a certain degree of warmth are
necessary to the decay of animal bodies. If any of
these three conditions be wanting, it either proceeds
more slowly, or ceases altogether. Thus, in cool dry
vaults, dug in an absorbent soil, and through which a
current of dry air passes, human bodies sometimes
become dry before they have had time to decay, and
gradually shrivel up into frightful mummies.* So
in the dry air of some hot climates, as in the Pampas
of South America, and on the borders of the African
deserts, the flesh of animals can be dried and pre-
served for any length of time, without exhibiting
symptoms of decay, or any manifest evil odour.

But where moisture continues present — even though
warmth and air be in a great measure excluded —
decay still slowly takes place, and substances of evil
odour and malign influence continue for a long period
to be produced and given off. The true chemical
nature and exact composition of many of the volatile
and gaseous substances, produced under these circum-

* The reader who has spent a day at Bonn on the Rhine, will pro-
bably be reminded by this passage of the mummies in the church on
the Kreuzberg, which strangers seldom fail to visit.

THE DROPPINGS OF ANIMALS.

287

stances, is still unknown ; but both theory and expe-
rience prove that they are injurious to human health.
They are so, even when, from their extreme state of
dilution, the organs of smell are naturally insensible
to their presence, or when, by habit, they have become
so. Hence the custom of placing grave-yards in the
neighbourhood of our dwellings, or of requiring people
to sit for so many hours a-week over putrid family
vaults, or heaps of mouldering human dust — is as
contrary to the dictates of science and enlightened
common sense, as it is to the often-repeated sugges-
tions of sanitary experience. That the senses detect
no danger, proves that the senses are not to be relied
upon — not that even serious danger is absent.

2°. The Droppings of Animals, both while recent,
and during the decay they undergo in the presence
of air and moisture, are the source of some of the
most unpleasant smells with which we become fami-
liar in common life. These animal excretions emit
certain strong-smelling substances which are common
to them all, but each variety also gives off smells
peculiar to itself

a. When in a state of fermentation, for example,
all evolve ammonia;* but it escapes in especial
abundance from horse-dung in hot stables, and from
nightsoil in ash-pits and necessaries during warm
weather. All also produce and give off the noxious
sulphuretted hydrogen already described ; but where

* Ammonia is the substance which gives its smell to common harts-
horn and smelling-salts.

288

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

nightsoil ferments in close places, such as cesspools
and common drains, this sulphureous gas sometimes
accumulates in sufficient quantity to strike down
instantly the workman who is incautious enough
to place his mouth within its reach.* Compounds of
phosphorus likewise escape from all, and volatile
alkaline compounds, which have not hitherto been
particularly examined.

h. When recent or fresh, on the other hand, each
variety emits its own peculiar odour. The droppings
of the cow and the horse differ most distinctly in
smell, both from each other and from nightsoil.
Goat's dung has a smell, which it imparts to plants
manured with it, so as to give a perceptible flavour
even to the tobacco leaf. Pig's dung is to most
people nearly intolerable, and even animals dislike
it. It not only gives its flavour to tobacco, but, when
properly applied, it drives away the wireworm from
the carrot and the onion. The reader will not be
surprised to learn that the chemical nature and com-
position of the compound bodies from which these
noisome smells proceed, should still be in a great
measure unknown.-}- However interesting, in a
physiological and sanitary point of view, it would be
to possess a complete knowledge of all the substances

* The best and most ready antidote, when sulphuretted hydrogen has
been inhaled, is chlorine gas, prepared by wetting a thin towel with
vinegar, sprinkling chloride of Ume between its folds, and causing the
patient to breathe through them.

+ Among the peculiar organic compounds contained in fresh night-
soil, is a crystalUne slightly alcaline substance, which has been named
excretine, and an acid called the excretolic acid. They are exti'actod

THE DROPPINGS OF ANIMALS. 289

which animal droppings contain— of the mode of their
production— and of the nature of their several actions
on the animal economy — we must be content to wait
while it slowly and gradually collects. The inquiry
is of too repulsive a nature to be undertaken by any
chemist whose love of knowledge, or desire to ad-
vance a favourite branch of the science, is not of a
very ardent kind.

There are certain known differences, however, in
the composition of the solid droppings of different
animals, which must affect the nature of the smells
they severally emit. Thus man discharges through
his kidneys a large proportion of the phosphorus
contained in the food he eats ; while the cow, the
horse, and the sheep, emit none of it in this way.
All the phosphorus which these animals eat, there-
fore, is rejected in their solid droppings ; and inas-
much as the compounds of phosphorus, which are
formed in decaying animal and vegetable substances,
are generally distinguished by peculiar and offensive
smells, it is easy to understand that the droppings of
these animals, when they heat and ferment, must
emit some — more or less nauseous, and probably
injurious — odours, which are not to be recognised in.
similarly fermenting nightsoil.

from fresh foeces by alcohol, but little is yet known of them. Excre-
tine is not contained in the urine, nor is it ascertained if it is present in
the contents of the small intestines. The droppings of herbivorous
animals contain no excretine. Those of the carnivorous mammalia
contain a substance resembUng it, along with butyric acid, which is not
present in nightsoil. Those of the crocodile contain cholesterine, and
no urea ; those of the boa, uric acid and no cholesterine— (Marcet).

CHAPTEE XXVII.

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

SMELLS PRODUCED BY CHEMICAL ART.

Smells produced by chemical art. — Seleniuretted hydrogen. — Phosphur-
etted hydrogen. — Mercaptan. — Kakodyle. — Alkarsin. — Cyanide of
Kakodyle. — Compounds of tellurium. — Interesting chemical relation
between sweet odours and stinks. — Acrolein. — Offensive substances
produced by destructive distillation. — Smells emitted by manufac-
tories.— The sulphui-ic acid, soap, candle, vinegar, and glass makers.
— Lead and copper smelters. — Such smells may and ought to bo
prevented.

V. Smells produced by chemical art. — In the
preceding chapter, I have mentioned incidentally,
that, though many natural smells are very offensive,
yet that we can already produce others by art which
are still more so. Indeed, were any useful purpose
to be served by them, we could, by familiar chemical
processes, add stenches almost inconceivably disgust-
ing to those which have hitherto been prepared. A
reference to a few only of those which are now well
known in our laboratories, will satisfy the reader as

SELENIURETTED HYDROGEN.

291

to the resources of the chemist in the production
of stenches.

1°. Seleniuretted Hydrogen. — We have seen that
sulphur is a substance which forms many combina-
tions distinguished by their disagreeable odours ; and
of these I have described sulphuretted hydrogen as
one which both occurs in nature, and can be easily
produced by chemical art.

Selenium is an elementary body which, though less
abundant in nature than sulphur, resembles it very
much in sensible and chemical properties. Like
sulphur, it also combines with hydrogen, and forms a
poisonous gas — the seleniuretted hydrogen. But this
gas greatly exceeds the sulphuretted hydrogen, both
in its evil smell, and in its noxious qualities. A
single bubble of it allowed to escape into the air of a
room, produces on those who breathe it all the usual
symptoms of a severe cold and affection of the throat,
and these symptoms do not pass off for several days.
The singular virulence of this substance illustrates in
a very striking manner the injurious influence which
may be exercised over the health of the people by
the presence of very minute portions of foreign bodies
in the air we breathe.

2°. Phosphuretted Hydrogen is a gas in which
phosphorus takes the place of the sulphur and sele-
nium contained in the two gases above mentioned.
It is easily prepared in the laboratory, and is pos-
sessed of a peculiarly fetid smell. It is one of the
compounds of phosphorus also, which is naturally

292

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

produced, along with other disagreeable substances,
during the decay of animal bodies, and contributes
to the repulsive character of the smells which decay-
ing animal matter gives off.

The two metals, arsenic and tellurium, also com-
bine with hydrogen, and form gaseous compounds —
the arsenietted and telluretted hydrogens. These
gases are of so fetid a kind that chemists rarely ven-
ture to prepare them ; and when they do so, it is
only after taking careful precautions against their
escape into the air of the room in which the experi-
ments are made.

It is a common character, also, of all the five gases
I have named, that they combine with other com-
pound bodies, and especially with organic* compounds,
producing new substances far more fetid.than them-
selves, and possessed of stenches which cannot be
described in words. To this class belong some of the
following compounds : —

3°. Mercaptan. — Among organic substances of
much importance in modem chemistry is a class of
bodies to which the name of compound radicals is
given. These bodies consist of two or more simple sub-
stances united together, and are therefore compound
bodies ; and yet behave, in many respects, as if they
were themselves simple.-f- To this class of bodies

* By organic is meant such as are derived from the animal or
vegetable kingdoms,
"f- That is, like the simple substances — hydrogen, chlorine, the

MEECAPTAN.

293

belong: those whicli I liave had occasion to mention
under the names of

Ethtle, as existing in mne ether.

Methtle, ... wood ether.

Amyle, . . . potato ether.

Alltle, ... garlic and mustard oils, &c.

Among other properties which these compound radi-
cals possess is that of combining with sulphur, and of
forming with it new combinations of an extremely
fetid character. Of this the sulphureous oils of
garlic and assafoetida are natural examples.

When ethyle is combined artificially with sulphur,
it forms what is called sulphiiret of ethyle, and when
this again is combined with sulphuretted hydro-
gen, it forms mercaptan. This latter substance
is a colourless volatile liquid, possessed of a most
offensive, penetrating, and concentrated odour of
onions, which adheres obstinately to the hair and
clothes. It is, in fact, an artificial oil of garlic,
differing from the true oil of garlic, however, both
in composition and in the special character of its
smell.

Now, the important points to be borne in mind
here, are —

First, That all the compound radicals are capable
of combining with sulphur and sulphuretted hydro-
metals, &c.— tliey unite with oxygen, sulpliur, and other bodies, with-
out being themselves decomposed, and form with them new com-
pounds, possessed of acid or basic properties.

294

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

gen, and of thius forming substances analogous to this
mercaptan.

Second, That the number of such organic radicals
already known is very great. It is consequently in
our power to form many mercaptans, all possessed of
very offensive smells, but each distinguished by a
shade of ofFensiveness peculiar to itself The reader
will by this example, therefore, see that in the
compounds of sulphur alone the chemist has at
his command a very large number of exceedingly
foul smells.

4°. Kahodyle. — But arsenic may take the place of
sulphur in all these fetid compounds, and produce
new volatile substances of which the smell is abso-
lutely insufferable, and which, besides, are deadly
poisons. Kakodyle is the name given by chemists to
the compound which arsenic forms with the radical
methyle. When this volatile substance is exposed to
the air it takes fire. As it burns the arsenic con-
tained in it combines with oxygen, and forms white
arsenic. This diffuses itself through the air, and
when drawn in with the breath acts as a deadly
poison.

5°. Alkarsin. — When white arsenic is distilled
with acetate of potash, a liquid comes over which has
been long known under the name of liquor of Cadet.
It is volatile, possesses a peculiar garlic-like fear-
fully offensive, insupportable, long -enduring smell,
and its vapours act as a deadly poison.

CYANIDE OF KAKODYLE.

295

This liquor of Cadet is the substance kakodyle,
above named, in combination with oxygen. It is
known to chemists by the name of Alkarsin.

Because of their abominable smells, and danger-
ously poisonous qualities, this class of arsenical com-
pounds has been comparatively little studied. Several
others, however, possessed of similar smells, are already
known,* There is reason, therefore, to believe that
most of the other compound radicals are capable, like
methyle, of uniting with arsenic to form kakodyles,
and these again with oxygen to form alkarsins — all
fetid to smell and poisonous to breathe, but each of
them offensive in a form and degree peculiar to itself.
Arsenic will furnish us, in fact, with as many varieties
of fatal kakodyles and alkarsins, as sulphur with purely
fetid mercaptans.

6=. Cyanide of Kakodyle. — Even at this point, our
chemical resources are not exhausted. Cyanogen is
a compound gas which unites with hydrogen to form
the deadly poison prussic acid. This cyanogen com-
bines also with kakodyle, and forms what is called
cyanide of kakodyle. Besides the fetid odour and
fatal properties of kakodyle, this compound possesses
a deadly quality peculiar to itself When exposed to
the atmosphere, it rises in the form of vapour. This
vapour, by the contact of air and moisture, is imme-
diately decomposed. The metal arsenic, with the

*Annal der Chvm. cfc Pharm., kviii. p. 127; Silliman's Journal
XV. p. 118. '

VOL. II. ^

296

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

oxygen of the moisture,* forms fumes of poisonous
white arsenic, while, at the same time, the cyanogen
unites with its hydrogen to form prussic acid. Thus
through the air are diffused, at the same instant,
vapours of the two most deadly poisons with which
we are acquainted. Mercaptan and oil of garlic expel
us by their insufferable stench. The kakodyles and
their cyanides arrest our flight by almost as suddenly
depriving us of life.

In the preceding chapter I have alluded to the use
of unbearable stenches as weapons of defence. The
substances I there alluded to were simply disgusting
smells, not acting upon the system as inevitable
poisons. These kakodyles and their cyanides might
certainly be employed still more efficiently in war-
like operations ; but how far the use of vulgar
poisons in honourable warfare is consistent with the
refinements of modern civilisation, is open to much
doubt. There may not be much real difference be-
tween causing death by a bullet, and by the fumes of
deadly poison ; and yet, to condemn a man " to die
like a dog," does array death to him in more fearful
colours.

Among the deadly chemical combinations which
have recently been spoken of as ingredients in the
proposed asphyxiating shells, the kakodyles and their
compounds have held a prominent place. Whether

• The reader will recollect that water, or watery moisture, consists
of oxygen and hydi-ogen.

COMPOUNDS OF TELLURIUM. 297

the proposers of such, asphyxiating projectiles have
considered this metaphysical distinction between dif-
ferent modes of compassing death, or whether it has
weighed at all with those whose office it is to decide
as to their adoption, we have no means of knowing.
According to the received form of retribution, how-
ever, in all such cases, the chemist who first suggested
the use of such poisons to manufacturers of ammuni-
tion, is destined to perish by his own new weapon of
destruction.*

7°. Compounds of Tellurium. — I have already
spoken of the metal tellurium as capable of produc-
ing compounds possessed of a most offensive odour.
Almost the only experience we have as yet, however,
of such compounds, is from the effects of certain
odourless preparations of tellurium administered, by
way of experiment, to persons in good health. With-
in the body of the patient it forms compounds —
as sulphur not unfrequently does — which impart
to his breath, to the perspiration from his skin,
and to the gases produced in the alimentary canal,
a disgusting fetor, which makes him a kind of horror
to every one he approaches ; and this lasts sometimes

* One of the most recent announcements on this subject in the
newspapers of the present month (September "1854), is as follows :
" The Committee of Ordnance have had their attention drawn
to a new projectile. It is a shell charged with a liquid which, when
released by the concussion of the ball, becomes a sheet of liquid fire,
consuming all within its influence, the smoke emitted also destroy-
ing human life." The properties of the liquid here described are
those of kakodyle.

298

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

for weeks, thougli the dose of tellurium administered
may not exceed a quarter of a grain.

Such compounds it is no doubt within the power
of chemistry to produce by artificial processes, though
few experiments have yet been made on the subject.
These compounds belong to the class of pure stenches,
and are not supposed to be poisonous as those of
arsenic are.

Phosphorus also combines with organic radicals,
and forms compounds more offensive even than the
phosphuretted hydrogen already described. But these
are as yet quite as little known as the analogous com-
pounds of tellurium.

A curious general relation exists between the class
of stenches to which those of the mercaptans and
kakodyles belong, and one of the most esteemed
groups of volatile perfuming bodies. This rela-
tion is both interesting and worthy of being remem-
bered.

I have shown, in a preceding chapter, that a very
large class of the odours we enjoy consists of simple
ethers combined with organic acids. Now, these
simple ethers are all combinations of one of the
compound radicals already spoken of with oxygen.
Thus—

Ethtle with oxygen forms wine ether.
Methtle with oxygeu forms wood ether.

And these ethers, when combined with organic acids,
form perfumes — the wine ether, for example, form-

ACROLEIN.

299

ing witli butyric acid the pure apple oil, and with
pelargonic acid the essence of quinces.*
On the other hand, the same

Ethtle with sulphur forms a sulphuret of ethyle, and
Methtle with arsenic forms hakodyle.

Both possessed of evil smells themselves, but, when
combined with acids containing sulphur or arsenic,
forming combinations which are insupportably fetid.

The same compound radicals, as they are called,
therefore, when united with oxygen, may produce
pleasant impressions, and when united with arsenic
or sulphur, most unpleasant and disgusting impres-
sions on the sense of smell. So singular are the
properties of matter, and so singularly are we con-
stituted in reference to these properties.

8°. Acrolein. — When oil sugar (glycerine) is dis-
tilled in a retort over a quick fire, a liquid passes
over, to which the name of acrolein has been given.
This substance is volatile, possesses a strong pene-
trating peculiar odour, affecting almost immediately
the nose and the eyes. Its vapour inflames the eyes,
and if much breathed, and in a concentrated form,
causes swooning, but without being poisonous.

This substance represents another large class of
artificial bodies possessed of evil odours, which are
produced by the destructive distillation, as it is called,
of vegetable and animal substances. Coal tar, wood

* The Odoues we Enjoy, p, 246.

300

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

tar, coal and wood naphthas, the oils obtained by the
distillation of horns, hoofs, fats, &c., are all examples
of the varied and unpleasant-smelling products which
are to be obtained by the process of dry or destructive
distillation. They are all mixtures of several different
substances, but the smells they severally possess are
owing to the presence in each of them of one or more
disagreeable compound bodies, of which it is unne-
cessary in this place to speak in detail.

It IS unnecessary, indeed, to dwell longer on arti-
ficial substances which affect the sense of smell in an
unpleasant manner. Enough has been stated to
satisfy the reader that the chemist can indeed pre-
pare these bodies in far greater numbers than they
are yet known to occur in nature, and with smells if
possible still more insufferable.

VI. Smells peoduced by oue manufactories. —
In this great manufacturing country some of these arti-
ficial smells materially affect, at times, the comforts
of common life. They have justly, therefore, been
regarded as nuisances, and have given rise to disputes
and contentions which not unfrequently occupy the
attention of our courts of law.

From our manufactories of oil-of-vitriol (sulphuric
acid) fumes of sulphurous acid, and even of sulphuric
acid, are occasionally poured out into the surround-
ing air.

The makers of common soda (alkali -makers as

SMELLS FROM OUE MANUFACTORIES. 301

they are called) still in some places discharge from
their tall chimneys those vapours of muriatic acid
which have so often blasted, not only the yearly
crops, but permanent hedgerows and full-grown
plantations.

The smelters of lead and copper vomit from their
furnaces fumes of deadly arsenic, of zinc, of sul-
phurous acid, and even of lead itself, which sensibly
affect both animal and vegetable life in their neigh-
bourhood.

The soap and candle makers dissipate into the air
the volatile fetid substances which naturally exist
in long-kept and rancid fats. As a result of some
of these processes, also, they produce and send
forth vapours of the irritating and unpleasant
acrolein, to which reference was made in a pre-
ceding paragraph.

The distillation of wood for the manufacture of
wood- vinegar — or pyroligneous acid, as it is called
— is often attended by the emission into the sur-
rounding air of disagreeable and unwholesome
fumes.

The manufacturers of glass, even of plate and
crystal glass, when their operations are carelessly
conducted, discharge from their cones unpleasant —
it ma}'- be injurious — smells.

There is scarcely a manufactory, indeed, which in-
volves the immediate application of chemical prin-
ciples—and this includes by far the greatest number

302

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

— which, if carelessly conducted, may not become a
source of real annoyance, or even of injury to its neigh-
bourhood. I speak from a very wide experience,
however, when I say that the escape of injurious sub-
stances into the open air, from such works, is rarely
necessary to the prosperity of the several branches of
manufacture. For the comfort of common life, there-
fore, the intentional discharge of them into the atmo-
sphere ought not to be permitted.

CHAPTER XXVIIL

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

THE PREVENTION AND REMOVAL OE SMELLS.

Wide diffusion of evil odoui'S. — Prevention of smells. — Decay pre-
vented by freezing, by drying, by excluding the air, by salting, and
by smoking. — Effects of charcoal. — Smell-disguisers or perfumes.
— Smell-removers or deodorisers. — Charcoal ; cause of its remarkable
action, — Dr Stenhouse's charcoal respirator ; where it is likely to
be useful. — Peat, vegetable soil, and burnt clay. — Smell-destroyers
or disinfectants. — Nitric oxide, sulphurous acid, muriatic acid, and
chlorine gases. — The chlorides of hme, iron, and zinc. — Sulphate and
pyrolignite of iron. — Iodine and iodoform. — Quicklime ; its unlike
action on fermenting and unfermenting matters. — Summary.

Evil odours are equally penetrating with sweet smells.
They diffuse themselves through the air, and affect
the senses unpleasantly, even when the absolute
quantity of matter present is too minute to be de-
tected by our most refined methods of chemical
Analysis. Unlike the sweet odours, however, they
are produced everywhere around us, and are there-
fore a universal source of more or less perceptible
irritation and annoyance. To prevent the intro-
VOL. II. Z

304

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

duction of evil-smelling substances into the atmos-
phere which surrounds us, and when present to re-
move them, has consequently been at all times an
object of desire. The attainment of this object has
been rendered both more easy and more perfect by
the discoveries of modern chemistry.

T. The Pkevention of Smells.— The smells
which usually arise from the decay or decomposition
of the bodies and droppings of animals can often be
either arrested or altogether prevented. Extreme
cold, for example, such as is sufficient to freeze and
harden the dead body of an animal, will preserve
it in a state of absolute freshness, even for thou-
sands of years. In northern winters the freezing
of flesh and fish is the common way of preserving
it ; and in the ice cliffs on the banks of the Siberian
rivers, the entire body of an extinct species of ele-
phant has been met with, so little decayed as to be
still greedily devoured by dogs. Even moderate
cold, if accompanied by a drying wind, will prevent
decomposition, the former retarding the decay till
the latter removes the moisture which is necessary to
its continuance. Or the total exclusion of air will
have the same effect, as is seen in the preserved
meat, now so useful in long voyages and in remote
parts of the earth.

These modes of preventing decay illustrate what
has been said of the agency of heat, air, and mois-
ture (p. 286), in promoting the putrescent fermenta-

PRESERVATION OF MEAT.

305

tion of animal and vegetable substances. When we
freeze them, we arrest decay by removing the neces-
sary heat ; when we dry them, by removing the
necessary moisture ; and when we shut them up in
sealed vessels, by excluding the necessary air.

But decay can also be prevented by the direct ap-
plication of chemical substances. Such is done when
flesh meat is immersed in sugar, or when it is im-
pregnated with common salt, or with a mixture of
common salt and nitre. These substances fill the
pores of the flesh, and thus preserve it by excluding
the air. They form also, and especially the two
latter substances do, a species of chemical combina-
tion with the fibre of the meat, and with the sub-
stances contained in its natural juices, which are less
liable to decay than the substances themselves, and
thus retain the whole in a state of sweetness for an
indefinite period.* Volatile tarry matters, such as
creosote and others, which are contained in the
smoke from peat and coal, in wood vinegar, and in
the spirit which is distilled from coal or wood tars,
act in a similar way. They combine with the fibre
of flesh or fish, and retard its decay, until the removal
of moisture by evaporation renders decay both slow
and difficult. It is in this way that the smoking of
fish or flesh contributes to a speedy cure, saving both
time and salt, rendering the cure more certain, and
adding at the same time an artificial flavour, which
to many is very grateful.

* See The Beef we cook, vol. i, p. 148.

306

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

Substances which thus retard decomposition are
called antiseptics. Besides those I have mentioned,
white arsenic, corrosive sublimate, the chloride of
zinc, pyrolignite of iron, alcohol, camphor, and many
essential oils, possess antiseptic virtues. In common
life, however, these substances are rarely employed,
though in museums of natural history alcohol is
much used for bottling up anatomical and other pre-
parations, and arsenic, corrosive sublimate, and cam-
phor, for preserving insects and the skins of animals.

Charcoal, when recently burned, has much effi-
ciency in preventing the offensiveness of animal de-
cay from becoming sensible to the smell. Sprinkled
in the state of powder over the parts of dead animals,
it preserves them sweet for a length of time. Placed
in pieces beneath the wings of a fowl, it keeps away
much longer than usual any appearance of taint. Or
if strewed over substances already tainted, or mixed
with liquids which have acquired the unpleasant smell
of decaying organic matter, it removes the evil
odour, and makes them sweet again. It is for this
reason that pieces of fresh charcoal are now and
then introduced into our common water-filters.

In all these cases, charcoal appears to act rather as
a smell-remover than as a decay and smell preventer.
In what way it acts as a remover of smells will be
explained in a future part of the present chapter.

QuicJdime also possesses the property of retard-
ing, and to a certain extent preventing, the decay of
animal and vegetable substances. Its action, how-

DISGUISING OF SMELLS.

307

ever, as we commonly use it, is of a complicated
kind, and will be explained when we come to treat
of the smell-destroyers.

II. The Disguising op Smells. — Where evil-
smelling decay of any kind commences, or where
volatile substances which disagreeably affect the
organ of smell escape into the air from any source,
we naturally desire to rid ourselves of the un-
pleasant sensation. This we generally wish, and
always ought if possible to do, by removing the
substance to which the noisome smell is owing. In
the great majority of cases, however, we merely
overpower or disguise it. We are content to mingle
with the smell we dislike some odour we can enjoy,
and to leave floating in the air around us the evil
and the good together, to produce unheeded their
natural effects upon the system.

Sweet odours are thus the natural disguisers of
evil smells. They are the only resource of rude and
dirty times against offensive emanations from decay-
ing animal and vegetable substances, from undrained
and untidy dwellings, from unclean clothes, from ill-
washed skins, and from ill-used stomachs. The
scented handkerchief in these circumstances takes
the place of the sponge and the shower-bath; the
pastile hides the want of ventilation; the attar of
roses seems to render the scavenger unnecessary, and
a sprinkling of musk sets all other stinks and smells
at defiance. The " sixty stinks of Cologne " may

308

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

thus be at once the parent and grand consumer of its
artificial rivers of scented water. The fiercest demand
for the luxury of civilised perfumes may exist where
the disregard of healthy cleanliness is the greatest.
Even the burning of incense at the altar may find
a merely rational use in disguising the dank and
unwholesome smells which damp floors and walls
engender, and in hiding from the senses of the wor-
shipper the noxious effluvia which slowly-decaying
bodies in hidden vaults are continually giving off.

However much, therefore, the employment of
fragrant essences may add to the comfort of the
cleanly and refined, they may only promote disease
and discomfort among the ignorant and barbarous,
by concealing the deadly malaria, or overpowering
the noisome stench.

III. The Removal of Smells. — The absolute
removal from the air — at least from any limited por-
tion of it — of the greater number of the evil smells I
have described, is, however, by no means a difficult
task: the substances by which this is effected are
known in modern sanitary language by the name of
deodorisers.

1°. Charcoal. — Of these deodorisers, or smell-
removers, charcoal, in its various forms, is one of the
cheapest, most abundant, and most efficacious. I
have already spoken of this substance among the pre-
venters of smells as being an apparent retard er

EEMOVAL OF SMELLS.

309

of putrefaction. That it is so, however, is doubtful.
Many regard it, on the contrary, as a hastener of
decay; but as a remover of smells, its action and
virtue are undoubted. Mixed with fermenting night-
soil, or with the contents of our common sewers, it
sweetens them almost immediately, and it produces
a like effect upon almost every variety of decay-
ing animal and vegetable matter. Spread to a depth
of two or three inches over a festering grave-yard, or
even over a decayiug dead body, it is said to prevent
any evil odours from rising into the air, or becoming
sensible to the smell.

Animal charcoal — such as is produced by the char-
ring of animal substances — peat charcoal, and the
black powder obtained by charring together a mix-
ture of earth and vegetable matter, are more efficient
in this removal of smells than common wood-charcoal,
however finely it may be powdered. It is this power
of absorbing evil odours which has recently recom-
mended peat charcoal so strongly to the sanitarian
for removing the smells of grave-yards, cesspools,
drains, and other places where filth has been permit-
ted to accumulate, and has induced the farmer in
many places to employ it in absorbing the valuable
liquids which escape from his stables and fold-
yards.

This remarkable action of charcoal is the result of
three properties, the influence of each of which it is
important to distinguish. These are —

310

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

a. Its remarkable porosity. In consequeuce of
this, it absorbs gaseous substances in large quantity,
and condenses them in its pores. A cubic inch of
light wood-charcoal will absorb nearly 100 cubic
inches of gaseous ammonia, between 50 and 60 of
sulphuretted hydrogen, nearly 10 of oxygen, and
lesser proportions of other gases. This property is
for the most part physical, and is possessed in a con-
siderable degree by other porous substances.

b. The special affinity which charcoal exhibits for
certain strong-smelling and colouring substances. So
powerful is this affinity, that if a table-spoonful of
finely-powdered animal charcoal — or twice as much
of newly-burned wood-charcoal — be shaken up with
a pint of stinking ditch-water, and the mixture fil-
tered, the water will pass through bright, clear, and
with little of either taste or smell. If, instead of
dirty water, we take porter or port wine, smell, taste,
and colour will in like manner disappear. This pro-
perty is almost purely chemical.

c. The oxidising influence it appears to exercise
upon the substances it absorbs. These substances,
whether gaseous or solid, whether strongly smelling
or strongly colouring, as soon as they are laid hold of
by the charcoal, begin to unite with oxygen, to lose
their characteristic properties, and to change into
new chemical compounds. Ammonia, for example,
changes into nitric acid, sulphuretted hydrogen and
sulphurous acid into sulphuric acid, and so on. This

TBE CHAECOAL EESPIRATOK.

311

action is purely chemical. But the charcoal does not
produce, it only mduces it. It condenses these gases
within its pores, and when brought in contact in this
condensed state, they act upon each other so as to
produce nitric or sulphuric acids.* In like manner,
solid substances change, and the smell-removing in-
fluence of charcoal ceases when its pores become
filled with the new and fully oxidised compound thus
produced.

I have said that it is doubtful if charcoal, though it
keep fresh meat sweet, really does preserve it from
decay. It is in consequence of the oxidising influ-
ence just described that many regard it as in reality
hastening the decay of animal bodies. This may
well be, but decisive experiments are still wanting.

Dr Stenhouse has recently availed himself of the
absorbent property of charcoal in the construction of
a respirator, which, as a remover of noxious vapours
and unwholesome smells from the air we breathe,
promises to become a sanitary instrument of great

* Thus, N being nitrogen, H hydrogen, and O oxygen —

N. H. o. N. H. 0.

1 of ammonia 1 3 - "j ri of nitric acid 1-5

unites with V to form < and

8 of oxygen, - - 8 J ( 3 of water, - 3 3

Sum, 13 8 Sum, 13 8

and S representing sulphur —

S. H. O. S. H. O.

1 of sulph. hydrogen 1 1 f 1 of sulphuric acid 1-3

unites with }. to form •< and

4 of oxygen, _ _ 4j (l of water, -11

Sum, 1 1 4 Sum, 1 1 4

312 THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

value. This respirator (figs. 96 and 97) con-
sists essentially of a hollow case made of fine flexi-

Fig. 96. Fig. 97.

ble wire-gauze. Internally it is about half an inch
wide, and of sufficient length and breadth, when
folded over the lower part of the face, to cover closely
either the mouth alone, or both the mouth and the
lower part of the nose. The hollow space is filled
with coarsely powdered charcoal, and the instrument,
like the common metallic respirator, is fitted to the
face, and fastened over the head by attachments of
ribbon. Through this powdered charcoal the breath-
ing is effected. All the air that enters the lungs must
pass through this charcoal sieve, and in so passing is
deprived of the noxious vapours or gases it may con-
tain. Whether, as in the case of cesspools, labora-
tories, hospitals, dissecting-rooms, and the holds of
ships, these vapours be perceptible and offensive to
the smell ; or whether, like the miasms and malaria
which marshes and festering ponds exhale, they
be imperceptible to the senses ; still the charcoal,

USES OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 313

it is alleged, will arrest them, and thus secure the
wearer of the respirator from their irritating and
unwholesome influences. After a while the charcoal
powder becomes saturated, or too old to act with
eflBciency ; but an ounce of powdered wood-charcoal
renews it, or the old charcoal heated to redness in
a close vessel, and the instrument is itself again.

To a certain extent there is no doubt that this
charcoal respirator will produce the effects anticipated
from it, and its little cost and easy construction are
great recommendations to it. It has already found
its way into hospitals, sick-rooms, chemical manufac-
tories, and many laboratories. It is also one of those
cheap applications of scientific discovery to which the
least regarded of our labouring population, the hum-
ble gravedigger, the despised sewer-cleaner, and the
Irish drudge in our filthiest factories, may owe here-
after hours of happy health and painless sleep. And
should its powers in arresting unperceived malaria be
established by experience, how important will it be-
come to the traveller in unwholesome marshy regions,
like those along the foot of the Himalayas, those
which skirt the lower course of the Niger and the
Mississippi, or such as spread over south European
flats and valleys, like the Pontine and other Italian
marshes, and the Dobrudscha towards the mouth of
the Danube. May it not even prove a safeguard
and health-preserver in many of those inhabited parts
of the world where rich crops are dearly bought at the
expense of rarely absent fevers, aguish fears and

314

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

tremblings, debilitated frames, and short, unhappy
lives ?

2°. Peat, Vegetable Soil, and Burned Clay. —
Peat, if dry and in powder, acts also as an absorber
of smells. It is likewise of an acid nature, which
enables it to combine with and thus to retain many
of the stinking substances it has absorbed. Earth
rich in vegetable matter acts in a similar manner, and
even some varieties of clay purify the water that
filters through them. The porous mass obtained by
burning together clay and vegetable matter under
cover has also, as I have already remarked, a power-
fully absorbent property ; and the coal cinders we
throw into our ash-pits, by their porousness retain a
portion of the effluvia which escape from the other
offal with which they are mixed, and thus lessen their
ofifensiveness.

It is a valuable property of charcoal, cinders, peat,
earth and clay, burned or unburned — when saturated
with ill-smelling substances, such as those I have men-
tioned— that, when conveyed to the land, they fertilise
the soil among which they are mixed, and gradually
yield, as valuable nourishment to growing plants, the
disagreeable forms of decaying matter which they
had previously absorbed or taken up.

IV. The Destruction of Smells. — Substances
that absorb and remove evil-smelling bodies do not
necessarily destroy their smells, or take away any
poisonous quality they may possess. Thus water

SMELL-DESTKOYEKS.

315

absorbs sulphuretted hydrogen, but acquires, at the
same time, its offensive smell and its poisonous pro-
perty. Heat the impreguated water, and the gas
escapes again into the air with all its original qualities.
Bodies which act, as watef does in this case, remove,
but do not change, the smelling substance.

But if into water or air which smells of sulphuret-
ted hydrogen a little chlorine gas be introduced, the
smell of rotten eggs will disappear almost instanta-
neously. The sulphuretted hydrogen is decomposed
and destroyed. It no longer exists, and consequently
both its smell and poisonous influences are gone.

Water, as regards sulphuretted hydrogen, is a
smell-remover or deodoriser. Chlorine acts upon
the same substance as a smell-and-poison destroyer,
or disinfectant

This distinction is not without its practical impor-
tance. Water, soil, and other absorbents, may re-
move and retain noxious substances so long as cold
or wet weather continues ; but let heat and drought
return, and forthwith from water and soil they steam
up again more or less unchanged. Hence those
reeking miasms which spread mortal fever and chat-
tering ague over entire provinces. The disinfectant
decomposes and destroys the evil compound, so that
no change of circumstances can bring it into activity
again.

All disinfectants act chemically. They either
decompose, or they combine with the noxious sub-
stances and produce new compoundsj which, if not

316

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

always void of smell, are comparatively harmless in
their action upon the human body. I shall mention
those which are at once most efficacious and most
easily accessible.

1°. Nitric Oxide Gas is -produced when the com-
mon aquafortis of the shops is poured over pieces of
copper in a glass or earthenware vessel. As it rises
into the air it combines with oxygen, and forms red
fumes of a strongly acid nature (nitrous acid), which
diffuse themselves through the atmosphere. These
fumes are capable, it is believed, of destroying nearly
all the noxious and offensive matters, whether of
mineral or organic origin, with which the air is likely
to be contaminated. The objections to their use are,
that they provoke cough, and cannot be breathed
with safety ; that they corrode nearly all metallic
substances with which they come in contact ; and that
their chemical action upon the noxious bodies they
are expected to remove is neither well understood,
nor, where the fumes are in a very diluted state, by
any means certain.

2°. Sulphurous Acid Gas is produced when sulphur
is burned in the air. It is one of the offensive sub-
stances I have described among mineral smells. In
large quantity, it is both noxious and offensive to
breathe, but as a disinfectant it may often be used
with advantage. Hence the very common practice
of fumigating with burning sulphur.

The first effect of this gas, when diffused through
the air, is to overpower all other smells, and thus to

USE OF SULPHUROUS ACID.

317

make them imperceptible : it acts as a smell-dis-
guiser. Its next effect is chemically to decompose or
destroy such offensive substances as the sulphuretted
and phosphuretted hydrogens of which mention has
been so frequently made ; and as it is of a strongly
acid nature, it as speedily combines with alcaline
vapours — such as those which contain ammonia, or
the evil-smelling body which gives its odour to stink-
ing fish (p. 278), and removes their smells. It exer-
cises also a special action upon many organic sub-
stances. This may be seen by holding a burning
sulphur match beneath a red rose, which it generally
whitens, and by the change of colour it produces
upon many other flowers. It is also seen in the com-
mon use of the fumes of burning sulphur for bleach-
ing silk and woollen goods, and for whitening the
straw employed for ladies' bonnets. It is believed,
therefore, to be capable also of destroying any noxious
substances of organic origin which may happen to be
present in the air with which it mingles.

On the whole, sulphurous acid has much to recom-
mend it. It is also cheap and universally accessible.
The objections to the use of the gas are, that it is
itself unpleasant and repulsive — that when employed
for disinfecting purposes, the inhabitants of a house
must be excluded till the operation is concluded and
the apartments fully ventilated — that it corrodes
metallic surfaces, and leaves behind it for some time
traces of its own disagreeable smell.

3°. Muriatic Acid Gas is produced when the oil of

318

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

vitriol of the shops (sulphuric acid) is poured upon
common salt. It unites with the moisture of the air
the moment it is disengaged, and forms white, strong-
ly acid fumes, which provoke cough and cannot be
breathed. These acid vapours will undoubtedly act
upon and destroy many kinds of strong-smelling and
noxious gases and vapours which may be present in
the air. The objections to its use, however, are the
same as those against the use of nitric oxide, and of
nearly equal strength.

4°. Chlorine Gas is obtained when the common
spirit of salt (muriatic acid) of the shops is pom-ed
upon finely-powdered black oxide of manganese ; or
when this powdered oxide is mixed with the common
salt before pouring oil of vitriol upon it, as in the
preparation of muriatic acid gas, above described.
. Chlorine is a heavy, greenish-coloured, suffocat-
ing, and strongly-smelling gas. In a dilute state, its
smell is now familiar to most persons as that given
off by the common chloride of lime of the shops.

This gas decomposes sulphuretted hydrogen, phos-
phuretted hydrogen, ammonia, and nearly all the
other gaseous compounds and evil-smelling vapours
which escape from decomposing animal and vegetable
matters. It acts, indeed, upon all organic substances
almost without exception. Hence its extensive use
for bleaching cotton, linen, fatty bodies, and a host of
other vegetable productions used in the arts.

Chlorine has been long employed as a remover and
destroyer of unpleasant smells. It is probably the

CHLORINE, A SMELL-DESTEOYER. 319

most generally efficient for this purpose of any gaseous
substance with which we are acquainted. And be-
sides its efficiency, it is further recommended by
being easily and cheaply prepared ; by producing its
good effects even when diluted with much air ; and
by being breathable, when so diluted, without inju-
rious effects. It can thus be used within a building
without displacing its inhabitants, and with little in-
convenience even in the chambers of delicate invalids.
In this dilute state, also, its use is free from almost
every other objection. For though it does corrode
metallic substances, its evil effects in this way are
much less sensible than those of any of the other
gases already mentioned.

The - use of these gaseous substances is restricted
almost entirely to the removal from the air of evil-
smelling and noxious substances which are already
mixed with it. But a service often demanded of
disinfectants, and one not less important for sanitary
objects, is, to prevent the emission of these substances
into the air altogether — to arrest, confine, and fix
* them down among the festering substances which
produce them. This service can only be rendered by
bodies which are in the solid or liquid state, and can
therefore be mixed or spread over the decaying mat-
ters from which the hurtful emanations proceed.

A satisfactory disinfectant of this kind must also
possess at least two well-marked chemical properties.
These are distinctly pointed out by the general che-

VOL. II. 2 A

320

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKK

mical characters of the evil-smelling substances to be
acted upon.

These substances, as they arise from decaying vege-
table and animal bodies, are, for the most part, of
two chemical kinds. They are either alkaline sub-
stances, like ammonia and trimethylamine (p. 278),
or they are acid substances, like the sulphuretted and
phosphuretted hydrogens. An effective disinfectant
must be able either to decompose or to combine with
both of these classes of compound bodies. And eco-
nomically, its value will be further increased, if, while
it effects these chemical purposes, it at the same
time produces a new substance which is not offensive
in any way ; and still more if it produce one that
is positively useful.

5°. Chloride of Lime possesses the chemical qualities
of an efficient disinfectant in a high degree. It con-
sists of lime and chlorine : of these, the lime com-
bines with all the acid bodies represented by the
sulphuretted hydrogen, while the chlorine either
combines with or decomposes the alkaline compounds
represented by ammonia. It is therefore generally
and deservedly esteemed as one of the best, most
efficient, and most manageable of our solid disinfec-
tants. Spread in the solid form upon any fermenting
mass, it destroys the noxious bodies as they are
formed. Dissolved in water, and sprinkled over bad-
smelling chambers, or mixed with more or less fluid
collections of putrid matter, it brings sweetness every-
where. Fetid odours and poisonous qualities alike

CHLORIDES OF IRON AND ZINC. 321

disappear before it. Only its comparatively high
price prevents its being employed for sweetening our
common sewers, garbage-heaps, and cesspools.

The results of its action have the further advan-
tage, that they are not offensive either to sight or
smell ; but they do not possess the same fertilising
richness as the mixed heaps obtained by the use of
powdered charcoal. Its chlorine decomposes am-
monia, and hence fermenting heaps treated with
chloride of lime will be poorer in this ingredient
so valuable to vegetation.

6°. The Chlorides of Iron and Zinc, especially
when made somewhat acid, are, chemically speaking,
almost equally efi&cacious. They have the disadvan-
tage, however, that they run to liquid (deliquesce)
rapidly, when exposed to the air, and cannot well be
preserved in the solid form. Hence they are gener-
ally dissolved in water, and used in the liquid state.

It is an objection to the liquid chloride of iron that
it causes a brown stain wherever it is spilt, and makes
the fermenting substances to which it is applied of a
black colour. The zinc liquid is itself colourless,
colours nothing when it is spilled, and when poured
upon the foulest decaying substances, only covers
them with a white cream. These properties cause it
to be preferred to the iron liquid, where economy is
not an object, the chloride of zinc being the more
costly of the two.

The solution of chloride of zinc forms what we
frequently see advertised under the name of " Bur-

322

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

net's Disinfecting Fluid." It has the property of not
only deodorising and disinfecting, but of actually pre-
venting decay, especially in vegetable substances.
Hence, like corrosive sublimate and pyrolignite of
iron, it has been extensively used for saturating
timber, especially such as is to be used in circum-
stances in which timber is liable to rot.

7°. Sulphate of Iron, or common green vitriol, is
equal in efficacy to the chloride of iron, but, except
that it does not run to a liquid, is liable to the same
objections. It is much used in parts of Switzerland
and other countries, for removing the smell and fix-
ing the volatile ingredients of fermenting dung-heaps
and liquid-manure tanks.

8° Pyrolignite of Iron, prepared by dissolving
iron in impure wood-vinegar, is equal in imme-
diate efficiency to either of the preparations of iron
above mentioned. To some, however, the smell which
this solution occasionally possesses is an additional
objection to the use of it.

9°. Iodine, and one of its compounds known to
chemists by the name of iodoform, have recently been
recommended as smell-removers and disinfectants ;
but however efficient, their expense must always ex-
clude them from anything like extensive use.

10°. Quicklime, though so abundantly used during
the cleansings to which the cholera-visitations have
given rise, is less efficacious either as a remover or a
destroyer of smells than any of the substances above
mentioned. It is usually employed in the state of

ACTION OF QUICKLIME.

323

newly-slaked lime. In this state its action on animal
and vegetable substances is twofold.

a. If the substance be fresh, it retards and partially
prevents its decay. This is its effect upon flesh, blood,
recent animal droppings, nightsoil, urine, &c. And
as decay afterwards slowly comes on, it modifies the
nature of the chemical substances produced, so that
ammoniacal and other strong-smelling compounds do
not arise from them, or at least not so sensibly as
would otherwise have been the case. To fresh ani-
mal matters, therefore, quicklime, as a preventer of
smells, is a very proper addition.

h. But if the substance have already begun to fer-
ment, the lime acts very differently. It is strongly
alkaline, and therefore while it combines with the
acid substances which the fermented matter may con-
tain, it sets free the ammonia and other volatile strong-
smelling alkaline compounds which may have been
formed in it. Thus its first effect, when laid upon fer-
menting animal and vegetable refuse, is to increase the
quantity of odoriferous matter which exhales, and con-
sequently the intensity of the smell. Its next effect is
to retard further decomposition, to induce, as char-
coal does, the decaying matter to form nitric and
sulphuric acids, and thus so to change the chemical
nature of what does afterwards rise into the air, as to
make it both less disagreeable to the smell, and less
injurious to the health.

Spread in a layer over a foul heap, therefore, it dis-
engages a great amount of strong-smelling volatile

324

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

matter ; but this being once carried off by the wind,
the covered heap remains comparatively quiescent.
The lime arrests and unites with the sulphur and
phosphorus as they approach the surface of the heap,
and disposes the substances containing nitrogen to
change into nitric acid, and combine with itself, in-
stead of dissipating themselves into the air in the
form of ammonia and other volatile alkalis. With
the exception of the first loss it occasions when laid
on fermented matter, therefore, lime retains in the
decaying heap the greater part of what makes it of
value to the farmer.

It is in close and confined places, where the wind
has not ready access to sweep away what is at first
evolved, and to masses of putrid semi-fluid matter,
such as collections of nightsoil, that the application
of quicklime may prove most unpleasant. When used
in such circumstances, it should be strewed on lightly,
or after the heap has been spread over with straw,
peat, sawdust, or other similar substance ; and the
mass should, if possible, be entirely covered over with
it, and left afterwards undisturbed.

On the whole, when the air only is to be sweet-
ened and rendered wholesome, the safest, cheapest,
and most effectual destroyers of smells, are chlorine
gas and chloride of lime. A simple way of applying
this gas for individual use is to moisten a linen cloth
with vinegar, and sprinkle over it finely-powdered
chloride of lime. Air breathed through this will
enter the mouth charged with a minute quantity of

BEST TOWN-PUKIFIERS.

325

chlorine, wliicli will effectually destroy any noxious
vapours and miasms that escape from diseased
bodies, or from decaying animal and vegetable sub-
stances. These prepared layers of cloth may be in-
troduced in place of the charcoal into Dr Stenhouse's
respirator, and worn over the mouth. The healthy
man so protected may without fear visit the cham-
bers of the sick, and the sanitary officer without risk
venture into the most dangerous receptacles of filth.
Breathing in by the mouth, and breathing out by the
nose, the air in his lungs would be always pure and
wholesome.

Where water-closets, cesspools, or heaps of fer-
menting matter are to be freed from smell, chloride
of lime is probably still the best agent. But chloride
of zinc and sulphate of iron are both perfectly efficient,
and both to be bought in the shops. Any of the
three, therefore, may be used indifferently, according
to the taste and convenience of the user.

But when large operations are to be carried on, as
in the sanitary cleansing of towns, charcoal powder,
the smother-burned mixture of clay and vegetable
matter, and quicklime, are the cheapest and most
available. The two former are excellent and unex-
ceptionable ; the latter has the disadvantage, that
from substances already fermenting it drives out for
a while more powerful odours than they naturally
emit, and requires, therefore, to be used with care
and caution. In their chemical influence upon the
after decay of the substances to which they are

326

THE SMELLS WE DISLIKE.

applied, charcoal and quicklime, as I have said, re-
semble each other very much.

For the sake of clearness, I may briefly recapitulate
the several classes of substances I have endeavoured
to classify and distinguish in the present chapter.
These are —

1°. Decay -Preventers, or Antiseptics, including
common salt, saltpetre, white arsenic, corrosive subli-
mate, the chlorides of zinc and iron, pyrolignite of
iron, sugar, creosote, alcohol, camphor, the essential
oils, and in certain cases quicklime. Only a few of
these are adapted for sanitary use.

2°. Smell-Disguisers, or Perfumes. — To this class
belong the greater part of the substances already
described among the odours we enjoy.

3°. Smell-Removers, or Deodorisers. — Among these,
charcoal, peat, fresh and charred, clay burned, un-
burned, or smother-burned along with vegetable
matter, and other porous substances, are the most
important.

4°. Smell-Destroyers, or Disinfectants, which not
only absorb and remove evil smells, but decompose
and change, and thus altogether remove the sub-
stances which produce them. To this class belong
nitric oxide, muriatic acid, sulphurous acid, chlorine,
the chlorides of lime, zinc, and iron, the sulphate and
pyroligjiite of iron, iodine, iodoform, and quicklime.

To disinfect, a substance must chemically change
the noxious compound and produce a harmless one.

NOTES.

327

All chemical change does not involve the latter re-
sult, as some poisonous vapours may be chemically
changed, and remain poisonous still. Such is the
case with those of kakodyle and the cyanide of kako-
dyle, described in a previous chapter (p. 297). But
all the disinfectants described and recommended in
the preceding pages, are really poison-destructive as
regards all natural evil smells and miasms with which
we are yet acquainted.

NOTES TO ODOURS AND SMELLS.

1° Chap. XXV. — In my concluding remarks upon sweet
odours (p. 260), I have drawn the attention of the reader to the
inconceivably minute quantities of odoriferous matter which
make themselves sensible in the air, I have since found, in
Dr Caepentee's Comjoarative Physiology, that " a grain of
musk has been kept freely exposed to the air of a room, of
which the door and windows were constantly open, for a
period of ten years ; during all which time the air, though
constantly changed, was completely impregnated with the
odour of musk ; and yet at the end of that time the particle
was found not to have sensibly diminished in weight ! " Can
anything illustrate more strikingly the very trifling quantities
of foreign matter in the air by which sensible effects, whether
for good or for evil, may be produced upon us 1

2° Chap. XZF//.— Since this chapter was puhhshed,
it has been announced that the substance propylamine, men-
tioned in p. 278 (note), as havuig the smell of stinking fish,
has been found in the flowers of Gratoegus oxyacantha (com-
mon hawthorn), Cratcegus monogyna ; also in those oi Pyrus

328

NOTES.

communis (the pear-tree), and Sorhus aucuparia. The odour
of these flowers has often been thought to resemble that of
decaying fish.

3°. In page 295 I have said that other KaTcodyles might be
formed besides the one there described ; and this has in fact
abeady been discovered — the combination of arsenic with
Ethyle. Like the compound already known, it has a pecu-
liarly insufferable smeU, and takes fire in the air. It offers us
another material for asphyxiating shells.

CHAPTEK XXIX.

WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

What is it to breathe ? — Structure of the lungs. — Quantity of air
inhaled. — Breathing by the skin.— Str\icture of the skin. — Effect of
breathing on the composition of the air — It increases the propor-
tions of moisture and carbonic acid, and diminishes that of oxygen
— To what extent it does so. — Quantity of carbonic acid given off
from the lungs and the skin. — Purpose for which man breathes. —
The oxygen absorbed helps to form the substance of the muscular
and other tissues — It converts the waste material of the body into
urea and other soluble substances preparatory to its removal — It
converts the fat and starch of the food into carbonic acid and water
— Acts in a similar way upon alcohol. — Why the carbonic acid from
the lungs varies in quantity. — Physiological effect of these chemical
changes — They are the chief source of animal heat. — Minor sources
of this heat. — Careful provision for the constant disengagement of
this heat. — Purposes served in external nature by the breathing of
animals.

I. What is it to breathe ?

1°. To breathe, in the usual acceptation of the
term, is to draw in atmospheric air through the
mouth and nose into the lungs, and after a brief
interval to throw it out again.

The lungs, into which the air is thus drawn, consist
of two rounded oblong, somewhat flattened, masses
of very cellular substance, situated in the cavity of
the chest, and communicating with the atmosphere

330 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

Fig. 98,

through the wind-pipe, or trachea. The general
form of the human lung is represented in the an-
nexed figure.

The air or wind pipe (a h fig. 98), as it descends
from the throat, branches off into large (bronchial)
tubes (c c) ; and these
again and again into
smaller, still smaller,
and finally into hair-
like vessels (d) Through
these the air pene-
trates into the remot-
est parts of the cellu-
lar substance. x4.round
each visible extremity
nearly eighteen thou-
sand cells are clustered
(17,790, KoucHOux),
each of which is con-
nected through these
minute tubes with the
external air. The cells Human Limg.

a the larynx ; 6 windpipe ; c c c bron-
Vary in size ; they have chial tubes or air passages ; e lung.

a diameter of from one-seventieth to one two-hun-
dredth, or, on an average, of about one-hundredth of
an inch. The total number of them is reckoned at
six hundred millions ! Their walls are very thin ;
they are mere air-vesicles.

The lungs, as this structure implies, are very
elastic, and consequently the volume of air they

STEUCTUEE OF THE LUNGS.

331

contain very variable. The average quantity which,
by an effort, the lungs of an adult can be made to
inhale, is from five to seven pints ; and the quantity
they draw in at an ordinary, natural, but full inspira-
tion, may be as much as two pints and a half : an
ordinary tranquil respiration, made without effort,
takes in only about one pint.

At the easy average of eighteen inspirations a
minute, this makes the bulk of air drawn in and
thrown out again to amount — in common life — to
about eighteen pints a minute, a thousand pints an
hour, or three thousand gallons a-day. Some estimate
it as high as four thousand gallons a-day for an aver-
age man in average circumstances, and as high as
five thousand seven hundred gallons a-day for an
athletic man undergoing severe exertion.

2°. But this lung-work forms only part of the
operation of breathing ; we breathe also through the

skin. The cuti-
cle or outer skin
of most animals
is perforated by
numerous pores
(fig. 99). These
pores are the
outlets of mi-
nute spiral ves-

>**--,v -\ ' - ■ -/ :i 5- which pene-

, c - ^-<^ / X trate through

Surface of the Cuticle greatly magnified, showing . i ^ - - f
the pores and hairs. tne Skm intO the

332 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

Fig. 100.

cellular substance beneath (fig. 100, g). In the human
cuticle, the pores are more numerous in some parts
of the body than in
others, but the outer
skin of a full-grown
man is sprinkled over
with about seven mil-
lions of them, while
the united length of
the spiral vessels con-
nected with them is
reckoned at twenty-
eight miles ! Through
these vessels we pour
out constantly the
solid and fluid sub-
stances which form vertical section of the Skin, greatly

our visible perspira- ^ ^^le cuticle, outer, or scarf skin ; 6 d the

+inTi "Riif +>ivniifr>, true skin ; c sensory papiUas ; c sweat glands

tlOn. JDUL tnrOUgn and their ducts, the outlets at the surface

, ■■ . being the pores ; / haii-s ; g cellular eub-

them also air enters stance.

and escapes continually, in a healthy state of the body,
as it does from the air-vessels of the lungs. And
though the total quantity of this kind of work done
by the skin is very much less than that which is per-
formed by the lungs, yet it is both material in
amount, and of essential importance to the general
health of the body.

The air we draw into our lungs is thrown out
again after a brief interval. That which enters by
the skin probably remains longer. What change

BREATHING ALTERS THE AIR. 333

does this air undergo during its short visit to the
interior of the body ?

Three distinct and sensible chemical alterations
are produced by the breathing animal upon the air
which enters and surrounds it.

First If the breath of an animal, as it escapes
from the mouth, be received in a dry cool vessel, or
upon a clean mirror, the surface of either will be
rendered dim by a thin coating of moisture. In like
manner, if the naked hand or arm be enclosed in a
clean dry glass vessel, a deposit of dew will gradu-
ally be formed upon its inner surface. Both from
the lungs, therefore, and from the skin, watery vapour
is continually, though insensibly, given off into the
surrounding atmosphere. As it comes out, the air
contains more moisture than when it went into the
body. This is the first change.

Second. It is a property of carbonic acid gas that,
when passed through lime-water, it speedily renders
the liquid milky, (vol. i. p. 7.)

Now, if we put a quantity of lime-water into a close
bottle, and draw common atmospheric air through
Fig. 101. it, as in the annexed figure (fig. 101),
we shall see that for a long time the
water will remain bright and trans-
parent. A very large volume of air
must be drawn through before the
clearness of the water sensibly dimi-
nishes, and still more before it be-
comes perceptibly milky. This shows

334 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

that though carbonic acid is present in the air, it is
so only in very small proportion.

But if, instead of drawing atmospheric air through
the lime-water, we blow through it the air which
comes from the lungs, as in figure
102, we shall see the bright clear-
ness of the liquor disappear almost
immediately. In a very few min-
utes it will have become opaque
and milky. The air, as it comes
from the lungs, contains, there-
fore, more carbonic acid than as it
went in. This is the second chanofe.

In like manner, if any part of the naked body
be surrounded for a while by a close vessel, and
the air within the vessel be subsequently examined,
a larger proportion of carbonic acid will be found
in it than is usually present in an equal bulk
of the surrounding atmosphere. Thus, from our
lungs and from our skin we are continually, though
insensibly, breathing out carbonic acid, and adding
to the proportion of this gas which naturally exists
in the air in which we live.

Third. If either the air which comes from our
lungs, or that in which a naked limb has been, for
some time closely confined, be chemically examined,
it will be found to contain a smaller per-centage of
oxygen than is present in common atmospheric air.
The lungs and skin, therefore, are continually drink- j
ing in oxygen from the air. This is the third change.

MOISTURE EXHALED.

335

Thus the three chemical alterations which atmos-
pheric air undergoes through the agency of the
breathing animal are — that it is rendered moister
than before — that the proportion of carbonic acid is
increased — and that the per-centage of oxygen is
diminished.

8". To what extent do these changes take place ?
Can we estimate it in numbers ?

a. The quantity of water which is thrown out into
the air from the lungs of a healthy man is very vari-
able. It is modified by climate, by individual con-
stitution and state of health, by the amount of exer-
cise taken, by the quality of the food, by the quantity
of liquid consumed, and by a variety of other circum-
stances. Generally speaking, however, the quantity
given off from the lungs and skin together is equal
to about one-third of the weight of the whole food,
solid and liquid, which is taken into the stomach.

Now the skin alone of a full-grown man exhales
in twenty-four hours, and in ordinary circumstances,
from one and a half to two pounds of water in the
state of insensible perspiration. The difference be-
tween this weight and that of one-third of the whole
food, solid and liquid, represents the quantity of
water daily discharged from the lungs. It is not far
from the truth to say that, for every pound and a
half discharged from the skin, about one pound is
given off from the lungs.

h. We have already seen that the air we breathe

VOL. IL 2 B

336 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

contains, in its natural state and at ordinary eleva-
tions, about two gallons of carbonic acid gas in every
five thousand of air, (vol. i. p. 8.) This is its condi-
tion as it enters the lungs. As it returns it contains
on an average three and a half gallons in every
hundred ! In cases of disease the proportion of car-
bonic acid sometimes mounts up to as much as seven
gallons in a hundred. The quantity of this gas dis-
charged from the lungs, therefore, in twenty-four
hours, must be very considerable.

Like that of watery vapour, this quantity varies
with many circumstances. Size, age, sex, food,
climate, constitution, health, exercise, all modify it.
In a full-grown man the weight of carbonic acid given
off varies from one to three pounds in twenty-four
hours.

This gas contains in every hundred pounds twenty-
eight pounds of carbon (pure charcoal) and seventy-
two pounds of oxygen. Hence the weight of carbon
which escapes in this form from the lungs of a full-
grown man varies from five to fifteen ounces in the
twenty-four hours.

The quantity given off from the skin, varies from a
thirtieth to a ninetieth of that which escapes from the
lungs. In man it probably averages about one-
sixtieth. This is equal to fifty or sixty grains of
carbon in the twenty-four hours. Bodily exercise
greatly increases this quantity, as it does that of
watery vapour. The human skin, when a person is
in motion, perspires three times as much as when he

ABSORPTION OF OXYGEN.

337

is at rest. The skin of a horse, when put to the tret,
gives off one hundred and seventy times as much as
when it is at rest — (Geelach).

c. The proportion of oxygen gas which atmospheric
air contains is very nearly twenty-one gallons in every
hundred. After it has visited the human lungs, how-
ever, this proportion is reduced to sixteen or eighteen
in a hundred, and sometimes lower. The lungs ex-
tract from one-seventh to one-fifth of its oxygen.
The absolute weight of the oxygen thus taken up in
a day also varies with many circumstances. It is
generally equal to about one-fourth of the weight of
the whole food, solid and liquid, which an animal
consumes. But whatever increases the quantity of
carbonic acid given off, generally increases, and nearly
in an equal degree, that of the oxygen absorbed.

As regards this absorption of oxygen gas, the skin
acts somewhat differently from the lungs. Both
absorb oxygen, as both give off carbonic acid. But
while the bulk of oxygen taken in by the lungs some-
what exceeds that of the carbonic acid given off, the
opposite is the case with the skin. It gives off a
considerably larger bulk of carbonic acid -than it
drinks in of oxygen gas.

Such is this most vital process of respiration, con-
sidered in itself; and such is the chemical influence
in kind and quantity which a full-grown man by his
breathing insensibly exercises over the composition
of the atmosphere which surrounds him.

But for what end does man breathe ? What good

338 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

follows to himself, or what useful purpose is served in
external nature, by the changes which his breathing
produces upon the air in which he lives? These
questions we must consider in their order.

II. For WHAT GOOD TO HIMSELF DOES MAN
BREATHE ?

To obtain a clear answer to this question we must
examine the function of respiration more closely.

The oxygen which enters into the circulation of the
body through the lung-surface is equal in weight, as
we have seen, to one-fourth of all the solids and
liquids introduced into the stomach. It considerably
exceeds in weight that of the dry solid food taken
alone. This oxygen is the main source of the good
which man derives from breathing. This good is
partly direct and chemical, and partly indirect and
physiological. If we follow the oxygen in its course
through the body, we shall see how it benefits the
breather both chemically and physiologically.

1°. The direct and chemical good includes several
different operations, which, for the sake of clearness,
it is necessary to distinguish.

First. The oxygen enters the cells of the lungs, and
is absorbed by the minute vessels which spread over
the cell-walls. Within these vessels it combines
directly with certain constituents of the flowing
blood, and proceeds with it in its ceaseless current
through the arteries and veins.

The first purpose or duty of the blood is to build

USES OF THE INHALED OXYGEN.

339

up the substance of the body, — to form or enlarge
the muscles, the skin, the cartilages, &c. I have
stated elsewhere that the gluten of the vegetable
food is very similar in properties and composition to
the fibre of the animal muscle, and to the skin of the
body. Still, chemical investigation has shown that
it requires to be combined with a certain proportion
of oxygen before it can actually be, or is fitted to be,
built into the substance of the body. This oxygen is
supplied by the lungs, and is worked up as above
described.

The first good function, therefore, which the oxygen
abstracted from the air discharges within the breath-
ing animal is, that it helps to build up the solid sub-
stance of the muscles, cartilages, and skin. It forms
part of the material of which they are necessarily
composed ; and it is in this sense that oxygen, as I
have elsewhere expressed it, is a real food — that we
actually live to a certain extent upon, and are fed
by, the air which surrounds us.

But only part of the oxygen taken in is used thus
directly, and for restorative purposes. The greater
proportion of it is employed for very opposite, though
equally necessary and useful ends. Thus —

Second. The body thus built up is not a perma-
nent structure. It is constantly undergoing repair
and renewal. The functions which the several parts
of the body perform wear it away, as the tools we use
in our daily operations are worn away by the uses to
which we put them. The muscles, and liver, and

340 WHAT WE BHEATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

brain, and bones, all waste, and the substance rubbed
off, so to speak, is removed from the body, and
replaced by new matter from the food.

But before it can be removed, this waste matter
must again be combined with oxygen. When united
with the proper proportions of oxygen, the muscle is
changed into new compounds, which are soluble in
water, and are carried by the fluid excretions through
the kidneys and skin. Such are urea and uric acid —
so called, because they are the characteristic ingredi-
ents of animal urine. These are only oxidised* forms
of the muscle and waste tissues, which are constantly
being washed out of the animal body by the fluids
which escape from it.

In the tissues, also, sulphur and phosphorus exist
as necessary constituents. These are not contained
in the urea and uric acid above mentioned ; but they
combine with oxygen separately, and form sulphuric
and phosphoric acids, which readily dissolve and
escape with the other oxidised forms of waste matter
which are rejected by the body.

Thus the second good service which the oxygen
taken in by the lungs renders to the living animal, is
to combine with the waste matter of its several parts.
By so combining, the oxygen renders soluble, and
therefore easy to be removed, what would injure the
animal's health if allowed long to remain within it.

Third. A third chemical service rendered by the

* When a body combines with oxygen, it is said to become oxidised,
and the act of so combining is called oxidation.

OXYGEN KEMOVES WASTE TISSUES. 341

oxygen is no less important to the existence and com-
fort of the animal.

If a fat animal be stinted in its food, or be wholly
deprived of nourishment for some days, its weight
will rapidly diminish. It continues to breathe, and
in its breath to throw off carbonic acid and watery
vapour. Water escapes through the skin and the
kidneys, and with it urea and the other usual consti-
tuents of the fluid excretions. The animal in giving
ofi" the materials of its solid substance, and, at the
same time, taking little food to replace them, must
necessarily lose in weight.

If we examine the condition of the animal after
this period of starvation, we find that the loss of
weight and substance is most remarkable in the fat
of the body. This has diminished in far greater pro-
portion than any of its other constituent portions.
If, again, we inquire what has become of this fat, we
find scarcely a trace of it in the solid or liquid
excretions. It has been breathed away through the
lungs and the skin. Breathing was necessary to the
existence of life, and carbonic acid gas and watery
vapour were necessarily given off with the breath.
"While the usual supplies of food were withheld,
therefore, the ingredients of this gas and vapour were
necessarily taken from the substance of the animal.
It fed, so to speak, upon itself for the time. The
fat which had disappeared had been used up for this
purpose.

It is easy to understand how this took place.

342 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR

Water consists of one of hydrogen (h) and one of
oxygen (o) united to form one of water

Carbonic acid consists of one of carbon (c) and
two of oxygen (2 o) united to form one of carbonic
acid (? 0).

Now, human fat consists of carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, very nearly in the proportions represented
by-

C. H. O.

S7 36 5

and it is transformed into carbonic acid and water
in the following manner.

The oxygen of the air is absorbed by the lungs and
the skin, and is taken up by the blood in the way
already described. This oxygen, as it circulates
through the body, unites with the carbon and hydro-
gen of the fat, and, after causing it to pass through
various chemical transformations, finally changes it

into carbonic acid and water.

Thus—

1 of fat, .

. 37

with

105 of oxygen,

105

Make a sum of.

. 37

110

This is equal to —

37 of carbonic acid,

. 37

and

36 of water,

Making the same sum of, . . . 37 36 110

Thus, through the instrumentality of the oxygen
taken in from the air, one of animal fat may be con-

HOW THE FAT IS BREATHED AWAY. 343

verted into thirty-seven of carbonic acid and thirty-
six of water, and in this form breathed away through
the lungs.

But if, instead of starving the animal, we give it
abundance of fat in its food, then the fat of its own
body will suffer no diminution. The oxygen taken
in will transform the fat of the food into carbonic
acid and water, and these will be breathed out from
the lungs as before.

Or if, instead of fat, we give it food containing
much starch or sugar, a similar result will follow.
Instead of breathing away its own substance, the
animal will throw off this starch and sugar in the
forms of carbonic acid and water. It is enabled to
do this as the final result of the following transfor-
mation : —

1 of starch or sugar, .

With 24 of oxygen.

Make the sum of

•

But 12 of carbonic acid,

And 12 of water.

Also make the sum of . . 12 12 36

So that, with the aid of twenty-four of oxygen, one of
starch is finally changed, within the body of the
animal, into twelve of carbonic acid and twelve of
water, which are in whole or in part given off from
the lungs.

Thus the third good purpose served by the oxygen
which the vessels of the lungs absorb, is to con-

344 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

vert the fat, starch, sugar, gum, and similar consti-
tuents of the food, — and, in the absence of these,
the fat of the animal's own body, — into the carbonic
acid and water which are given off from the lungs.

Among the constituents of the food above alluded
to, as similar to starch in being converted into car-
bonic acid and water by the oxygen inhaled, are
ardent spirits or alcohol. When taken into the
stomach, alcohol speedily passes into the circulation,
and thus rapidly supplies the materials for the pro-
duction of carbonic acid to be given off by the lungs.
Hence one reason for its usefulness in sustaining the
strength in certain cases of slow digestion, or of great
bodily weakness and exhaustion. It consists of four
of carbon, six of hydrogen, and two of oxygen, and
during its circulation through the body, it finally
changes, like starch and sugar, into carbonic acid
and water. Thus —

C. H. 0.

1 of alcohol, . . . .462
meets with 12 of oxygen, . . - - 12

Sum, . . 4 6 14

These unite and form —

C. H. C.

4 of carbonic acid, . . .4-8

and 6 of water, . • .-66

Sum as before, . . 4 6 14

In the stomach of the healthy man, therefore,
ardent spirits serve the same purpose as starch or
sugar; but because of their liquid form and other
properties, they act more quickly. Hence both the

CARBONIC ACID EXHALED. 345

good and the bad effects they are known to pro-
duce.

I have stated in a previous part of this chapter
that the absolute quantity of carbonic acid given off
from the lungs is variable, and that the kind of food
we at different times make use of is one of the causes
of such variation. Even when the absolute quantity
of oxygen drawn in from the air is the same, the
quantity of carbonic acid returned to it may differ as
much as three-tenths, or nearly one-third of the whole.
Thus supposing the food-substance with which the
oxygen combines in the body to be at one time starch,
at another fat, and at another alcohol, then a fixed
quantity (say a hundred) of oxygen will produce —

From starcli, . . . 50 of carbonic acid.

From fat, . . , . 35 of carbonic acid.

From alcohol, . . . 36 of carbonic acid.

These quantities are so related to the quantity of
oxygen inhaled, that were starch and sugar alone
introduced into the stomach, the hulk* of carbonic
acid given off would exactly equal that of the oxygen
taken in by the lungs. Where fat or alcohol are
swallowed along with them, the bulk of the carbonic
acid will diminish very nearly as the numbers above
given.

The three immediate and direct chemical purposes,
therefore, for which the breathing animal takes in
oxygen through its lungs and skin, are to produce

* That this may not puzzle the unlearned reader, it is proper to state
that the numbers above used do not represent bulks or volumes, but
equivalent weif/hts.

346 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

the substance of the solid tissues of its body from the
gluten of its food — to convert the waste parts of these
tissues into urea, phosphoric acid, &c., that they may
be more easily removed — and to change the starch
and sugar of the food into the carbonic acid and
water which escape from the lungs and skin.

2°. The indirect and physiological good. — But
these chemical operations are attended by an indirect
physiological effect which is essential to the exist-
ence of life.

From what has been stated above, it does not
appear that any good purpose is served by the constant
production in the blood-vessels and discharge from
the lungs of carbonic acid gas and watery vapour.
We can see the good which the oxygen does to the
animal in forming the material of its tissues, and in
subsequently removing the waste matter of these
tissues as they wear away ; but in the simple for-
mation of carbonic acid and water we see none.

The good in this case arises, not from the mere
chemical change itself, but from a certain physical
circumstance that accompanies it.

It is known that animals differ in the amount of
sensible warmth which they naturally exhibit. Some,
like fishes and insects, have a temperature very little
higher than that of the medium in which thev live.
They are cold-blooded. Others, like man, and most
quadrupeds, are considerably warmer than the air
which surrounds them. They are warm-blooded.
The internal heat of a healthy man, for example, in

WARM AND COLD BLOODED ANIMALS. 347

temperate climates, is about 98° F. In hot climates,
and when he is attacked by fever, it rises to 100° F.,
and upwards. The horse has an internal heat of
101° F., amphibious animals of about 101^°, rumin-
ating animals of 104° F., and birds of 106° F., while
in reptiles the mean heat falls to about 80° F.

But an animal, the body of which is always warmer
than the air or other medium in which it lives, must
have a source of heat within itself independent of
external nature.

And when we consider how much heat must be
continually radiating from the surface of a warm ani-
mal into the cooler air, how much is expended in con-
verting into vapour the water which continually escapes
from its skin in the form of insensible perspiration,
and from its lungs in invisible steam — how much in
warming up the food and air which enter cold into
its stomach and lungs, and are discharged again at a
temperature nearly equal to that of the body itself —
and that this escape of heat is incessant, and in a
degree uniform, — all these circumstances compel us to
the conclusion that this internal source of heat must be
both large and constant.

Now, the main physiological difference between the
warm and the cold-blooded animals is, that the former
breathe, while the latter do not. It is natural,
therefore, to connect together the distinctive charac-
ter of breathing with the equally distinctive character
of greater warmth ; to suppose that the incessant
breathing so necessary to life is the source of the

348 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

equally incessant supply of heat from within, so neces-
sary also to the continuance of life.

And this connection is placed beyond all doubt
when we attend to the physical circumstances by
which the change of starch and fat into carbonic acid
and water are accompanied in the external air. If we
burn either of these substances in the air or in pure
oxygen gas, they disappear, and are entirely trans-
formed into carbonic acid and water. This is what
takes place also within the body.

But in the air this change is accompanied by a
disengagement of heat and light — or, if it take place
very slowly, of heat alone, without any visible light.
Within the body it must be the same. Heat must
be given ofif continuously as the starch, sugar, and fat
of the food are changed within the body into carbonic
acid and water. In this we have the continuous
natural source of animal heat. Without this supply
of heat the body would soon become cold and stiff.
The formation of carbonic acid and water, therefore,
continually goes on ; and when the food ceases to
supply the materials, the body of the animal itself is
burned away, so to speak, that the heat may still be
kept up.

The good purpose served by the production of car-
bonic acid and water within the body is now appa-
rent : it keeps the body warm.

But the other functions performed by oxygen
within the breathing animal are also minor sources
of heat.

BKEATHING KEEPS THE BODY WARM. 349

It is received as universally true, that whenever a
body unites chemically with oxygen gas, some heat
is given off, or becomes sensible. Now, we have
seen —

a. That the oxygen absorbed by the blood-vessels
unites in part with the gluten of the food to produce
the proper chemical substance of the tissues. By this
chemical change, therefore, a certain amount of heat
must be imparted to the body of the animal.

h. That, again, to render the waste matter of the
tissues easily removable, oxygen combines with it.
The phosphorus becomes phosphoric acid, and the
sulphur sulphuric acid. The nitrogen and carbon
assume the forms of urea and uric acid, and so on.
Every part of the substance of the body, in the
course of removal, combines with more oxygen, and
at every new change causes the disengagement of
more heat.

Generally speaking, indeed, we may say that all the
leading chemical changes that take place within the
body are processes of oxidation. Each of them sets
free its quota of heat; but that particular process
which yields the carbonic acid and water that
escape from the lungs and skin, is the main source of
warmth to the breathing animal. All the other
sources, so far as we know, may for a limited time be
stopped without serious inconvenience to the animal ;
but stop this one for a single minute, and the heart
ceases to beat.

In this urgent necessity for the continuous forma-

350 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

tion of carbonic acid and water within the body of
the breathing animal, we find the explanation of two
remarkable circumstances, in which, were man con-
cerned, we should say that an anxious solicitude was
manifest on the part of the contriver and adjuster.

The first is the wonderful provision that is made
within the animal for bringing the whole blood into
frequent communication with the oxygen of the
atmosphere. This is seen in the structure and con-
nection of the lungs and the heart.

The structure of the human lungs has been already
described (p. 329), and it has been stated that they
contain about 600 millions of cells, varying in diameter
from the two-hundredth to the seventieth of an inch.
The internal surfaces of all these cells form together
an area of about one hundred and sixty square yards
of thin cell wall ! Over the whole of this surface
minute blood-vessels branch out, so as almost entirely
to cover it. And along these tiny vessels the blood
is continually flowing, and as it flows, drinkiug in
through their pores the oxygen of the inspired
air.

Then the heart is contrived and constructed to
keep up this flow. The structure of the heart is shown
in fig. 103. Returning from the extremities to the
cavities here shown in the right side of the heart, the
blood is thence drawn into the lungs. Eeturning from
the lungs to those on the left side, it is driven thence
along the arteries, which convey it again to the most
distant parts of the body.

ACTION OF THE HEAET.

351

The mutual adjustment and structural relations of

Pulmonary veins

Right auricle
Valve
Lower vena cava'

Right ventricle

Fig. 103.

Pulmonary vein

Left auricle

Mitral valve

Left ventricle

Section of the Human Heart.

the heart and lungs to each other will be better
understood by a glance at figure 104.

This shows the situation of the heart between the
two lobes of the lungs. The double arrow in the
upper vena cava, and the single arrow in the lower
vena cava, show how the blood is conveyed through
these two channels into the right auricle of the heart,
and the arrow ascending from the right ventricle how
the blood flows from it towards the lungs. The
unshaded branching vessels which connect the lungs
with the unseen left auricle carry back the blood from
the lungs to the heart, while the ascending arrow
between the upper vena cava and the right ventricle

VOL. II. 2 c

352

WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

shows the course of the aorta through which th(

Fig. 104.

3
U

a
J3

Vena caT«

Right auricle ,|

Subclavian
arterjr

Veoa cava

Interior of the Lungs, showing their connection with the Heart and the
Large Blood- Vessels.

blood from the heart proceeds on its new journey
towards the extremities.*

The blood, in circulating, comes from the extremities, —

8. To the left ventricle.

9. To the aorta.

1. To the venaj cavse.

2. To the right aui'icle.

3. To the right ventricle.

4. To the pulmonary artei'y,
6. To the lungs.

6. To the pulmonary veins.

7. To the left auricle.

10. To the arteries.

11. To the capillary or hair- like
vessels.

12. To the veins which lead it all
back to the venss cavse.

Through nearly the whole of these stages its com-se may be traced
by the aid of the woodcuts in the text.

MOTION OF THE BLOOD.

353

The weight of the entire blood of a full-grown man
varies from twenty to thirty pounds. Of this the
lungs, in a state of health, contain about half a pound.
The heart beats on an average sixty or seventy times
a minute. Every beat sends forward two ounces of the
fluid. It rushes on at the rate of one hundred and fifty
feet a minute, and the whole blood passes through the
lungs every two minutes and a half, or twenty times
an hour. In periods of great exertion, the rapidity
with which the blood flows is much increased, so that
the whole of it sometimes circulates in less than a
single minute !

How anxiously, if I may so speak, the oxidation of
the blood is thus provided for — first, by the large
surface over which it is made to spread within the
lungs ; second, by the complicated machinery of the
heart, which keeps it in motion ; and third, by the
extraordinary rapidity, and consequent frequency,
with which it is compelled to flow over the wide
lung-surface.

The second circumstance accounted for, is the large
proportion of starch, sugar, or fat, which exists in
nearly all the varieties of vegetable food on which we
live. These, and especially the starch and sugar, are
not required, as gluten is, directly to build up the
substance of the body. They are converted into car-
bonic acid and water in order that the heat of the
animal may be kept up. They form in every kind
of vegetable food, therefore, which in any part of the
world forms " the staff of human life," by far the

354 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

largest portion of its weight. If it is carefully pro-
vided that oxygen shall never be wanting in the
blood, equal care has been taken that the vegetable
feeder shall always convey into its stomach those
substances with which the oxygen can most usefully
combine.

In the food of flesh-eating animals, fat serves the
same purpose as starch does in that of the vegetable
feeders ; and in the relish for fat flesh which such
animals display, we see a new provision for securing
its introduction into their stomachs.

It is necessary to add to what has been said on
this point, that though starch and sugar and fat are
the substances which are generally converted into the
carbonic acid we give off" from our luDgs, yet that we
can live and breathe, though with less comfort, for
an indefinite period without them. It is a further
provision for the maintenance of human life, that in
case of emergency the gluten of the plant and the
fibre of the animal flesh can be converted within the
body into carbonic acid and water, and in this form
be discharged in our breath. Hence the strength-
supporting virtues of the dried flesh, containing
probably little fat, on which the bold riders of the
Pampas are for the most part sustained.

It is interesting, as giving support to the view
above explained as to the source of animal heat, that
in certain cases a sensible warmth is produced in
plants by a similar chemical change. The leaves of

BREATHING OF PLANTS.

355

plants in general give off oxygen gas in the sunlight,
and absorb carbonic acid gas. But to this law the
leaves of flowers present an exception. They give
off carbonic acid and absorb oxygen, as the lungs of
animals do, and the flowers alone of all the parts of
a living plant are sensibly warmer than the air which
surrounds them. In most cases they are only one or
one and a half degrees warmer than the air, but in
rare instances they become sensibly warm to the
touch. This is the case with plants of the Arum
family, in one of which — the Arum cordifolium —
the flower has been observed to have a heat of
121° F., while that of the air was only 66° F. As
in the animal, it is to the union of the oxygen ab-
sorbed from the air with some starch-like ingredient
in the sap of the flower leaf, that the production of
this warmth is to be ascribed. This is proved by
the fact that the greater the quantity of oxygen
absorbed by the flower leaf, the higher the temper-
ature it reaches — (GtARREAU.)

III. What puepose in external nature is
SERVED BY THE BREATHING OF ANIMALS. Our con-
sideration of this point need only be very brief.

The animal is not an independent part of the
work or system of nature. Oxygen is not difinsed
through the atmosphere in nicely-adjusted propor-
tions, solely that warm-blooded animals may breathe
it ; nor are the nicely-adjusted functions of life main-

356 WHAT WE BREATHE AND BREATHE FOR.

tained within these animals solely for their own
benefit. They breathe not less for the support of the
vegetable kingdom than for their own.

We have already seen that the air which surrounds
us contains about two five-thousandths of its bulk of
carbonic acid gas, and that all the green leaves which
flourish on the face of the earth are ceaselessly, during
daylight, sucking in from the air this thinly-diffused
gas. In a very few years, working as they do now,
existing plants would absorb the whole, were no new
supplies poured into the atmosphere to make good
the rapid loss. The breathing of animals is one of
the main sources from which such supplies come. The
carbonic acid they pour continuously from their lungs
and skin, while life lasts, takes the place of that which
plants as unweariedly extract from it. And thus,
while the circle of natural operations within the ani-
mal is complete in itself, and in every move it makes
the animal seems to work only for its own good, it is
all the while unconsciously labouring for the benefit
of an entirely different order of existences external
to itself. On its restless activity, it is true, its own
life depends, but this life itself is only part of a
larger circle of operations in which material things
obediently revolve in the fulfilment of a greater
purpose.

Thus the breathing of man has an internal and an
external end : within, it oxidises and warms the body,
and renews and purifies its parts ; without, it con-

EFFECTS OF BREATHING.

357

tributes to the maintenance of the general system of
animated nature. To man, as a mere living animal,
the former end is the most immediately interesting
and important ; to man, as a philosophic observer of
nature, the latter is not only the grander of the two,
but the most morally and intellectually beautiful.

1
1

CHAPTER XXX.

WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

What we digest. — Staple elements of food, whether animal or vegetable.
— How we digest. — What takes place in the mouth. — The saliva ;
quantity discharged into the mouth ; its composition and functions. —
Properties of ptyalin. — The saliva is alkaline ; always on the watch
for the entrance of food into the stomach. — Structure of the alimen-
tary canal. — The stomach and its appendages. — What takes place in
the stomach. — The starch, fat, and gluten, are brought into a liquid
state. — Dissolving action of the pepsin. — Absorption from the sto-
mach itself. — What takes place below the stomach. — Introduction of
liquids from the gall-bladder and pancreas. — Supposed action of the
bile. — Properties and uses of the pancreatic juice. — Intestinal juice
or mucus.— The universal solvent. — Absorption by the lacteals. —
Changes of the chyle in the lacteals. — Mesenteric glands. — Absorp-
tion by the veins. — Digestion in the large intestines. — Acidity in the
coecum. — Final discharge of the food from the intestines. — Why we
digest — it is to form blood. — Purposes served by the blood. — Com-
position of the whole man, and of his blood. — Bodily functions dis-
charged through the aid of the blood. — Bodily waste and motion
connected. — Special provisions for digestion in carnivorous and
herbivorous races. — Digestion in the sheep. — Purpose of digestion
the same in all animals.

I. What WE digest.— This topic has already been
sufficiently dwelt upon in considering the bread we
VOL. If. 2 d

360 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

eat and the beef we cook. Whether we sustain our-
selves by means of vegetable or of animal food, we
introduce nearly the same substances into the sto-
mach. These different forms of food consist respec-
tively—

The Iread — of gluten, starch or fat, and saline matter.
The beef— of fibrin, fat, and saline matter.

And, as we have seen, gluten and fibrin on the
one hand, and starch and fat on the other, serve
similar purposes, and may take the place of each
other almost indifferently in a nutritious food.
These, therefore, along with the saline matters con-
tained in both animal and vegetable food, are the
main substances we digest. It is true that vegetable
food contains insoluble woody fibre in considerable
proportion. In the bran of the bread we eat, and in
the green vegetables and potatoes we consume, it is
present in notable quantity; and it forms a very
large part of the hay and other dried vegetable food
with which cattle are fed. This woody fibre, how-
ever, passes through the animal, for the most part,
useless and undigested. The digestive organs extract,
from among the useless materials which the food may
contain, the three staple forms of matter above de-
scribed. We have only to follow these substances into
the body, therefore, and see what becomes of them.

II. How WE DIGEST. — The process of digestion
involves three successive series of operations, mecha-

WHAT TAKES PLACE IN THE MOUTH. 361

nical and chemical. The first of these takes place in
the mouth, the second in the stomach, and the third
in the intestines.

1°. What takes place in the mouth. — We have
already seen that in ripe fruits and other kinds of
vegetable food prepared by nature for immediate
eating, the solid nutritious matter they contain is
very minutely divided, and is intermixed with a
large proportion of water. We have seen, also, that
the first object of the cook, in a great number of
our ordinary culinary operations, is to bring the raw
food into the same minutely divided and highly
diluted condition. But all the food we eat is not
so prepared, either by nature or by art. The first
operation we perform upon it, therefore, is to grind
it, if necessary, by means of the teeth, and to dilute
and season it by means of the warm, fluid, salt-
containing saliva. It is then swallowed, and allowed
to descend to the stomach.

This operation appears to be altogether mechanical ;
and yet the chemical history of the saliva, which takes
so great a part in the operation, and the relations of
this saliva to the food, are both interesting and im-
portant. The saliva is secreted in glands which open
into the interior of the mouth (fig. 105), and which,
in some animals, are of large size. The quantity of
liquid which these glands discharge into the mouth,
and thence into the stomach, is very variable. In the
case of the full-grown man it is sometimes as low as

6b2 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

eight and sometimes as high as twentj-one ounces in
the twenty-four hours.

The saliva consists for the most part of water, and
therefore, as I have said, its first function is to dilute
the food. But this water holds in solution about one
per cent of saline matter ; so that, to a certain ex-
tent, it may be said also to season the food. In the
twenty-one ounces sometimes swallowed in a day,
there are about eighty grains of this saline matter.
The seasoning this gives to the food not only renders
it more grateful to the palate, but prepares it also for
the after changes it is to undergo in the stomach, and
the uses it is to serve in the body.

That this saline matter, though small in quantity,
really does produce some beneficial effect upon the
food, is rendered more probable by the influence
generally ascribed to another substance which is con-
tained in the saliva in still smaller quantity. This
substance is a peculiar organic compound, to which,
from its occurring only in the saliva, the name of
ptyalin is given. Like the diastase described in a
previous chapter, ptyalin possesses the property of
changing the starch of the food into sugar. This
property it exhibits, according to some, when used
alone — according to others, only when mixed with
the saline constituents of the saliva. It forms less
than one five-hundredth part of the whole weight of
the saliva. Not more, therefore, than from fifteen to
twenty grains of it are swallowed by a healthy man
in the twenty-four hours ; yet this small quantity is

FLOW OF THE SALIVA.

363

really of much consequence to the easy and com-
fortable digestion of the food. Hence it is that
experience has recommended to all good livers a
careful mastication of their food, that all parts of it
may be thoroughly mixed with the saliva, and thus
subjected to its chemical action.

Two other facts regarding the saliva are of much
interest as wonders of the human frame, indepen-
dent altogether of their intimate relation to the
process of digestion. One of these is, that the saliva
has generally an alkaline * character — that this alca-
linity is greater during and immediately after eating,
and gradually lessens, till after long fasting the saliva
becomes acid — that it is greater, also, after substances
have been eaten which are difficult of digestion — and
that, when the saliva discharged into the mouth is
spat out instead of being swallowed, acidity and heart-
burn often ensue — (Weight). These circumstances
argue not only a close connection between the process
of digestion and the alkaline character of the saliva,
but an immediate watchfulness, as it were, over the
immediate wants of a particular bodily organ.

The other fact is, that as soon as food is swallowed,
the saliva begins to flow more copiously than before.
This is the case even if the food be swallowed without
chewing. Or if food be introduced by an artificial
opening into the stomach, without passing through
the mouth at all, the saliva will forthwith begin to

* Substances are alkaline which have the taste of pearl-ash or com-
mon soda, or which restore the colour of vegetable blues that have
been reddened by an acid.

364 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

discharge itself into the mouth, with its alkaline
character, and hasten down the throat to assist in the
digestion. It appears strictly correct to say that the
saliva is constantly on the watch to he useful, when
we recollect how the mouth will often "water" at the
mere mention of savoury articles of diet.

When chewed and duly thinned with saliva, the
food is rolled into a ball by the tongue, and is swal-
lowed or forced down

Fig. 105.

or oeso-

the gullet
phagus on its way
to the stomach. The
annexed fig., 105,
shows the gullet cut
open, and its po-
sition behind the
trachea or windpipe.

This figure show
also the position of
the two salivary sacs
or glands which lie
beneath the tongue,
and from which the
saliva flows into the
mouth when food is
introduced into it.

2°. What takes place in the stomach. — The
stomach, into which the food descends through the
gullet, is an oblong rounded bag, capable, when mo-
derately distended, of containing two or three pints.

OSsophagua

WHAT TAKES PLACE IN TEE STOMACH. 365

The annexed fig., 106, shows the form of the human
stomach, and of the neighbouring organs which

Fig. 106.

l-ivcr

Gall bladder

Large intestines—

CoecuTD

Jippenrtra of ••
coecum

.-Stomach

..-Spleen

••■Colon

■imall intestines

"Colon

■ Bectam

Small intestines

are concerned in the process of digestion. It ex-
hibits, also, their relative positions and their com-
parative sizes. The parts, as here shown, are a little
distorted, from the necessity of turning up the liver
in order that the gall-bladder, the pancreas, and the

366

WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

upper part of the intestines might be more distinctly
seen.

The food after it reaches the stomach is mixed up
with more water if it has not been already sufficiently
diluted. It is intermingled, at the same time, with
certain liquids which flow out of minute openings on
the inner surface — the mucous membrane, as it is
called — of the stomach. And after these admix-
tures, it is digested for an indefinite period, at a
constant temperature of about 98° F.

But during this digestion it undergoes certain
chemical changes. Thus —

First, The starch, through the continued agency of
the saliva, and especially of the ptyalin it contains, is
gradually converted for the most part into sugar. It
then dissolves, and is ready to be conveyed towards
its further destination.*

Second, The fat^ without undergoing any known
chemical change, is subdivided into exceedingly
minute globules, and is intermingled intimately with
the other half-fluid portions of the food. With these
it forms in this way a kind of emulsion, and is then
also ready to pass on.

Third, The gluten andJihHn, which are solid when
swallowed, are also reduced in the stomach to the

* The saliva of some auimals appears to be mucli more powerfully
solvent than that of man : thus the saliva with which the boa con-
strictor covers the body of its victim is said to promote a very rapid
decomposition. The muscular flesh is rendei-ed gelatinously soft under
its action, so that the animal is able to force entu'e limbs of its
slain victim thi'ough its swelUng throat. — (See Humboldt, Vieics of
Nature).

CHANGES IN THE STOMACH.

367

fluid form. But this is effected by means of a new-
agency.

Within the mucous membrane which lines the in-
terior of the stomach, many little cavities or hollows
are situated. From these, through little mouths or
openings into the stomach, a liquid flows which is
known by the name of the gastric juice. This liquid
contains saline matter, a quantity of free acid, which
renders it slightly sour, and a peculiar organic sub-
stance to which the name of pepsin has been given.
This last substance is present in the gastric juice only
in minute proportion. Like the ptyalin of the saliva,
however, it exercises a powerful and important action
upon the food. While the ptyalin changes the starch,
first into sugar, and afterwards partially into lactic
acid, the pepsin, with the aid of the free acid, reduces
the fibrin of flesh to the liquid state. The curd of
milk and the white of egg are also readily changed
by the gastric juice into soluble forms. Upon gela-
tinous substances it exercises a specially dissolving
action ; and upon the gluten of wheat, though a little
more slow, its final effect is the same. Of this gas-
tric juice as much as 60 to 80 ounces are supposed to
be poured into the stomach of a well-fed grown man
every twenty-four hours.

Thus, by the conjoined chemical agency of the
saliva and the gastric juice — aided by the uniform
warmth of the stomach— the fat, the starch, and the
gluten of the food, are all brought into a half-fluid
state. The saline matter of the food is in part

368

WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

clianged and dissolved by the same agencies. The
whole forms a greyish, gruel-like, slightly acid food-
pulp, which has been called chyme.

This chyme now flows through the narrow outlet
from the stomach — the pylorus (see fig. 106) — into
the upper part of the small intestines, which, from its
length of twelve inches, has been called the duodenum.

All the food, however, which enters the stomach
does not thus linger in the stomach itself, or thus
pass downwards through the pylorus.

What we swallow in the liquid state — our gruels
and gravy-soups, for example — requires no dissolution
or breaking down in the stomach. They pass on,
therefore, with little delay, and for the most part
descend through the pylorus into the duodenum in a
comparatively short period of time.

And again, from the moment that our solid food
begins to dissolve in the stomach, it begins also to be
absorbed through the sides of the stomach itself.
Minute blood-vessels spread over the whole internal
surface of the stomach, drink in liquid parts of the
food through their thin walls, and carry them away
to be mingled with the general blood. Thus, a
variable proportion of the food never reaches the
pylorus, nor descends into the duodenum. Thus,
also, the process of nourishment begins almost as
soon as the food is introduced into the stomach. The
strength is kept up by one part of it, while the rest
is undergoing the necessary processes of chemical
preparation.

THE BILE AND PANCEEATIC JUICE. 369

8°. TVhaf takes 'place after it leaves the stomach.
— A glance at tlie woodcut (fig. 106) shows a small
vessel or tube proceeding from the gall-bladder, and
entering the duodenum a little below the pylorus, or
outlet of the stomach. Another vessel, not seen in
the figure, comes in from the pancreas or sweet-
bread. The former pours bile into the intestine ; the
latter, a thin saliva-like liquid, called the pancreatic
juice. At the same time, from the surface of the
intestine itself, a peculiar half-liquid slimy mucus
exudes, which is called the intestinal juice (succus
entericus). With these three liquids the food-pulp
or chyme almost immediately mixes as it passes
onward from the stomach. When so mixed it loses
its acid character, and becomes milky in appearance
It is now changed into chyle.

The first chemical effect of the bile is to remove
the acidity of the food-pulp. Its subsequent action
is not well understood, but its presence is known to
be necessary to healthy and nutritious digestion. It
restrains the tendency of the food to fermentation,
and to that form of decay, or decomposition, which
is indicated by flatulence and the occurrence of
diarrhoea. It also provokes the surface of the intes-
tines to discharge more copiously the intestinal juice,
and it tends to keep the bowels in movement. But
the chemistry of all this is not yet explained.

The pancreatic juice resembles the saliva very
much in appearance. Like the saliva, also, it contains
saline matter, and a peculiar organic compound, which

870 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

however, is different from the ptyalin of saliva. In
common with ptyalin, this compound body possesses
the property of converting starch into sugar, and thus
continues in the bowels the transformation of the
starch which the ptyalin had begun in the stomach.
It exercises a peculiar action, however, upon the fat
of the food, reducing it to a more minute state of
division than before, converting it into a more perfect
emulsion, and giving to the chyle its characteristic
milky appearance. Its special duty is believed to be
to promote the digestion of oily and fatty food.

The intestinal juice aids the action of the fluid of
the pancreas. It has the property of changing starch
into sugar, and at least assists in emulsifying the fat.

This latter action is inferred from the fact, that
the solution of the whole food is much more complete
and rapid when it is mixed with all these fluids to-
gether, than when treated with one of them only.
They promote the chemical action of each other, so
that the mixture of the sahva, the gastric juice, the
intestinal juice, the bile, and the pancreatic fluid,
forms a kind of " universal solvent," by which all that
the food contains of a nutritious quality is melted
together, as it were, and fitted to enter the absorbent
vessels.

And now the chyle being formed, a new variety of
absorption begins. While within the stomach, the
fatty and glutinous portions of the food were still too
little reduced to admit of their being taken up iu
suitable quantity by the absorbent vessels. The

THE LACTEALS AND THEIR GLANDS. 371

liquid matters which entered into them, therefore, had
more of the watery, half-transparent appearance,
which is indicated by the word lymph. But the
moment the food-pulp passes the outlet of the bile, it
becomes milky, and the absorbing apparatus drinks
in this milky liquid, and fills with it the vessels called
lacteals, or milk-bearers. Throughout the whole of
the smaller intestines, the same operation goes on.
The intestinal juice is continually poured out and
mixed with the food as it descends. It is more and
more digested and exhausted of its nutritious matter,
and lacteals continue to convey from it, at every point
in its descent, fresh supplies of the milky chyle.

On its way through the lacteals, the chyle under-
goes further chemical changes. To promote these
changes it is detained here and there by being obliged
to pass through several knots or glands, where many
of the lacteals meet together and intermingle their
contents. Finally, all the lacteals terminate in the
thoracic duct — a vessel which in man is about as large
as a goose-quill — and by this duct the chyle is conveyed
into the jugular vein (fig. 106). Thence it is forced
■orward to the lungs, where it assumes a red colour, and
contributes continually to the formation of new blood.

The following fig., 107, shows how the lacteals are
iistributed upon the intestine, — how they subse-
[uently collect together in glands or knots, as they
)ass along the mesentery or membrane to which the
ntestines are attached, — and how they finally termi-
late in the thoracic duct.

372 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

But besides this absorption of the milky fluid,
called chyle, which is conveyed to the blood-vessels

Fig. 107.

by the lacteals above described, another absorption
goes on continuously from the internal surface of the ;
intestinal canaL Over the whole of this surface, as is |
the case with the interior of the stomach, a fine I
network of minute veins is spread, like the delicate '
network which lines the air-cells of the lungs, i
Through the thin sides of these vessels liquid sub-
stances pass with greater or less ease ; and from the

PROCESS OF DIGESTION.

373

fluid contents of the digestive canal, throughout nearly
its whole extent, such liquids do enter into these
minute veins, and mingle with the blood which they
contain. In this way nourishing materials, probably
of a different kind from those which flow along the
lacteals, mingle with the rest of the blood, are con-
veyed to the heart, and are finally employed for the
support of the living body.

What is the chemical nature of the substances which
are thus taken up by the minute absorbent veins, or
what proportion they bear to the quantity of nutritive
matter carried off by the lacteals — in regard to both
these points we are yet in the dark. All that enters
the veins in this way is immediately mixed with the
blood, which the veins are bringing back from the
extremities. Hence it is very dijGficult to make out
satisfactorily what portion of the constituents of this
blood is drawn from the food contained in the intes-
tinal canal. That the quantity, however, is large,
and its nature important to the health of the animal,
there is every reason to believe.

When the food has passed through the small in- ■
testines and reached the coecum (see fig. 106), the
nutritious matter it contains is nearly exhausted in
consequence of the different forms of absorption
above described. A change here takes place, how-
ever, in its chemical character. When the food pulp
escaped from the stomach, it was slightly acid. The
admixture of the bile made it alkaline, and it has
continued so throughout the whole of the smaller in-

374 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

testines. But in the coecum it becomes slightly acid
again, chiefly from the presence of free lactic acid.
How this change is brought about is not clearly
understood. The purpose, however, seems to be, by
the agency of this acid to dissolve out any remaining
gluten which the contents of the bowels, and espe-
cially their vegetable contents, may retain, and
thus more completely to exhaust them of nutri-
tive matter. This is rendered more probable by the
large size of the ccecum in herbivorous animals. The
residual food is detained there for some time, that it
may undergo a final digestion before it is altogether
discharged from the bowels.

Such is a sketch of the process of digestion — of the
way in which it takes place — of the complicated
apparatus and organs which take part in it — and of
the chemical agents which are specially prepared and
always ready to assist in it. One long preliminary
cooking process goes on from the mouth downwards
all the way to the colon, and from every part of this
long canal tiny lacteals and absorbing veinlets carry
off contributions of cooked food either to the general
store of chyle, which is collected in the thoracic duct,
or to the venous blood which is hurrying back to the
heart. How effectual all this digestion is in exhaust-
ing what we eat of its nutritive matter, may be judged
of from the fact, that a healthy grown man, fed with
ordinary diet, rejects of undigested and of waste or
used-up matter, both taken together, only from four to
six ounces daily. And this rejected matter consists of —

WHY WE DIGEST.

375

Water, . . . . 3 to 4^ oz.

Organic matter, . . . Of to 1^

Mineral matter, chiefly phosphates of ) q i ^.^ qs

lime and magnesia, . . ) *

Total, . . . 4 to 6 OZ.

Or he discharges one to one-and-a-half ounces of dry
solid matter daily !

III. Why we digest. — This question is, in a cer-
tain restricted sense, already answered by the pre-
ceding statements. We digest our food that we may
prepare materials for the production of blood.

Of what substances, then, does this blood itself
consist ?

If a hundred pounds of human blood be rendered
perfectly dry, by a heat not much exceeding that of
boiling water, it will be reduced in weight to some-
what less than twenty-two pounds. It loses about
78^ per cent of water.

This dry matter consists essentially of the same
substances as the several varieties of animal and
vegetable food described in the previous chapters.
It contains fat, a little sugar, a little starch, fibrin,
albumen, gelatine, and saline matter in the following
average proportions : —

Fibrin, albumen, gelatin, &c. . . 92 per cent.

Fat, a little sugar, and a trace of starch, 3
SaUne or minei'al matter, . . 5

100

In composition, therefore, it very closely resembles
the muscular parts of lean animals and fish which we
eat as food. The gluten of our vegetable food is
represented in the animal by the albumen and fibrin.
The composition of the blood varies slightly with
VOL. II. 2 E

376 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

the age, sex, constitution, state of health, &c. of the
individual. On the whole, however, it is very nearly-
represented by the average composition above given.
For the immediate formation of blood, therefore,
animal food is better adapted than the more usual
varieties of vegetable food.

We digest our food that this blood may be formed
from it. — This answer does not go far enough in
explaining the purpose served by digestion. The
blood being formed as the result of the processes
above described, what purpose does it serve ? An
explanation of this purpose will give the true answer
to the question. Why we digest ?

The blood serves a double purpose. First, it sup-
plies the materials which are necessary to build up
and to promote the growth of the several parts of
the body. Second, it enables the body, without loss
of substance, to discharge the functions on which its
life depends.

First, — It builds up and increases the body. To
understand this part of its office, it is only necessary
to consider of what substances the body and blood
respectively consist.

We have already seen that both animals and plants
consist for the most part of water. The model man of
Professor Quetelet weighs 154 lb., and he consists of—

Water, ll^Jb.

Dry matter, . . . . • , . „

154 lb.

* How small a quantity of solid matter is consistent with life in a
grown man, may be judged of from the case which lately occurred in
this country of a stepmother ill-using and starving a boy of ten years

THE MODEL MAN. 377

And this dry matter consists of —

anic matter
mbustible),

Flesh and fat 24 lb. ~i ( Organic matter

(combustible),
Mineral matter

Bone, . 14 f » ) (combustible), j^Slb.
' ^ or of

38 3 (. (incombustible),

The proportion which the fat bears to the dried
flesh varies in different individuals, and in the case
of man has seldom been experimentally determined.
In sheep only moderately fat, it forms one-third of
the whole. If we take it at one-fourth in our model
man, then his 154 lb. will consist of —

Water, ..... 1161b,

Flesh, skin, and blood, containing i lb, of min- ) ^ ^

eral matter, ... )

Fat, ...... 6

Bone,co„,i,«ng„f {SS\a«,r, sf} "

154 lb.

But the blood which is to sustain the substance of
the body is itself included in the above general com-
position of the whole man. This blood weighs, in
the liquid state, nearly twenty pounds in a healthy
full-grown average man ; * and it consists very nearly
of—

Water, 15f lb.

Dry solid matter, . . . . 4^

20 lb.

And this dry solid matter contains —

Fibrin, albumen, &c., . . . . 4 lb. .
Fat and a Uttle sugar, ... Of
Mineral mp,tter, about . . . Oi

41 lb.

of age till he weighed only twenty-five pounds ! He was in appearance
merely skin and bone. Supposing him to be only two-thirds water
instead of three-fourths, the sohd matter in his living body would bo
only about eight pounds !
* See Carpenter's Human Physiology. Fotirth Edition, p. 134.

378

WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

Deducting this from the dried body as a whole, we
have —

In the body which is In the blood which

to be sustained. eustains it.

Flesh, skin, and gelatine, ) .
without mineral matter, \ ^ ^1^''^°' albumen, &c., 4

Fat and a little starch, . 5i Fat and a little sugar, Of

Mineral matter, . . 10 Mineral matter, . OJ

33! IT
The flesh, skin, &c., of the body are formed and
sustained by means of the fibrin and albumen of the
blood. The fat and mineral matter of the latter
also directly supply the want of these substances in
the body. The arteries convey these different forms
of nutritious food to all parts of the body. There
they are taken up by the minuter vessels to which
this labour is intrusted, and by them they are con-
veyed to the precise points where they happen seve-
rally to be required.

It will strike the reader who compares the absolute
quantity of dry matter contained in the blood with
that which forms the body, how very small a store of
food the animal carries within itself The blood con-
tains by weight only one-eighth of the dry matter of
the body, so that the strength of the latter could be
sustained only for a very short period without supplies
from other sources.

And yet, though the strength must fail, it is re-
markable how long life will cling to the wasting body.
An animal does not die of starvation till it has lost
two-fifths of its weight, and more than a third of its
heat. The lamp of life continues slowly and faintly
to burn. It expires at last, partly from the failure of

USES OF THE BLOOD.

379

fuel, and partly from the stoppage of the circulation
by the increasing coldness of the extremities. But —

Second, — The blood enables the body, without loss
of substance, to discharge those functions on which its
life depends. And it is in considering how much is
implied in this duty of the blood, that the necessity
of constant and large supplies of food from without
becomes most apparent.

While man lives he breathes and moves. What
demand for nutritive matter does the exhibition of
these characteristic appearances of life involve ?

In the preceding chapter we have seen that the
animal eats a large portion of food in order that it
may combine with the oxygen taken in by the lungs,
and then be breathed away again in the form of car-
bonic acid and water. But before it can so combine
with oxygen, it must be digested and conveyed into
the blood. Thus it may be said with truth, that we
digest in order that we may breathe.

And as this breathing is continually going on, the
blood must as constantly supply the materials out of
which the carbonic acid and water may be produced.
But that it may do so without lessening its own sub-
stance, new streams of chyle must be ever flowing
into it, and new food digested, that this chyle may
be formed. Hence the necessity and use of that
large quantity of starch or fat which a full-grown
man must daily eat if he is to continue to breathe,
and yet retain the weight of his body undiminished.

Again, the living man moves. Look at him ex-
ternally, and he is never wholly at rest. Internally,

380 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

could we look at him, lie is everywhere and always
in motion. Even when sunk in sleep, there is
scarcely an organ of his body which, if not moving
itself, is not the seat of incessant motioiL Now it is
believed that every movement of the body — every
stirring of a limb — every change, for example, in
the position of my fingers as I write — every invo-
luntary beating of my heart — every thought that
passes through my brain — is accompanied by a
change of matter greater or less in quantity at the
particular spot where the movement takes place. A
portion of the substance of the muscle, of the bone,
of the heart, of the brain, becomes chemically
changed — oxidised probably — unfit, therefore, for
the position it previously occupied as a part of the
perfect body. All this altered or waste matter is
continually undergoing removal through the veins,
and its place is as continually supplied by new mat-
ter extracted from the arterial blood.

That all bodily movement is attended by waste of
the bodily substance is a received opinion. But
whether such movement is or is not its true cause,
the waste itself is certain. An animal, when fasting,
will lose from a fourteenth to a twelfth of its whole
weight in twenty-four hours. This loss does not fall
altogether upon the fat, but extends also in part to
the tissues and general substance of the body. It is
so great that the whole blood is unable altogether to
replace it. Scarcely, therefore, is the stomach of an
animal empty, when it begins already to feed upon
itself.

WASTE OF THE BODY.

381

But even when an animal is fully fed, so that it
can discharge the requisite quantity of carbonic acid
from its lungs without in any way feeding upon itself,
stiU, as I have said, a waste and renewal of the tis-
sues and substance of the body everywhere goes on.
It matters not whether this waste is a consequence of
the perpetual movement of its parts, or arises from
some other cause. It is known to proceed so rapidly
that the whole body is now believed to be renewed
in an average period of not more than thirty days !
Of course the rapidity of the general change of sub-
stance varies with the individual, his habits, his food,
and his employment. The several parts of the body,
also, will probably waste with different degrees of
rapidity. If the amount of movement or labour per-
formed by each part, for example, be the measure of
the degree of waste — then, where much thinking is
done, the brain will be more speedily renewed —
where much bodily toil is undergone, the muscles
called into action by the kind of toil will be oftenest
changed and rebuilt — and where listless indolence
and inactivity possess both body and mind, muscles
and nerves alike will partake of a correspondingly
slow change of substance.

Thus it may be said again, and with equal truth,
that man digests in order that he may move ; or
he digests that he may repair the constant waste
which is ascribed- to the restlessness of the material
particles which compose his ever-moving body. This
waste the blood makes up ; and the process of internal
cooking must be continually going on in order that

382 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

the blood may be able to discharge this duty without
causing any permanent loss of substance to the body
itself.

The questions we proposed to ourselves at the com-
mencement of the present chapter are now answered.

What we digest consists essentially of the starch,
fat, gluten, and mineral matter, which, as we have
seen in a previous chapter, all varieties of nutritious
food contain in greater or less proportion.

As to how we digest, it is through the united agency
of the warmth of the body — of a curiously-constructed
alimentary canal and its appended organs — and of
various chemical substances poured into the food from
the sides of this canal, and from its subsidiary organs.

And the purpose for which we digest is, more im-
mediately, to pour into the thoracic duct and absor-
bent veins the materials for the production of blood;
but, more remotely, to build up the full-grown living
man, and to enable him to breathe, move, and per-
form all the functions necessary to life, without sen-
sible or permanent loss of his own substance.

These three most interesting questions I have
answered with special reference to the constitutional
history of man. Were they asked in reference to other
races of animals, the answers to the first two would
be somewhat different. In fact, the nature of the food
— of the thing to be digested — determines the form
of the apparatus in which the digestion takes place,
and also, in some degree, the chemical substances by
which it is promoted. Thus in the carnivorous races,
— living upon flesh, which is more easily converted into

DIGESTION IN OTHER ANIMALS.

383

chyle — the stomach is small, and the alimentaiy
canal comparatively short. But in herbivorous ani-
mals the canal is long, and the stomach large, and
sometimes complicated in structure. In such as
ruminate or chew the cud, this is particularly the
case, as may be seen in the following figure, which
represents the fourfold stomach of the sheep. In
the case of this animal, the food which is cropped or
swallowed hastily passes unchewed into the large first
stomach or paunch. Here it is moistened with a
fluid admixture, and when required, is passed on to the
second stomach, and thence back to the mouth to be
masticated. When chewed it is swallowed again, and

Fig. 108.

ai!sophagu8

Cardia'

3d Stomach

proceeds at once to the third stomach or many-plies,
and thence forward to the fourth stomach or reed,
where the true gastric juice is mixed with it. From
this latter it passes, as in man, through the pylorus

384 WHAT, HOW, AND WHY WE DIGEST.

into the intestines, which are greatly longer than in
man.

The reason of all this complication in the digestive
apparatus of the ruminating animal, is the difficulty
of grinding down, and then of extracting, the whole of
the nutritive matter from the kind of vegetable food
on which the animal lives. Hence the food is longer
detained in the alimentary canal, and is subjected to
a more thorough process of subdivision and exhaus-
tion, before it is allowed to escape from the body.

The chemistry of comparative digestion is indeed
rich in interest and instruction; and, did my space
permit, it were easy to multiply illustrations of the
way in which the instruments and means of digestion
are adapted in every animal to the circumstances in
which it is placed, and to the habits of life in which it
is intended to indulge.

In all animals, however, the end or purpose of
digestion is the same, — to provide materials for
building up its body to a full size, and afterwards for
enabling it to discharge its various living functions,
without permanent loss of its own weight or sub-
stance.

CHAPTEE XXXL

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

The body and its habits an assemblage of chemical wonders. — Change
of the food in its passage from the mouth to the lacteals. — Globules or
corpuscles of the chyle. — The blood corpuscles ; their form and com-
position.— Mineral matter within and without the corpuscles. — The
corpuscle is an independent microcosm. — Selecting power of the parts
of the body. — How the whole system is kept in working order. —
Activity of the vessels which remove waste matter. — Change of the
capacity of the blood for heat in passing through the lungs. — How
this affects the warmth of the body. — Other provisions for comfort-
able warmth. — Craving for special kinds of food. — How this is artifi-
cially met. — The nature of the water we drink may modify natural
cravings and national diet. — The potato and water of Ireland. —
Instinctive choice of beverages and condiments. — Case of salt ; how
instinct regulates the use of this substance. — Examples in South-
western Africa and in Siberia. — Susceptibihty of the body to the action
of very minute portions of matter. — The narcotics, the beverages, the
odours, and the miasms. — Influence of light upon the body. — The
structure, functions, and special composition of the grey and white
parts of the brain. — The rete mucosum. — The chemistry of all parts
of the body deserving of intelligent and reverential study.

Nearly all the functioDs and habits, natural and
acquired, the chemical history of which has formed
the subject of the preceding chapters, have a relation
more or less direct with the welfare and comfort of

ing to pleasure and pamper, we often injure it. This

we nourish

386

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

arises from our possessing, for the most part, too im-
perfect a knowledge of its vital wants and functions.
We are too little familiar, also, with the substances
we daily use or occasionally indulge in, or with which,
in external nature, we cannot avoid coming into con-
tact. And with this ignorance of the things them-
selves, is necessarily associated a similar ignorance of
the effects they are likely to produce upon the system,
This want of knowledge is by no means surprising,
seeing that the whole grown-up man — the body and
its habits together — may be described as an assem-
blage of chemical wonders. Besides the main features
in his chemical history which have been already illus-
trated, there are a thousand others of a less general
kind, the study of which is not only rich in the
discovery of wise contrivances, so to speak, but is
pregnant also with practical instruction. To some
of these minor points I propose to devote the present
chapter.

We have already seen how many curious circum-
stances attend the food in its progress from the mouth
to the blood-vessels. The teeth grind it fine, and
the tongue mixes it with the saliva. This saliva, on
the watch to be useful, rushes out and makes the
mouth water whenever savoury food is spoken or
even thought of It flows most copiously, however,
while we chew and while we are digesting. In doing
so, the saliva not only moistens and seasons the food,
but mixes up with it the substance ptyalin, which
converts its starch into sugar, and is essential to the
healthy progress of digestion. Then from the coast

CHEMISTRY OF INCIPIENT BLOOD. 387

of the stomach, exudes the gastric juice — also most
copiously when there is most work to do. This fluid
brings with it the peculiar substance pepsin, which
renders soluble the gluten and flesh of the food.
When this solution is accomplished, the gastric juice
ceases to flow, and the liquid food moves forward to
the smaller intestines. Here the sour chyme is
mixed with three fluids which are waiting its ap-
proach. A valve opens, and the bile comes out to
meet the food — a juice flows forward from the
pancreas, like a new saliva — and from the surface of
the intestines, as it passes along, a third liquid issues
to temper and chemically change it. The chyle, now
milky and alkaline, is taken up by the lacteals.
These minute vessels are distributed along the whole
course of the intestines, extracting, at every step in
its progress, new portions or constituents from the
food, mixing them all together as the vessels meet in
the glandular knots, and pouring the mixture into
the one common reservoir — the thoracic duct. And
to insure a thorough extraction of all feeding matter,
a new change takes place when the food descends
into the larger intestine. It becomes acid again,
and delivers to the still busy lacteals new materials
with which to give the final tempering to the milky
chyle as it flows towards the true blood-vessels.

All this has been explained. But it will amply
repay us if we follow a little further the chemistry
of this incipient blood.

Seen under the microscope, the milky contents of
the thoracic duct have very much the appearance of

388

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

blood. Numberless rounded discs present themselves,
which, by their peculiar granulated appearance, are
recognised as the colourless corpuscles which cha-
racterise the blood (fig. 1 09 h). As soon as these
enter the veins, however, and are thence driven over

Fig. 109. Fig. 110. Fig. 111.

109. " The human red corpuscle, showing its natural form and appearance
when brought fully into focus, in which case the centre always appears light.
Scattered over the field are seen one or two white corpuscles (6)."

110. " The same seen united into rolls, as of miniature money in appearance."

111. " The blood corpuscles of the elephant, red and white, which are the
largest hitherto discovered among the Mammalia." All magnified 670 times.
— (From Hassall's Microscopic Anatomy).

the lungs, they become coloured. By some unknown
chemical action of the oxygen which they absorb in the
lungs, they are made to assume a red colour, and are
no longer distinguishable from the true red corpus-
cles of the blood.

Digestion may now be said to be completed, and
true blood is formed. This blood is itself a most
interesting study. Under the microscope the blood
of man and other mammiferous animals is seen to
consist of minute flattened disc-like bodies (corpus-
cles) of a red colour, floating in a colourless liquid.
These bodies vary in size and shape in different

THE BLOOD AND ITS CORPUSCLES. 389

animals. Those of man have an average diameter
of l-3200th of an inch, and a thickness of l-12,400th,
being larger than those of any of our domestic animals,
(figs. 109 and 110). Those of the elephant are the
largest yet known among mammals, (fig. 111). In
oviparous vertebrates they are oval in form, and in
the frog much larger than in man. When dried, they
form, in man, on an average, about 13 per cent of the
whole weight of the newly-drawn blood. In a moist
state they form a little more than half its weight.
They consist of an outer husk or skin enclosing a
coloured fluid, in the centre of which a minute kernel,
or nucleus, is seen, while they are still young. When
fully formed, this nucleus disappears. The fluid of
the corpuscles contains the colouruig matter of the
blood (hematin), particles of fat, a colourless sub-
stance (globulin)^ which belongs to the same class of
chemical compounds as gluten, albumen, and fibrin,
and a portion of saline matter. Among the most
interesting facts connected with the corpuscles is the
relation which this saline matter bears in kind to that
of the whole blood.

We have already seen that the blood contains a
considerable proportion of saline or mineral matter;
so that, when dry blood is burned, it leaves about 5
per cent of ash. More than half of this ash (57 per
cent) is common salt ; the rest consists of potash, soda,
lime, magnesia, oxide of iron, phosphoric acid, and
sulphuric acid. Of these substances the potash, the
phosphoric acid, and the iron, are principally con-
tained in the corpuscles ; while the common salt

390

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

especially abounds in the colourless liquid or serum in
which the corpuscles are seen to float.

Countless absorbent vessels are continually bring-
ing new liquids, and pouring them into the blood,
and almost as many are continually removing from
the blood certain portions of its contents, and yet this
relative position of its saline constituents is conti-
nually maintained. The thin husk which envelopes
the corpuscles allows some of these substances to pass
abundantly into the interior, while others of them it
in a great measure excludes. This separation is pro-
bably effected with a view to the after-formation of
flesh, since the animal flesh agrees with the cor-
puscles of its blood in containing much potash and
phosphoric acid, with comparatively little common
salt.

It is very interesting to observe how, in so im-
portant a fluid as the blood, the several substances it
contains thus separate themselves into distinct groups
with a view to after uses. Each corpuscle is, in fact,
a minute microcosm, within which changes chemical,
and perhaps vital, take place, independent, in a sense,
of all around it. At the same time, a jealous discri-
miinating power, as it were, guards it around, by which
this substance is admitted, and that one refused a
passage through the pores of its encircling mem-
brane.*

But, indeed, a discrimination of this kind appears
to reside in all parts of the body. All are endowed

* This lends much countenance to the opmion of John Hunter, still
entertained by physiologists, that parts of the blood really Uvo.

CONSTANT CONSTITUTION OF THE BLOOD. 391

with the power of selecting from the universally
nourishing blood the chemical compounds which are
specially required for the formation of their own sub-
stance, or the discharge of their special functions.
Thus the bones specially select and appropriate phos-
phate of lime, while the muscles take phosphate of
magnesia and phosphate of potash. The cartilages
build in soda, in preference to potash. The bones
and teeth specially extract fluorine. Silica is almost
monopolised by the hair, skin, and nails of man, and
by the horns, hair, and feathers of animals. Iron
abounds chiefly in the colouring matter of the blood
(hematin)^ in the black pigment of the eye, and in
the hair. Sulphur exists largely in the hair, and
phosphorus in the brain. Thus, to each part of the
body certain chemical substances seem to be most
specially appropriated, and to each part a peculiar and
special power has been given of selecting out of the
common storehouse those materials which suit it best
to work withal.

And what is still more admirable, the formation
and renewal of each part of the body serves the
definite purpose of preparing the blood for the pro-
duction or renewal of the next part it visits as it
flows along. Thus the blood is continually changing
as it proceeds in its course, leaving and taking up
something at every new spot, and by these changes
being always rendered more fit for the next duty it
has to perform — (Paget).

Nor is it less interesting to observe how every
VOL. n. 2 F

392

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

function of the body is on the alert, as it were, to
keep the whole system in working order.

That the blood may subserve its various uses, its
natural composition, though continually changing, as
I have said, must not be materially altered. It may
vary in composition within certain small limits; but
when changed beyond these limits, the functions of
the whole body begin to be deranged. Hence such
a change is carefully provided against.

If, for example, much water is poured into the
stomach, the chyle is diluted, the lacteals convey a
thin fluid to the blood-vessels, and the blood itself
becomes more watery than usual. But instantly to
remedy this, the lungs, the skin, and the kidneys of
the healthy man become more active, the excess of
water is carried off, and the blood is thickened again
to its usual condition. And so some kinds of food
tend to increase the quantity of fat in the blood ;
others that of albumen ; others that of common salt,
&c., beyond the average proportion; but the ever
ready removers begin their more active work before
any such excess becomes sensible in the healthy
man, and continue it till the natural condition is
restored.

But the unsleeping activity of the vessels which
remove from the blood what it ought nowhere to
contain in very sensible proportion, is most re-
markably shown by the rapidity with which they
carry off those refuse substances which are derived
from the natural waste of the tissues. The lacteals
are continually conveying new materials to the

CHEMICAL CHANGES OF THE BLOOD. 393

blood, to rebuild tbe wasting portions of the body.
Of course the changed substance of the wasted
tissues is poured into the blood quite as fast. But
so diligent are the vessels and organs whose duty-
it is to remove this now useless matter, that mere
traces of it only can ever be detected in the blood of
a healthy man. The kidneys, especially, are on the
alert to pick it up, to hurry it away from the blood
as rapidly as it appears, and to discharge it by way
of the urine. The kidneys are thus the chief cleans-
ers of the vital fluid. In immediate importance to
life they stand next to the lungs. We may cease
for days to carry food into the body without serious
injury to life ; but let the removers intermit their
operations for a single day, and the blood would
become loaded with poison, and the animal precipi-
tated into dangerous disease.

I cannot dismiss this study of the blood without
adverting to another refinement in its chemical his-
tory, which is intimately connected with the comfort-
able continuance of animal life. The sensible and
chemical changes which it undergoes during its pass-
age over the lungs have been sufficiently explained
in a preceding chapter. Driven from the heart to
the lungs, it diffuses itself over the cell-walls, passing
through the minute blood-vessels, which, like a deli-
cate lace-work, everywhere overspread them. It
enters these vessels as dark-coloured venous blood,
it gives off, as it flows, carbonic acid and watery
vapour, and absorbs oxygen gas. It leaves them as
bright red arterial blood ; and the physiological pur-

394

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

pose of this change is, that the warmth of the body
may be kept up.

•The production of heat in the blood during this
passage over the lungs is believed to be nearly in
proportion to the quantity of oxygen absorbed ; and,
as in the burning of wood or coal outside of the body
the heat is produced and becomes sensible at the spot
where the oxygen disappears and carbonic acid and
water are formed, so we should expect it to be inside
of the body — that is to say, that within the animal
the heat should be produced and become sensible in
the lungs, because there the oxygen is taken in and
the carbonic acid given off.

But were this the case, the lungs should always be
at a higher temperature than the rest of the body ;
and being thus sensibly warmer, much of the heat
should be wasted before the flowing blood could dis-
tribute it over the distant parts of the body.

To prevent these apparently necessary evils, the
blood, as it assumes its bright red colour, is in some
unknown way caused to undergo at the same time a
remarkable change in its capacity for heat.

By the specific heat of bodies, or their capacity for
heat, is meant the comparative quantity of heat which
is necessary to raise the sensible temperature of a
given weight of any substance a given number of de-
grees ; and I have elsewhere * illustrated this by
stating that the same quantity of heat which will
make a pound of water warmer by one degree, will
make a pound of quicksilver warmer by thirty de-
* See The Water we drink, p. 31.

PRODUCTION OF ANIMAL HEAT. 395

grees. This means and shows that water requires
thirty times as much heat to warm it up to a certain
temperature as quicksilver does. In other words,
the specific heat, or capacity for heat, of water is
thirty times greater than that of quicksilver.

Now, as the blood passes through the lungs its
capacity for heat is somehow increased. It becomes
capable of absorbing one-seventh more heat than it
already contains, without increasing in sensible tem-
perature.* The average warmth of the blood is
about 98° Fahr. We do not know how much heat it
requires to raise a pound of venous blood to this de-
gree of warmth ; but whatever the quantity may be,
it acquires at once, by passing through the lungs, the
property of absorbing about one-seventh more, with-
out becoming warmer than 98° Fahr. Thus the heat
produced in the lungs by the absorption of the- oxy-
gen is immediately taken up and hidden, as it were,
in the blood. The lungs are not over-heated and in-
flamed, but the bright red arterial blood becomes a
storehouse of concealed warmth, which it carries with
it to all parts of the body. In its progress towards
the extremities, it gradually loses this large capacity
for heat. The warmth previously hid in it gradually
becomes sensible, so that, before it returns to the
lungs again, it has imparted, by little and little, to the
various remote parts of the body, a large quantity of
sensible heat, without itself becoming sensibly colder.

Yet even this beautiful adaptation of the proper-

* If the specific heat of water be called 1000, that of venous blood is
892, and that of arterial blood 1030, or upwards of one-seventh part
more.— Crawford.

396

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

ties of the blood to the general warmth of the animal
is not considered enough to secure its healthy and
comfortable temperature against all contingencies.
Should the blood flow too languidly through the lungs
to carry off all the surplus heat naturally produced
there, or should too much heat become sensible in
the lungs from any other cause, it is expended in the
production of watery vapour, and breathed out into
the air ; or should external warmth or bodily exercise
add materially to the natural and necessary heat pro-
duced by the internal changes already described, the
water of the system again takes it up, and, escaping
from the body in vapour, dissipates it through the
atmosphere. How abundant the pores or openings
are by which an outlet for this vapour through the
skin has been provided, I have already shown in a
preceding chapter.*

So numerous, so interesting, and so provident are
the structural, physical, and chemical arrangements
for producing, for storing up, for economising, and
for tempering the warmth of the human body !

Not less rich in curious chemical phenomena are
the natural cravings of the animal appetite for special
kinds of food. The formation of blood, and the
maintenance of the animal heat, require the intro-
duction into the stomach of certain chemical forms
of matter— gluten, fat, starch, &c., in certain propor-
tions. If for a length of time these proportions be
disregarded, first the comfort of the animal suffers,
and, subsequently, its health. Such changes often
* See "What wk Breathe and Breathe fob, p. 331.

IMPOETANCE OP QUALITY OF WATER 397

proceed slowly, and become sensible only after many
years elapse; but the feeblest derangements make
themselves felt at last, so as seriously to affect tbe
constitutions of whole families and tribes of men.

It is very striking, therefore, to observe how, by
a kind of natural instinct, the inhabitants of every
country have contrived to mix up and adjust the
several kinds of food within their reach, so as to at-
tain precisely the same physiological end. The
Irishman mixes cabbage with his potatoes, the Eng-
lishman bacon with his beans, or milk and eggs
with his rice, and the Italian rich cheese with his
maccaroni. So oil or cream is eaten with salad,
and butter or oil everywhere with bread. These,
and other methods mentioned in previous chap-
ters, exhibit so many purely chemical ways of pre-
paring mixtures nearly similar to each other in
composition and nutritive value. In the most rude
diet, and in the luxuries of the most refined table,
the main cravings of animal nature are never lost
sight of. Besides the first taste in the mouth, there
is an after taste of the digestive organs, which re-
quires to be satisfied. An indifferent cook may
gratify the first ; he is no mean physiological che-
mist who can at the same time fully satisfy the second.

Even the water we drink is an important element
in a well-considered and long-adjusted diet. It by
no means follows in all cases, perhaps not even in
the majority, that the purest water is the best for the
health of a given family, or for the population of a
given district. The bright sparkling hard waters,

398

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

whicli gush out in frequent springs from our chalk
and other limestone rocks, are relished to drink, not
merely because they are grateful to the eye, but be-
cause there is something exhilarating in the excess of
carbonic acid they contain and give off as they pass
through the warm mouth and throat ; and because
the lime they hold in solution removes acid matters
from the stomach, and thus acts as a grateful medi-
cine to the system. To abandon the use of such a
water, and to drink daily in its stead one entirely
free from mineral matter, so far from improving,
may generally injure the individual or local health.

And so the nature of the water of a country may
even have something to do with the choice of a national
diet. The human body, for example, requires a cer-
tain proportion of lime to be contained in or mixed
with its food. If the common diet do not contain
a sufficient proportion of this mineral ingredient, the
common water of the country may supply the defi-
ciency; and thus a national mode of living may spring
up, the salutary properties of which depend partly
upon the food and partly upon the water. In an-
other district or country, where the drinking-water
is different, the same solid food, eaten alone, may be
unsuited for the maintenance of health.

Ireland presents us with a case in which this state
of things appears to exist. The potato has become
in a sense the national food of Ireland.* This root

* In 1854 Ireland grew about 1,000,000 acres of potatoes, and
2,000,000 acres of oats. But suppose all the oats to be consumed in
Ireland, which is far from being the case, one acre of potatoes gives

NATIONAL BEVERAGES.

399

contains larger proportions of potash and soda, but
much less of lime, and other necessary mineral in-
gredients, than either wheat or oats, which are the
staples of English and Scottish life. But the greater
part of Ireland is covered with a broad limestone
formation, which impregnates with lime the springs
and other waters employed for domestic purposes;
so that the mineral contents of what they drink,
supply the natural deficiency in what they eat !
In this way it will appear that the reasons for
the adoption of a peculiar national diet may lie
much deeper than political economy can generally
go. It may depend upon refined chemico-physio-
logical and chemico -geological relations, the dis-
covery of which we may be very long indeed in
arriving at.

It is the same with artificial beverages as with
articles of ordinary drink and diet. An unthought-
of chemical instinct has guided men in the selection
of these also. The ancient Abyssinian and the
modem Arabian had their coffee — the Chinese and
Tartars their tea — the South American aborigines
their mate — and the Mexicans their cocoa, ages be-
fore any chemical knowledge existed as to the nature
of the substances contained in them. What con-
stitutional cravings common to us all have prompted
to such singularly uniform results ! Through how

more food for man than two acres of oats ; * so that the potato is stiU
the prevailing or national food of Ireland.

* See the Author's EkmenU of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology, 6th edit.,
p. 341.

400

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

vast an amount of unrecorded individual experiences
must these results have been arrived at !

And so with what we call condiments, similar in-
stincts have their play. The wild buffalo frequents
the salt-licks of North-western America ; the wild
animals in the central parts of Southern Africa are
a sure prey to the hunter who conceals himself be-
side a salt spring ; and our domestic cattle run peace-
fully to the hand that offers them a taste of this
delicious luxury. From time immemorial it has been
known that without salt man would miserably perish ;
and among horrible punishments, entailing certain
death, that of feeding culprits on saltless food is said
to have prevailed in barbarous times. Maggots and
corruption are spoken of by ancient writers as the
distressing symptoms which saltless food engenders ;
but no ancient or unchemical modern could explain
how such sufferings arose. Now we know why the
animal craves salt, why it suffers discomfort, and why
it ultimately falls into disease, if salt is for a time
withheld. Upwards of half the saline matter of the
blood (57 per cent) consists of common salt ; and as
this is partly discharged every day through the skin
and the kidneys, the necessity of continued supplies
of it to the healthy body becomes sufficiently obvious.
The bile also contains soda as a special and indis-
pensable constituent, and so do all the cartilages of
the body. Stint the supply of salt, therefore, and
neither will the bile be able properly to assist the
digestion, nor the cartilages to be built up again as
fast as they naturally waste.

CASES WHERE SALT IS NOT USED.

401

And yet what sliows this craving for salt to arise
out of a refined species of instinct, similar to that
which may have fixed the national food of Ireland, is
the fact that neither man nor animals are everywhere
eager for or even fond of salt. Mungo Park describes
salt as "the greatest of all luxuries in central Africa."*
But the Damaras, in South-western Africa, never
take salt by any chance ; and even Europeans, travel-
ling in their country, never feel the want of it.
" Half of this people lives solely on pig-nuts (?),
the most worthless and undigestible of food, and re-
quiring to be eaten in excessive quantities to afford
nourishment enough to support life" — (Galton).
Their neighbours, the Namaquas, set no store by salt;
the Hottentots of Walfisch Bay "hardly ever take the
trouble to collect it;" and even the wild "game in the
Swakop do not frequent the salt rocks to lick them,
as they do in America." f

In the colds of Siberia, also, as in the heats of
Africa, a similar disregard of salt sometimes prevails.
" Most of the Russians at Berezov eat their food with-
out a particle of salt, though that condiment can easily
be obtained at a trifling cost ; a sufficient quantity of
it being always kept at the government magazine,

* " It would appear strange to a European to see a cliild suck a piece
of rock salt, as if it were sugar. This, however, I have frequently seen;
although in the inland parts the poorer class of inhabitants are so
very rarely indulged with this precious article, that to say a man eats
salt with his victuals, is the same as saying he is a rich man. I have
myself suffered great inconvenience from the scarcity of this article.
The long use of vegetable food creates so painful a longing for salt, that
no words can sufficiently describe it." — MuNGO Park,

+ Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa. By Francis
Galton, Esq. P. 183.

402

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

and sold at a moderate price. Indeed, were the price
of salt even much higher, it could make no diflference
to the wealthier class of the inhabitants, who can so
well afford every indulgence, and procure for their
table the most expensive luxuries. But salt is not at
all in use, and hence I am led to the conclusion that
their taste is such as not to require with their food
that condiment, which is everywhere else considered
indispensable. Their soups, vegetables, and even
roast meats, are prepared and eaten without salt." *

The explanation of these cases, so inconsistent with
our general experience, is found in the refined instinct
of the body itself When the food we usually eat
conveys a sufficiency of salt into the body, it has no
occasion for more. It therefore feels no craving for
it, shows no liking to it, and takes no trouble to ob-
tain it. And doubtless, in the kind of food and drink
consumed in the Damara country, and by the Eussians
of Berezov, either more salt than is usual among us
is conveyed into the stomach, or their habits render
less salt necessary to them, or cause less of it to be
daily removed from their bodies.

Nor is the refined delicacy of the instinctive per-
ception of the living body, in this case, more wonder-
ful than that marvellously delicate susceptibility to
the influence of minute quantities of matter which
we have seen it to be in so many instances capable of
displaying. The narcotics which exercise so remark-
able a power over us act upon the system in quanti-
ties which are inappreciably small. The beverages

* Revelations of Siberia. By a Banished Lady. Vol. ii. p. 195.

SENSIBILITY TO WEATHER.

403

we prepare exhilarate and strengthen by almost in-
finitesimal doses of the active ingredients they con-
tain. The odours we enjoy come floating to the nos-
trils in molecules of inconceivable minuteness and
tenuity ; while neither by weight nor by measure can
we estimate the fatal miasmata which carry fever and
plague wherever they penetrate.

Equally delicate and mysterious is the relation
which our bodies bear to the passing light. How our
feelings, and even our appearance, change with every
change of the sky ! When the sun shines, the blood
flows freely, and the spirits are light and buoyant.
When gloom overspreads the heavens, dulness and
sober thoughts possess the mind. The energy is
greater, the body is actually stronger, in the bright
light of day ; while the health is manifestly promoted,
digestion hastened, and the colour made to play on
the cheek, when the rays of sunshine are allowed
freely to sport around us.

Want of space forbids me to advert at length to
the solid materials of which the most important or-
gans of the body consists. Yet the chemistry of
these is everywhere equally delicate and refined.
How wonderful, for example, the varying colour of
that soft pulpy gelatinous matter [corpus papillare)
which rests on the mucous net-work (rete mucosum)
between our outer and inner skins (see fig. 100).
Black in the African negro, red in the North Ameri-
can Indian, yellow in the Asiatic, and white in the
European, it gives the characteristic colour to each
race of men. It is structurally the same in all, but

404

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

for wise ends, it differs chemically in each, so as to
adapt each race for the conditions in which it is des-
tined to live. And so for other wise ends, no doubt ;
but among these, to give beauty to the female coun-
tenance, the pure white of the European neck changes
chemically again, and becomes the bright and blush-
ing rose on the blooming maiden's cheek.

And then the brain, the distinctive organ of the
human race, what chemical novelties and peculiari-
ties it exhibits. Cut across the cerebrum, as shown
in the annexed fig., 112, it is seen to consist of a
mass of white or medullary matter, bordered towards
the outer edge by little inlets of a grey substance.

Fig. 112.

la the above illustration, tlie shaded parts represent the grey or brown
substance of tlie cerebrum.

In structure these two parts differ. The grey matter
consists of cells or vesicles grouped together in mass,
without any special arrangement. The white portion,
again, consists of minute fibres, which proceed from or

COMPOSITION OF THE BRAIN.

405

terminate in the grey matter. Then, as to function,
the grey matter, though so small in quantity, is sup-
posed to be the seat of the intellect, and the source
of all nervous power. Softenings, tumours, and ab-
scesses, may exist in the white part of the brain ; a por-
tion of it may even be extracted without seriously or
universally affecting the mental powers ; but compress
the grey part ever so little, or otherwise alter or dis-,
turb it, and you at the same time seriously interfere
with the processes of thought, and disturb the intel-
lectual sanity of the individual.

Then further as to chemical composition, the whole
brain and nervous tissue is distinguished by contain-
ing a large proportion of one or more peculiar fatty
matters, in which phosphorus is a characteristic in-
gredient. And in each important part of the brain
and nerves, the proportions of the several ingredients;
differ from that which prevails in the other parts —
no doubt that each may be better fitted to perform
its proper work. Thus the grey and white parts of
the cerebrum contain respectively in a hundred parts—

White. Grey.

Fat, .... 20.18 5.96

Water, .... 71.05 86.26

Albuminous matter, . . 8.76 7.78

100 100

So that the proportion of fat in the white is nearly
four times as great as in the grey part, and that of
water less in a corresponding degree. And again,
the grey matter leaves a larger per-centage of ash or
mineral matter when burned, and its fatty part con-

406

THE BODY WE CHERISH.

tains more phosphorus* Similar differences also
prevail in the proportions of these constituents, both
organic and mineral, in different portions of the white
matter of the brain itself, and of the numerous nerves,
at different periods of life, and when under the in-
fluence of different diseases — so that in this marrow-
like nervous matter chemical adjustments are to be
found as intricate and refined as in any other por-
tions of our bodily economy.

I could have wished also to advert to the construc-
tion and chemical composition of the parts of the eye,
to the chemical as well as physical adaptation of
these several parts to the optical functions they per-
form, and to the composition and use of the tears by
vsrhich it is occasionally bedewed ; — to the teeth,
coated and often interwoven with a flinty enamel of
an altogether peculiar nature ; — to the fluids that
moisten the nostrils and ears, or that flow from the
fat cells of the skin, each fluid chemically adjusted to
its special work; — and to many other topics of a
similar kind connected with the chemistry of our
everyday life. It is sufficient for my present pur-
pose, however, to have shown that the molecular
mechanism, so to call it, of the body we cherish, is
not less wonderful than its anatomical structure —
and that, though a little more profound and difficult
to comprehend, it is not less worthy of being studied
by the intelligent, the cultivated, or the reverential
mind.

• The fatty matter of the grey part contains 2.1 per cent, and of the
white part 1.66 per cent of phosphorus.

CHAPTER XXXIL

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTEE,

A RECAPITULATION.

Employment of matter for successive uses ; popular ideas regarding.
— Shakespeare's Hamlet. — Human saltpetre. — The circulation of
water. — Ascent of vapour in tropical regions. — Evaporation from the
leaves of plants. — Expulsion from the lungs and skin of animals. —
Chemical circulation of water. — Circulation of carbon. — Quantity of
carbon in the atmosphere ; how it is continually renewed. — Decay of
shed leaves and bark, and yearly ripening herbage. — Breathing of
animals. — Relations of air, plant, and animal, as regards this carbon.
— Burying of carbon in the earth ; restoration to the air by the burn-
ing of coal. — Carbon confined in Hmestone rocks ; how the eai-th
breathes this out again. — Circulation of nitrogen. — Gluten of plants.
— Forms in which nitrogen exists in plants, in the soil, and in ani-
mals.— Restlessness of matter within the animal body. — Rapid waste
of the tissues ; agency of oxygen in this waste. — Production of urea ;
change of this in the soil. — General scheme of the circulation of nitro-
gen ; we cannot restrain it. — How part of the nitrogen escapes, and
revolves in a wider circle.

tions of nature, be employed for various successive
purposes, living and dead, has long been familiar to

That the same

matter may, in the opera-

408 THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

have found scope for their imaginations on a subject
at once so interesting and so indefinite. It is only
from the results of modern scientific investigation,
however, that clear and positive ideas have been
obtained as to the nature, the necessity, and the con-
nection of these natural changes. We now know
not only that matter does constantly change, but
that it constantly circulates in a round of unceasing
change. It has been shown that the transformations
it undergoes are necessary to the existing condition
of things ; that they take place in a fixed and pre-
determined order ; and that they are again and again
renewed in an endlessly revolving succession.

There is a degree of rude sublimity in the curious
reasoning of Hamlet, when he says : " Alexander
died ; Alexander was buried. Alexander returneth
into dust ; the dust is earth ; of earth we make loam ;
and why of that loam, whereto he was converted,
might they not stop a beer-barrel ?

' Imperial Csesar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.
0 that that earth which kept the world in awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the wintei-'s flaw ! ' "

And yet the matter-of-fact touch of modern know-
ledge turns the whole of this into an absurd conceit.
The body of man crumbles into a handful of loose
dust, it is true ; but this dust is not earth, of which
we can make loam to stop a gap or flaw withal ; and
thus, in the incorrectness of his facts, we forget the
merits of the poet.

HUMAN SALTPETRE.

409

More miglit be made by a true poet of the fact
related by Mr Squier, that the Komish priests at
Leon, in Nicaragua, sell the burial-ground around
their churches, for the use of their occupants, for
periods of from ten to twenty-five years ; " at the end
of which time the bones, with the earth around them,
are removed and sold to the manufacturers of nitre."*
So that to the unexpected, warlike, and base use of
making " villanous saltpetre," are the best and most
peaceful of the Nicaraguan citizens yearly con-
verted.

The words of Shakespeare and the fact of Squier
may both suggest to us many reflections ; but there
is nothing positive in either of them, beyond the
meagre moral, that what forms part of the living,
cherished, almost worshipped body to-day, may be
employed for most unexpected, and what appear
most vile, purposes to-morrow. This limited truth
formed the substance of all the ancients knew, and of
all the moderns could say, until very recently, re-
garding the changes and future fate of the animal
body after the living spirit had left it. But this
branch of natural knowledge has been so wonderfully
illustrated by the researches of the present and pass-
ing generations, that we can now follow the same
particle of matter through a long series of successive
visible transformations. To-day we can see it living
in the plant, to-morrow moving in the animal ; next
floating as a constituent portion of the thin air, or

* Squier's Nicaragua, vol. i. p. 384.

410

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

rippling along as an ingredient of the clear brook ;
then resting for a while in the lifeless soil, waiting
till the opportunity arrives for its commencing a new
career.

It will not, I believe, be without interest to my
readers, after perusing the details of the preceding
chapters, if I briefly recapitulate in this place the
substance of what has been already stated in regard
to the changes of matter ; — what is the nature of the
transformations it undergoes ; by what agencies they
are brought about ; and for what important end. I
shall begin with the simple, and advance to the more
complicated.

I. The Circulation of Water. — The simplest
form of the circulation of matter is that which is pre-
sented by the watery vapour contained in the atmo-
sphere. From this vapour the dews and rains are
formed which refresh the scorched plant and fertilise
the earth. The depth of dew which falls we cannot
estimate. On summer evenings it appears in hazy
mists, and collects on leaf and twig in sparkling
pearls ; but at early dawn it vanishes again unmea-
sured— partly sucked in by plant and soil, and partly
dispelled by the youngest sunbeams. But the yearly
rain-fall is easily noted. In our island it averages
about thirty inches in depth ; and in Western Eu-
rope generally, it is seldom less than twenty inches.
Among our Cumberland mountains in some places a
fall of two hundred inches a-year is not uncommon ;

CIRCULATION OF WATER.

411

while, among the hills near Calcutta, as much as five
hundred and fifty inches sometimes fall within six
months.

Now, as the whole of the watery vapour in the air,
were it to fall at once in the form of rain, would not
cover the entire surface of the earth to a depth of
more than five inches — (Dr Prout) — how repeated
must the rise and fall of this watery vapour be ! To
keep the air always duly moist, and yet to maintain
the constant and necessary descent of dew and rain,
the invisible rush of water upwards must be both
great and constant.

The ascent of water in this invisible form is often
immediate and obvious, depending solely upon phy-
sical causes. But it is often also indirect ; and, being
the result of chemical or physiological causes, is less
generally perceptible. Thus —

1°. Water circulates abundantly between earth and
air through the agency of purely physical causes.
We see this when a summer shower, falling upon our
paved streets, is speedily licked up again by the
balmy winds, and wafted towards the region of
clouds, ready for a new fall. But, on the greatest
scale, this form of circulation takes place from the
surface of the sea in equatorial regions, heated
through the influence of the sun's rays. Thence
streams of vapour are continually mounting upwards
with the currents of ascending air, and with these
they travel north and south till colder climates pre-
cipitate them in dew, rain, or snow. Eeturned to

412

THE CIECULATION OF MATTER.

the arctic or temperate seas by maQy running
streams, these precipitated waters are carried back
again to the equator by those great sea-rivers which
mysteriously traverse all oceans, and, when there, are
ready to rise again to repeat the same revolution.
How often, since time began, may the waters which
cover the whole earth have thus traversed air and
sea, taking part in the endless movements of inani-
mate nature !

2°. Again, physiological causes, though in a less
degree than the physical, are still very largely influ-
ential in causing this watery circulation.

Thus the dew and rain which fall, sink in part into
the soil, and are thence drunk in by the roots of
growing plants. But these plants spread out their
green leaves into the dry air, and from numberless
pores are continually exhaling watery vapour in an
invisible form. From the leafy surface of a single
acre in crop, it is calculated that from three to five
millions of pounds of water are yearly exhaled in the
form of vapour in our island ; while, on an average,
not more than two and a half millions fall in rain.
Whether the surplus thus given off be derived from
dews or springs, it is plain that this evaporation from
the leaves of plants is one of the more important
forms which the circulation of water assumes.

So animals take into their stomachs another por-
tion of the same water, and, as a necessary function
of life, are continually returning it into the air from
their lungs and their insensibly reeking hides. About

CHEMICAL CIRCULATION.

413

two pounds a-day are thus discharged into the air by
a full-grown man, and larger animals give off more
probably in proportion to their size. Multiply this
quantity by the number of animals which occupy the
land surface of the globe, and the sum will show that
this also is a form of watery circulation which, though
less in absolute amount than the others I have men-
tioned, is yet of much importance in the economy of
nature.

3°. But water circulates also, in consequence of un-
ceasing chemical operations, in a way which, if less
obvious to the uninstructed, is, if possible, more
beautiful and more interesting than the mere physical
methods above described.

We have seen that the main substance of plants —
their woody fibre — consists in large proportion of
water. The same is true of the starch and sugar which
we eat as food. One hundred pounds of each of these
three substances consist respectively of —

Woody fibre. Starch and sugar.
Water, .... 55^ 60
Carbon, .... 44^ 40

100 100

Now, as the plant grows, water from the soil or from
the air unites chemically with carbon, and forms the
woody fibre of its stem, the sugar of its sap, and the
starch of its seed. When the plant dies and decom-
poses in the air, the water is again set free from its
woody stem. Or when the animal digests the starch
or sugar, the water which these contain is discharged
from its lungs and skin.

414

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

Thus the living plant works up water into its
growing substance, which water the decaying plant
and the breathing animal again set free ; and thus
a chemical circulation continually goes on, by which
the same water is caused again and again to revolve.
Within a single hour it may be in the form of starch
hand, be discharged as watery vapour from my
lungs, and be again absorbed by the thirsty leaf to
add to the substance of a new plant.

II. The Circulation of Carbon. — This chemical
form of water-circulation will be rendered more clear
by tracing the still more beautiful circulation of
carbon.

Carbonic acid gas is now familiar to my readers as
that sparkling air which, rising in countless bubbles,
gives life to the creaming tankard, to the tempting
champagne, and to the more innocent soda water.
This gas, as I have already explained, consists of car-
bon and oxygen only, and is an essential constituent
of our atmosphere. It exists, it is true, only in small
proportion in the air. Every two thousand five hun-
dred gallons of the air at the level of the sea contain
only one gallon of the gas ; yet upon the constant
presence of this small proportion, the continuance of
all vegetable life depends.

This dependence appears more striking to us, how-
ever, the more precise our ideas become as to the
absolute quantity of this substance which the entire
air contains. The whole weight of the atmosphere is

CIRCULATION OP CARBON. 415

about 15 lb. to the square inch, and of this the car-
bonic forms somewhat less than 120 grains, contain-
in about 33 grains of carbon. Now, living plants are
continually sucking in this gas by their leaves ; and
the operation goes on so rapidly, that were the entire
surface of the earth dry land and under cultivation,
crops such as we generally reap from it would ex-
tract and fix the whole of the carbon in the form
of vegetable matter, in the short space of twenty-
two years ! * Were this to happen, vegetation would
cease. But such a catastrophe is prevented by the con-
stant restoration of carbonic acid to the air through the
increasing operation of preservative causes. Thus —
1°. The trees of the forest yearly shed their leaves,
or in Australia their bark. Through the influence of
the weather these waste portions decay and disap-
pear, restoring again to the atmosphere a portion of
the same carbon which the living tree had previously
extracted from it during the period of their growth.
The yearly ripening herbage also, and every plant
that naturally withers, on plain or hill — the grass of
the burning prairie, and the timber of inflamed fo-
rests— with all that man consumes for fuel and burns
for other uses ; — every form of vegetable matter, in
short, when exposed to the action of air or fire, returns,

* In my published Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology,
second edit., p. 262, 1 have calculated this period at fourteen years. It
has recently been discovered, however, that at great heights the propor-
tion of carbonic acid in the air is very much larger than at the sea-
level. A new calculation, therefore, has led me to extend the period to
at least twenty-two years, as given in the text.

416 THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

more or less quickly, to the state of carbonic acid, and
disappears in the invisible atmosphere. Thus, what
is yearly withdrawn from the air by living plants,
is so far restored again by those which naturally
perish, or which are destroyed by the intervention of
man.

2°. But man himself and other animals assist in
the same chemical conversion. They consume vege-
table food, with the same final result as when it
perishes by natural decay, or is destroyed by the
agency of fire. It is conveyed into the stomach in
the form in which the plant yields it. The green
herb, the perfect seed, and the ripe fruit, are eaten
and digested ; then forthwith they are breathed out
again from the lungs and the skin, in the form of
carbonic acid and water. But we can follow this ope-
ration more closely, and it will be both interesting
and instructive to do so.

The leaf of the living plant sucks in carbonic acid
from the air, and gives off the oxygen contained in
this gas. It retains only the carbon. The roots
drink in water from the soil, and out of this carbon
and water the plant forms starch, sugar, fat, and other
substances. The animal introduces this starch, sugar,
or fat into its stomach, and draws in oxygen from the
atmosphere by its lungs. With these materials it
undoes the previous labours of the living plant, deliv-
ering back again, from the lungs and the skin, both
the starch and the oxygen in the form of carbonic

HOW CARBON CIRCULATES.

417

acid and water. The process is clearly represented

in the following scheme : —

Takes in Produces
, „ , . -jr, -J. 1 ('Ojrycrm from its leaves ;

! Carbonic acid and Water
from the skin aad the
lungs ;
Fat iu the animal's body.

The

And this fat, Jaid up for a while in the body, is in its
turn also breathed away in carbonic acid and water *

Thus the circle begins with carbonic acid and water,
and ends with the sanie substances. The same ma-
terials— the same carbon, for example — circulates
over and over again, now floating in the invisible air,
now forming the substance of the growing plant, now
of the moving animal, and now again dissolving into
the air, ready to begin anew the same endless revolu-
tion. It forms part of a vegetable to-day — it may be
built into the body of a man to-morrow ; and a week
hence, it may have passed through another plant into
another animal. What is mine this week is yours the
next. There is, in truth, no private property in ever-
moving matter.

3°. Yet all the carbonic acid which is removed from
the air by the agency of plants, is not immediately
restored by the circulation above described. Two
larger wheels revolve to make up the deficiency.

a. It has been shown that when plants die and
decay, are burned in the air, or are eaten by animals,
* See What we Breathe and Breathe for, p. 342.

418 THE CIECULATION OF MATTER.

the carbon they contain is delivered back again to
the atmosphere in the form of carbonic acid. But all
the plants produced yearly over the whole earth are
not so resolved into gaseous substances in any given
time. In all parts of the world, and during all time,
some portions of vegetable matter have escaped this
total destruction, and have been buried beneath the
surface of the earth, to be preserved in the solid form
for an indefinite period. With such comparatively
indestructible forms of vegetable matter we are fami-
liar in the peat-bogs of Scotland and Ireland — some-
times from 50 to 100 feet deep— and in the subma-
rine forests which are seen in so many parts of our
island-shores. We are still better acquainted with
them, however, in those vast deposits of coal which a
kind Providence, long ago, brought together and
covered up. What is and has been thus collected and
gradually buried would necessarily cause a constant
diminution in the small quantity of carbonic acid
contained in the air, were there no natural means in
operation for making up the yearly loss.

The means we are most familiar with for repair-
ing this loss, are those which man himself brings
into operation. At a certain period in his his-
tory, half-civilised man discovered the use of coal.
At a more advanced period he found out how to
dig deep and hollow out mines in search of it ;
and, at a still later period, how to employ it for a
thousand beneficial purposes. In burning coal, we
cause its carbon to unite with the oxygen of the air,

BURNING OF COAL.

419

and to disappear in the state of carbonic acid. We
restore it to tbe atmosphere again in the state in
which it existed there, perhaps a million of years ago,
when it was sucked in by the growing plants, and, in
the form of vegetable matter, afterwards buried be-
neath the earth's surface. In raising and consuming
coal, therefore, we are, to a certain extent, undoing
and counteracting the yearly lessening of the carbon
in the air, which appears to ensue from the yearly
covering up of a portion of vegetable matter. The
two hundred millions of tons of coal which are now
yearly consumed throughout the globe, produce about
600 millions of tons of carbonic acid. How far this
quantity serves to compensate for what is constantly
buried up again, it is impossible to estimate. It must
be acknowledged, however, that the coal fires we
burn are an important subsidiary agent in promoting
the circulation of carbon on the globe.

4°. Again, within the bosom of the great seas, tiny
insects are at work, upon which nature has imposed,
in addition to the search for food and the care of their
offspring, the perpetual labour of building new houses.
The common shell-fish of our coasts toil continually
for defence as well as for shelter, repairing, enlarging,
and renewing their own dwelling-places ; and as they
die, each drops its shell as a feeble contribution to the
beds of shelly limestone which are everywhere form-
ing at the bottom of our deep seas.

In more southern waters again, still humbler in-
sects build up massive coral walls thousands of miles

420

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

in extent, which now, skirting long coast-lines, and
now encircling solitary islands, bid defiance to the
angriest storms. And these, too, as they die, genera-
tion after generation, leave, in rocky beds of coralline
limestone, an imperishable memorial of their exhaust-
less labours. These rocks contain, chained down in a
seemingly everlasting imprisonment, two-fifths of their
weight of carbonic acid. This has been all withdrawn
either directly or indirectly from the atmosphere ; and
thus, through the rock-forming living things it con-
tains, the sea must ever be drinking in, and storing
up the carbonic acid of the air.

And the same process has been going on almost
continuously since the world began. Vast coral reefs
lie buried beneath our beds of coal, and mountains of
thick-ribbed shelly limestone have been lifted from
ancient seas before these older reefs were formed.
The labours of marine animals, therefore, like the
burying of vegetable matter, must throughout all
time have been causing a daily lessening of the abso-
lute quantity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, —
■unless some other natural operation has meanwhile
been making compensation for this constant removal.

But the earth herself breathes for this purpose.
From cracks and fissures, which occur in vast numbers
over the surface of the earth, carbonic acid gas issues
in large quantities — sometimes alone, and sometimes
along with springing waters— and daily mingles itself
with the ambient air. It sparkles in the springs of
Carlsbad and Seltzer ; rushes, as if from subterranean

FOUNTAINS OP CAEBONIC ACID.

421

bellows, on the table-land of Paderborn ; astonishes
travellers in the Grotto del Cane ; interests the
chemical geologist in the caves of Pyrmont, and
among the old lavas of the Eifel ; and is terrible to
man and beast in the fatal "Valley of Death," the
most wonderful of the wonders of Java. And besides,
it doubtless issues still more abundantly from the un-
known bottom of the expanded waters which occupy
so large a proportion of the surface of the globe.
From these many sources, continually flowing into
the air or rising into the sea, carbonic acid is, and
has been, daily supplied in place of that which is daily
wdthdrawn, to be buried in the solid limestones of the
globe. Did we know after what lapse of time the
earth would again breathe out what is thus daily
entombed, we should be able to express in words how
long this slowly revolving secular wheel requires fully
to perform one of its immense gyrations.

Thus, like the watery vapour of the atmosphere,
its carbonic acid also is continually circulating. While
that which floats in the air, circles from the atmos-
phere to the plant, from the plant to the animal, and
from the animal to the air again — many times, it may
be, during one single generation— never really the
property of any, and never lingering long in one stay
— the whole created carbon is slowly moving in a
greater circle between earth and air. It rises from
the earth at one end of the curve in the state of an
elastic gas, it amuses itself by the way in assuming
for brief intervals many successive varieties of plant-

422

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

form and animal-form, till it is finally burled in the
earth again, at the other end of the curve, in the state
of blackened fossil plants, or beds of solid limestone.

III. Circulation of Nitrogen. — We advance
now to a circulation a little more complicated in its
character, but, if possible, still more interesting to us,
because it is more closely connected with our own
personal history, both physiological and domestic.

I have already described how, if a portion of wheaten
flour be made into dough, and this dough be washed
Fig. 113. with water upon

a sieve, or on a
piece of muslin,
as long as the
water passes
through milky,
there will remain
upon the sieve a
tenacious adhe-
sive substance
like bird - lime,
which is known
by the name of
gluten ; and how, again, if the milky water be allowed
to settle, a white powder collects at the bottom,
which is common wheaten starch.

By this process the flour of wheat is separated into
two very different chemical substances,— starch and
gluten. Of these two it chiefly consists, and in this

HOW GLUTEN IS FORMED.

423

respect it is tlie type of all other vegetable produc-
tions which are used as food. They all contain, as
their principal constituents, two classes of substances,
which are represented respectively by the starch and
gluten of wheat. In tracing the circulation of carbon,
we have already seen what becomes of the starch of
plants when consumed by animals ; we are now to
follow the changes in which their gluten takes a part.

Gluten is distinguished from starch and fat by con-
taining nitrogen. This nitrogen is the kind of air
which forms nearly four-fifths of the bulk of the
atmosphere. It exists also in ammonia, — the well-
known compound substance which gives their pun-
gent odour to the liquid hartshorn and smelling salts
of the shops, — and in aquafortis, familiar to chemists
by the name of nitric acid. These two compound
bodies, ammonia and nitric acid, exist and are formed
in the soil, and from the soil these and other sub-
stances containing nitrogen are taken up by the roots
of plants. In the interior of the plant, these sub-
stances are subjected to new influences ; new chemi-
cal changes take place, in which they bear a part ;
and by means of the nitrogen they contain, gluten is
formed. The many intermediate changes which fol-
low each other within the vegetable sap we do not as
yet understand ; but we do know that the nitrogen
which existed as ammonia, nitric acid, &c., in the soil,
assumes, after these changes, the final form of gluten
within the plant.

VOL. II. 9 XT

424

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

And now I have only to recall to the minds of
my readers another chemical analogy, to enable them
to follow this same nitrogen through still further
changes. In treating of the natural relations which
exist between animal and vesfetable food, I have
shown that the fibre or fibrin of the animal muscle,
and the white or albumen of the egg, are nearly the
same thing in composition and general properties as
the gluten of wheat. They all contain nitrogen in
nearly the same proportion, and probably in a simi-
lar state of chemical combination. When the animal
consumes vegetable food, therefore, it introduces into
its stomach the very substance of its muscles and
blood — the ready-formed materials out of which its
several parts are to be built up. It does, in fact, so
build up and renew its several parts by means of this
vegetable substance. The gluten of the plant is
transformed into the flesh and tissues of the living
animal.

Thus the nitrogen of the soil, through the inter-
medium of the plant, has attained to its highest
dignity as a part of the body of breathing and intel-
lectual man.

But having attained this most perfect form, the
restless elements soon grow weary, so to speak, of their i
new dignity. Not only is the living body in constant i
movement as a whole, but all its parts, even the j
minutest, are in perpetual motion. They are like the j
population of a great city, moving to and fro, coming I
and going continually, weeded out and removed j

HOW THE BODY IS WASTED.

425

hour after hour by deaths and departures, yet as un-
ceasingly kept up in numbers by new incomers ; —
changing from day to day so insensibly as to escape
observation, yet so evidently, that after the lapse of
a few years, scarcely a known face can be discovered
among congregated thousands. And so rapid is the
tear and wear of the animal machine, to change our
figure, in consequence of this incessant movement,
that the repairs which are constantly called for
are said to renovate the whole frame-work in less
than a month. Every wheel in that short space
is renewed. New materials are brought in for the
purpose, while the old are thrown away and rejected.*
Scarcely has the gluten of the plant been comfortably
fitted into its place in the muscle, the skin, or the
hair of the animal, when it begins forthwith to be
dissolved out again — to be decomposed and removed
from the body. Restlessness, beyond our control, is
thus inherent in the very matter of which we are
formed.

A brief summary will show how and in what
forms this taking down and removal of the bodily
substance is so rapidly effected.

The living animal absorbs much oxygen from the
air by its lungs. One portion of this oxygen is em-
ployed to convert the carbon of a certain part of its
food into carbonic acid ; another portion is built
into the substance of the body itself (p. 339) ; but a
large proportion also is employed in dissolving out

* See What, How, and Why we Digest.

426 THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

and removing the waste, and now worthless, matter
of the muscles and other tissues. This inhaled oxy-
gen is, in fact, the agent through which the change
of matter is effected. The muscle, for example, com-
bines with oxygen, and, after several intermediate
transformations, is finally changed into substances
called urea, uric acid, &c., which pass away through
the kidneys. This urea and uric acid return to
the soil, from which the nitrogen they contain origi-
nally came. There they are gradually converted
into ammonia, nitric acid, and other substances
such as the plant roots originally took up, and
which, now re-formed, are ready again to enter into
new roots, and thus to recommence the same round
of change.

But the animal does not extract and work up all
the gluten of the vegetable food it eats. A part of it
escapes digestion, and is rejected in the animal drop-
pings. This mingles with the soil, and there, like the
urea, &c., is changed into ammonia and nitric acid.
The same happens to the gluten of vegetables which
die, and, without entering the stomach, undergo
direct natural decay in the air or in the soil. Animal
bodies themselves die also at last, and, like the vege-
table gluten, pass through those successive changes
which we call putrefaction and decay. As the result
of these changes, the nitrogen they contain is again
made to assume those forms in which plants are able
to take it up, and to convert it into their own sub-
stance.

CmCULATION OF NITROGEN. 427

Thus, after various turns of the wheel, all the
nitrogen that entered the plant in the form of ammo-
nia, nitric acid, and similar available compounds,
returns again to the soil in one or other of the same
states. Some of the matter revolves a time or two
less, returning at once from the plant to the soil
without passing through the animal at all, or at once
from the muscle to the soil without undergoing the
ordeal of the kidneys — but whether it runs one,
two, or three heats, all arrives, sooner or later, at
the same goal, ready to start again on the same race.
A bird's-eye view of this circulation is presented in
the following scheme : —

The Plant.

{

Takes in Produces
Nitrogen, in the forms of")
ammonia, nitric acid, > Gluten.
&c. from the soil. J

The Animal. -

The Soil.

' a. Gluten into the stomach
in its vegetable food,
and oxygeu through the
lungs.

h. Animal muscle, &c. in-
to the stomach in its
animal food, and oxygen
thi-ough the lungs.

lUrea, and other animal Ammonia, nitric acids
< excretions ; dead ani- V and other compound,
( mals and plants. J containing nitrogen.

(I. Muscle and other tis-
sues.

J. Urea, &c. in the liquid
excretions.

Thus we end where we began — the soil, the plant,
and the animal being involved in one never-ceasing,
mutually-dependent revolution. We need scarcely
concern ourselves, therefore, for the destiny of the
organic part— the tissues and blood of our bodies.
Its fate is decided by fixed and unerring laws. When
it has served our purpose, new and immediate uses

428

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

await it. We attempt in vain to detain it from pre-
determined labours, or, by the arts of the embalmer,
to compel it to perpetuate a loved and honoured
form. We need not wait even, as in Hamlet's suppo-
sition, for the body to crumble into dust. The fluids
and tissues decompose rapidly, and are quickly dissi-
pated, so that what is now part of the body of a
Caesar or a Venus, may literally within a week become
part of a turnip or of a potato.

Even here, however, or in respect to this organic
form of matter, we obtain occasional glimpses of a
still wider circle. While the same portion of matter,
on the whole, goes round and round unceasingly, as
we have described, a certain portion of the ammonia
and other volatile compounds of nitrogen, which are
produced by decaying animal and vegetable sub-
stances, rises in the form of gas or vapour, and escapes
into the air. It rises also in unknown quantity from
the lungs and skins of animals, in their breath and
perspiration. This ammonia the rains of heaven
wash out and bring back again to the earth — thus
restoring it to the soil from which it originally came,
and to the wants of vegetable life. But these very
rains also carry down a portion of it directly into the
sea, and, through the rivers, sweep it from the land.
Yearly, also, a part of the ammonia, nitric acid, and
other similar compounds, is by natural operations
resolved into elementary nitrogen, and is thus lost
to living plants.

A WIDER CIRCLE.

429

To make up for this waste, nitric acid is continually
formed in the air in minute quantity. The nitrogen
and oxygen of the atmosphere unite to form this acid
through the agency chiefly of electric currents, which
are continually passing through the air. Ammonia
also is given off into the atmosphere from all living
volcanoes ; and both of these compound substances
the falling rain dissolves and carries earthward, so
that the failing supplies of nitrogen, in an available
form of combination, are continually kept up. Thus,
from the great atmospheric reservoir a stream of
nitrogen of unknown bulk flows down yearly to the
earth in the forms of nitric acid and ammonia, while
a similar stream returns again yearly to the air in the
form of elementary gas, after having probably many
times gone through the cycle of changes in which
gluten and fibrin take a part. Within what conceiv-
able time could the nitrogen of the whole atmosphere
take part in this slow circulation ?

CHAPTEE XXXIII.

THE CIECULATION OF MATTER,
A EECAPITULATION.

Circulation of mineral matter.— General form of this circulation from
the soil through the plant into the animal, and thence to the soO
again. — Special form. — Circulation of phosphoric acid and of saUne
matter. — Shedding of leaves and annual decay of vegetable jDroduc-
tions. — Course of mineral matter through the animal body. — Waste
and death of the body, and its return to the soil. — General view of
this circulation. — Its constancy and rapidity. — Vain attempts to
preserve human dust apart. — Mummies, pyramids, and Etruscan
tombs. — The Valley of Hinnom. — Customs in Thibet and the Hima-
layas.— How the natural diminution of mineral plant-food is reiDlaced.
— Interference of slow geological revohitions. — Lessons taught by all
this. — Small quantity of matter on which all life depends. — Lesson of
constant, intelligent activity with a view to a definite end. — Pui-poses
served by every movement of matter in living bodies. — How the
plant waits upon and serves the animal. — Small change in the con-
dition of things which would banish life from the world. — Man forms
no part of the scheme of the universe. — His insignificance the crown-
ing lesson.

IV. The Circulation of Mineral Matter. —
We must now trace the revolutions through which the
dust also — the earthy, inorganic, incombustible, or
mineral part of the animal — passes.

When a portion of a plant is burned in the air, the
organic or combustible part is dissipated, and disap-

CIRCULATION OF MINERAL MATTER. '431

pears ; but a small quantity of ash or mineral matter
remains behind. The wood-ash left when trees are
burned is a familiar example of this. In like man-
ner, when any part of an animal is burned in the
air, a portion of ash remains un consumed. I need
scarcely add, that a portion of soil, treated in a simi-
lar way, leaves an abundant residue of earthy matter
undissipated by the fire.

Now, in regard to the combustible part of the
plant — which is made up of carbon, nitrogen, and
the elements of water — differences of opinion are
possible as to whether the raw materials for building
it up are derived from the soil or from the air. They
all exist both in air and soil, and may be derived
from the one or from the other. But in regard to
the mineral or incombustible part of the plant, there
can be but one opinion. Mineral matter does not
exist in the atmosphere, and therefore the plant
must derive all it contains of this kind of matter
from the soil in which it grows.

Again, as all which the animal body contains is
derived either directly or indirectly from vegetable
food, the mineral matter or ash it leaves when burned
must have come to it from the soil through the plant.
And as, further, when the animal dies, its body is
sooner or later returned to the soil, we have again
another complete cycle, in which the earthy matter
of living things is the ever-moving body. It ascends
from the soil into the substance of the plant, thence
into the substance of the animal, and thence descends

432

THE CIKCULATION OF MATTER.

again into the mother earth, to begin, as in our other
examples, a new and similar career.

But a more minute chemical examination of this
mineral or earthy matter will make our acquaintance
with this cycle still more interesting and instructive.

It is not any kind of earthy matter, indifferently,
which the plant-root sucks up and builds into the
substance of its growing stem and leaves. It selects,
as it were, only the rarer and more precious materials
of which the soil consists, and from among these,
again, such as natural waters can more or less readily
dissolve. Phosphoric acid, lime, magnesia, and cer-
tain kinds of saline matter, of which we may take
common salt as the representative, are the most im-
portant of these substances. Generally speaking,
these ingredients exist but sparingly in the soil.
The productiveness of a tract of land, therefore, in so
far as it depends upon their presence, is kept up
either by a constant natural circulation of the same
quantity of these matters, or by the addition of peri-
odical supplies from some other source, equal in kind
and amount to those which the yearly herbage car-
ries away.

In uncultivated regions the natural circulation is
short and simple. In natural forests, for example,
where the leaves or bark are annually shed, and the
trees periodically die, the mineral matter quits the
soil for the plant as it grows, and again, when the
plant decays, returns to the soil. It thus makes but
a short stage from the earth to the plant, and from

THE PHOSPHATE OF LIME.

433

the plant back to the earth again. It is so also in
natural meadows. Yearly, in autumn, the grass ripens,
withers, and returns its mineral matter to the soil,
and yearly, again, in spring, the young herbage grows
up and feeds on the relics of the previous year.

The circulation, though less direct, is not much
more protracted when the vegetable produce, as in
cultivated regions, is almost entirely consumed by
animals. It then enters into their stomachs, is dis-
solved or digested, and converted into blood. From
this blood its several mineral constituents are taken
up by vessels provided for the purpose, to be conveyed
to the parts of the body where their services are re-
quired. The saline portion is retained by the blood
and the tissues. The phosphoric acid in combination
with lime, forming phosphate of lime, is chiefly depo-
sited in the bones, and in combination with potash,
as phosphate of potash, in the muscles.

The importance of the former of these compounds
— the phosphate of lime — to the animal economy,
becomes apparent when it is recollected that dry
bones leave, on burning, two-thirds of their weight of
a white ash, of which five-sixths consist of phosphate
of lime. But its comparative importance appears
still more manifest when we consider how large a
proportion it forms of the whole mineral matter of
the body. Thus, in a full-grown man.

The whole mineral matter is about . . lOl lb.

The phosphate of lime about . . s"

And the other mineral matters, of which common ) o,
salt forms more than a half, , . | i^i lb.

434

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

But though the mineral matter of the vegetable,
when introduced into the animal's stomach, is thus
distributed to different parts of the body, and for the
most part becomes fixed, as it were, for a time in its
most solid parts, this does not necessarily imply any
tardiness of circulation. For, as we have already
seen, all the parts of the body, even the most solid,
are in a constant course of alteration and renewal.
To this law of change the bones are subject equally
with the softest parts, so that the phosphoric acid and
lime which are carried into them by the blood and
built into their substance to-day, are, a few days after,
taken down and carried out again, along with the
other refuse and waste materials of the body. And
forthwith, as fast as they reach the soil, these mineral
substances commence a new career.

Finally, the whole body dies at once, and all the
mineral substances which it at the time contains, re-
turn directly to the earth from which they came. There
they undergo, chiefly through the agency of the air,
a final breaking-up or decomposition, by which they
are again brought into states of chemical combina-
tion, in which they can enter usefully into the roots
of plants.

Thus, all which the plant took from the soil, the
animal — partly as it wastes, and partly when it dies
— returns to the soil again without any long delay.
New plants are thus at liberty to work up again the
old materials, and to despatch them forthwith on a
new voyage. This general succession of changes un-

HOW MINERAL MATTER CIRCULATES. 435

dergone by the mineral matter, which takes a part in
the established order of vegetable and animal life, is
briefly represented in the following scheme : — •

Takes in Produces

, . ^ The perfect substance of

J Phosphoric acid, bme, com- J j^^^^ ^f^,^^

The Plant. <^ mon and other salts, from ^ and mineral substances

{ the soil. J together).

The Animal.

a. The parts of plants as"
food.

6. The bone and tissues of
its body, with oxygen
through the lungs.

a. Perfect bone, blood,
and tissues.

b. Phosphates and other
salts in the excretions.

rp o ( Excretions of animals, dead ) Phosphoric acid, lime,

IHE bOlL. I animals, and plants. j common salt, &c.

It may be that a careful hunter after human dust
might scrape together as much of what thus returns
to the soil as would " stop a hole to keep the wind
away." But our chemical science teaches us that
this animal earth is not the kind of stuff that plastic
clays are made of, and that such vile uses are after all
only imaginary slights, to which our cherished ashes
can never be subjected. They have other appointed
uses, from which, treat them as we may, they cannot
long be withheld.

The plant, on the one hand, is so wonderfully
framed, that it refuses to grow unless it can obtain
the phosphoric acid, &c., which it is bound to gather
up and supply to the growing animal. And the soil,
on the other hand, is so poorly provided with these
and other most needful substances, that plant and
animal are both ordained to return without fail their
borrowed materials to mother earth, when the term
of their own lives has come. A duty is laid also upon

436

THE CIRCULATION OP MATTER.

each particle of matter, zealously to prepare for a new
service as soon as each earlier commission is per-
formed. Thus, a constant circulation of the same
comparatively small quantity of mineral matter is
secured. Thus, also, yve can claim no personal pro-
perty in any single atom of it. How idle it seems,
then, to the cold chemical eye to cherish either aflFec-
tion or reverence for dead ashes ! Do as we may,
they can never long be prevented from connecting
themselves with new forms of vegetable and animal
life, in which we have no concern.

And how visibly rapid, in the majority of cases, is
the passage of this substance of our bodies to new
forms of life. Thousands yearly perish in the sea,
and are at once swallowed, digested, and built into
the forms of marine animals. Thousands more die
and decay in waste places, where vegetable forms soon
cover and feed upon them. Armies of fighting men
strew, as they march over a thousand fields, the relics
of their wasting strength. A single battle restores
to the soil of a populous district, materials enough to
build up the bodies of its inhabitants for many suc-
ceeding generations.

Nor do grave-yards hold it more securely. Of how
many bygone men and women has the mineral sub-
stance lived anew in the village sheep which crop the
green herbage of the tufted tombs ! In how many
affection-tended, ornamental cemeteries does the dust
of those we loved fatten the soil for the cherished
trees and shrubs ? And how long is the consecrated

MATTER WILL CIRCULATE.

437

ground itself secure against the changes of successive
times — the demands of new roads, new streets, new
railways, and new sanitary enactments, or the still
more ruthless innovations of religious and political
revolutions !

Or embalm the loved bodies, and swathe them, as
the old Egyptians did, in resinous cerements, and
you but preserve them a little longer, th^t some
wretched, plundering Arab may desecrate and scat-
ter to the winds the residual dust. Or jealously, in
regal tombs and pyramids, preserve the forms of vene-
rated emperors and beauteous queens, still some
future conqueror, or more humble Belzoni, will rifle
the most secure resting-place. Or bury them in most
sacred places, beneath high altars, a new reign shall
dig them up and mingle them again with the com-
mon earth. Or, more careful still, conceal your last
resting-place where local history keeps no record, and
even tradition cannot betray you, then accident shall
stumble at length upon your unknown tomb and libe-
rate your still remaining ashes.

How touching to behold the vain result of even
the most successful attempts at preserving apart, and
in their relative places, the solid materials of the indi-
vidual form ! The tomb, after a lapse of time, is found
and opened. The ghastly tenant reclines, it may be,
in full form and stature. The very features are pre-
served— impressed, and impressing the spectator with
the calm dignity of their long repose. But some
curious hand touches the seemingly solid form, or a

438

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

breath of air disturbs the sleeping air around the full-
proportioned body — when, lo ! it crumbles instantly
away, into an almost insensible quantity of impalpable
dust!

Who has not read with mingled wonder and awe
of the opening, in our own day, of the almost magical
sepulchre of an ancient Etrurian king. The antiqua-
rian dilettanti, in their underground researches, un-
expectedly stumbled upon the unknown vault. Un-
disturbed through Roman and barbaric times, accident
revealed it to modern eyes. A small aperture, made
by chance in the outer wall, showed to the astonished
gazers a crowned king within, sitting on his chair of
state, with robes and sceptre all entire, and golden
ornaments of ancient device bestowed here and there
around his person. Eager to secure the precious
spoil, a way is forced with hammer and mattock into
the mysterious chamber. But the long spell is now
broken — the magical image is gone. Slowly, as the
vault first shook beneath the blows, the whole pageant
crumbled away. A light smoky dust filled the air ;
and, where the image so lately sat, only the tinselly
fragments of thin gold remained, to show that the
vision and the ornaments had been real, though the
entire substance of the once noble form had utterly
vanished.*

For a few thousand years some apparently fortu-
nate kings and princes may arrest the natural circula-

* See Dennis's A7icient Etruria. The fragments of the gold orna-
ments are in the collections of Lord Kinnaii-d at Rossie Priory.

DUST OF THE BOURBONS.

439

tion of a handful of dust. But in what are they
better than Cromwell, whose remains were pitilessly
disturbed — than Wycliffe, whose ashes were sprinkled
on the sea — than St Genevieve, whose remains were
burned in the Place de Gr^ve, and her ashes scattered
to the wind — than Mausolus, whose dust was swal-
lowed by his wife Artemesia — or than the King of
Edom, whose bones were burned for lime — or than
St Pepin, and all the royal line of Bourbon, whose
tombs were emptied by a Parisian mob ? * Their

* " They burnt on the Place de Greve the remains of St Genevieve,
the popular patroness of Paris, and threw her ashes to the wind. . . .
A decree of the Convention had commanded the destruction of the
tombs of the kings at St Denis. The Commune changed this decree
into an attack against the dead. . . . The axe broke the gates of
bronze presented by Charlemagne to the Basilica of St Denis. . . .
They raised the stones, ransacked the vaults, violated the resting-
places of the departed, sought out beneath the swathings and shrouds
embalmed corpses, crumbled flesh, calcined bones, empty skulls of
kings, queens, princes, ministers, bishops. Pepin, the founder of the
Carlovingian dynasty, and father of Charlemagne, was now but a pinch
of grey ash, which was in a moment scattered iy the wind. The muti-
lated heads of T\irenne, Duguesclin, Louis XII., Francis I., were rolled
on the pavement. . . . Beneath the choir were buried the princes
and princesses of the first race, and some of the third — Hugues Capet,
PhiUp the Bold, Philip the Handsome. They rent away their rags of
silk, and threw them on a bed of quicklime. . . . They flung the
carcass of Henry IV. into the common fosse. His son and grandson,
Louis XIII. and XIV., followed. Louis XIII. was but a mummy ;
Louis XIV. a black indistinguishable mass of aromatics. Lovds XV.
came last out of his tomb. The vault of the Bourbons rendered up its
dead— queens, dauphinesses, princesses, were carried away in armfuls
by the workmen, and cast into the trench." — Lamartine, History of
the Girondists, book lii. § 23. A brief interval of proud separation,
and they were mingled with the common dust !

From all this desecration only the remains of Turenne escaped.
Eescued by a patriotic admirer from the hands of the destroyers, they
were at first concealed in an obscure corner of the Jardin des Plantes,
and afterwards consigned to the care of M. Alexandre Lenoir, amona-

VOL. n. 2 I

440

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

ashes too are dissipated at last. Their empty tombs
may remain— the houses of the dead, like the houses
of the living, long surviving, as melancholy mementoes
of the tenants for whom they were erected.*

There is a barbaric philosophy, therefore, as well as
an apparent knowledge of the course of nature, in the
treatment of the dead which prevails in Thibet and
on the slopes of the Himalaya. In the former coun-
try the dead body is cut in pieces, and either thrown
into the lakes to feed the fishes, or exposed on the
hill-tops to the eagles and birds of prey. On the
Himalayan slopes the Sikkim burn the body and
scatter the ashes on the ground. The end is the
same among these tribes of men as among us. They

other curiosities he had collected in the museum of the Petits Augus-
tins. In September 1799 they were transferred from this place by
Napoleon, then consul and a conqueror, to a splendid tomb prepared
for them beneath the dome of the luvalides, and there deposited with
much state — "where" saysM. Thiers, "the body now reposes, and where
it was soon to be rejoined by his companion in glory, the illustrious and
virtuous Vauban, where he was destined to be joined one day by the
author of the great things we are here relating ; where he will certainly
remain, surrounded by this august company, throughout the ages which
Heaven may reserve for France."

How rash this prophecy of the illustrious historian, all past history
may testify. (See also Alison's History of Europe, and Sii- Thomas
Brown On Urn Burial.)

* How suggestive are the following remarks of M. de Saulcy on the
rock- tombs of the valley of Hinnom : — "The immense necropolis,
traces of which are to be met with at every step in the valley, dates
from the period when the Jebusites were masters of the country.
After them the IsraeHtes deposited the remains of their fathei"s in the
same grottoes ; and the same tombs, after having become at a stiU
later period those of the Christians who had obtained possession of the
Holy City, have, since the destmction of the Latin kingdom of Jerusa-
lem, ceased to change both masters and occupants. Even the scattered
bones are no more found in them ; and from the city of the dead the
dead alone have disappeared, while the abodes are still entire." — De
Saulcy's Journey Round the Dead Sea, vol. ii. p. 253.

ACTION OF EAINS AND EIVERS. 441

briefly anticipate the usual course of time — a little
sooner verifying the inspired words, " Dust thou art,
and unto dust thou shalt return/'

There remain now only one or two other observa-
tions to complete our history of the revolutions of
mineral matter.

Notwithstanding the constant return of plant and
animal to the parent earth, all the mineral mat-
ter they contain does not remain where they are
deposited. Rains and rivers daily remove from the
soil a portion of the materials which are so essential
to the perpetuation of animal and vegetable forms,
and transport them to the sea. Thus the natural
store of mineral food becomes daily smaller, and the
land, in consequence, less fitted for the growth of
plants.

But for this contingency also there is a provision.
The solid rocks which form the crust of the earth
contain all these essential forms of inorganic matter
in minute proportion. As these rocks crumble and
mingle with the soil, they yield constant small sup-
plies of each ingredient — of phosphoric acid, lime,
magnesia, &a These the springs which trickle
through the rocks, from above or from beneath, dis-
solve and diffuse wherever they go. Thus, in many
localities, a moderate supply is day by day brought to
the surface-soil, to replace that which, by natural
causes, is constantly removed. And the great seas
help in this work of restoration. They heave their
lofty waves into the air and break in foam, that the

442 THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

rough wind may take up and bear back again to the
land a portion of the salty spoils with which the
rivers are ever enriching them.

And then, lest these small daily restorations should
not succeed in perpetually maintaining the necessary
richness of the soil in mineral plant-food, periods of
convulsion come at last to their aid. Great physical
revolutions from time to time intervene. Now all
at once, and now by slow degrees, the bottom of the
sea becomes dry. Land and water change places, as
they have often done during the geological history of
the globe. And after each change, new races of plants
forthwith begin to take up what rivers and rains had
carried down into former sea-beds. The same mine-
ral matter begins to play over again the same part as
before, in the constant succession of animal and vege-
table life ! In this we see another long cycle through
which certain ingredients of the solid earth are ever
slowly moving.

Thus all the varieties of matter which are essential
to the existence of living forms are in a constant state
of circulation. Each has its appointed round of duty,
at one point or other of which it is sure to be found.
And while the motions of all the wheels are pre-
scribed, and a restless activity imposed on every par-
ticle of matter, all contingencies are guarded against
which might interfere with the final accomplishment
of the one simple design.

TKANSFORMATION OF MATTER. 443

How profound, yet how interesting and intelligible,
is all this ! How instructive the lessons it reads us !
Thus—

1° On how small a quantity of matter, for example,
does it show us that all life depends. Over and over
again, as the modeller fashions his clay, plant and ani-
mal are formed out of the same material. Over
and over again it is transformed in the earth and
in the air, as soon as it has been liberated for
a time from the domain and dominion of life. In
the face of this clear knowledge, how crude, how
untrue to nature, how irrational, how misleading
are the views which some have promulgated with
regard to the final resurrection of man ! As if the
same matter which forms our body, when we are
laid in the grave, and which, after a brief residence
there, makes its way, through some nutritive plant,
into the body of another man, and forms part of his
body still when he is buried — as if this matter, which
is neither his nor mine, has already " been slave to
thousands," and may be buried with ten thousand
bodies more, before the resurrection comes — as if this
very matter were meant to form the clothing of the
disembodied spirit, when, in visible form and sensible
identity, it shall be raised on the day when " small
and great " appear before the dread tribunal !

The words of the passage, It is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body ; " and of this one,
" The dead shall be raised incorruptible ; " — these

444

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

alone should be sufficient to deter the theological ex-
positor from propounding ideas so gross in regard to
the changes we are to undergo at that mysterious
time. That which is formed of matter, such as cir-
culates in living beings now, can neither be a spiri-
tual body, nor free from the changes which are com-
monly implied by the word corruption.

2°. Again, the moral lesson is not unimportant which
this steady but unceasing movement of the material
particles of living bodies holds up to us. No stop-
page long hinders it. No delay diverts its attention
or causes it to forget its duty. Like the stone which
we suspend in the air, it is ready to drop the instant
the cord snaps by which it is upheld. Is all senseless
matter to be thus perpetually labouring, — and are we
intelligent beings to idle away a precious but limited
life? To work while we live, is one of the moral
lessons which the chemist reads in the movements,
so plain to him, in apparently dead rocks and earth
and air, not less than in the lifeless bodies of the
animal and the plant.

3°. But they teach him also to work steadily and with
a view to a definite and useful end. In contemplating
the moving wheels I have one after another intro-
duced to my readers, they must have felt inclined to
stop and ask respecting each, " Why does this wheel
turn ? Why its unceasing restlessness ? What pur-
pose is effected, or is intended to be effected, by its
endless revolution ? ■" Generally the answer is, that
the maintenance of life, animal and vegetable, de-
pends, as in a complicated piece of mechanism, upon

THE PLANT AND THE ANIMAL. 445

the perpetual movement of all tlie wheels at once.
In detail, the special answer is, that the turning of
each wheel determines the comfortable discharge of
one or more of the necessary functions of animal and
vegetable life.

When, for example, the plant seems only to be
amusing itself in forming starch and vegetable fat
from carbonic acid and water, and the animal, in
merely undoing what the plant has done— re-convert-
ing the starch and fat again into carbonic acid and
water — an unseen effect is being produced at the same
time, which is indispensably necessary to the continu-
ance of animal life, as it is now constituted. The
change which the starch and fat undergo in the ani-
mal body — as well as the final change which the
gluten consumed by the animal undergoes — is a kind
of burning. The heat produced by this burning is
imparted to the body and keeps it warm ; and the
necessity of such internal warmth to the maintenance
of animal life is familiar to every one. This wise
purpose, therefore, is served, by the way as it were,
while the little wheel is turning by which carbonic
acid and water alternately disappear in starch and fat,
and alternately appear again in their gaseous and
liquid forms. And so, were we curiously to inquire
what physiological or other effects are produced during
the turning of any other of our wheels, either great
or small, we should see good coming out of each — a
beneficent provision for the comfort of living animals,
or for the healthy growth of vegetable forms, accom-
panying the sensible and chemical results of each re-

446

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

volution. In this the chemist reads the lesson that
Lis ever-moving activity should have reference to a
definite and good end.

4°. It is especially beautiful, as well as interesting,
to see how clearly the consideration above presented
exhibits the plant as the servant of the animal. Man
placed upon the earth, without the previous existence
of the plant, were utterly helpless. He could not
live either upon earth or upon air, and yet his body
requires a constant supply of the elements contained
in both. It is the plant which selects, collects, and
binds together these indigestible materials, manu-
facturing them into food for man and other animals.
And these only throw back again to their toiling
slaves the waste or dead materials which they cannot
further use, to be worked up by them anew into
palatable and nutritious food. In this aspect, the
plant appears only as the appointed bond-servant of
the animal ; and yet, how willing, how beautiful, how
interesting a slave it is ! It works unceasingly, yet it
is self-tasked. It toils itself to death, yet, punctually
as spring comes round, it rises again in a new life —
young, beautiful, and willing as ever, rejoiciDg to re-
new its destined toil. There is in it none of the bit-
terness of human slavery to render the task unsweet.
In this, too, there is a lesson for us.

5°. And it is not the least striking of the reflections
to which this subject leads us, that an alteration in
the natural constitution of things of so small a kind
as to be inappreciable to our senses, would at once
insure the certain extinction of animal and vegetable

THE HEAVENLY BODIES.

447

life. Let the All-powerful order that the minute
proportion of carbonic acid in the atmosphere should
be removed, and in a single hour vegetation would
droop — in a single week, probably, not a plant would
remain alive on the whole face of the dry land ! And
yet the human organs would perceive no change in
the nature of the atmosphere, and the mass of man-
kind would first wonder at the fatal plague which
had so suddenly stricken all vegetable forms, and
after a brief period of stupefied and undefined dread,
they, too, would perish as the plants had done, for
want of sustenance.

6°. This thought again leads us to the contempla-
tion of those purely mechanical motions in which
the heavenly bodies continually exercise themselves,
without, as a consequence, undergoing any sensible
chemical change of matter. On first becoming ac-
quainted with the chemical revolutions of matter
above described, we might be inclined — indeed it is
a very natural first-sight question — to ask, What have
these earthy revolutions which concern us so much —
what have they in common with the majestic move-
ments of satellites and plants in their orbits, and with
that of systems in the ethereal space ? What part
do these lesser revolutions — annual many of them,
like that of the earth round the sun — what part do
they play in the system of the universe ? The hum-
bling answer is, that they take no sensible part in
them at all.

The supposition of an insensible removal of the car-
bonic acid of the atmosphere, and a consideration of

448

THE CIRCULATION OF MATTER.

its consequences, show that the existence of life, either
vegetable or animal, is not a necessary condition of
things even on our globe. "With an atmosphere so
changed the earth might roll on in its place in the
solar system — its attendant moon still encircling it —
for countless ages, without the change deranging, or
even altering in any degree, the most insignificant
phenomenon which is nightly seen in the starry hea-
vens. Earthly life, therefore, has no share in the
general system of the universe. It is a little episode,
so to speak, in the great poem of creation. The
Deity willed that this corner of His vast work should
be the theatre of new displays of wisdom, of consum-
mate contrivance, of a wonderful fitting-in of means
to the accomplishment of beneficent ends, and at last
the seat of an intellectual being, with capacity to
study and comprehend and admire His works — to
praise, and love, and serve Him. It is solely on this
seemingly separate act of His will that we depend
"for life, and breath, and all things."

And in thinking over this insignificance of man,
and all his cotemporary forms of life, how awful does
it appear, that, in the event of a necessity arising, all
this life could be stopped at once— by the simple
turning of a screw, as it were — and that the disap-
pearance of all our race would, to the physical uni-
verse, be of as little moment as the crushing of the
tiny insects, to which all the world they know is but a
drop of water !— This is the crowning lesson of all.

INDEX.

Abyssinian tea, i. 195.
Acer saccliariciim, the, i. 267.
Acliillea millefolia, effect of, on beer, ii.
64.

Acorn coffee, i. 212.
Acorus calamus, the. ii. 251.
AcuUico, wliat, ii. 142.
Aegilops, wild, the origin of our wheat,
i. 82.

Africa, the onion in, ii. 274.

Agave Americana, tlie, i. 330.

Agave wine, i. 329.

Aguardiente de Maguey, the, i. 331.

Aguamiel, what, i. 330.

Au-, the, height and weight of, i. 3 — its
composition, 4, 8 — that in water, 46 —
that in snow, 47 — purified by plants,
90 — its influence on decay, ii. 286,
304 — as drawn into the lungs, 331 —
its changes there, 332 — its composi-
tion on being expired, 333, 334 — de-
tection of carbonic acid in it, 334.

Alabama, chalk soils in, i. 58.

Albumen, what, i. 133 — in beef juice,
144— resembles gluten, &c., ii. 423.

Alcohol, how formed from cane-sugar, i.
292 — and from milk-sugar, 308 — pro-
portion of, in beer, 301 — in grape-
wines, 320— in spirits, 337 — its action
in the blood, ii. 344.

Alcohols, different species of, ii. 242.

Alcoholic drinks, benefits of, to the old,
&c., i..350.

Ale, distinction between, and beer, ii.
4.5.

Alehoof, a substitute for hops, ii. 54.
Alhagi, manna yielded by, i. 280.
Alimentary canal in man, the, ii. 365 —

in animals, 383 — passage of the food

through, 386.
Alkali-makers, vapours thrown into the

air by, ii. ,301.
Alkarsin, what, ii. 294.
Allium ursinum, ii, 269 — cepa, 270 —

sativum, ib.
Alluvial soils, how produced, i. 55.
Allyle, what, ii. 270— sulphuret of, and

its odour, ib. 271.
Almonds, bitter, the Nile water clarified

by, i. 42 — composition of the oil of, ii.

226— the tree, ib.
Aloe, American, wine from the, i. 329.
Amanita muscaria, the, ii. 109.

Amanitin, what, ii. 173.

Ambergris, where procured, ii. 256 — how
employed, 257.

Ambrein, a perfume, ii. 257.

American aloe, wine from the, i. 329.

Ammonia, presence of, in the air, i. 22
— absorbed by plants, 76— produced
during fermentation of tobacco, ii. 33
— given off by animal droppings, 287
— how changed into nitric acid, 311 —
contains nitrogen, 423 — given off from
volcanoes, 428.

Amok, a Javanese cry, ii. 91.

Aniygdalus communis, the, ii. 226.

Amyle alcohol, i. 340.

Amylic ether, ii. 242.

Anamirta cocculus, the, ii. 57.

Andropogons, sweet-smelling grasses, ii.
237.

Angostura, stupefying of fisli by, ii. 60.
Animal, the, when it feeds ou itself, ii.
380.

Animals, fed by plants, i. 91 — relation of
their breathing to external nature, ii.
356 — the stomach of herbivorous. 383
— how they change after death, 426.

Animal charcoal, a smell remover, ii.
.309.

Animal decomposition, circumstances

affecting it, ii, 286.
Animal droppings, fermentation of, ii.

287 — their odours, 288 — changes of, in

the soil, 426.
Animal heat, how produced, ii. 348.
Animal odours, ii. 252 — those of the

goat, 6ec., 282.
Animal substances, action of quicklime

on, ii. 323.
Anise oil, ii. 226.

Anthoxanthum odoratum, odoriferous

principle of, ii. 236.
Antiseptics, action, &c. of, ii. 306.
Apes, not injured by morphia, ii. 89.
Apple, water in the, i. 115 — wine, 317

—oil, ii. 245.
Apples, varieties of, in Normandy, i. 318.
Aquafortis, what, ii. 240.
Arabian coffee, i. 200.
Arachis liypogoea, nut of, i. 230.
Aral, lake, water of, i. 35.
Araucaria imbricata, use of the seed of

the, i. 108.
Ardent spirits, distillation of, i. 331— con-

450

INDEX.

sumption of, in the United Kingdom,
341 — consumption of, in tlie form of
beer, 343 — and of wine, 344 — tlieir
effects, 349, 350, 351 — adulterations of,
352.

Areca catecliu, tlie, ii. 122.

Arraca, distillation of, i. 309.

Arrow-root, why it does not nourish
alone, i. 123.

Arsenic, white, the eating of, ii. 202 — its
effects, ib. et seq. — its effects on ani-
mals, 205 — how given to horses, ib. —
physiology of its action, 207.

Arterial blood, specific heat of, ii. 395.

Artesian wells in Alabama, i. 58.

Artocarpus incisa, the, i. 113.

Arum cordifolium, high temperature of,
ii. 355.

Aspemla odorata, the.'ii. 237.
Asphyxiating shells, ii. 296, 328.
Assafoetida, how collected and used, ii.

272. — contains allyle, 273 — used as a

condiment, ib.
Assal, what, i. 242.
Assassin, origin of the name, ii. 109.
Association, influence of, with regard to

smells, ii. 281.
Atmosphere, the, its height and pressure,

i. 3 — its composition, 4, 8 — rising of
vapours into, 22 — how washed, 24.

Atropa belladonna, narcotic effects of,

ii. 175.

Attar of roses, ii. 219.
Austria, arsenic-eating in, ii. 202.
Auvergne, petrifying waters of, i. 39.
Ava or arva, a drink of tlie South Sea

islands, i. 310 — its properties, 312 —

preparation of it, 313, 314.
Aymaras, melancholy temperament of

the, ii. 144.
Azalea pontica, poison in the, i. 243.
Azof, sea of, its water, i. 35.
Bacca orientalis, the, ii. 57.
Bacon, why eaten with veal, &c., i. 132

— and with greens, 121.
Badger, mountain, yields hyraceum, ii.

256.

Baking meat, loss by, i. 143 — process of,
145.

Balsams of Peru and Tolu, the, ii. 231.

Banana fruit, changes in, during ripen-
ing, i. 110 — allowance of, to a labourer,
ib. — supply of food yielded by the
tree, ib.

Bang or beng, what, ii. 105.

Barks, various, for drugging fish, ii. 60.

Bean, composition of the, i. 105 — as a
substitute for coffee, 213.

Beauty, effect of arsenic-eating on, ii.
204.

Beaver, castoreum from the, ii. 256.

Beef we cook, the, i. 126— difference be-
tween, and bread, 128 — compared with
cheese, flour, &c., 140, 143— effects
of heat on, 145— tea, how prepared,
147.

Beer, malt, how prepared, i. 295 — multi-

plication of yeast in, 299— its compo-
sition, 300— alcohol in it, 301— from
millet, &c., 305 — chemical changes
during its preparation, 306 — liow
drunk in the Himalayas, 307— vinegar,
the acid of, 321 — ardent spirits con-
sumed in, 343— why it intoxicates less
than spirits, 346 — substances used to
adulterate it, 351 — that of rice, ib. —
distinction between it and ale, ii. 45 —
a physical drink, ib. — origin of the
name, 54 — the love of it travels with
tlie Englishman, 66— that of China,
61 — how made heady, 64 — adulte-
rated with grains of paradise, 134 —
and witli thorn-apple, 165, 166 — made
of heather, 178 — flavoured with sweet
flag, 252.

Beetroot, average composition of,i. 260 —
extraction of the sugar from, 262 — pro-
portion of sugar and saline matters in,
263— produce of, per acre, 264.

Beet sugar, history of the manufacture
of, i. 259 — manufactories and produce
of, 260. Sec also Sugar.

Belgium, beet sugar manufactories in, i.
260 — sugar consumed in, 272 — and
tobacco, ii. 14 — produce of hops in, 41.

Bengal, date sugar manufactured in, i.
267 — poppy fields in, ii. 68.

Benzoic acid, use of, ii. 233.

Benzoin, what, ii. 232.

Berenice, her taste for odours, ii. 264.

Berezov, salt not used at, ii. 401.

Betel nut, the, ii. 122 — export of, from
Sumatra, iO. — how prepared, 123 —
fondness for it in the East, 124 — its
effects, 125 — its constituents, 126 —
consumption of it, 127 — substitutes
for it, ib. — its astringent principle, 133
— numbers by whom used, 183.

Betel pepper, how coUected, iL 130 —
consumption of it, »6.

Beverages we infuse, the, ii. 153 — in
dift'eient countries, 155 — their general
constituents, 231— and eff'ects, 233—
effects of intellectual activity on their
consumption, 236 — how men were led
to use them, iL 399.

Bicarbonate of lime present in hard
waters, i. 39.

Bile, the, chemical effect of, on the food,
ii. 369— where mixed with it, »6.— salt
contained in it, 400.

Bilsah, what, ii. 17.

Birdcherrv sugar, i. 244.

Bisulphate of lime, what, i. 262 — its
effect on sweet juices, ib.

Bitter ale, hops for, ii. 46.

Black Sea, water of the, i. 35.

Black tea, how prepared, i. 162 — varie-
ties of, 164.

Bleaching by sulphurous acid, ii. 317.

Blood, the, combines with oxygen, ii. 336
—its purpose oruses, 339, 376— its flow,
350— its coiii se through the heart and
lungs, 351— its weight, 353— provision

INDEX.

451

for its oxidation, ib. — its composition,
375, 377 — the dry matter of it, 375
— its formation, 376 — its proportion,
377 — matters in it, 379 — m-iterials
supplied by it, ib. — tlie corpuscles
of it, 388— interest of its study, 389—
its colouring matter, ib. — globulin of,
ib. — its ash, ib. — its serum, 390 — life-
like properties of its corpuscle, ib. —
its resemblance to flesh, ib. — changes
it undergoes, 391 — its permanence,

392 — production of heat in it, 394 — its
capacity for heat, 395 — that of arterial
and venous, ib. — changes in its capa-
city for heat, ib. — distribution of heat
by it, ib.

Boa, uric acid in droppings of, ii. 289 —
action of its saliva on ilesh, 366.

Bodily movement, waste accompanying,
ii. 380.

Bodies of men and animals, internal
temperature of, ii. 347.

Body, the, how sustained, ii. 376 — its
composition, ib. 377 — comparative
composition of it and blood, 378 — its
tenacity of life, ib. — constant move-
ment and waste of it, 380— its rapid
renewal, 381— rapidity of its waste
varies, ib. — an assemblage of chemical
wonders, 386 — action of its parts on
the blood, 391 — preserved from great
alterations, 392 — its chemical instincts,

393 — why it requires salt, 400 — its sus-
ceptibilities, 402 — influence of light on
it, 403 — its chemistry, 406.

Boiling of meat, loss in, i. 143 — how
best done, 145.

Bolivia, cultivation of the coca leaf in,
ii. 141 — garlic smelling plants in, 275.

Bone, proportion of, in the body, ii. 377.

Bones, what they appropriate, ii. 391 —
their change and renewal, 434 — crush-
ed, their action on grass lands, i. 80.

Bowza or millet beer, i. 305.

Borassus, wine from the, i. 326.

Bore wells, water of, i. 35.

Borneo, opium-smoking in, ii. 70 — cam-
phor, 231.

Bouquet of wines, the, i. 323, ii. 249 —
small portion of oil which causes it, 261.

Brain, action of tobacco on the, ii. 27 —
its composition and structure, 404 —
section of it, ib. — phosphorus in it, 405
— its grey and white matter, ib. — func-
tions, &c. of its parts, ib. — its ash, ib.
—chemical adjustments in its parts,
406.

Bran, position of, in rye, i. 95— gluten
in, 99, 100.

Brandies or ardent spirits, i. 333.

Brassica, the wild, i. 82.

Brazilian cocoa or Gaurana, i. 229 —
holly, 182— tea, 1.97.

Bread we eat, the, i. 94 — difference be-
tween new and stale, 97 — proportion
of water and gluten in wheaten, 98, 99
— composition of wheaten and rye, 101

— how it becomes spongy, 97 — its com-
position, 102 — peculiar ferment in the
bran of, 125 — wheaten, compared with
beef, 128.

Bread-fruit tree, food yielded by the, i.
113, 114.

Bread meal, a kind of earth, ii. 211.

Breathing, action of coca on, ii. 153 —
and of arsenic, 205 — what it is, 329—
its chemical purposes, 338— its pliysio-
logical purposes, 346— keeps the ani-
mal warm, 348 — its purpose in nature,
356.

Bronchial tubes, the, ii. 330.
Broom seeds, a substitute for coffee, i.
213.

Buckwheat flour, nutritive quality of, i.
103.

Bug tribe, smell of the, ii. 284.
Bull-hoof, a substitute for opium, ii. 99.
Burial grounds, effects of, on well waters,

i. 40 — saltpetre made from, ii. 409.
Burned clay, smells absorbed by, ii. 314.
Burnes, Dr, on use of opium, ii. 95.
Burnet's disinfecting fluid, ii. 322.
Butcher-meat, composition of, i. 130.
Butter, why eaten with white fish, i. 132

— used as an unguent by the Greeks,

(Sec, ii. 264.
Butyric acid, ii. 246.
Buy OS, what, ii. 123.
Cabbages, origin of the, i. 82 — their nu-
tritive properties, 121.
Cassonia, love-drink given to Caligula

by, ii. 209.
Caffeine, proportion of, in tea, i. 171 — in

coffee, 208.
Calabria, manna produced in, i. 276.
Calcareous soils, carbonate of lime in.

i. 67.

Camphors, various, ii. 2,31.

Canada, maple sugar produced in, i. 267.

Cancer in the lip, alleged origin of, ii. 23.

Candle-works, smells from, ii. 301.

Cane sugar, see Sugar.

Cannabis Indica, ii. 103 — sativa, ib.

Canterbury hops, ii. 46.

Canton, price of tea at, i. 165.

Capacity for heat, what, ii. 394.

Capraria bifolia, i. 186.

Carbon, whence derived by the plant, i.
75— its circulation through the plant
and animal, ii. 417— buried in coal,
418— and in coral reefs and limestone
rocks, 419— breathed out as carbonic
acid, 420.

Carbonate of lime in calcareous soils, i.
57.

Carbonic acid, preparation and pro-
perties of, i. 6— proportion of, in the
air, 8— this adjusted to organic life, 12
— in the Java poison-valley, ib. — its
absorption by water, 44— formed dur-
ing fermentation, 45— absorbed by the
leaves of plants, 75— e.xhaleri from the
lungs and skin, ii 336, 345— might
soon be removed from the air, 415

452

INDEX.

effects of such removal, 416 — liow re-
stored, 415 scq. — brealhedout of the
eartli, 420.

Carlsbad, tlie sprinss of, ii. 420.

Carnivorous animals, stomach of, ii. 383.

Caroliiias, waste lands in, i. 68, 70.

Cavraways, distillation of, in England,
ii. 224.

Carrion plants, ii. 279.

Carrot, cultivated, its origin, i. 82— its
composition, 116 — roasted for coffee,
21.3.

Cartilages, the, ii. 391.

Caryota urens, wine from the, i. 327.

Casein, what, i. 135.

Caspian sea, water of the, i. 35.

Castoreum, what, ii. 256.

Catechu or Cashu, how used, ii. 127.

Cats not injured by morphia, ii. 89.

Cava, what, i. 310.

Cecropia peltata, ash of, used with coca,
ii. 146.

Celery, mannite in, i. 278.

Cells, number of, in the lungs, ii. 330.

Cerambyx moscliata, the, ii. 259.

Cerebeliura, the, ii. 404.

Cerebrum, tlie, ii. 404.

Cesspools, how sweetened, ii. 309.

Chaccar, what, ii. 143.

Chaco, what, ii. 215.

Chalk rocks, section of, i. 53 — their in-
fluence on the soil, 57, 58.

Chalot, use of the, in France and Eng-
land, ii. 274.

Charcoal burns in oxygen, i. 5 — darkens
flowers, 81 — its action on smells, ii.
306 — on flesh, ib. — and on water, ib.
— a deodoriser, 308 — efficacy of ani-
mal, 309 — action on nightsoil, ib. — on
cesspools, graves, &c., ib. — value of
peat, ib. — nature of its action on
smells, 310 — respirators, 312 — theu"
use in hospitals, &c. , 313.

Charms, reality of, ii. 207 — former no-
tions on them, 209.

Chavica betle, the, ii. 129.

Cheddar cheese, composition of, i. 139.

Cheek, blush of the, ii. 404.

Cheese, varieties of, i. 137, 138 — compared
with milk, &c., 140— as a digester,
141— scented with mellilot, ii. 237.

Chemical arts, rise of the, i. 289 — com-
bination, what, 28.

Chemico-geological relations, influence
of, on a national diet, ii. 399.

Chemistry, influence of, on the sugar
manufacture, i. 274— applications of,
in beetroot sugar making, 263 — and
to artificial perfumes, ii. 262.

Chenopodium ohdum, the, ii. 277.

Cheshire cheese, i. 138.

Chica, how prepared, i. 302— influence
of the saliva in making, 303 — from
barley, &c., 304.

Chick pea, the, i. 106— roasted for coffee,
ii. 213.

Chicory, a substitute for coffee, i. 214 —

how prepared, 215— topers of, 21G— it
active ingredients, /6.— quantity con-
sumed, ib. — detection of it in coffee,
21 7— its effects, i6.— adulterations of it,
218.

Cliildren, effects of opium on, ii. 8.3.
Chilian pine, use of the seeds of the, as

food, i. 108.
China, consumption of tobacco in, ii. 9,

10 — and of opium, 80 — adulterations of

opium, 90— camphor, 231.
Chinese, preparation of opium by the, ii.

68 — its effects on tliem, 95.
Chinese beer, ii. 61.

Chlorine, destroys sulphuretted hydro-
gen, ii. 315 — as a smell destroyer, 318
et seq.

Chlorides of iron, lime, and zinc, as smell
destroyers, ii. 320, 321, 322.

Chocolate, preparation of, i. 225 — fla-
voured with Vanilla, ii. 235.

Chocollatl, the Me.xican name for cocoa,

i. 221.

Christison, Dr, on tobacco, ii. 23.

Churrus, what, ii. 105.

Chuspa, what, ii. 141.

Chyle, the, what, ii. 369 — changed in the
lacteals, 371 — conveyed into the jugu-
lar, ib. — under the microscope, 388.

Cliyme, the, what, ii. 368.

Cider, making of, i. 317.

Cider apples of Normandy, the, i. 318.

Cigars, how manufactured, ii. 20 — dis-
eases ascribed to, 23 — why preferred,
33, 34.

Cinchona bark, drugging of fish with,

ii. 60.

Cinnamic acid, ii. 233

Cinnamon, oil of, ii. 226 — tree, ib.

Cinnamonium zeylanicum, the, ii. 226,

Circulation of matter, the, see Matter.

Civet, fragrance of, diluted, ii. 255 — tinc-
ture of, 258.

Civet cat, the, ii. 256.

Clay, Mr, on the use of opium in Pres-
ton, ii. 83.

Clay, eating of, among the negroes, ii.

210 — in Java and Northern Europe,

211 — among the Otomacs, 212.
Clay soils for wheat, &c., i. 79.
Cleansing of towns, best means of, ii.

325.

Climate, influence of, on the effects of

tobacco, ii. 25.
Cloves, distillation of, in England, ii.

224.

Coca, what, ii. 138— how collected, 139—
its cultivation, ib. — its ancient use,
141, 149 — general use of, in Peru, 141,
146 — used as a circulating medium,
141— how prepared, 142— its effects,
145— virtues ascribed to it, 149 — vene-
ration for it, 150— lessens desire for
food, 151— Von Tschudi and Weddell
on it, ib. — improves the breathing, 153
— condemned by the Spaniards, 154^
recent testimony regarding it, 155 — its

INDEX.

453

use recommended in Europe, ib. — its
constituents, 156 — how it acts, 158 —
resembles hemp and opium, 159 — total
consumption of it, 160 — revenue drawn
from it, ib. — numbers among whom
used, 183 — coinpiU'ed with opium, 193
— country of, i. 221.

Coccinic acid, ii. 246.

Cocculus indicus, adulteration of beer
with, i. 351 — figure of, ii. 57 — its effects
in beer, 58 — its use forbidden, 59 —
proportion used in beer, ib. — its con-
stituents and poisonous qualities, 60.

Coccus maniparus, tlie, i. 282.

Cochlearia officinalis, oil of, ii. 276.

Cocoa or chocolate, description of the
tree, i. 219 — brought to Europe by the
Spaniards, 221 — its fruit and beans,
222 — imports into Great Britain, 223
— beans, how roasted, &c., 224 — and
used, 225 — Imsk, ib. — nibs, ib. — its
constituents, 226— butter, 227 — com-
pared with milk, 228— Brazilian, 229—
its effects, 233 — total consumed, 235 —
and numbers by whom, 236.

Cocoa-nut tree, sugar from tlie, i. 266 —
soil on which grown, 80.

Cocos nucifera, tlie, i. 324,

Codeine, what, ii. 85.

C'oecum, the food in the, ii. 373 — acid
formed in tlie, 374.

Coffee, introduction of, i. 201 — consump-
tion of, in Great Britain, ib. — varie-
ties, &c. of, 202— the tree, 203— its
effects, 204 — its constituents, 205 —
compared with tea, 209 — effects of
roasting, 210, 211 — its alleged effects on
gout, &c., 211 — varieties cultivated,
212 — substitutes for it, ib. — its physio-
logical effects, 233 — total consumption ,
235 — numbers by whom used, 236 —
the aromatic ingredient, ii. 261 — use of
the leaf, i. 192 — and its constituents,
193 — tea, how prepared, 189 — its
effects, 191.

Cognac, alcohol in, i. 337 — oil, ii. 245.

Cold-blooded animals, do not breathe,
ii. 347.

Colegate hop, the, ii. 47.

Coleridge on opiimi, ii. 77.

Colon, the, its position, ii. 365.

Compound radicals, what, ii. 292 — their
cnmbiuations, 293, 298 — tlieir number,
294.

Condiments, tlie onion tribe and assafoe-
tida as, ii. 274 — selection of, 400.

Constantinople, opium-eating in, ii. 73,
75.

Constitution, influence of, on tlie effects
of tobacco, ii. 25 — eflFect of narcotics
on, 195.

Convulsions, geological, influence of, on

platit growtli, ii. 441.
Cook, Captain, on the bread-fruit tree,

i. 114.

Cooking beef, loss in, i. 143.
Coquero, what, ii. 143.

Coral rocks, carbon buried in, ii. 419.
Corn plants, origin of, i. 82.
Corpus papillare, the, ii. 403.
Corrosive sublimate, eating of, ii. 93.
Cotton plant, soil suited for the, i. 80.
Couraarin, what, ii. 235 — plants in which

found, 237 — its influence, ib.
Cow, how it gives off its pliosphorus, iL

288 — composition of its milk, i. 136.
Crawford, Dr, on the specific heat of the

blood, ii. 395.
Creosote, prevents decay, ii. 305.
Cress, the oil of, ii. 276.
Crocus sativus, the, ii. 64.
Cuba, sugar manufactured in, i. 255 —

tobacco of, ii. 16.
Curd of milk, the, i. 135.
Curing of meat, the, ii. 30.5.
Cutty pipes, why preferred, ii. 33, 34.
Cyanide of Kakodyle, ii. 296.
Cyanogen, what, ii. 295.
Cypei'us esculentus, root of, used for

cocoa, i. 230.
Dalecarlians, beer of the, ii. 64.
Damaras, the, their desire of salt, ii. 401
Dandelion, the, used for coffee, ii. 213.
Darnel, narcotic qualities of, ii. 176.
Date and date-palm, the, i. Ill — sugar

from the palm, 266.
Datura sanguiuea and stramonium, ii.

165.

Dead bodies, associations with, ii. 281.

Dead sea, water of the, i. 36.

Deadly nightshade, narcotic effects of
the, ii. 175.

Decay, means of arresting, ii. 304, 305.

Decomposition , circumstances which
hasten, ii. 2S5.

Delphinium glaciale, the, ii. 254.

Delusions, effects of narcotics in induc-
ing, ii. 190.

Denmark, tobacco consumed in, ii. 14.

Deodorisers, what, ii. 308, 326— distin-
guished from disinfectants, 315, 326.

De Q,uincey on the effects of opium, ii.
72.

De Sacy on the word assassin, ii. 109.
De Saulcy on the "Valley of Hinnom, ii.
439.

Dew, cause of, i, 15 -its fall, 16.

Dhoora or Dhurra, i. 105.

Diastase produced during fermentation,

i. 294— its action on starch, 294, 296.

339.

Dibs or dips, what, i. 242.

Diet, water an element of, ii. 397— influ-
ence of water on, 398.

Digestion, process of, ii. 360 et S(?g.— pro-
moted by the saliva, 363— its purpose,
375— necessary to breathing, 37,9— and
to motion, 381 — summary of its pro-
cess, &c., 382, 386— its purpose the
same in all animals, 384— promoted
by sunshine, 403.

Digestive organs, the, ii. 365.

Diodorus Siculus on soothing cordials, ii.

454

INDEX.

Dipteryx odorata, the, ii. 235.
Disease brought on by want of salt, ii.
400.

Disinfectants, what, ii. 315, 326 — the
best, 325 — act cliemically, 315 — dis-
tinguished from deodorisers, 315, 326.

Distillation of spirits, i. 334— different
modes of, 335.

Distilleries, the Scotch, mixtures of grain
employed in, i. 339.

Dobrudscha, use of salicine in the, ii.
244.

Dogs, not injured by morphia, ii. 89.
Dogsbane, honey poisoned by, i. 244.
Domesticated animals, fat in, i. 129.
Dough, raised by yeast, i. 96.
Drains, sweetening of, by charcoal, ii.
309.

Drunkenness, influence of tobacco on, ii.
26.

Dunes, sandy, waters of, i. 43.
Duodenum, the food in the, ii. 369.
Durham, water used in, i. 34.
Dyspepsia in snufTtakers, ii. 23.
Eau d'ange, ii. 219.
Eau de Cologne, ii. 221.
Earth-chestnut and earthnut used as

cocoa, i. 230.
Eatwell, Dr, on the effects of opium, ii.

96.

Edinburgh, water used in, i. 34.

Eel, fat in the, i. 131.

Egg, composition of the, i. 133, 134 —

compared with other nutriments, 140.
Eggs and bacon, why eaten together, i.

134.

Egypt, the onions of, ii. 274.
Eifel, emissions of carbonic acid in, ii.
421.

Electric spark, the, effect of, on the air,
i. 21.

Elephant, blood-corpuscles of the, ii. 388.

El-mogan, what, ii. 107.

Embalming, inefficiency of, ii. 437.

Emetic holly, the, ii. 174.

Emotions, origin of, ii. 191.

Enamel of the teeth, the, ii. 406.

Endive, wild, sae Chicory.

Enfleurage, wliat, ii. 223.

England, consumption of sugar in, i. 272
—and of spirits, 341 — of spirits per
head, 343 — is it more temperate than
Scotland, &c., 346 — consumption of
hops in, ii. 42 — opium used in, 81 —
opium-eating, on the increase in, 82.

English farming, former defects of, i. 71.

Ether, caprylic, ii. 248— propylic, ib.

Ethers, simple, with organic acids form
perfumes, ii. 299.

Ethereal perfumes, ii. 240.

Ethyle, combined with sulphur and ar-
senic, ii. 299.

Ethylic ether, ii. 242.

Etrurian tomb, opening of an, ii. 438.

Eucalyptus sugar, i. 278.

Europe, use of coca recommended in, ii.
155.

Excretine contained in nightsoil, ii. 288.

Excretotic acid, ii. 288.

Extrait d'ambre, preparation of, ii. 258.

Eye, adaptations in the, ii. 406.

Eyes, the, action of acrolein on, ii. 299.

Faham tea, i. 197— its odoriferous prin-
ciple, ii. 237.

Farnham hops, ii. 48.

Fat, proportion of, in domesticated ani-
mals, i. 129 — in wild ones, ib. — in
Merino sheep, ib.— in fish, 131— in co-
coa, 227— results of deficiency of food
on the, ii. 341 — combines with oxygen in
the body, 342— why relished, 354 — ac-
tion of the stomach on, 366 — propor-
tion in the blood and body, 375, 377.

Fat cells of the skin, the, ii. 406.

Fats, animal and vegetable, i. 149 — solid
and liquid, 150 — liquid, become soon-
est rancid, 151 — in the brain, ii. 405 —
phosphorus an ingredient of tliese, ib.

Feathers, silica a constituent of, ii. 391.

Females, effects of arsenic on, ii. 204.

Ferment, peculiar, in bran, i. 125.

Fermentation of aloe juice, i. 3.30 — of
cane juice, 329 — of dough, 97 — of grape
juice, 319 — of palm juice, 324 — of
sugar, 262 — chemical changes during
it, 292.

Fertility, influence of geological struc-
ture on, i. 58 — retreat of, toward the
west of North America, 68.

Ferula assafoetida, the, ii. 272.

Fezzan, consumption of the date in, i.
112.

Fibres and fibrin in flesh, i. 127.
Fibrin, proportion of, in the bodj', ii.
377 — resembles gluten and albumen,

i. 127, ii. 423.

Fig, nutritive quality of the, i. 112.
Finland, earth mixed with the bread in,

ii. 211.

Fish, proportion of fat in, i. 131 — plants
which intoxicate, ii. 60 — and fish cakes,
imitation of, 279.

Flesh, composition of, i. 127, 128— that
of wild animals, 129 — how preserved in
the Pampas, &c., ii. 286 — effects of
charcoal on, 306— dried, 354— effects
of the saliva of the boa on, 366.

Flesh meat, composition of, i. 130 — com-
pared with oat cake, 129— its loss in
cooking, 143— qualities of well cooked,
145— salting of, 148 — why nutritious,
149.

Flour, wholemeal, i. 100 — wheaten, com-
position of, 98, 99.

Flowers, colour of, altered by charcoal,
dtc. , i. 82— their leaves give off carbonic
acid, ii. 355— and produce heat, ib.

Fluorine, contained in the bones and
teeth, ii. 391.

FIving bug of the Ganges, the, ii. 284.

Food, nutritious, i. 12J— why we mix,
123, 124— why we add water to, 123—
the desire for, lessened by coca, ii.
151— action of the saliva on it, 361,

INDEX.

455

363— in the gullet, 364— action of the
stomach and intestines on it, 366, et
geq_ — is acid in the stomach and coe-
cuin, 368 , 374 — and alkaline in the
small intestines, 369— the rejected re-
fuse, 375 — its progress through the
alimentary canal, 386 — craving for
special kinds of, 397— mixtures of, ib.
— judgment in selection of, ib.

Formic acid, what, ii. 248.

France, beet-sugar manufactories in, i.
260 — sugar consumed in, 272 — and
tobacco, ii. 14.

Frankincense, what, ii. 232 — added to
wine, i. 352.

Fraxinus ornus, the, i. 276.

Freezing, action of, with regard to de-
cay, ii. 304.

Fruit sugars, i. 244.

Fungus, the intoxicating, of Siberia, ii.
170.

Galangals, what, ii. 134.

Gall-bladder, the, ii. 365.

Gallon on the disuse of salt in S. W.

Africa, ii. 401.
Gambir extract, the, ii. 128— quantity

produced in India, 129.
Game flavour, the, ii. 281.
Garancine, manufacture of, i. 289.
Gardner, Dr, on the coffee leaf, i.

190.

Garlic, smell of, ii. 269 — and salt as a

cure for thirst, 274.
Garlic-smelling plants, diffusion of, ii.

275.

Gases, intermixing of, i. 9— absorption
of, by water, 44, 46.

Gen, what, i. 280.

Geneva, alcohol in, i. 337.

Geological convulsions, mineral matter
restored by, ii. 441 — structure, influ-
ence of, on fertility, &c., i. 58.

Germany, beet-sugar manufactories in,
i. 260.

Germination, diastase produced during,
i. 294.

Geysers, water of tlie, i. 33.

Gin flavoured with sweet-fl;ig, ii. 252.

Glass-making, smells from, ii. 301.

Glucina, what, i. 240.

Gluten, extraction of, from wheaten
flour, i. 94, ii. 422 — its position in the
grain, i. .06, 100 — proportion of, in
pulse, 105 — does not nourish alone,
124 — its resemblance to fibrin, &c.,
127, ii. 423— in tea, i. 176— in matd,
189 — contains nitrogen, ii. 423.

Glycerine, distillation of, ii. 299.

Glycyrrliiza glabra, the, i. 284.

Goats' dung, influence of, on tobacco, ii.
35— its smell, 288.

Godfrey's cordial, efiects of, ii. 83.

Golding hops, ii. 46.

Gommuti palm, wine from the, i. 324.

Gongonha, what, i. 186.

Gooseberry, water in tlie, i. 115.

Goose-grass roots used for cofifee, i. 213.

VOL. II.

Goumelia, seeds of the, used for coffee,
i. 212.

Gout, effects of coffee on, i. 211.

Gout de terrain, the, in French ciders,

i. 318.
Grain spirit, 1. 338.

Grains of paradise, adulteration of beer

by, ii. 134.
Gram, the, i. 106.
Granite soils, wliy poor, i. 64.
Grape, oil, nature of, ii. 245— sugar, see

Sugar — wines, see Wines.
Grass-lands, efi'ect of lime and bones on,

i. 80.

Grasses, sweet-smelling, ii. 237.
Gravel, effects of coffee on, i. 211.
Grave-yards, effects of, on well waters,

i. 40 — evils of their being near houses,
&c., ii. 287 — sweetened by charcoal,
309.

Grayling, odour of the, ii. 259.
Great Britain, agricultural progress of, i.
72.

Greensand rocks, section of, i. 53— soils,
suitable for hops, ii. 43 — waters, in
Surrey, i. 34.

Green teas, varieties of, i. 165 — ^adul-
terations of, 180.

Grotto del Cane, the, ii. 421.

Ground ivy, the, a substitute for hops,

ii. 54.

Gualtheria procumbens, the, ii. 243.
Guano, enriching effects of, i. 80.
Guarana, theine contained in, i. 229 —

bread, ib.
Guarapo, what, i. 329.
Guinea corn, i. 105 — grains, ii. 134.
Gullet, position of the, ii. 364.
Gum tree, the, and its sugar, i. 279.
Gunjah, what, ii. 105.
Gymnema sylvestre, i. 257.
Gypsum in hard water, i. 40 — its effects

in fertilising, 70 — used in adulterating

tea, 181.
Gyrinus natator, the, ii. 259.
Haddock, fat in the, i. 131.
Hadjoun, wliat, ii. 107.
11 an-, constituents of, ii. 391.
Halidrys siliquosa, the, i. 278.
Hamlet's soliloquy on the changes of

matter, ii. 408.
Hard waters, lime in, i. 38.
Harmin and Harnialin, what, ii. 101.
Haroun-al-Raschid, a hemp smoker, ii.

109.

Hashash or liaschisch, what, ii. 107.

Hassall, his figures of the blood cor-
puscles, ii. 388.

Havre, sea-water of, i. 37.

Hawthorn flowers, scent of, ii. 327.

Hay fever, the, ii. 237.

Heart, construction of the, ii. 350, 351
— its position, 352.

Heat, radiation of, i. 15, 16 — in water,
31 — how produced in the body, ii.348,
349 — the materials for its production
supplied by the food, 348 — how dis-

2 K

456

INDEX.

tribiited over the body, 395 — how
carried off from the luugs, 396 — that
of flowers, 355.
Heath plants, narcotic properties of, ii.
180.

Heather beer of the Picts, the, ii. 1 78.

Hebenon of Shakespeare, the, ii, 31.

Ileetoo, what, ii. 62.

Hematin, what, ii. 389.

Hemp plant, resinous substance in, ii.
104, 118 — how collected, 104 — its pro-
perties, 105 — plant dried and smoked,
ib. — forms in which it is used, 107 — its
chemical constituents, 117 — its ancient
use, 109 — effects of the resin. 111 et
seq. — M. Moreau on it, 113 — erroneous
perceptions caused by it, 115 — its effects
vary, 116 — De Saulcy's trial of it, 117
— volatile oil of, 118 — compared with
opium, 119 — and with coca, 157 —
quantity used, 120 — and numbers
among whom used, 183.

Henbane, narcotic effects of, ii. 176.

Herbivorous animals, stomach of, ii.
383.

Herring, fat in the, i. 131 — brine, odour
of, ii. 278— pies, 134.

Hertz, improvements of beet-sugar mak-
ing by, i. 264.

Hidri, what, ii. 202.

Highgate Hill, water near, i. 41.

Hinnom, valley of, ii. 439.

Hippuric acid, how prepared, ii. 248 —
action of heat on, 229.

Holland, use of Java tea in, i. 167.

Hollands, how flavoured, i. 337.

Honey, foreign substances in, i. 243 —
Narboune, ib. — Mount Ida, ib. — Tre-
bizond, ib. — sugar, 242.

Hop, the, its introduction into England,
ii. 40, 54 — consumption of, in tlie Idng-
dom, 41 — duty paid, ib. — produce
abroad, ib. — the wild, ib. — is the nar-
cotic of England, 42— its cultivation,
43— plant and flower, 43, 45— Tusser's
rules for cultivating it, 44 — soils for it,
ib. — its uses, 45— varieties grown, 46 —
those of Farnham and Canterbury, 48
— their qualities, 49 — those of Wor-
cester, ib. — consumption of the dif-
ferent kinds, 50— their quality as af-
fected by soil, 50 — volatile oil of, 51
— sleep-giving qualities of the pillow,
ib. — constituents, 52 ct seq - — effects of,
on the system, 53 — substitutes for, 54,
57, 58, 61.

Hopped beer of China, the, ii. 61.

Horse- radish, oil of, ii. 276.

Horses, eft'ects of arsenic on, ii. 205.

Hospitals, charcoal respirators in, ii.
312.

Hottentots, neglect of salt by the, ii 401.

Huille de raille-fleurs, ii. 221.

Human ashes, ii. 435— body, warmth of

the, 347— milk, i. 136.
Humboldt, account of the Otomacs by,

ii. 212.

Humeriads, odour of the, ii. 261.
liuniic acid, i. 287.
Humulus lupulus, the, ii. 43.
Hungarian wine-oil, what, ii. 247.
Hunter, John, on the life of the blood,
ii. 390.

Husbandry, effects of the nature of rocks
on, i. 59.

Hydrogen, preparation, &c. of, i. 26—
arsenietted, ii. 292 — phosphuretted,

291 — seleniuretted , ii.— sulplmretted ,

265— telluretted, 292.
Hyoscyamus, used for coffee, i. 213 —

niger, narcotic qualities of, ii. 176.
Hyraceum, what, ii. 256.
Iceland, snuff-box of, ii. 19.
Ilex gongonha, i. 184 — Paraguayensis,

183 — theezans, 186 — vomitoria, ii. 174.
Illusions artificially induced, ii. 190.
Incense, resins used for, ii. 232 — action

of heat on, ib.
India, substitutes for the hop in, iL 61 —

opium produced in, 80.
Indian Archipelago, bread-fruit tree in

the, i. 114.
Indian-corn meal, composition of, L 102

— sugar, 270.
Indian opium, ii. 87.
Indian poisoners, thorn-apple seeds used

by, ii. 166.
Indians, use of the thorn-apple by, ii.

164 — of Peru, their temperament, 143

— of Bolivia, heavy taxation of, 144.
Indigo, colouring of tea with, i. 181.
Insanity, how produced, ii. 189.
Insect odours, ii. 259 — smells, 284.
Inspirations, number of, ii. 331.
Intestinal juice, action of the, ii. 370.
Intestines, position of the, ii. 365 — the

lacteals in, 372 — the large, action of,

on the food, 37.3.
Intoxicating fungus of Siberia, the, ii.

169— its effects, 170— how used, 171—

liquors, effects of, i. 351.
Iodine and iodoform as smell-destroyers,

ii. 322.

Ireland, consumption of ardent spirits in,
i. 341 , 343 — is it more intemperate than
England, 346 — influence of tempera-
ment in , 348— potatoes and oats grown
in, ii. 398— its drinking water and its
potatoes, 399.

Iris, seeds of tlie, used for coffee, i. 212.

Iron , presence of, in the blood, ii. 389 —
in the eye and hair, 391.

Isomeric bodies, what, ii. 225.

Jaggery, what, i. 266.

Jamaica, substitute for opium in, ii. 99.

James VI. on tobacco, ii. 8, 26.

Jasmin, oil of, ii. 2'20.

Java, poison-valley of, i. 12— sugar ma-
nufacture in, 255— tea, 167— opium
smoking in, ii. 70— eating of clay in,
211— camphor, 231,

Javanese, influence of opium on the, ii,
91.

Jones' hops, ii. 46.

INDEX.

457

Jordan river, water of the, i. 35.
Julian Don Antonio, on the coca leaf, ii.
154.

Juniper berries, uses of, i. 337.
Kalvodyle, properties of, ii. 294 — cyanide

of, 295 — of methyle, ib. — of ethyle,

328.

Kalmias, snuff made from, ii. 36.

Kamtscliatka, the intoxicating fungus in,
ii. 169.

Karaca, what, i. 325.

Kedis or civet cat, the, ii. 256.

Kenguel, what, i. 212.

Kent, hop grounds in, ii. 46.

Kent water company, water of the, i. 38.

Khaator Chaat, what, i. J95.

Kidneys, action of the, ii. 392 — their im-
portance, 393.

Kief, what, ii. 107.

Kinon, how produced, i. 217.

Knaresboro' petrifying spring, the, i. 39.

Kol-cannon, what, i. 122.

Kuskus of India, the, ii. 237.

Laboratories, use of charcoal respirators
in, ii. 312.

Labrador tea, i. 194 — a substitute for the
hop, ii. 63.

Lacteals, the, ii. 371 — action of, ib. —
glands of, ib. — terminate in tlie tho-
racic duct, ib. — in the intestines, 372.

Lactic acid, i. 318.

Lactucarium, what, ii. 100.

Lactucin, what, ii. 100.

Lagnii, what, i. 327.

Laminaria sacchariua, the, i. 278.

Lanarksliire cheese, composition of, i. 139.

Lancashire, farming of, i. 71.

Landes, tlie, well waters in, i. 42.

Lane on the effects of tobacco, ii. 26.

Langsdorff, Dr, on the intoxicating fun-
gus, ii. 171.

La Paz, clay eaten at, ii. 214.

Latakia, tobacco of, ii. 17.

Laurus camphora, the, ii. 230.

Lava, soils formed from, i. 64.

Lavender grown at Mitcliam, ii. 223.

Layard on the effects of tobacco, ii. 26.

Leaves, carbonic acid absorbed by, i.
12 — pores in, 75 — consumption of, as
food, 120— those of cabbage, 121.

Leban, what, i. 309.

Ledum palustre, the, i. 194— a substitute
for the hop, ii. 62.

Ledums, narcotic properties of the, ii. 63.

Lemon grass and oil, ii. 224, 237.

Lentil, composition of the, i. 105.

Lepsius, Dr, on the manna of Scripture

i. 282.

Lettuce, the, a substitute for opium,

ii. 99, 100.

Lie tea, wliat, i. 182.

Life, tenacity of, ii. 378— functions ne-
cessary to, 379 — importance of the kid-
neys to, .393— small portion of matter
on which dependent, 442— by how
small a change it would disappear, 446.

Light, influence of, on the body, ii. 403.

Lilium pomponium, the, i. 120.

Lime, in hard waters, i. 38— how held in
solution, 39— its influence on pastures,
80— why added to sugar-cane juice,
252.

Lime water, i. 7— action of carbonic acid
on, ib. 10.

Limestone rocks, carbon buried in, ii.
419.

Liquor of Cadet, the, ii. 294.

Liquorice root, i. 284 — sugar, ib.

Lobelia, the, used for smoking, ii. 108.

Lobsters, imitation of, ii. 279.

Loka river, water of the, i. 34.

Love-philters, on, ii. 207.

Lungs, the, ii. 230 — cells in, ib. — air
drawn into, 331 — changes it undergoes
in them, 334 — moisture exhaled from,
335— and carbonic acid, 336 — oxygen
absorbed by, 337 — their wonderful
construction, 350 — their position, 352.

Lupuline, what, ii. 52 — its qualities,
63.

Lymph, what, ii. 371.
Maceration, what, ii. 223.
Macpherson , Dr, on the effects of opium,
ii. 95.

Macropiper methysticum, the, i. 311.
Madden, Dr, on tobacco, ii. 27 — on

opium, 73.
Madder, colouring matter of, i. 289.
Magdeburg, beet grown at, i. 261.
Magnesia, in the muscles, ii. 391.
Maguey, the, i. 33.

Maize, composition of, i. 102 — beer, 302
— spirit distilled from, 341 — sugar, 270.

Malagueta peppc r, ii. 134.

Malaria, use of charcoal respirators in,
ii. 313.

Malays, influence of opium on the,ii. 91.

Malt, preparation of, i. 295 — beer, ib. —
adulterations of it, 352 — liquors, effects
of the hop on, ii. 53.

Malting, loss of weight in, i. 339.

Mammalia, blood corpuscles of, ii. 388.

Man, influence of, on natural fertility,
1. 67, 70, 72 — his progress in supplying
his wants, ii. 2 — weakness of his will,
199 — the corpuscles of his blood, 388 —
body in which he shall rise, 442 — his
insignificance, 447.

Manchester, use of opium in, ii. 82.

Manilla, sugar-cane used in, i. 250.

Manna, extraction of, i. 276 — its compo-
sition, 277 — import of, 278 — of the
gum tree, 279— rarer varieties, 280 —
of the Israelites, 281 — its quality, 283.

Mannite, what, i. 277 — found iu sea-
weeds, &c., 278.

Manufactories, gases and smells from,
ii. 266, 268, 301.

Manure, effect of, on the sugar-beet, i.
264 — on tobacco, ii. 35.

Manuring, the art of, i. 81.

Many-plies, the, ii. 383.

Maple sugar, see Sugar.

Maple honey, i. 269.

458

INDEX.

Marali, waters of, i. 43.

Miire's milk, beer from, i. 308.

Marl, fertilising effects of, i. 70.

Marshy places, use of the charcoal respi-
rator in, ii. 312.

Mat(5, what, i. 182— how used, 186— its
effects, 187 — its constituents, 188.

Matlock petrifying spring, i. Si).

Matter, circulation of, ii. 408 — knowledge
of the ancients regarding it, 409 — of
water in various ways, 411 et seq. — of
carbon, 414 et seq. — of nitrogen, 422 —
of mineral matter, 431 — lessons taught
by it, 441 et seq.

Mausolus, dust of, swallowed by Iiis wife,
ii. 439.

Meconine and Meconic acid, what,
ii. 87.

Melilot, what, ii. 237— used for scenting
cheese, ib. — permanence of its odour,
260.

MelonS) water in, i. 116 — essence of, ii.
247.

Melsens, discovery of, regarding fermen-
tation of sugar, i. 262.

Mephitis Americana, the, ii. 282.

Mercaptan, what, ii. 292.

Merino sheep, proportion of fat in, i.
12.9.

Mesentery, the, ii. 372.

Methyle, kakodyle formed from, ii. 299.

Methylic ether, ii. 242.

Mexical, what, i. 331.

Mexican cocoa, i. 219.

Miasms, rise into the air, i. 22.

Mignonette, where it flourishes, ii. 223

—its odour, 260.
Milk, composition of, i. 135, 136 — a model

food, 136 — compared with beef, &c.,

143 — with the cocoa bean, 228— beer,

307, 310 — sugar, see Sugar.
Millefoil, intoxicating qualities of, ii. 64.
Millet beer, i. 305.

Milman on the manna of Scripture, i.
282.

Mind, effects of opium on the, ii. 72
et seq.

Mineral matter, circulation of, ii. 431 —
that of plants and animals, ib. — kinds
taken up by plants, 432 — returned to
the soil by animals, 434 — summary
view of its circulation, 435 — circulates
necessarily and rapidly, 436 — removed
by rains from the soil, 440 — and re-
turned to it, 441 — proportion of it in
the body, 377 — smells, 265.

Mirbane, essence de, ii. 229.

Miserable, the cocoa husk, i. 225.

Mitcham, liquorice grown at, i. 285 —
and lavender and peppermint, ii. 223.

Mixture, a, what, i. 28.

Mocha coffee, i. 202.

Model man, the, ii. 376.

Mograbins, the, use of tobacco by, ii. 196.

Moisture, influence of, on animal de-
composition, ii. 286 — escapes from tlie
lungs, 333— and quantity of this, 335.

Momeea, what, ii. 105.
Moreau on the effects of hemp, ii. 113,
115.

Morning Chronicle, the, on the use of

opium in Preston, ii. 83.
Morocco, dried hemp flowers of, ii. 107.
Morphia, proportion of, in different

opiums, ii. 88— found in the milk and

urine, 89— harmless to apes, &c., ib.
Morphine, what, ii. 84.
Mosclius mosehatus, the, ii. 252.
Moselle wine, acidity of, i. 322.
Motion a function of life, ii. 380.
Mouth, action of the, on tlie food, ii.

360.

Mummies, drying of bodies into, ii. 286
— those of the Kreuzberg, ib.

Muracuja ocellata, a substitute for
opium, ii. 99.

Muriatic-acid gas, given off from manu-
factories, ii. 268 — a smell-destroyer,
317.

Murwa, what, i. 305.

Muscles, constituents of the, ii. 391 — how
wasted, 425.

Musk, ii. 253 — its odour, ib. — minute-
ness of its odoriferous particles, 327.

Musk deer, the, ii. 253.

Mustard, oil of, ii. 276.

Mycoderma cervisiae, the, i. 299.

Naples, waters in bay of, i. 33.

Narbonne honey, i. 243.

Narceine, what, ii. 87.

Nai'cntic qualities of Thorn-apple smoke,
ii. 168— of the poisonous fungi, 172 —
of the Puff-ball, ib. — of the Emetic
holly, 174— of Deadly nightshade, 175
— of Common henbane, ib. — of Beard-
ed darnel, 176 — of Sweet gale, 178 — of
Azalea pontica, 179 — of Kalmia an-
gustifolia, 180 — of sweet-smelling
flowers, 181 — of various heath-plants,
180.

Narcotics, universal use of, ii. 4, 183 —
map of their distribution, 5 — how the
use of them is to be checked, 184 —
their agricultural and commercial im-
portance, 186 — total produce and va-
lue of them, 186— influence of the
appetite for them on domestic econo-
my, ib. — their general effects, 190 —
their special properties, ib. — defects in
our knowledge of them, 194 — their
national influences, 195 — Asiatic and
American customs regarding them,
197 — summary regarding them, 197 —
universal craving for them, 198 — slight
differences among them, 199. See also
Hemp, Hop, Opium, &c.

National habits, stability of, ii. 197 — in-
fluence of narcotics, 194.

Natron, use of, with tobacco, ii. 196.

Natural waters, impui-ity of, i. 33.

Negro races, temperament of the, ii. 92.

Negroes, clay-eating among, ii. 210.

Negrohead tobacco, ii. 20.

Nepenthes of Homer, what, ii. 64, 109.

INDEX.

459

Neroli, what, 220— oil of, 255.

Nerves, action of tobacco on the, ii. 27.

Nettle, prickles of the, i. 88.

New England, wheat culture in, i. 69 —
maple sugar produced in, 267 — hosti-
lity to tobacco in, ii. 26.

New South Wales, consumption of tobac-
co in, ii. 14.

Nicaragua, burial-grounds in, ii. 409.

Nicotiana tabacum, ii. 6 — rustica, 11 —
this the yellow tobacco of Thibet, 10.

Nicotin, what, it 29 — proportions of, in
diiferent tobaccos, 30 — contained in
tobacco smoke, ib.

Nightmare, artificial production of, ii.
187.

Nightsoil, peculiar compounds in, ii.
288 — deodorised by charcoal, 309.

Nile water, how clarified, i. 42.

Nitrates in well waters, i. 41.

Nitric acid, what, ii. 240, 423— its pro-
duction in the air, i. 21 — its effects
on vegetation, ib. — how formed from
ammonia, 311 — brought down from
the an-, 429.

Nitrobenzyl, what, ii. 229.

Nitrogen, preparation and properties of,
i. 5 — its effects on the air, 11 — ne-
cessary to the fertility of soils, 63 —
agency of gluten and ammonia in
the circulation of, ii. 423 — its circu-
lation, 427, 428.

Nitrous oxide, a smell-destroyer, ii. 316 —
corrodes metals, ib.

Noad, Mr, analysis of water from High-
gate by, i. 41.

North Africa, employment of civet in, ii.
256.

Norwich, curious fee-favour in, ii. 134.
Nushturs, what, ii. 67.
Oatcake compared with flesh-meat, i.
129.

Oatmeal, why it does not rise in baking,
i. 103.

Oats and oatmeal, composition of, i. 102
— growth of, in Ireland, ii. 398.

Odoriferous insects, ii. 259 — particles,
minuteness of, 260— resins, how used,
232— volatile oils, 218.

Odours we enjoy, the, ii. 218 — disagree-
able when concentrated, 255.

CEnanthic acid, what, ii. 247 — ether,
322.

Oil of anise, ii. 226— of bitter almonds,
i6.— its artificial preparation, 229— of
cinnamon, 226 — of cress, 276 — of
horse-radish, ib. — of jasmin, 220— of
lavender, 218 — of lemons, ib. — of
mustard, 276— of rape, 276— of roses,
218— of scurvy-grass, 276 — of turpen-
tine, 225.

Oil-palms, wine from the, i. 327.

Oil-sugar, distillation of, ii. 299.

Oils flavour spirituous liquors, i. 340—
swee"t-smelling, ii. 218.

Oily food, digestion of, ii. 370.

Old believers, a Russian sect, ii. 25.

Onions, nutritious qualities of, i. 119 —
consumption of, in Spain, ib. — their
smell, ii. 270— those of Egypt, 274.

Onion tribe, general use of the, ii. 274.

Ononis spinosa, sweet contained in the,

i. 285.

Opilacion, what, ii. 147.

Opium, origin of the name, ii. 67 — how
collected, 67, 68— that of Smyrna, 67
— how prepared for smoking, 68 — pipe
and box, 69 — shops in Singapore, ib. —
its effects when smoked, 71, 75 — eating
of, in Turkey, 72— De Quincey on its
effects, 72, 79 — Dr Madden, 73 —
and Coleridge, 77 — its after effects, 74,
79 — its effects on confirmed Therialds,
75 — its seductions, 76 — and power, 77
— difficulty of abandoning it, 77, 79 —
misery caused by it, ib. — its power
over the will, 77 — extent to which used
in India, China, &e., 80 — valerian an
antidote to it, ib. — quantity raised in
India, 81 — import into Great Britain,
ib. — its use in England on the increase,

82 — its use in Manchester and Preston,

83 — its effects on children, i6. — its com-
position, 87 ct seq. — Indian inferior to
Turkish, ib. — from German poppies,
89 — its narcotic principles pass through
the body, ib. — adulteration of it in
China, &c., 90 — influence of race and
constitution on its effects, ib. — its
effects on the Malays, 91 — use of cor-
rosive sublimate with it in Turkey, 93
— its effects as distinguished from those
of wine, 94 — is it necessarily delete-
rious, 95 — Dr Batwell on its effects in
China, 97 — the medical missionaries
there on it, 98 — practical conclusions
regarding it, ib. — infatuation it occa-
sions, ib. — substitutes for it, 99 — com-
pared with hemp, 119 — counteracted
by betel-nut, 125 — numbers among
whom consumed, 183— compared with
coca, 193.

Oppenheim on the effects of opium, ii.
74.

Orange-tree, the, ii. 223 — perfumes from

the, 220.
Orcin manna, i. 283.
Organic radicals, stinking compounds of

the, ii. 298.
Organic substances, what, ii. 292.
Organs of smell, delicacy of the, ii. 261.
Orinoco, eatable clay found on the, ii.

213.

O'Shaughnessy, Dr, on the effects of
hemp, ii. 112.

Otomacs, substitute for snuff used by
the, ii. 37— clay-eating by the, 212.

Over-cropping, sterility caused by, i. 67.

Oviparous vertebrate animals, blood cor-
puscles in, ii. 389.

Oxides of ethyle, methyle, and amyle.

ii. 242. ^ '
O.xygen, properties and preparation of,

i. 4— proportion of, in the air, 11— less

460

INDEX.

of it in tlie air from the lungs, ii. 334

— absorbed by the lungs and skin, 337
— combines with tlie blood, 338 — builds
up the muscles, &c., 339 — its action
on the waste matter, 340 — on the fat,

342 — and on the starch of the food,

343 — its action on alcohol, 344 — how
it produces heat in tlie body, 346, 349
— its agency in the change of matter,
425.

Oysters, imitation of, ii. 279.
Ozone, properties and production of, i.
20.

Paderborn, carbonic acid given off at, ii.
420.

Pahsa, what, ii. 215.

Palm sugar, see Sugar — wine or toddy, i.
324 — numbers by whom used, 328.

Palms, oil. i. 80— toddy, 327.

Palraitine, what, i. 151.

Pampas, drying of flesh on the, ii. 286.

Pancreas, the, ii. 365.

Pancreatic juice, composition, action,
&c. of the, ii. 369, 370.

Papaver somniferum, tlie, ii. 66.

Paradise grains, importation of, ii. 134 —
adulteration of beer by, ib. — this ille-
gal, 1.35.

Paraguay tea, i. 184 — how collected, &c.,
ib. — kinds of, 185— quantity exported,
ib. — map of the country of, 221 — that
of Chili, 186.

Park, Mungo, on the love of salt in
Africa, ii. 401.

Pastiles, benzoic acid in, ii. 233.

Patchouli, oil of, ii. 2.55.

PauUinia sorbilis, seeds of, used as cocoa,
i. 229.

Paunch of the sheep, tlie, ii. 383.
Pea, composition of the, i. 105.
Peach-borer, the, in New Jersey, i. 67.
Pear oil, ii, 245 — wine, i. 317.
Peat, a smell -absorber, ii. 314 — charcoal,

its value, 309.
Peaty soils, how formed, i. 56 — plants

peculiar to, 79, 80.
Pedang, coffee-tea used at, i. 190.
Peganum harmala, ii. 101.
Pelargonic acid, ii. 247.
Penang, quantity of Gambir extract

produced at, ii. 129.
Pepper, betel, growth and consumption

of, ii. 130-long, 133.
Peppermint of Mitcham, the, ii. 223.
Pepper-worts, chemistry of the, ii. 133.
Pepsin, action of, on the food, ii. 367.
Pereira on tobacco, ii. 22.
Perfumes, narcotic effects of, ii. 181 — for

the toilet, 220— mixed, 258— artificial,

262— as sraell-disguisers, 307— conceal

uncleanness, 308.
Persian manna, i. 280.
Peru, use of the coca leaf in, ii. 141 —

balsam of, 231.
Peruvian, fondness of the, for coca, ii.

142 — his temperament, 143.
Petiveria alliacea, the, ii. 275.

Petrifying springs, i. 39.
Philippines, use of the betel-nut in the,
ii. 123.

Pliffinix dactylifera, the, i. Ill, 326 — su-
gar from the, 266.

Pliosphate of lime, presence of, in bones,
ii. 391 — its quantity and importance in
the animal, 433 — of potash, in the
muscles, ib.

Phosphoric acid, what, i. 61— present in
the blood and in flesh, ii. 389, 390.

Pliosphorus burns in oxygen, i. 5 — how
given oflF by animals, ii. 289— in the
brain, 405.

Phosphuretted hydrogen, ii, 291.

Pliyseter macrocepliahis, the, ii. 257.

Physico-geologiciil influences, effects of,
on the soil, i. 57.

Picrotoxin, what, ii. 60.

Picts, heather beer of the, ii. 178.

Pigs' dung, odour of, ii. 288 — its effect
on plants, ib.

Pigeons, effects of kalmia on, ii. 180.

Pine, Chilian, its seeds eaten, i. 108.

Pine-apple oil, ii. 246.

Pipes, tobacco, different forms of, IL 33
— Thibet and German, 32 — opium, 69.

Pipula moola, what, ii. 133.

Plant, the, wliat it consists of, i. 73 — its
composition, 74 — source of its carbon,
75 — changes and forms of matter in,
87 — labours for the animal, ii. 445.

Plants, carbonic acid absorbed by, i. 12
— why they refuse to grow on some
soils, 62 — soils affected by them, 66,
79 — those peculiar to certain soils, 79
— those which follow man, 83 — pur-
poses served by, 91 — used in scent-
ing teas, 165— used as teas, 198— with
a musky odour, ii. 254 — wide diffusion
of garlic-smelling ones, 275 — carrion
ones, 280.

Plantain tree, the, i. 109 — water in the

fruit, 115 — starch, granules of, 119.
Plastic clay, section of, i. 53.
Pliny on the use of saffron, ii. 64 — on

love-potions, 209.
Plum, water in the, i. 115.
Poison-valley of Java, the, i. 12.
Poisons we select, the, ii. 201.
Poisoners of India, the, ii. 166.
Poisonous fungi, narcotic effects of, ii.

172— projectiles, 2.97.
Pollen of odoriferous plants, the, ii.

238.

Poor, the, their love of warm beverages,
i. 237 — liow they suffer from adulter-
ated liquors, ii. 59 — from the u.se of
drugs, 83 — and from deception, 165.

POppig on the coca leaf, ii. 147.

Poppy, white, its use, 262 — heads, 67 —
knives, ib. — while and black, the
opium from, 89.

Pores, number of, in the skin, ii. 332.

Pork, why eaten with pease pudding, i.
121.

Porter, yeast plant in, i. 299.

INDEX.

461

Porter-ale, liow made, ii. 49.

Potasli, presence of, in the blood, &c.,
ii. 389, 390.

Potato, composition of the, i. 116, 117 —
its cork skin, 89 — connection between
its use and tlie spring waters of Ire-
land, ii. 379.

Potato ethers, ii. 241 — spirit, 242—
starch, i. 119 — sugar, 245.

Potatoes, quantity of, grown in Ireland
in 1854, ii. 398.

Preston, use of opium in, ii. 83.

Projectiles, suffocating and poisonous, ii.
297.

Proof spirit, alcohol in, i. 337.
Propylamine, stinking odour of, ii. 278

— its resemblance to trimethylamine,

ib. — flowers in which found, 327.
Prosopis algaroba, the, i. 304. i)
Prout on the effects of tobacco, ii. 23.
Prussian blue, colouring of teas with, i.

180 — how discovered , 290.
Ptyalinein saliva, and its action, ii. 362.
Puff-ball, narcotic qualities of the, ii.

172.

Pulque, what, i. 329— its qualities, 332

— its putrid smell, 331.
Pulse, nutritive qualities of, i. 106.
Pungent plants, oil in, ii. 276.
Putrefaction, smells produced during, ii.

285.

Putrid fish, cause of the odour of, ii.
278 — meat, plants smelling like, 280.

Pylorus, the, ii. 365.

Pyroligneous acid, smells from manufac-
ture of, ii. 301.

Pyrolignite of iron, a smell-destroyer, ii.
322.

Pvrmont, carbonic acid in the caves of,

"ii. 421.
Quass, what, i. 307.

Queen of the meadow, and essence of, ii.
227.

Quetelet, Professor, his model man, ii.
376.

Quichuas, temperament of the, ii. 144.

Quicklime, action of, on decay, ii. 306
— as a smell-destroyer, 322 — its action
on fresh animal matters, 323 — and on
fermenting ones, ib. — how to be ap-
plied to fermenting heaps, 324.

Quinces, essence of, ii. 247.

Quinine, salicine used for, in the Do-
brudscha, ii. 244.

Quinoa, what, i. 104.

Race, influence of, on the effects of
opium, ii. 91.

Radicals, compound, what, ii. 292.

Radish, oil of the, ii. 276.

Ragi cakes, what, i. 352.

Rags, sugar made from, i. 245.

Rain, cause of, i. 17— nitric acid in, 21
— its fall important to fertility, 65.

Rancid fats, i. 151.

Rectiflcation of spirits, the, i. 336.

Reed of the sheep, the, ii. 383.

Relish, use of the onion as a, ii. 274.

Reniora fish, the, ii. 209.

Resin of hemp, the, ii. 104, 111, 118— its

effects. Ill t'i*eg.
Resins, odoriferous, action of heat on, ii.

232.

Respirator, charcoal, ii. 312.

Resurrection, opinions on the, ii. 442.

Rete mucosura of the skin, the, ii. 403.

Retford, soil and hops of, ii. 48.

Reverie caused by tobacco, the, ii. 27.

Rhododendrons, snuff made from, ii. 36
— their narcotic qualities, 178.

Rhubarb leaves, tobacco adulterated
with, ii. 36.

Rice, composition and use of, i. 103 —
starch gi-anules of, 119 — beer, adultera-
tion of, 352.

Richardson, Dr, on the Ledum palustre,
ii. 63.

Riegel, analysis of sea- water by, i. 37.

Rio Janeiro, sugar-cane used in, i. 250.

Roasting meat, loss in, i. 143 — how best
done, 145.

Robhison, Dr, on the manna of Scrip-
ture, i. 282.

Rochester, hops of, ii. 47.

Rocks, differences among, i. 50 — strati-
tied, horizontal, and inclined, ib.. 51 —
their influence on the soil, 59 — effects
of their crumbling, ii. 440.

Romans, sugar-cane known to the, i.
250.

Rootlets of plants, the, i. 77.

Rose oil, value of, ii. 219 — water, pre-
paration of, 218.

Rotten egg, smell of, ii. 285.

Rubia tinctorum, the, i. 288.

Rum, distillation of, i. 254 — alcohol in,
337.

Russia, use of tea in, i. 167 — beetroot su-
gar manufactured in, 260 — sugar con-
sumed in, 272 — tobacco cultivated in,
ii. 11 — sect in, by whom it is rejected,
25 — use of thorn-apple seeds in, 165.

Russians of Berezov, disuse of salt by the,
ii. 401.

Rust in the cotton plant, i. 67.

Rye, structure of grain of, i. 95 — starch

granules of, ib. — a substitute for coffee,

213— beer, 307— bread, 101.
Saccharum officinarum, the, i. 247.
Saffron , into.xicating effects of, ii. 64 — and

narcotic, 181.
Sago and sago-palm, the, i. 107 — bread,

124— trees, people they can maintain,

108.

Saguerus saccharifer, the, i. 266.
St Lawrence, flat l.mds on the, i. 68.
Salicine, what, ii. 244— used instead of

quinine, i6.— its conversion into oil of

winter green, ib.
Salicylic acid, ii. 244.
Salicylous acid, ii. 227.
Saline matter, conveyance of, by the

winds, i. 23— proportion of, in the blood

and body, ii. 375, 377.
Saliva, action of, in making chica and

462

INDEX.

ava, i. 303, 312— flow of, promoted by
tobacco, ii. 23 — quantity given oiT in a
day, 361— its effects on tlie food, 362—
its constituents, ib. — when acid and
when alltalitie,.363 — necessary to diges-
tion, ib. — tliat of the boa constrictor,
366.

Salivary glands, the, ii. 364.

Salmon, fat in the, 1. 131.

Salt, common, action of, on flesh, ii.
305— why necessary to health, 400—
effects of its want, ib. — a luxury in
central Africa, 401 — where not used,i6.
— when it may be dispensed with, 402.

Salting of meat, the, i. 148.

Saltpetre, made from human remains,
ii. 409.

Salvia sclarea, effects of, on beer, ii. 64.

Sand, action of soda on, i. 289.

Sands, blowing, i. 79.

Sandy downs, how produced, i. 55.

Sandwich Islands, consumption of sugar-
cane in the, i. 250.

Sausages, fat in, i. 132.

Saussurea, putrid smell of, i. 332, ii.
280.

Sawdust, sugar prepared from, i. 245.
Scent of grape-wines, the, i. 323.
Scents compared to musical notes, ii.
222.

Scented teas, i. 165.
Scliabzieger cheese, ii. 2.37.
Schinus niolle, the, i. 304.
Schlechtendal, Professor, on cocoa, ii.
153.

Scotch, use of deadly nightshade by the,
ii. 175.

Scotch distilleries, mixed grain used in

the, i. 339.
Scotland, consumption of ardent spirits

in, i. 341, 343 — is it more intemperate

than England, 346.
Scurvy produced by rice, 1. 103.
Sea, saline matter carried from the, i.

23 — beds, ancient, now dry land, ii.

441 — water, composition of, i. .37 — it

added to wine by the Greeks, 352 —

weeds, sugar from, 246 — manna and

mannite in them, ib.
Second sight, origin of, ii. 165.
Seguiera alliacea, the, ii. 275.
Seine, water of the, i. 42.
Seleniuretted hydrogen, ii. 291.
Seltzer, carbonic acid in the springs of,

ii. 420.

Slieep, fat in, i. 129— stomach of the, ii.
383.

Sherry, acid in, i. 322.
Shells, asphyxiating, ii. 296, 328.
Siberian intoxicating fungus, the, ii.
169.

Sicily, manna produced in, i. 276.
Sick-rooms, charcoal respirators in, ii.
312.

Sidhee, what, ii. 105.
Silica contained in hair and feathers, ii.
391.

Silicious sand, wliat, i. 57.

Silk, how bleached, ii. 317.

Singapore, opium-smoking in, iii. 69—
gambir extract produced at, 129.

Skate, fat in the, i. 131.

Skira-niilk cheese, composition of, i. 1.39.

Skin, breathing through the, ii. 331— the
pores and hairs in, 331, 332— section of
it, .332— the outer and inner, ib.— the
cellular substance, ib. — moisture given
off by it, 335— and carbonic acid, .336
—oxygen absorbed by it, 337— cause of
its colour, 403.

Skunk, the, ii. 282.

Slavery, influence of geological structure
on, i. 58.

Smells, organs of, their delicacy, ii. 201
— destroyers, 324 — disguisers, 307 —
removers, 308.

Smells we dislike, the, ii. 264— different
tastes regarding, ib. — of animals, 282
— fetid, 291 et scq. — from manufac-
tories, 301 — their prevention, 304 —
action of charcoal and peat on them,
314 — of chlorine and chloride of lime,
319, 320— destruction of them, 314 et
seq.

Smelting of lead and copper, smells from ,

ii. 301.
Smyrna, opium of, ii. 67.
Snuff, action of, ii. .33 — substitutes for,

36.

Snuff-boxes of Iceland, &c., ii. 19.

Snuffs, manufacture of, ii. 21.

Soap-works, smells from, ii. 302.

Social state, influence of geological struc-
ture on, i. 69.

Soda, carbonate and phosphate of, their
action on plants, i. 82.

Soda-makers, vapours discharged by, ii.
301.

Soda-water, gas confined in, i. 45.

Soft waters, purity of, i. 38.

Soil, importance of, i. 49 — how formed,

50 — its influence on the hop, ii. 50.
Soils of the granites, traps, and lavas, i.

53, 64 — action of water and wind on,

54, 55 — peaty, 56 — composition of, 61
—fertile, 62— rain necessary to, 65 —
and warmth, 66— different plants pe-
culiar to, 79.

Solomon on wine, i. 361.

Sorbine, what, i. 246.

Sorbus aucuparia, the, i. 246.

Sorghum sugar, i. 271.

Sorrel, influence of lime on, i. 80.

South America, clay-eating in, ii. 212.

South Sea islands, bread-fruit tree in the,

i. 114.

Spain, the onion and garlic in, ii. 274.
Spaniards, coca prohibited by the, ii.
154.

Specific heat of the blood, the, ii. 395.
Spectral illusions caused by thorn-apple,

ii. 166.

Sperm whale, ambergris from the, ii. 257.
Spice Islands, odour of the, ii. 261.

INDEX.

463

Spices, adulteration of spirits by, i. 352.

Spirasu, essence of, ii. 227.

Squier on the extraction of saltpetre

from cliurcliyaids, ii. 409.
Staffordshire, adulteration of beer in,

ii. 135.
Stale bread, what, i. 97.
Stapelias, the, i. 332, ii. 280.
Starch, how formed, i. 78— grannies of,

119— its composition, 287 — action of

diastase on it, 294, 296, 339— that of

the food combines with oxygen, ii.

343— its abundance in the food, 353—

sugar, i. 245.
Starving animal, the, action on its fat,

ii. 341.
Stearine, what, i. 151.
Stenhouse, Dr, on the proportion of

theine in tea, i. 171 — and in mate, 188

— his respirator, ii. 312.
Stilton cheese, i. 138.
Stinking goosefoot, the, ii. 277.
Stomacli, the, ii. 365— action on starch

in, 366 — on fat, ih. — on gluten and

fibrin, 367 — the gastric juice in, ib. —

pepsin, ib. — universal solvent, 370 —

absorption of food from, 368 — of the

sheep, 383.
Stow, Mrs, on the negro temperament,

ii. 92.

Stramonium, see thorn apple.

Strata, various forms of, i. 51.

Stratified rocks, i. 51, 59— their extent,
51 — their composition, 52.

Straw, bleaching of, ii. 317.

Striped cane of Louisiana, the, i. 249.

Strychnia, what, ii. .56.

Styria, arsenic-eating in, ii. 202.

Subjee, what, ii. 105.

Succory, see Chicory.

Succus entericus, the, ii. 369.

Suffolk bank cheese, i. 138.

Sugar, introduction of, from St Domingo,
i. 248 — present state of its manufac-
ture, 254 — how this to be improved,
255 — produce per acre in the West
Indies, 256 — consumption in Great
Britain, ib. — total production, i,';.,
272— how its fermentation is arrested,
262 — consumption in different coun-
tries, 272 — map of countries produc-
ing, 273 — its composition, 286 — its
change into alcohol, 292 — in beer, 297,
300 — proportion of, in wines, 320 —
preserves flesh, ii. 305.

Sugar, beetroot, the plant, i. 258 — ma-
nufactories of, 260 — proportion in the
root, ib. — proportion extracted, 261 —
its extraction, 262 — relative propor-
tions of it and saline matters, 263.

Sugar from the bird cherry, 246.

Sugar, cane, i. 247 — the plant, ib., 249 —
where it flourishes best, 248 — varieties
ofit,i6. — known to the Romans, 250 —
and used as food , ib. — its solubility , 32 —
proportion of it in the juice, 251 — cut-
ting and crushing the canes, 252 —

clarifying the juice, i6.— extracting the
sugar, 253— loss in the manufacture,
254— proportion extracted, ib., 255 —
total quantity manufactured, 256, 272
—difference between it and grape, 257
— its conversion into the latter, 257 —
the cane of the north, 271— its compo-
sition, 286— its relation to starch, 287.

Sugar from cocoa-nut tree, i. 266.

Sugar from date-palm, i. 266.

Sugar, eucalyptus, 1. 279.

Sugar, fruit, i. 244.

Sugar, grape, i. 241— how distinguished

from cane, 257— its composition, 286.
Sugar, honey, i. 242.
Sugar from lichens, i. 283.
Sugar of liquorice, i. 284.
Sugar, maize, i. 270.
Sugar, maple, i. 267 — its extraction, 268

— total produce, 270.
Sugar, milk, 1. 135, 285 — its qualities,

285— how changed into alcohol, 308.
Sugar, palm, i. 266— produce of, 267, 272.
Sugar from sea-weed, i. 246.
Sugar of the sorghums, i. 271.
Sugar of starch, i. 245.
Sugar from woody fibre, &c., i. 245.
Sugar-cane wine, i. 329.
Sugar of lead, i. 240.
Sulphate of iron as a smell-destroyer, ii.

322.

Sulphite of lime, what, i. 262.

Sulphur, present in fetid animal and
vegetable smells, ii. 272 — its influence
on the perspii'ation, 283 — fumigation
with, 316.

Sulphuretted hydrogen, properties, &c.
of, ii. 265 — its composition, 267 — pro-
duced in nature, 266 — in the rotten
egg, 285 — destroyed by chlorine, 315 —
and by sulphurous acid, 317.

Sulphuric acid, what, i. 61 — vapour dis-
charged from manufactories of, ii. 300.

Sulphurous acid, what, i. 262 — given off
from volcanoes, ii. 267 — universal dis-
like of, 268 — a smell-destroyer, 316 —
its action as such, 317 — its bleaching
powers, ib. — as a fumigator, ib.

Sumatra, coftee-tea used in, i. 191 — ex-
port of betel-nut from, ii. 122.

Sunderland, water used in, i. 34.

Sunshine, influenceof, on the body, ii. 403.

Superphosphate of soda, action of, on
flowers, i. 82.

Surrey, hop grounds in, ii. 46.

Sussex, hop grounds in, ii. 46.

Sweden, eating of earth in, ii. 211.

Sweet-bread, juice from the, ii. 369.

Sweet-flag, the, for what used, ii. 252 —
where grown, ib.

Sweet juices, action of sulphurous acid
on, i. 262.

Sweet-scented vernal grass, the, ii. 236.

Sweet scents, narcotic effects of, ii. 181.

Sweets we extract, the, i. 240.

Sweno, King, destruction of army of, ii.

464

INDEX.

Syrian rue, for what used, ii. 101.
Synip of starch sugar, the, i. 245.
Tainted meat relislied by some, ii. 281.
Tamarisk manna, ii. 281.
Tamarix gallica, tlie, i. 281.
Tandou, what, ii. 90.
Tannic acid in mat^, i. 188 — varieties
of, 207.

Tannin or tannic acid in tea, i. 175.

Tar-asun, wliat, ii. 61.

Tarfa tree, manna of, i. 281.

Tarry matters, decay of flesh prevented

by, ii. 385.
Tartars, use of tea by the, i. 177.
Tartaric acid, i. 321.
Tastes, differences in, as to smells, &c.,

ii. 264, 281.
Tax, a manufacture promoted by a, i.

265.

Tea, consumption of, i. 156 — the plant,
158 — map of the districts of, 157 — ■
preparation of it, 161 — changes in the
leaf while drying, 164 — that of diffe-
rent districts, ib. — its price at Canton,
165 — its introduction into China and
England, 166, 167 — total produce of,
167 — from Java, ib. — how used bytlie
Chinese, 168 — a Chinese on its effects,
t6. — its effects when new, 169 — and in
this country, ib. — its constituents, 170
• — wh^ a favourite with the poor, 174 —
why it gives a black colour with iron,
175 — the leaves compared with beans,
176 — how prepared among the Tar-
tars, 177 — eating of the leaves, 178 —
proportion extracted by boiling water,
ib. — soil suited for the plant, 179 —
adulterations of it, ib. — ash left by
it, 182 — compared with coffee, 209 —
its physiological effects, 33 — consump-
tion of it, 235 — numbers among
whom used, 236 — its consumption
increases with intellectual activity, ib.

— may take the place of bread, 237

— as an article of diet in public es-
tablishments, 238 — of Abyssinia, 195
— prevents sleep, 196 — from coffee
leaves, 190 — of Labrador, 194— of Pa-
raguay, see Mat6 — of Tasmania, 196 —
plants used for, 198.

Tears, composition and use of, ii. 406.

Teeth, fluorine in the, ii. 391 — their
enamel, 406.

Tellurium, influence of, ii. 283 — com-
pounds of, 297.

Temperament, influence of,on the effects
of tobacco, ii. 25.

Temperance pledge, the, how often
broken, ii. 185.

Temperature, influence of, on fertility,

i. 66 — of animal bodies, ii. 347.
Terra Japonica, used instead of betel,

ii. 127.

Teviotdale, tradition of, ii. 178.
Thames water, the, i. 34, 38.
Tliebaine, what, ii. 85.
Thebes, use of hemp known in, ii. 109.

Theine, proportion of, in t«a, I. 171— its

composition and properties, ib. — its
action, 172— in mati5, 188— in coffee
leaves, 190, 193.

Theobroma cacao, the, i. 217.

Theobromine, composition of, i. 226.

Theriakis of Turkey, the, ii. 72.

Thibet, yellow tobacco of, ii. 10.

Thirst, awakened by tobacco, ii. 26.

Thorn-apple, common, adulteration of
beer by, ii. 165 — effects of the seeds,
166 — its composition, 167, 168 — red,
its effects, 164 — use of, in the Andes,
as a narcotic, 165.

Thyme, oil of, ii. 255.

Tincture of civet, the, ii. 258.

Tissues, waste of the, ii. 42.5.

Tobacco, the plant, ii. 6 — its introduc-
tion into England and the East, 7 —
countries it has spread into, ib. — King
James' Counterblast, 9 — extensive use
of it, 8 — former opposition to it, 9 —
consumption in the East and China,
ib. — Papal Bull against it, 10 — varie-
ties of it, ib., 15 — the common green, 11
— whence carried to the East, 12 — its
culture in the United States, ib. — con-
sumption in Great Britain, 13 — duty
on it, 14 — consumption in Europe and
throughout the world, ib. — total pro-
duce, ib. — produce per acre, ib. — its
produce compared with wheat, 15 —
produce in the United States, ib. — cir-
cumstances which affect its quality, 16
— prices of different varieties, 17 — that
of Latakia, ib. — forms in which used,
18 — pipes of Germany and Thibet, 32
—cigars, 20— simff, 21— its effects, 22
— Pereira and Prout on it, 23 — dis-
eases ascribed to it, ib. — its soothing
effects, 24, 27— its effects in North
America, 25 — opposition to its use in
New England, 26 — Lane and Layard
on it, ib. — its exciting effects, 27 — re-
verie caused by it, ib. — its constituents,
28 — poisons in smoke, 30 — its flavour
affected by manure, 35 — adulterations
of it, ib. — substitutes for it, 36 — an
exhausting crop, 37 — used as a circu-
lating medium, 141 — numbers among
whom consumed, 183 — chewed, &c.
with natron, 196.

Toddy or palm-wine, i. 324— palms, 328.

Toilet perfumes, ii. 220.

Tolu, balsam of, ii. 232.

Tomb, opening of an Etrurian, ii. 438.

Tombeki, what, ii. 108.

Tonka bean, the, ii. 235.

Towns, best substances for sanitary
cleansing of, ii. 325.

Trap rocks, soils of, i. 54, 64.

Travers, Mr, on the product of tea, i.
167.

Trebizond honey, i. 243.

Trimetliylamine, what, i. 278, 331— in
stinking goosefoot, 277 — in herring
brine, ib. — its composition, 278— its

INDEX.

465

resemblance to propylamine, its
possible use in cookery, 279.

Triosteum perfoliatum, a substitute for
coffee, i. 213.

Tunhoof, a substitute for hops, ii. 54.

Turfeh tree, manna of, i. 281.

Turnip, composition of the, i. 116 — roast-
ed for coffee, 213.

Turpentine, oil of, composition of, ii.
225.

Tusser on the hop, ii. 44.

United Kingdom, consumption of coffee
in, i. 201— of cocoa, 223— of sugar, 256",
272— of tea, 167.

United States, exhaustion of soil caused
by growth of tobacco in, ii. 38.

Unstratifled rocks, i. 51 — their composi-
tion, 53.

Ural Mountains, wild hops of, ii. 41.
Urban, Pope, bull by, against tobacco,
ii. ^.

Urea, production of, ii. 425 — change it

undergoes in the soil, 426.
Uric acid, how formed in the body, ii.

425.

Urine, intoxicatmg quality in, ii. 171.

Valerian , action of, on opium intoxica-
tion, ii. 80.

Valerianic acid in apple-oil, ii. 245.

Vanilla aromatica, the, ii. 234— country
of the, i. 221 — its odoriferous prin-
ciples, ii. 234 — used for flavouring cho-
colate, 235.

Vapours, rising of, from the earth's sur-
face, i. 21.

Vegetable food, peculiarities in constitu-
tion of, ii. 353 — matters in well waters,
i. 41— smells, ii. 269.

Vegetation promoted by nitric acid, i. 21
— its influence on soils, 55 — purposes
served by it, 91.

Veins, absorption througli the, ii. 372.

Venous absorption of food, the, ii. 373 —
blood, its specific heat, 395.

Vetch, conxposition of the, i. 105.

Victoria, fertile country of, i. 54.

Vinegar, the acid of beer, i. 321.

Vinous odour, what due to, ii. 249.

Violet, the, ii. 223.

Virginia, waste land in, i. 68, 70.

Viverra civetta, the, ii. 255.

Volatile oils, how e.\tracted, ii. 219 —
uses of, 220— from different parts of
plants, ib. — quantity imported, 224 — ■
composition of, 225 — sweet-smelling
ones, 218 — contained in ardent spirits,

i. .34.

Volcanoes, ammonia given off by, ii.
428.

Von Tschudi on coca, ii. 151.

"Wants, order in which supplied by man,

ii. 2.

Warm-blooded animals, source of their
heat, ii. 347 — distinction between
them and cold-blooded, ib.

Warm drinks, universal desu-e for, i.
155.

Warmth, influence of, on animal de-
composition, ii. 286.

Waste of the body, effects of tea and
coffee on the, i. 204, 206, 233— motion
a cause of it, ii. 380.

Waste lands in Virginia, &c,, i. 68, 70.

Water, composition of, i. 26, 28 — pro-
portion of, in animals and plants, 14,
25 — formed by burning hydrogen, 26
— indispensable to life, 29 — its freedom
from taste and smell, ib. — its cooling
property, 30 — its solvent properties, 32
— never naturally pure, 33 — the colour
of river, ib. — the brown of bogs, ib. —
the milky of glaciers, ib. — the green of
the Geysers, ib. — the blue of Naples and
the Pacific, ib. — that of the Thames,
34 — of the greensand in Surrey, ib. —
of the London water companies and
bore-wells, 35, 38 — of the Jordan, 35 —
of the Seine and Nile, how clarified,
42 — of Marah, how sweetened, 43 —
absorption of gases by, 44 — soda water,
carbonic acid in, 45 — composition
of air in, 47 — its effect on the mate-
rials of soils, 55 — drawn by plants from
the soil, 77 — its effects on them, ib. —
proportion in flour and bread, 98— and
in fruits, 115 — sweetened by charcoal,
ii. 308 — sulphuretted hydrogen absorb-
ed by, 315 — proportion in the blood and
body, 375, 377 — as a part of the diet,
397 — why hard is agreeable, 398 — local
importance of its quality, ib. — its pro-
bable relations to food in Ireland, 399
■ — evaporation of, from a green field,
412— given off from me lungs, &c. of
animals, 413.

Watery vapour, necessity of, to life, i. 13
— in the air, 8, 16.

Weald of Kent, hops grown in the, ii. 47.

Wear river, water of the, i. 34.

Weddell, Dr, on the use of coca, ii. 152
— on the eating of clay, 214.

Weeds, European, in America and Aus-
traha, i. 83.

Well-waters, where impm-e, i. 40 — ni-
trates, &c. in, 41, 42.

Wells, artesian, i. 58 — petrifying, 39.

Wheat, failing growth of, in the New
England states, i. 69— origin of the
plant, 82 — composition of thegrain, 94.

Wheaten bread compared with beef, i. 128.

Wheaten flour, gluten and starch of, i.
94— composition of, 102— extraction of
its gluten, ii. 422.

Whey, sugar in, i. 139.

Whisky, alcohol in, i. 337 — its peat
flavoiu', ib.

White of egg, the, i. 133.

White coquero, the, ii. 147.

Whole-meal flour, nutritious quality
of, i. 100.

Wild animals, their love of salt, ii. 400
—their neglect of it in South-western
Africa, 401.

Will, power of opium over the, ii. 77

466

INDEX.

Winds, saline matter transported by the,
i. 23 — tlieu- action on soils, 55.

Wines, how distinguished from beer, i.
316— from the apple and pear, 317—
from the grape, their composition,
319 — alcohol and sugar in them, 320
— and peculiar acid, 321 — their relative
acidity, 322 — consumption of them in
Great Britain, 323 — ardent spirits
consumed in form of, 344 — their effects,

351 — mixed with sea-water in Greece,

352 — and with frankincense, ib. — com-
pared with opium, ii. 94 — their bou-
quets, 249, 250 — from the American
aloe, i. 329 — extraction of it, 330 — its
putrid smell, 331.

Wine ethers, ii. 240— spirit, 242.
Winter green, oil of, ii. 243 — artificial, ib.
Wood ethers, ii. 240 — spirit, 242 — vine-
gar, smell from making, 301.

Woodruff, the odour of, il. 237.

Woody fibre, sugar from, i. 245.

Woollens, bleacliing of, ii. 317.

Worm, the, in distillation, I 335.

Worcester hops, ii. 49.

Wycliffe, the disinterment of,ii, 439.

Xenophon's soldiers, poisoning of, by
honey, i. 243.

Yaourt, what, i. 309.

Yarrow, effect of, on beer, IL 64.

Yeast, effects of, on dough, i. 96 — manu-
facture of dry, 86 — the plant, its
growth, &c., 85, 298.

Yellow tobacco of Tliibet, the, ii. 10.

Yellows in peach trees, the, i. 67.

Yerba, the, or Paraguay tea, L 183.

Yerba de Huaca, the, ii. 163.

Yerbals, what, i. 183.

Yolk of egg, composition of, i. 133.

Yongas, growth of coca in, ii. 160.

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HUME, DAVID.— LETTERS OF EMINENT PERSONS, ADDRESSED

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PROFESSOR JOHNSTON. — ELEMENTS OF AGRICUTURAL CHEMIS-
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PROFESSOR JOHNSTON.— THE CHEMISTRY OF COMMON LIFE.

The Work will be issued in Monthly Numbers, in the following order

No. 7.— The Narcotics we Indulge in.
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What, how, and whv we
Digest.

„ 10.— The Body we Cherish and

The Circulation ok Matter,
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lOd.

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KEITH JOHNSTON'S PHYSICAL ATLAS.

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MEARNS. — ^LECTURES ON SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS.

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