in whatever unlikely combinations it may lurk. Mr. Pepys would have further learned that this substance, which is remarkably ich in nitrogen, has the property of retarding the waste of the bodily tissues, so that a much smaller quantity of food suffices for the maintenance of the frame where tea is systematically drunk. The poor man is not therefore indulging in a pure luxury when he purchases his packet of Souchong. He is literally economising his body. Three or four grains of theine daily will lessen his ex mentation. Both sorts exert a stimulating influence over the mind; but whilst the former, tea, coffee, cocoa, occasion an elegant and innocent kind of excitement, the latter, ale, spirits, wines, if too freely absorbed, fling the patient into a state of vulgar and uproarious inebriety. Tea may be drunk as copiously as it was by Dr. Johnson, without leading to any other immediate mischief than the propagation of a little scandal, whereas long indulgence in Sir John Barleycorn is apt to make a man intolerably warlike, until his career is terminated for the night in the near-penditure of flesh materially. And hence, est gutter. Most of our readers may remember the surprise which was manifested by Mr. Sam uel Pepps, Clerk of the Acts of the Navy, and author of one of the most diverting diaries ever written, when he first sipped tea from a Liliputian cup, at the price of some sixty shillings per pound. Could that amus. ing gentleman have witnessed the analysis of the herb by some modern chemist, he would have recorded the peculiarities of its composition with many expressions of astonishment. First, he would have learned that it contains a volatile oil, not naturally resident as such in the plant, but developed during the drying and roasting to which the leaf is exposed. Small as is the quantity-1lb. in 100lbs. of tea-it is to this that the peculiar virtue of the herb is mainly ascribed. For as new tea produces a species of intoxication, on which account the Chinese rarely employ it until a year has elapsed, and as the tasters and packers of the article are subject to attacks of giddiness and paralysis, the change effected by delay is presumed to be due to the escape of a portion of this fugitive material. Next, Mr. Pepys would have been made acquainted with a substance called theine, respecting which he would have chronicled a very curious fact. In various parts of the globe certain stimulating substances, such as coffee, cocoa, chocolate, maté guarana, have been employed for the same purposes as the charming herb whose merits we are now considering. But all these substances, adopted as they have been without the slightest conception of their chemical composition, are found to agree in the possession of the peculiar body just mentioned. And here again the subtle instinct which rules the human appetite seems to have led mankind, by what appear to be different routes, to the same results, as if there were some secret affinities between the stomach and its fare which enabled us to detect the too, when digestion begins to flag, as in the aged, or in those who have worked their stomachs too severely, tea will enable that organ to keep up the wants of the system with a much smaller outlay of energy than would otherwise be required. The third ingredient in this herb might have struck Mr. Pepys with equal surprise. From the bark of trees we extract tannin or tannic acid, the astringent substance which is employed in converting the skins of animals into leather, and also in producing an inky dye or infusion when mixed with salts of iron. The same substance is to be found in tea. It consti tutes no less than from 13 to 18 per cent. of the dried leaf. Its precise influence upon the human system has not yet been ascertained, but its presence would probably have induced Mr. Pepys to decline all participation in the new beverage lest his digestive sac should soon be transformed into leather. These are the three most active principles in tea, but of the remaining ingredients, fat, starch, water, mineral and other matters, we need only mention gluten, the nutritive character of which has already been noticed. This substance forms one-fourth of the weight of the dried leaves, and therefore renders them as nourishing as peas or beans. The ordinary process of infusion extracts but little of the gluten, and consequently the most feeding element in the plant is rejected. When first introduced into Europe, it is said that the liquid was sometimes discarded, and the leaves brought to table to be eaten like cabbage or cauliflower. At the present time, the Tartars reduce the tea to a fine powder, and mix it with fat and salt; and in some parts of South America, according to Captain Basil Hall, the natives drink the hot infusion in the first instance, and then the residual leaves are handed round on a silver salver. Passing from the "beverages we infuse," of which tea is of course only one specimen. ence of opinion may exist, and it is precisely in such cases that men who, like Professor Johnston, not only bring a cautious philosophy to bear on the topic, but have also gathered their data from a field as wide as the globe itself, are best entitled to be heard. Those who think that the great table of nature is sufficiently supplied with liquids if furnished with a few decanters of cold water, will learn with some surprise how deep is the craving and how dexterous is the instinct which has led men to seize the products of fermentation, and to crowd that table with bottles, bearing different labels, it is true, but ever containing beverages akin to each other in their chemical characteristics. liquors we ferment." Chica, or maize beer, is a drink which is excessively popular amongst the mountain Indians on the western coast of South America. The mode of manufacturing it, however, would surprise us if prescribed in any civilized manual of cookery. The recipe is this. Assemble all the members of the family, and, if you like, catch a few strangers to assist at the oper ation. Let them seat themselves on the floor in a circle, and place a large dish in the centre. Around it deposit a quantity of dried maize. Then let each individual take up a handful of the grain and chew it thoroughly. Spit the maize into the dish. Proceed until the entire mass has passed through the jaws of the company, and thus been re- But if fermented liquors are dubious induced to a mass of pulp. Let it then be dulgences, what shall we say to a class of mashed in hot water and allowed to ferment. substances which not only exhilarate the In a little time the abomination will be fit for mind, but transport us into a state of temuse. So highly is it esteemed, that a polite porary ecstasy, to be followed, alas! by a native could offer no higher compliment to a terrible rebound of depression? The chaptraveller than a draught of the liquor thus ters devoted to a consideration of "Narcotvillanously brewed. Strangely enough, the ics" contain some of the most interesting same process is employed in the Pacific, in materials which these volumes present. Perthe extraction of an intoxicating liquor from haps opium is the most fascinating of the the ava root. Captain Wilkes gives an class. From the miserable Theriaki who amusing account of the formalities with haunts the coffee-houses of Constantinople, which the disgusting potion is prepared, the with his withered visage, his bent spine, his masticators, however, being required to pos- shattered frame-his "fiery particle" long sess clean, undecayed teeth, and prohibited ago drowned in premature imbecility,-up to from swallowing any of the juice under pain those two gifted men of our own country, of chastisement. But it is highly interesting whose history might almost be written in to note the chemical principles involved in laudanum, and whose genius shaped its these nauseous operations. Corn, as we fumes into gorgeous dreams, or piled them have seen, and other grains contain a large up in magnificent air-castles such as Titans quantity of starch. In order that fermenta- alone could conceive,-the same fearful testion may occur, this starch must be convert- timony to the despotism of this drug might ed into sugar. Commonly, the change is be extracted. The effect of opium varies, it effected through the instrumentality of a sub- is true, to a great extent, according to the stance called diastase, which is developed dur- temperament and race of the individual. Its ing the process of malting. It happens, how-influence upon a man of obtuse faculties or ever, that the saliva possesses a similar power of transforming starch into sugar. Of course, neither the Indian nor the man of Fejee, has the slightest conception of the chemical influences which are at work in his jaws, but, that people living at such a distance from each other, and acting in complete ignorance of the scientific bearings of their processes, should have adopted the same practice in order to obtain the same results, is one of the many curious and recondite facts which these volumes have brought prominently into view. We must refer our readers to the work itself for the conclusions which are drawn by the author respecting the chemico physiological effects of fermented liquors in general. Upon a subiect like this considerable differ of inferior susceptibilities, is simply to remove sluggishness, and make him "active and conversable." Upon excitable people, like the Javanese, the Negro, the Malay, it exerts a terrible power, sometimes rendering them perfectly frantic. The well-known phrase," running a muck," is derived from the Javanese practice of sallying out, when inebriated with opium, and killing anybody who comes to hand. De Quincey speaks of the "abyss of divine enjoyment" which was suddenly laid open to him when he quaffed his first dose of laudanum. He thought he had discovered a panacea - Ο φαρμακον výπev0εç for all human woes. Happiness might thenceforth be bought at the druggist's shon. and bliss to any amount kept in 2 ... an apothecary's phial. But terrible was the Amongst other striking consequences of biliary affections, destroys the appetite for natural food and creates a craving for animal excrement, disorders the intellectual faculties, and drives the patient to brandy (if he can procure it) to assuage his bodily pangs. Fortunately the use of coca is principally confined to the natives, whose gloomy and monotonous existence is undoubtedly relieved by its perilous juice; but occasionally a resident European is tempted into the vice, and becomes as pliant a victim as the Indians themselves. "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 civilized men, they give themselves up to a savage and solitary and living chiefly in woods or in Indian villages, life. Hence the. term, a white coquero (the epithet applied to a confirmed chewer of coca), has there something of the same evil sense as 'irreclaimable drunkard' has with us." Coca is remarkable for two properties which are not known to coëxist in any other substance. First, it enables the consumer to dispense with food to a marvellous extent, by retarding, as is probable, the waste of the tissues; and second, it obviates the difficulty of breathing which is usually felt in ascending aclivities, so that a traveller, duly primed with coca, may climb heights and follow swift-footed animals, as Von Tschudi observes, without experiencing any greater inconvenience than if engaged on the level coast. Hence its value in mountainous districts. There is another narcotic, and it is but one These curious results may be equalled in out of many described by the author, to singularity by certain properties possessed which a passing glance may be allowed. by arsenic. In the chapter on the "Poisons This is the Coca of the Andes. Rarely is a we select," the author has conveyed some native of these regions to be seen without his information which will take most, if not all, little pouch of leather to hold the leaves of of his readers by surprise. Arsenic-the arthis remarkable plant, and a small bottle of senious acid of the chemist-is known in this vegetable ashes or unslacked lime. The pur- country as a tonic and alterative when adpose of the latter material is to excite a flow ministered in very minute doses, but when of saliva, and bring out the taste of the leaf swallowed in larger quantities, as a rank in all its pungency. Repose being essential poison, and therefore a particular enemy to to the full enjoyment of the process, the con- rats and men. But what will the reader say sumer lies stretched in the shade, deaf alike when he learns that there are localities where to the commands of his master, to the roar of this virulent material is employed as an arpredatory beasts, or even to the approaches ticle of diet, and that its effect is to produce of the flames which may have been kindled plumpness of form, sleekness of skin, beauty in his vicinity. Taken in moderation it pro- of complexion, and a general improvement in duces a gentle excitement, induces cheerful- the appearance? Yet such is the fact. In ness, and seems by no means unfavorable to some parts of Lower Austria, and in Styria health and longevity. Taken in excess, how- in particular, the old stories of philtres and ever, it soon weakens the digestion, occasions | love potions seem to be more than realized. When a peasant maiden has fixed her affections upon a youth who may be insensible to her natural charms, she often proceeds to heighten them by the use of arsenic. If the poison is used with caution, never exceeding half a grain at a time, and gradually accustoming the system to its action, the effect is perfectly magical. It adds "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." Occasionally, however, the damsel may be in too great a hurry to extract beauty from the drug, and by augmenting the dose immoderately, she may fall a sacrifice to her passion or her vanity. Its use, however, is by no means confined to maidens. Though incapable of exciting the mental pleasure which opium and certain other narcotics produce, it is consumed very largely amongst the peasant population without occasioning any evil results, provided the doses are adapted to the constitution of the individual. But if the practice should be abandoned, symptoms of disease such as would ordinarily follow the reception of arsenic by uninitiated persons, immediately appear, and the patient is compelled to renew the habit in order to obtain relief from the ailments which spring up to torment him. It is the same with horses. Arsenic is given to these animals to secure plumpness of body and a sleek glossy skin; but if they pass into the hands of masters who do not patronize the practice, they lose flesh and spirits and gradually decline, unless the custom is resumed, when a few pinches in their food will render them perfectly convalescent. Like coca, too, this substance possesses astonishing powers in enabling persons to ascend hills without suffering from want of breath-a small fragment placed in the mouth before the attempt, and allowed to dissolve slowly, being sufficient to qualify a man for very elaborate undertakings in this line. Is it not marvellous to find that a deadly material like this should yet be a strengthener of respiration, an exciter of love, and a restorer of health? Mithridates is famous for the facility with which he digested his poisons, but we never understood that he took them to improve his body, and work himself up into a handsome fascinating gen tleman. Had space permitted, we should have been glad to draw upon some of the other chap ters of Professor Johnston' Those on the "Odors we "Smells we dislike," will some very striking inform latter case, the reader will learn how the most unsavor be converted into objects importance. The author h bility of compounding sme terrific than any which nati of employing them in warfa poses of defence or annoya stances are sufficiently att selves. Swallow a small p sulphur, and it will diffus mosphere around the indi days. Take a quarter of a ration of tellurium, and inodorous, it will impart s fetor to the breath and p the dearest friend of the ready to indict him as a pub a single bubble of seleniuret be permitted to escape into attack the company with s vere colds and bronchial will last many days. Indee essary to read what is said a compound, known as the c dyle, to obtain some idea of the chemist in the elaborati smells. The vapor of this t is decomposed on coming in and moisture; and two of poisons known to exist-w prussic acid-are instantly dispersed through the atmosp however, content ourselves but sincere recommendation work. It belongs to a class to see widely extended. Co in a popular style, and stud the most curious and at the most practical description, it by ordinary readers witho any of the difficulties whic ductions too frequently pre varied learning and philos will commend it to the very thinkers. We can not pay pliment than by expressing a ises like this-plain, easy, an yet masterly and profound reckoned amongst the commo mon life. From Hogg's Instructor. ALEXANDER DUMAS. "Gentlemen, if I had but time to discourse to you the miraculous effects of this, my oil, surnamed Oglio del Scoto; with the countless catalogue of those I have cured, the patents and privileges of all the princes and commonwealths of Christendom; or but the depositions of those that appeared, on my part, before the Signiory of the Sanita and most learned College of Physicians; where I was authorized, upon notice taken of the admirable virtues of my medicaments, and mine own excellency, not only to dispense them publicly in this famous city, but in all the territories that happily joy under the government of the most pious and magnificent," &c.- Volpone (Ben Jonson's Fox). FROM his earliest childhood (this much | volvers; and as, notwithstanding the abovewe may gather from his memoirs) Dumas mentioned crackers, there still sat before him evinced the natural, nay, uncontrollable in a daring and unscathed horseman, the doughstincts of his African blood-an excessive ty champion, missing his sword just at this love of physical display, a singular aptitude critical moment, most felicitously terminated for bodily exercise, an absolute worship, in the struggle by whisking his adversary from short, of that supreme of human perform- his saddle, transferring him cross-wise, to his ances, a feat! The feeling was hereditary. own, backing out of the melée, and returnHis father, the republican general, was ing thus double and unmolested to his own equally notorious for this constitutional pre- expectant outposts! Bonaparte, an unquesdilection. If he rode in the manège, and tionable judge of the picturesque, made a happened to be within reach of a joist or most characteristic use of General Dumas on hook of any kind there with connected, he their first landing in Egypt. Being informed felt irresistibly compelled to lay hold thereon that a party of mounted Arabs were to give and, serrying his legs on either side of his him the meeting, and aware how small would steed, lift and equilibrate both himself and be the impression of his own diminutive stathis charger. If he came upon a sergeant ure on these primitive warriors, he deputed beguiling the tedium of the bivouac by hold- a select body of horsemen provided with the ing, in presence of his admiring inferiors, a necessary requisite of flesh and muscle, commusket by the barrel, and at full stretch, pleting the ocular deception by expediting this metacarpal exhibition would straightway Dumas at their head. The effect was magi rouse the lurking devil of display within the cal. The climate, however, says his chronbosom of the dark-skinned general, when, in icling son, produced a disastrous effect, if compliment to his military pre eminence, the not on the iron frame, at least on the hitherleader would throw his non commissioned to buoyant spirits of the general. A deep rival completely into the shade-quadrupling and settled despondency took possession of the difficulty by a new and overwhelming his mind, which he could shake off in the combination, wherein a series of muskets hour of action, but which returned with tenwere seen to protrude in a direct and unde-fold gloom, when physical exertion was no viating line of rigidity from the iron digits of the performer! Adventures compared to which that of Horatius Cocles was but an old woman's tale, were performed by this copper-colored Ajax. In a chance rencounter with a host of Austrian cavaliers in a narrow pass, General Dumas threw, solus, his Telamonian bulk across the path, fired his holster, perhaps his duelling pist ls, we are now uncertain which, with the rapidity longer necessary. From a brilliant and daring swordsman, he now degenerated into a moping malcontent, excited feelings of unconquerable disgust in the youthful adventurer, who, then at the head of the troops, and anxious to treat the soldier to the invigorating experiment of a march through the desert, thought proper to dispense with the general's presence, though not without inflicting upon him, in the sequel, a most serious mortification. |