  1 The learned in the lore of ancient Rome may charge us, if they will, with a grievous wrong in considering Sleep as one of the softer sex, inasmuch as Somnus was one of the elder of the “lords of the creation.” We confess to an inclination towards the “ladies of the creation;” and in this matter especially “We have a vision of our own, And why should we undo it?” 2 A correspondent of the Medical Times having asked for authentic instances of the hair becoming grey within the space of one night, Mr. D.F. Parry, Staff-Surgeon at Aldershott, transmitted the following account, of which he made memorandum shortly after its occurrence. “On February 19, 1858, the column under General Franks, in the south of Oude, was engaged with a rebel force at the village of Chamda, and several prisoners were taken. One of them, a sepoy of the Bengal army, was brought before the authorities for examination, and I, being present, had an opportunity of watching from the commencement the fact I am about to record. Divested of his uniform, and stripped completely naked, he was surrounded by the soldiers, and then first apparently became alive to the danger of his position; he trembled violently, intense horror and despair were depicted in his countenance, and although he answered all the questions addressed to him, he seemed almost stupified with fear; while actually under observation, within the space of half-an-hour, his hair became grey on every portion of his head, it having been, when first seen by me, the glossy jet black of the Bengalee, aged about twenty-four. The attention of the bystanders was first attracted by the serjeant, whose prisoner he was, exclaiming, ‘He is turning grey;’ and I, with several other persons, watched its progress. Gradually, but decidedly, the change went on, and a uniform greyish colour was completed within the period above named.” 3 Herod., lib. iv. cap. 74-75. 4 Ib., lib. i. cap. 202. 5 The Ansayrii and the Assassins, by the Hon. F. Walpole. 6 “Ex illo sane tempore [tabacum] usu cepit esse creberrimo in AngliÂ, et magno pretio dum quam plurimi graveolentem illius fumum per tubulum testaceum hauriunt et mox e naribus effiant; adeo ut Anglorum corporum in barbarorum naturam degenerasse videantur quum iidem ac barbari delectentur.”——Camden, Annal. Elizab., p. 143. (1585.) 7 Squier’s “Nicaragua.” 8 Edwards’ “Voyage up the Amazon.” 9 Bentley’s Magazine. 10 For the art of making tobacco pipes of clay, the Dutch are indebted to this country, in proof of which, Mr. Hollis, who passed through the Netherlands in 1748, states that the master of the Gouda Pipe Works informed him, that, to that day, the principal working tools bore English names. 11 Catlin’s North American Indians, vol. ii., p. 160. 12 Tooke says “Snuff is the past participle of to sniff, that which is sniffed.” 13 Lord Stanhope makes the following curious estimate:——“Every professed, inveterate, and incurable snuff-taker, at a moderate computation, takes one pinch in ten minutes. Every pinch, with the agreeable ceremony of blowing and wiping the nose, and other incidental circumstances, consumes a minute and a half. One minute and a half out of every ten, allowing sixteen hours to a snuff-taking day, amounts to two hours and twenty minutes out of every natural day, or one day out of every ten. One day out of every ten amounts to thirty-six days and a half in the year; hence, if we suppose the practice to be persisted in for forty years, two entire years of the snuff-taker’s life will be dedicated to tickling his nose, and two more to blowing it.” The expense of snuff, snuff-boxes, and handkerchiefs, is also alluded to; and it is calculated that “by a proper application of the time and money thus lost to the public, a fund might be constituted for the discharge of the national debt.” 14 Curiosities of Food, by P.L. Simmonds. Bentley, 1859. 15 Tobacco entered for home consumption— 1856 1857 1858 16 Tea entered for home consumption in— 1856 1857 1858 17 Mesembryanthemum tortuosum, Linn. 18 Rhus typhina. 19 “The tree Tooba that stands in Paradise, in the palace of Mahomet.”——Sale. “Tooba signifies beatitude or eternal happiness.”——D’Herbelot. 20 See Table XV. in the Appendix. 21 Dr. Hobson states, in an official communication to the Government, “I do not know of any mortal disease from opium corresponding to delirium tremens from alcohol. I have never been called to attend to any accidents resulting from opium similar to those occurring so frequently from habits of intoxication from liquor. The opium-smoker, when under the full influence of his delicious drug, brawls and swaggers not in the public streets, like a drunkard, to the annoyance of bystanders, but reposes quietly on his couch, without molesting those around him.” Also Dr. Traill, of Singapore, from his own experience, has not found opium-smoking in any way so powerful a promoter of disease as the habitual use of intoxicating liquors. 22 Dr. Doran says that a salad was so scarce an article during the early part of the last century, that George I. was obliged also to send to Holland to procure a lettuce for his queen. These vegetables must, therefore, have become unpopular before that time, or the cultivation had been for some cause discontinued, otherwise we cannot reconcile this with the fact that lettuces were common enough a century before a George sate upon the English throne. 23 Von Hammer’s History of the Assassins. 24 “Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science.” 25 Dr. Daniell in “Pharmaceutical Journal.” 1850—1,734 candies. 27 There is a stick of this kind in the Museum of Economic Botany at Kew Gardens. 28 The stem and roots of long pepper, cut in pieces and dried under the name of Pipula moola, are exposed for sale in all the bazaars of India, but these are not used with the areca nut, nor are the leaves applied to that purpose. 29 From cate a tree, and chu juice. 30 Neale’s Residence in Siam. 31 Why are ladies who indulge in this habit universally described as elderly ladies? 32 This name, derived from the Greek, indicates strong, powerful. 33 “Edinburgh Medical Journal,” 1857. 34 The potato, the tomato, and egg plant possess, when uncooked, in a mild degree, the properties of the nightshade, the stramonium, and the henbane, confirming the remark of De Candolle “that all our aliments contain a small proportion of an exciting principle, which, should it occur in a much greater quantity, might become injurious, but which is necessary as a natural condiment.” In fact, when food does not contain some stimulating principle, we add it in the form of spices. 35 Another fanciful origin for the name, which signifies “beautiful woman,” is, that it was bestowed in consequence of the use once made of its berries by the Italian ladies as a cosmetic. 36 “Similia similibus curantur.” 37 “Journ. de Chim. MÉd.,” 1839, p. 322. 38 “Archives GÉn. de MÉd.,” t. xi., p. 94. 40 Each Chest of Opium contains about 140 lbs. |
|
