III.

Pepys and Tea—First English Poem on Tea—Price of Tea temp. Queen Anne—Scandal over the Tea Cup—Jonas Hanway and Dr. Johnson on Tea—Love of the latter for this Beverage—How to make Good Tea.

By Garway’s Advertisement we get at one fact, that the use of tea had not been brought into popular use before 1657: a fact which is borne out by that old _quid nunc_ Pepys, who would surely have noticed it, as, indeed, he did as soon as it was brought under his ken. He mentions it in his diary under date 25th Sept., 1661, as being then a novelty, at all events to him. “I did send for a Cup of Tee, a China Drink of which I never drank before.” And again, 28th June, 1667, “Home, and there find my wife making of Tee, a drink which Mr. Pelling the Potticary tells her is good for her cold and defluxions.” So that even then it was not a common drink with people well to do, as we know Pepys was. The old English custom of drinking beer at breakfast died very hard—nay, it is not yet dead—surviving in farm houses in many places in the country, notably in Somersetshire; and when tea became cheap enough to be drank by the middle classes, those beneath them in the social scale indulged in sage tea, and infusions of other home grown herbs.

As it increased in popularity, the poets got hold of it, and numerous were the laudatory verses in Latin respecting its virtues. But, as far as can be found, the earliest English poem about it was by Waller, as under:—

“OF TEA.

COMMENDED BY HER MAJESTY.[129]

“Venus her Myrtle, Phœbus has his bays; Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise. The best of queens,[130] and best of herbs, we owe To that bold nation[130] which the way did shew To the fair region where the Sun does rise, Whose rich productions we so justly prize. The Muses’ friend, Tea does our fancy aid, Repress those vapours which the head invade, And keeps that palace of the soul serene, Fit on her birthday to salute the Queen.”

As years went on, its popularity became greater, and it is satisfactory to find by the following extract from Lord Clarendon’s diary, 10th Feb., 1688, that the tea imported was good, and that it was treated properly. “Le Père Couplet supped with me; he is a man of very good conversation. After supper we had tea, which he said was as good as any he had drank in China. The Chinese, who came over with him and Mr. Fraser, supped likewise with us.”

With time, the consumption of tea increased, and its price was much lower; but still, taking the money value in the time of Queen Anne, in relation to our own it was excessively dear, and its value fluctuated much. Black tea varied in 1704 from 12_s._ to 16_s._ per pound; in 1706, 14_s._ to 16_s._; in 1707, which seems to have been an exceptionally dear year, 16_s._, 20_s._, 22_s._, 24_s._, 30_s._, and 32_s._ In 1709 it was from 14_s._ to 28_s._; and in 1710, 12_s._ to 28_s._ Green tea in 1705 was 13_s._ 6_d._; in 1707, 20_s._, 22_s._, 26_s._; in 1709, 10_s._ to 15_s._; and in 1710, 10_s._ to 16_s._ The difference between new and old is given once; the new tea is 14_s._, and the old 12_s._ and 10_s._

The margins in price are not only accounted for by difference in age, but it was well known that old leaves were re-dried and used in the cheaper sorts; indeed, there is a very curious advertisement in the advertising portion of the _Tatler_, Aug. 26th, 1710: “Bohea Tea, made of the same Materials that Foreign Bohea is made of, 16_s._ a Pound. Sold by R. Fary only, at the Bell in Grace Church Street, Druggist. Note. The Natural Pecko Tea will remain, after Infusion, of a light grey colour. All other Bohea Tea, tho’ there be White in it will Change Colour, and is artificial.”

Tea was now “in Society,” and was made the medium of pleasant little _réunions_. The accompanying illustration gives a Tea-party, temp. Queen Anne, by which it appears that the cups had no handles at that time, and were of veritable oriental porcelain, and that it was not considered a breach of good manners to drink tea out of saucers.

But even this Eden had its serpent, in the shape of scandal, from which the tea table seemed no freer in the time of Good Queen Anne than our own.[131] “Thus they take a sip of Tea, then for a draught or two of Scandal to digest it, next let it be Ratifia, or any other Favourite Liquor, Scandal must be the after draught to make it sit easie on their Stomach, till the half hour’s past, and they have disburthen’d themselves of their Secrets, and take Coach for some other place, to collect new matter for Defamation.”

[Illustration]

An anonymous poet of that time sings thus of the tea table:—

“Here we see Scandal, (for our sex too base), Seat in dread Empire in the Female Race, ’Mong Beaus and Women, Fans and Mechlin Lace, Chief seat of Slander, Ever there we see Thick Scandal circulate with right Bohea. There, source of black’ning Falsehood’s Mint of Lies, Each Dame th’ Improvement of her Talent tries, And at each Sip a Lady’s Honour dies; Truth rare as Silence, or a Negro Swan, Appears among those Daughters of the Fan.”

Peter Motteux, in the same reign (1712), wrote “A Poem in Praise of Tea;” but his theme may, after all, only have been taken to advertise his East India Warehouse in Leadenhall Street. He says:—

“From boist’rous Wine I fled to gentle Tea; For, Calms compose us after Storms at Sea. In vain wou’d Coffee boast an equal Good; The Chrystal Stream transcends the flowing Mud. Tea, ev’n the Ills from Coffee sprung, repairs, Disclaims its Vices, and its Vertue shares. To bless me with the Juice two Foes conspire, The clearest Water with the purest Fire, Wine’s Essence in a Lamp to Fewel turns, Exhales its Soul, and for a Rival burns. The Leaf is mov’d, and the diffusive Good, Thus urg’d, resigns its Spirits in the Flood. In curious Cups the liquid Blessing flows, Cups fit alone the _Nectar_ to enclose. Dissembled Groves and Nymphs by Tables plac’d, Adorn the Sides, and tempt the Sight and Taste, Yet more the gay, the lovely Colour courts, The Flavour charms us, but the Taste transports,” etc., etc.

As years went on, the poets still sung its praises; and the following portion of “Tea Drinking” brings us down to 1752, by which time it was a necessity in polite society:—

[Illustration]

“Sparkling with Youth’s gay Pride, like mirthful _May_ In the Sedan enclos’d, by Slaves up-born; See the Love-darting Dame, swing ’long the Way, Or to present the Visit, or return.

The sleek-comb’d Valet trimly trips before; Loud, thro’ the gazing Croud, commanding Place; With well-tim’d Raps he strikes the sounding Door, Thunders in Taste, and rattles with a Grace.

Along the Pavement grates the swift-slop’d Chair, Back on its well-oil’d Hinges flies the Gate; Behind the high held Hoop, up-springs the Fair, Rustling in rich Array, and silken State.

The how d’ye ended, the Contest of Place, And all the fashionable flutt’ring Toils, Down, curtsying, sink the Laughter loving Race, And undisturb’d one Moment, Silence smiles.

Behold! the Beau-complexion’d Porcelain, As Bell turn’d Tulips variegated show, In order set among the tittering Train, Replete with Spoils which from _Cathaya_ flow.

The leading Fair the Word harmonious gives, _Betty_ around attends with bending Knee; Each white-arm Fair, the painted Cup receives Pours the rich Cream, or stirs the sweetened Tea,” etc., etc.

But, although some wrote in praise of it, there was a class of people who were opposed to its use, and one of them was the celebrated Jonas Hanway, of umbrella fame. Possessed of a competence, he had nothing particular to do, so he turned philanthrope. He took up the cause of the Marine Society, he was a Governor of the Foundling Hospital, and he founded a Magdalen Hospital, which is now at Streatham. These things, however, did not fully occupy his time, and he scribbled _de omnibus rebis_: among other things, about Tea, against which he had a great aversion. In 1757 he wrote “AN ESSAY ON TEA, considered as pernicious to _Health_, obstructing _Industry_, and impoverishing the _Nation_; also an Account of its _Growth_, and great _Consumption_ in these _Kingdoms_.”

Judged from our present standpoint, it was a farrago of rubbish and false arguments, and he recommends “Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea.” He gives a list of plants which he thinks useful for the purpose:—Ground Ivy, plain, or with a few drops of lemon Balm, or lemon Balm alone, or mixed with Sage, and Lavender flowers; Lavender itself; the fresh tops of Thyme; Mint; the flowery tops of Rosemary, by themselves, or mixed with Lavender; Penny royal and Lavender; Horehound; Trefoil flowers; Sorrel; Angelica; Sage; Cowslips; and recommends a drink, which he occasionally used himself, made of Ground Ivy and stick Liquorice.

[Illustration: A Tea Garden: _George Morland_.]

This roused the ire of no less a person than Dr. Samuel Johnson, who, as “a hardened and shameless tea drinker; who has for many years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea solaces the midnights, and with tea welcomes the morning,”[132] could not sit still, and have his favourite beverage abused. So he wrote a review of Hanway’s Essay, and demolished it. Johnson certainly was an immoderate and enthusiastic tea drinker, and somewhat a tyrant over it, as Mrs. Piozzi rather ruefully relates. “By this pathetic manner, which no one ever possessed in so eminent a degree, he used to shock me from quitting his company, till I hurt my own health not a little by sitting up with him, when I was myself far from well; nor was it an easy matter to oblige him even by compliance, for he always maintained that no one forebore their own gratifications for the sake of pleasing another; and if one _did_ sit up, it was, probably, to amuse one’s self. Some right, however, he certainly had to say so, as he made his company exceedingly entertaining, when he had once forced one, by his vehement lamentations and piercing reproofs, not to leave the room, but to sit quietly, and make tea for him, as I often did in London till four o’clock in the morning.”

When dining one day with William Scott (afterwards Lord Stowell), Johnson told a little story of Garrick and his tea drinking. “I remember drinking tea with him long ago, when Peg Woffington made it, and he grumbled at her for making it too strong.” But the names of worthy and eminent tea drinkers are legion, and its virtues are so patent that even our Legislators have a room set apart in the Houses of Parliament for the discussion of it and other matters.

One or two words only, before concluding the subject of tea, and those are to show how to make a good cup of tea.

[Illustration]

The teapot should be thoroughly warmed, and the tea put into it before the addition of the water, which should _just have come to the boil_, and not have been boiling for any length of time. After standing about three minutes it should be ready for drinking. No second water should be used. A sufficiently large teapot, or teapots, should be provided, and if the quantity required exceeds the supply, then fresh tea should be made.

Tea drinking has been stigmatised by some as slow poisoning; and in one of Hood’s works we are treated to a pictorial representation of “Sloe poison.”

J. A.

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MATÉ.

Its Use in South America—Districts where Grown—Its Manufacture—Early Notice of—The _Maté_ Cup and _Bombilla_—Method of Drinking—Its Rapid Deterioration.

Yerba Maté, or Paraguay Tea, which is made from the leaves of the _Ilex Paraguayensis_, or Brazilian Holly, takes the place of _Thea Sinensis_ in nearly the whole of South America, where it has been used by the Indians from time immemorial, and by their conquerors and settlers since the seventeenth century.

It grows abundantly in Paraguay, Corrientes, Chaco, and the south of Brazil, forming woods called _yerbales_. One of the principal centres of the Maté industry is the Villa Real, a small town above Asuncion, on the Paraguay River; another is the Villa de San Xavier in the district between the rivers Uruguay and Parana. If let alone, it grows into a tree some fifteen or twenty feet high; but the plants from which the Maté is collected are moderate-sized shrubs, with numerous stems from one root. The leaves are from four to five inches long, and the finest Maté is made from the smallest shrubs. One bush will furnish three different kinds of tea, which are called _caa-cuys_, _caa-miri_, and _caa-guaza_—_caa_ meaning leaf. _Caa-cuys_ is made from the half expanded buds; but, although fine in flavour, it has the misfortune of not keeping, and, consequently, is all consumed in Paraguay. _Caa-miri_ is prepared in the same way as the Jesuit padres made it, the leaves being carefully picked, and the nerves stripped before roasting them; and the _Caa-guaza_, which is the commonest, is prepared as follows:—

[Illustration]

A Maté _yerbal_, or plantation, having been found, and a sum paid to Government for the collection of its leaves, a party of from twenty-five to thirty Indians settle down there with the intention of passing some five or six months. They make themselves as comfortable as circumstances will permit, by building wigwams covered with palm or banana leaves. Their next care is to beat, with mallets, a good hard and smooth earthen floor, about six feet square, which is called a _tatacua_. Over this is built an arch of poles, on which is spread the boughs of the _Ilex_, and under which a lively fire is kindled, that the leaves may be thoroughly dried without being scorched. This result being effected, the fire is swept off the hearth, and the dried branches being spread thereon, the leaves are beaten off with sticks, which operation reduces them to a coarse powder. Sometimes they are pounded in mortars, made by digging holes in the ground, well rammed; but now-a-days the Maté is generally treated in a more scientific and cleanly manner, the leaves being heated, as tea in China, in large iron pans set in brick work. The dried leaves are then taken to the Maté mill, which may be worked by water power, or by mules, the wooden stampers being worked by teeth placed spirally round the circumference of a revolving cylinder. A good-sized mill will turn out three tons of Maté in a day. The crushed leaves are then tightly packed in bags of damp bullock’s hide, sewn up and left to dry, when they become as hard as stones. These sacks generally weigh from 200 to 220 lbs., and this quantity is considered a good day’s work for a peon. The collectors suffer terribly during this six months of forest life, and the severe labour of collecting, in those tropical forests, is especially fatal to the unfortunate peons.

Its use is as universal as tea in China. The method of taking it has not varied for centuries; and a description of it in 1713[133] is as good as if written to-day.

[Illustration]

“During the day, they make much use of the Herb of _Paraguay_, which some call St. Bartholomew’s Herb, who, they pretend, came into that Province, where he made it wholesome and beneficial, whereas, before, it was venomous. Being only brought dry, and almost in Powder, I cannot describe it. Instead of drinking the Tincture, or Infusion, apart, as we drink Tea, they put the Herb into a cup or bowl, made of a Calabash or Gourd, tipped with silver, which they call _Maté_; they add sugar, and pour on it the hot water, which they drink immediately, without giving it time to infuse, because it turns as black as ink. To avoid drinking the Herb which swims at the top, they make use of a silver pipe, at the end whereof is a bowl, full of little holes, so that the liquor sucked in at the other end is clear from the Herb. They drink round from the same pipe, pouring hot water on the Herb as it is drank off. Instead of a pipe, which they call _Bombilla_; some part the Herb with a silver separation, called _Apartador_, full of little holes. The reluctance which the French have shown to drink after all sorts of people, in a country where so many are diseased, has occasioned the inventing of the use of little glass pipes, which they began to use at _Lima_. That liquor is, in my opinion, better than Tea; it has a flavour of the Herb, which is agreeable enough; the people of the country are so used to it, that even the poorest use it once a day, when they rise in the morning.”

[Illustration]

Frezier gives us an illustration of _Maté_ drinking, in which we see a lady using the _bombilla_, although the _Maté_ cup has an _apartador_. The silver kettle for supplying hot water is fed with charcoal at the side, and somewhat resembles the Russian _Samovar_.

We give a modern _Maté_ cup and _bombilla_; but this, which is made wholly of silver, is only intended for one person’s use.

Sometimes the _Maté_ cups are made of the gourds of the Cuca (_Crescentia Cujete_) or Cabaço (_Cucurbita lagenaria_) silver mounted. Indeed, the cup itself is the _Maté_, which gives the name to the herb, meaning, in the language of the Incas, a _calabash_. The decoction is drank with a little brown sugar or lemon added, never with milk, and if not drank very quickly will turn quite black.

It loses in flavour and aroma by keeping, so that in England it cannot possibly be drunk in perfection, which, of course, can only be done on the spot where it is produced. Its virtues are much vaunted. It is supposed to give nervous vigour, and to enable the system to resist fatigue; but this can scarcely account for the enormous quantity drunk, although to persons unused to it, when taken in large doses it is both purgative and emetic.

Like Chinese tea, it has a volatile oil, which gives it its peculiar aroma; it also contains nearly 2 per cent. of theine, and about 16 per cent. of an astringent acid, resembling tannin, which causes the infusion to turn black after a slight exposure to the air.

There is another variety of _Maté_, called _Gongonha_, which is drunk in Brazil, which is prepared from two other species of holly, the _Ilex Gongonha_ and the _Ilex Theezans_. In Chili a tea is made from the leaves of the _Psoralea glandulosa_, and in Central America an infusion of the leaves of the _Capraria bifolia_ is drunk.

J. A.

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CUCA.

Where Grown—Sustaining Power of Cuca—Early Mention of it, and Methods of Preparing and Using it—Cowley on Cuca—Its Modern Manufacture and Cost—Its Medicinal Properties—Cocaine and its Dangers.

Cuca or Coca (_Erythroxylon Coca_) is now used as a drink, the leaves, hitherto, having been masticated. It has very valuable medicinal qualities, one of the chief being the ability to sustain fatigue by those who use it. It grows in the valleys of the eastern slope of the Andes, in Bolivia, and Peru; wild in many places, but that in use is generally cultivated. It has been known ever since the Conquest of Peru, notices of it being very early; and, considering the length of time this knowledge has obtained, it is marvellous that it is only of very late years that our scientific men have interested themselves in its medicinal properties, and that an infusion of its leaves has not come into common use.

[Illustration]

The earliest mention to be found of it in English is in a[134] translation (1577) of a book written by Dr. Monades of Seville.

“OF THE COCA.

“I was desirous to see that hearbe so celebrated of the Indians, so many yeares past, which they doe call the _Coca_, which they doe sow and till with muche care and diligence, for because they doe use it for their pleasures, which we will speake of. The _Coca_ is an hearbe of the height of a yerd, little more or lesse, he carrieth his Leaves like to _Arraihau_, somewhat greater, and in that Leafe there is marked another Leafe of the like forme, with a line very thinne, they are softe, and of Coulour a light greene, they carrie the seede in clusters, and it commeth to be so redde when it is ripe, as the Seede of _Arraihau_, when it is ripe. And it is of the same greatnesse, when the hearbe is seasoned, that it is to be gathered, it is knowen in the seede, that it is ripe, and of some rednes like to a blackekishe coulour, and the hearbe beyng gathered, they put them into Canes, and other thinges, that they may drie, that it maie be kepte and caried to other partes. For that they carrie them from some high Mountaines, to others, as Marchaundise to be soulde, and they barter and chaunge them for Mantelles, and Cattell, and Salte, and other thinges whiche doe runne like to money amongest us, they doe put the seede into _Almaciga_,[135] and from that thei do take them up, and set them in another place, into Earth that is wel laboured or tilled, and made as it is convenient for to put them, by their lines and order, as we doe put here a Garden of Beanes, or of Peason.

“The use of it amongest the Indians is a thing generall, for many thinges, for when they doe travail by the waie, for neede and for their content when they are in their houses, thei use it in this forme. Thei take Cokles or Oisters in their shelles, and they doe burne them and grinde them, and after they are burned they remaine like Lyme, very small grounde, and they take of the Leves of the _Coca_, and they chawe them in their Mouthes, and, as they go chawyng, they goe mingling with it of that pouder made of the shelles in such sorte, that they make it like to a Paste taking lesse of the Pouder then of the Hearbe, and of this Paste they make certaine small Bawles rounde, and they put them to drie, and when they will use of them, they take a little Ball in their mouthe, and they chawe hym; passing hym from one parte to another, procuring to conserue him all that they can, and that beyng doen, they doe retaurne to take another, and so they goe, using of it all the tyme that they have neede, whiche is when they travaill by the waie, and especially if it be by waies where is no meate, or lacke of water. For the use of these little Bawles doe take the hunger and thurste from them, and they say that they dooe receive substaunce, as though that they did eate. At other times thei use of them for their pleasure, although that they labour not by the waie, and thei do use the same _Coca_ alone, chawing it and bringing it in their mouthes, from one side to another, untill there be no vertue remainyng in it, and then they take another.”

Garcia Lasso de la Vega, who wrote his _Commentarios Reales_ in 1609, gives a fine description of Cuca—which is taken from his translator, Sir Paul Rycaut.

“_Of the pretious Leafe called_ Cuca.”

“But above all we must not omit to discourse at large of the Herb which the _Indians_ call _Cuca_, and the _Spaniards_, _Coca_, being that which is, and hath been a considerable part of the Riches of _Peru_, and such as hath yielded great benefit to the Merchants. And, indeed, the _Indians_ did justly esteem it for the rare Virtues and Qualities of it, which the _Spaniards_ have not onely approved, but have also discovered several other specifick and medicinal Qualities belonging to it. _Blas Valera_, who was a very curious Person, and one who had resided many years in _Peru_, and came from thence thirty years after my departure, hath wrote Very largely of the many Virtues of this Herb, and such as he hath found out by his own experience. His words are these, ‘The _Cuca_ is a small, tender Tree or Bind, about the height and biggness of a Vine; it produceth not many Branches, but is full of delicate Leaves, of about the breadth and length of a Man’s Thumb; it is of an excellent smell, and very fragrant; the _Spaniards_ and _Indians_ do both give them the name of _Cuca_; the which is so much esteemed by the _Indians_, that they prefer it before Gold, or Silver, or Pretious Stones. They plant and manure them with great art and diligence, and gather them with great care, pulling them leaf by leaf, and then lay them to dry in the Sun, and so the Indians eat them dry.

“‘The Virtue and Benefit of this _Cuca_ is plainly observable in labouring Men, who, having eaten it are much refreshed, and often labour a whole day in the strength of it, without any other nourishment. The _Cuca_ moreover preserves the Body from many infirmities; and our Physicians make use of it, being dried and beaten to powder, to ease and assuage the Inflammation, or swelling of any Wound; it is good to strengthen bones which have been broken, and expell colds from the Body, and to prevent them; it is good also to cleanse great Wounds of Worms, and heal them; nor is the Virtue of it less, being taken inwardly, than it is by outward applications. Besides all which Virtues, it yields a great benefit to the Bishop and Canons and other Dependents on the Cathedral Church of _Cozco_, the Tithes of the Leaves of _Cuca_ being their greatest Revenue; it is also a great commodity amongst the Merchants; notwithstanding all which good Qualities of the _Cuca_, there are many, who being ignorant of its Virtues have wrote against it; for no other reason, than because the Gentiles, in ancient times, did, by their Diviners and Wizards offer this _Cuca_ to their Gods in Sacrifice; and, therefore, having been abused to Idolatry, they conclude that it ought for ever to be esteemed abominable and prophane. This Argument might be available, if it had been the custome to offer this Herb onely to the Devil, but, in regard that both ancient and modern Idolaters have made their Corn, and Fruits, and whatsoever grows above or beneath the earth, their Drinks and Water, their Wool and Clothing, their Flocks and Herds, and all things else, the matter and subject of their Sacrifices; we may argue from the same foundation, that all those things are defiled and rendred as abominable and unclean as the _Cuca_; but to the clean, all things being clean, let us teach them to abhor and forsake their superstitious and idolatrous Worships, and let us, using our Christian Liberty, receive those Blessings with moderation and thanksgiving.’

“Thus far are the Words of _Blas Valera_. To which we shall add thus much farther, that this little Tree is about the height of a Man, in the planting of which they cast the seed in its green shell, and when it grows up, they then hoa and open the Earth for it, as they do for Vines, supporting the tender twigs with stakes; and in planting, they take great care that the tender roots be laid streight in the Earth, for with the least doubling they dry and wither; they take likewise the Leaf of every sprig by itself, and, holding it between their fingers, they cut it with great care till they come to the Bud, but do not touch it, for then the whole branch will wither; both the outside and inside of this Leaf in the greenness and shape of it, is like the _Arbuteus_, onely the Leaves are so thin, that three or four of them, being doubled, are not so thick as that of the _Arbuteus_....

“When they gather the Leaves they dry them in the Sun; but care is to be taken that they are not over-dried, for then they lose much of their Virtue, and, being very thin, soon turn to powder; nor will they bear much moisture; for they soon grow musty and rotten; but they lay them up in Baskets of slit Canes, of which many fine ones are made in the _Antis_. With the Leaves of those big Canes, which are about the third of a yard long, they cover the top of the Baskets, to keep Moisture from the Leaves, which is very prejudicial to them; and to consider the great pains and care which is taken to nourish this _Cuca_, and the provisions of all things which are made for it, we ought rather to render thanks to God for his abundant blessings in the variety of his Creatures, than to believe or conclude that what we write is fabulous or incredible; if these fruits were to be planted or nourished in other Countries, the charge and labour of them would be more than the benefit.

“The Herb is gathered every four Months, that is three times a year, and in the manuring of it care is taken to weed it often; for the Country being hot and moist, the Weeds grow apace, and the Herb sometimes increases so fast, that the season for gathering of it advances fifteen days; so that sometimes they have four Harvests for it in a year; the which, a certain covetous Tithe-gatherer observing, in my time, farmed the Tithes of all the principal and rich Inheritances and Possessions about _Cozco_, and, taking care to keep them clear and clean from Weeds, he so improved his Revenue, that the year following, the Farmer of the Tithes made two thirds more than what had been made in the preceding years; which caused a Law Suit between the Farmer and the Proprietor, but what the Issue was of it, I that was then but a Boy, did not much remark.

“Amongst many other Virtues of this _Cuca_, they say it corroborates the Gums, and fortifies the Teeth, and that it gives strength and vigour to any person that labours and toils, onely by carrying it in his mouth. I remember a Story which I heard in my own Countrey. That a certain Gentleman, both by Bloud and Vertue, called _Rodrigo Pantoia_, journeying once from _Cozco_ to _Rimac_,[136] met with a poor _Spaniard_ (for there are some poor there, as well as here), travelling on foot, carrying a little Girl of about two years of age in his Armes; and being an acquaintance of this _Pantoia_, he asked him how he came to give himself the trouble of carrying that burthen; to which the person that was on foot, replied, that he was poor, and had not money to hire an _Indian_ to carry it.

“In this discourse with him, _Pantoia_ observed that his mouth was full of the _Cuca_; and it being, at that time, that the _Spaniards_ abhorred all things which the _Indians_ did eat or drink, because they had been abused to Idolatry, and

## particularly they hated the _Cuca_, as a base and stinking

Weed, which gave cause to _Pantoia_ to ask him farther, why he, being a _Spaniards_, did use those things which the _Spaniards_ hated; for his necessities could never be so great as to compell him to Meats or Customs unlawfull. To which the Souldier replied, that though he abhorred it as much as the _Spaniards_, yet necessity forced him to imitate the _Indians_ therein; for that without it he could never be able to travell and carry his Burthen, for that holding it in his mouth, he found such refreshment and strength, that he was able to carry his Load, and perform his Journey with chearfulness. _Pantoia_ wondring at this Report, related to many others, who, afterwards, making the same experiment thereof, found that the _Indians_ made use of it rather for their refreshment and necessity, than for any pleasure in the taste, which in itself is not very pleasant or agreeable.”

A plant having such manifold and beneficent properties must needs have a supernatural origin, and the Indians had a belief that the goddess Varischa first introduced the Cuca plant into Peru, and taught the inhabitants the use thereof. Abraham Cowley sang thereof in his Latin poems, “Sex libri plantarum,” and use is made here of the translation by Nahum Tate, of the fifth book, published in 1700. The Indian Bacchus challenge the other deities to judge between the fruits of the two worlds.

... “But _Bacchus_ much more sportive than the rest, Fills up a Bowl with Juice from Grapestones drein’d, And puts it in _Omelichilus_ hand; Take off this Draught, said he, if thou art wise, ’Twill purge thy Cannibal Stomach’s Crudities. He, unaccustomed to the acid Juice Storm’d, and with blows had answer’d the Abuse, But fear’d t’engage the _European_ Guest, Whose Strength and Courage had subdu’d the _East_. He therefore chooses a less dang’rous fray, And summons all his Country’s Plants away: Forthwith in decent Order they appear, And various Fruits on various Branches wear; Like _Amazons_ they stand in painted Arms, _Coca_ alone appears with little Charms; Yet led the Van, our scoffing _Venus_ scorn’d The shrublike Tree, and with no Fruit adorn’d. The _Indian_ Plants, said she, are like to speed In this Dispute of the most sterile Breed, Who choose a _Dwarf_ and _Eunuch_ for their Head. Our Gods laugh’d out aloud at what she said. _Pachamama_ defends her darling Tree, And said the wanton Goddess was too free, You only know the fruitfulness of Lust, And therefore here your Judgement is unjust, Your skill in other offsprings we may trust, With those Chast Tribes that no distinction know Of Sex, your Province nothing has to do. Of all the Plants that any Soil does bear, This Tree in Fruits the Richest does appear, It bears the best, and bears ’em all the year. Ev’n now with Fruits ’tis stor’d—why laugh you yet? Behold how thick with Leaves it is beset, Each Leaf is Fruit, and such substantial Fare No Fruit beside to Rival it will dare. Mov’d with his Countries Roming Fate (whose Coil Must for her Treasures be expos’d to toil) Our _Varicocha_ first this _Coca_ sent, Endow’d with Leaves of wondrous Nourishment, Whose Juice succ’d in, and to the Stomach ta’en, Long Hunger and long Labour can sustain; From which our faint and weary Bodies find More Succour, more they cheat the drooping Mind Than can your _Bacchus_ and your Ceres join’d. Three Leaves supply for six days march afford, The _Quitoita_ with this Provision stor’d Can pass the vast and cloudy _Andes_ o’er— The dreadful _Andes_ plac’d ’twixt Winter’s store Of Winds, Rain, Snow, and that more humble Earth, That gives the small but valiant _Coca_ Birth; This Champion that makes war-like _Venus_ Mirth. Nor _Coca_ only useful art at home, A famous Merchandize thou art become; A thousand _Paci_ and _Vicugni_ groan Yearly beneath thy Loads, and for thy sake alone The spacious World’s to us by Commerce known.”

Dr. Von Tschudi says that the Coca plant is regarded by the Peruvian Indian, as something sacred and mysterious, and it sustained an important

## part in religion of the Incas. In all ceremonies, whether religious or

warlike, it was introduced, for producing smoke at the great offerings, or as the sacrifice itself. During divine worship the priests chewed Coca 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 300 years, Christianity has not been able to subdue the deep-rooted idolatry; for everywhere are found traces of belief in the mysterious power of this plant. The excavators in the mines of Cerro de Pasco throw masticated Coca on hard veins of metal, in the belief that it softens the ore and renders 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 _Coyas_, or deities of metals, rendered the mountains impenetrable, if they were not propitiated by the odour of Coca. The Indians, even at the present time,[137] 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 reverence, presents to it some Coca leaves as his pious offering.

Markham[138] also says, “The reliance on the extraordinary virtues of the Coca leaf, amongst the Peruvian Indians, is so strong, that, in the Huanaco province, they believe that, if a dying man can taste a leaf placed on his tongue, it is a sure sign of his future happiness.”

He also gives an account of the modern cultivation of the plant. Sowing is commenced in December and January, when the rains begin, which continue until April. The seeds are spread on the surface of the soil in a small nursery or raising ground called _almaciga_, over which there is generally a thatch roof (_huascichi_). At the end of about a fortnight they come up; the young plants being continually watered, and protected from the sun by the _huascichi_. The following year they are transplanted to a soil specially prepared by thorough weeding, and breaking up the clods very fine by hand; often in terraces only affording room for a single row of plants, up the side of the mountains, which are kept up by small stone walls. The plants are generally placed in square holes called _aspi_, a foot deep, with stones on the sides to prevent the earth from falling in. Three or four are planted in each hole, and grow up together.

In Caravaya and Bolivia the soil in which the Coca grows is composed of a blackish clay, formed from the decomposition of the schists, which form the principal geological features of the mountains. On level ground the plants are placed in furrows called _nachos_, separated by little walls of earth, _umachas_, at the foot of each of which a row of plants is placed; but this is a modern innovation, the terrace cultivation being the most ancient. At the end of eighteen months the plants yield their first harvest, and continue to yield for upwards of forty years. The first harvest is called _quita calzon_, and the leaves are then picked very carefully, one by one, to avoid disturbing the roots of the young tender plants. The following harvests are called _mitta_ (“time” or “season”), and take place three and even four times in the year. The most abundant harvest takes place in March, immediately after the rains; the worst, at the end of June, called the _Mitta de San Juan_. The third, called _Mitta de Santos_, is in October or November. With plenty of watering, forty days suffice to cover the plants with leaves afresh. It is necessary to weed the ground very carefully, especially while the plants are young, and the harvest is gathered by women and children.

The green leaves, called _matu_, are deposited in a piece of cloth which each picker carries, and are then spread out in the drying yard, called _matu-caucha_, and carefully dried in the sun. The dried leaf is called _Coca_. The drying yard is formed of slate flags, called _pizarra_; and when the leaves are thoroughly dry, they are sewn up in _cestos_, or sacks, made of banana leaves, of 20 lbs. each, strengthened by an exterior covering of _bayeta_, or cloth.[139] They are also packed in _tambores_ of 50 lbs. each, pressed tightly down. Dr. Poeppig (writing in 1827-32) reckoned the profits of a Coca farm to be forty-five per cent.

The harvest is greatest in a hot moist situation; but the leaf generally considered the best flavoured by consumers, grows in drier parts, on the sides of hills. The greatest care is required in the drying; for too much sun causes the leaves to dry up and lose their flavour, while, if packed up moist, they become fetid. They are generally exposed to the sun in thin layers.

The approximate annual produce of Coca in Peru is about 15,000,000 lbs., the average yield being about 800 lbs. an acre. More than 10,000,000 lbs. are produced annually in Bolivia, according to Dr. Booth of La Paz; so that the annual yield of Coca throughout South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Pasto, may be estimated at more than 30,000,000 lbs. At Tacna, the _tambor_ of 50 lbs. is worth 9 to 12 dollars, the fluctuations in price being caused by the perishable nature of the article, which cannot be kept in stock for any length of time. The average duration of Coca in a sound state, on the coast, is about five months, after which time it is said to lose flavour, and is rejected by the Indians as worthless.

Cuca leaves can be bought in London, but up to the present time it has not come into much use as a beverage, yet it is supplied in Roots’ Cuca Cocoa, which is a combination of Cuca leaves, and the Cocoa bean.

There is no doubt whatever in Cuca possessing the qualities ascribed to it, and its application in medicine for many “ills that man is heir to,” is being diligently pursued by physicians all over the civilized world, with very beneficial results, and it is a valuable addition to our pharmacopœia. Johnston, in _The Chemistry of Common Life_,[140] speaking of the general effects of the Coca leaf, says that it “acts differently according to the way in which it is used. When infused, and drunk like tea, it produces a gentle excitement, followed by wakefulness; 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 commonly chewed in the form of a ball or quid, which is turned over and over in the mouth, as is done with tobacco. In this way its action is more gradual and prolonged than when the infusion only is taken. It is also very different in its character, because the constant chewing, the continued 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.”

It contains at least three different constituents; an odoriferous substance, a bitter principle, and a kind of tannic acid. When Cuca is imported into this country the leaves are coated with a resinous substance, like hops have, slightly soluble in water, but wholly in ether—which, on evaporation, leaves a brownish resin, which is powerfully odorous. This scent vanishes if it is exposed to the air for any length of time, and thus is lost one of the most important ingredients of good Cuca—rendering the leaf useless by keeping.

It contains a crystalline bitter principle which can be separated from it by alcohol. Like _Theine_, it is an alkaloid, and is called _Cocaine_; but it is not harmless, as, in many particulars, and in its physiological

## action upon the system, it resembles _Atropine_, the alkaloid of the

deadly nightshade.

It also has a tannic acid, which gives a deep brownish green colour to the _per_ salts of iron. So we see in its constituents it closely resembles the _Thea Sinensis_, only it is more powerful in its effects on the human frame, and, consequently, ought not to be taken in the same quantity as we now take tea, but it is invaluable in preventing, or greatly diminishing, the ordinary and natural waste which usually accompanies bodily exertion.

J. A.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

KOLA.

Whence Kola comes—Early Mention of—Early Trade in—Cure for Drunkenness—The _Cattia edulis_—Substitutes for Tea.

Kola can scarcely be called a tea, because, as a drink, it is produced from a nut, instead of a leaf, but it is put here because it contains the alkaloid _Theine_. Its botanical name is _Sterculia acuminata_, and it is a native of tropical West Africa, although now introduced into the West Indies and Brazils. The earliest mention of it to be found, is in “the Sieur Brüe’s Journey from Albreda, on the river Gambia, to Kachao, by land, in the year 1700.” Shortly after his start from Gambia, he was entertained by a Portuguese lady, and “after a short Compliment, one of her Slaves, a young, handsome Girl, but very immodestly dressed, presented the General a Pewter Basin full of _Kola_, a fruit much valued by the _Portugueze_. It is bitter, and makes the Teeth and Spittle yellow.”

Barbot[141] gives a very bad illustration of the nut, and the following description. “The _Cola_ is a sort of fruit, somewhat resembling a large chestnut. The tree is very tall and large, on which this fruit grows, in clusters, ten or twelve of them together; the outside of it is red, with some mixture of blue; and the inside, when cut, violet colour and brown. It comes once a year, is of a harsh, sharp taste, but quenches the thirst, and makes water relish so well, that most of the _Blacks_ carry it about them, wheresoever they go, frequently chewing, and some eat it all day, but forbear at night, believing it hinders their sleeping. The whole country abounds in this _Cola_, which yields the natives considerable profit, selling it to their neighbours up in the inland; who, as some _Blacks_ told me, sell it again to a sort of white men, who repair to them at a certain time of the year, and take off great quantities of it. These white men are suppos’d to be of _Morocco_ or _Barbary_, for the _English_ of _Bence_ island assur’d me, there was a great quantity carry’d yearly by land to _Tunis_ and _Tripoli_, in _Barbary_.”

So we see that, although a fair trade was done in Kola over 150 years ago, it is only beginning to be known in Europe.

In Congo it is called Makasso, and Guru in Soudan, and the seeds or nuts are used in West and Central Africa to make a refreshing beverage, which is somewhat allied to tea, and which has the same active principle as cocoa, without so much fatty matter. It is refreshing, invigorating, and has digestive properties. In the West Indies it is sometimes used by the negroes to counteract the effects of intoxication. It grows in pods, which contains several seeds, about the size of a horse chestnut. At present it is only used as a tonic. Kola is said to be a cure for drunkenness, and to sober an inebriate in an hour’s time; but woe be to him if he returns to his evil courses for three or four days—his punishment will be equal to sea-sickness.

There is a new product, about which, at present, very little is known in Europe. This is the _Cattia edulis_, which is said to be similar in its properties to Maté, Cuca, and Kola, in maintaining animal strength for a time, in the absence of food. It has been used by the natives of Arabia and Abyssinia for centuries. The plant is a shrub with lanceolate leaves of an olive-green colour, and it flourishes in Africa between 15° N. and 30° S. latitude, but it is chiefly cultivated in Arabia, especially in the province of Yemen. From Aden it is exported to the north-east of Africa, and the coasts of Somali land. The leaves are either chewed or infused like tea, and their sustaining virtues have recently been tested by M. Leloups, a French therapeutist. He employed not only the infusion, but the tincture, and an extract of the leaves, finding them all to produce wakefulness and banish fatigue. No definite alkaloid has yet been obtained from the leaves.

In conclusion I may give the following list of substitutes for Chinese Tea and Maté.

Popular Name. Where collected Name of Plant. and used.

Arabian Tea. Arabia. { Cattia edulis. Abyssinia. { Cattia Spinosa.

Unnamed. China. Sageretia theezans.

New Jersey Tea. N. America. Ceanothus Americanus.

Unnamed. Chili. Psoralea glandulosa.

Boer Tea. Cape of Good Hope. Cyclopia Vogelii.

Sloe and Strawberry Tea. North Europe. { Prunus spinosa ⅓ { Fragraria collina or { F. resca ⅔.

Long-life Tea. Bencoolen. { Glaphyria nitida { (flowers).

Tea Plants. } New Holland. { Leptospermum scoparium Tasmanian Tea.} { and L. Thea. { Melaleuca genistifolia, { and M. scoparia.

Unnamed. Chili. Myrtus ugni.

Colony Tea. Cape of Good Hope. { Helichrysum { serpyllifolium.

Mountain Tea. N. America. Gualtheria procumbens.

Labrador Tea.} N. America. { Ledum palustre and James’s Tea. } { Ledum latifolium.

Toolsie Tea. India. Ocymum album.

Oswego Tea. N. America. { Monarda didyma and { M. purpurea.

Unnamed. France. { Micromeria thea { sinensis.

Sage Tea. North Europe. Salvia officinalis.

Ama tsja: Tea of Heaven. Japan. Hydrangea thunbergii.

“Burr.” New Holland. Acæna sanguisorba.

Santa Fé Tea. New Granada. Styrax alstonia.

Unnamed. Central America. Capraria bifolia.

Cape Barran Tea. New Holland. Correa alba.

Capitão da matto. Brazil. Lautana pseudo thea.

Faham or Bourbon Tea. Mauritius. Angrœcum fragrans.

Brazilian Tea. Austria. { Stachytarpheta { jamaicensis.

Mexican Tea. Mexico and Columbia.{ Chenopodium { ambrosoides.

Apalachian Tea. N. America. { Viburnum Cassinoides, { and Prinos glaber.

A tea is also made of coffee leaves, and this infusion has been drunk for an unknown time in the Eastern Archipelago, especially in the island of Sumatra. It is said to be an agreeable beverage, and is preferred by the natives to the berry.

J. A.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

COFFEE.

Its Growth and Birthplace—Where most Drank—Legends as to its Origin—Its Gradual Spread—Introduction into Europe and England—Pasqua Rosee’s Handbill—The English Coffee Houses—Their Rules—A Poem about Coffee Houses.

Next to tea, Coffee is, perhaps, the infusion most drank, its use being universal in Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and most Mahometan countries; and on the continent of Europe, with the exception of Russia, it is a greater favourite than tea. In Norway and Sweden it is especially drank, whilst tea is comparatively disused.

It is the seed of an evergreen shrub (_Coffea Arabica_) which grows from six to twelve feet high, with a stem of from six to fifteen inches in circumference. When the blossom falls off, there remains, in its room, or rather, springs from each blossom, a small fruit, green at first, but which becomes red when it ripens; it is not unlike a cherry, and is very good to eat. Under the flesh of this cherry, instead of the stone, is found the bean, or berry, which we call coffee, wrapped round in a fine thin skin. The berry is then very soft, and of a disagreeable taste; but as the cherry ripens, the berry in the inside grows harder, and the dried-up fruit being the flesh or the pulp of it, which was before eatable, becomes a shell or pod, of a deep brown colour. The berry is now solid, and of a clear transparent green. Each shell contains one berry, which splits into two equal parts.

In Abyssinia coffee appears to have been used as a drink from time immemorial. Abd-Alkader, a learned native of Medina, writing at the beginning of the seventeenth century, gives us the history of its introduction into Arabia. A certain Sheikh, notorious for his piety and knowledge, named Jemal-Eddin, brought it from Persia to Aden. He was wont to take it as a medicine relieving the headache, enlivening the heart, and preventing drowsiness. This last attribute at once recommended it to the various imams, muftis, and dervishes, who wished to remain awake for the performance of religious exercises at night. The examples of these holy persons had its usual influence upon the people, and coffee drinking soon became a common custom.

Not, however, without considerable opposition did this fashion come into vogue; there were many long and animated disputes about the legitimacy of drinking coffee. Its defenders alleged its medicinal virtues, its opponents declared it to be like wine, of an inebriating nature—indeed, a sort of wine itself; and went so far, in the heat of argument, as to say that all who drank it would appear at the general resurrection with faces blacker than the bottoms of their coffee-pots.

An insult of this sort was surely sufficient to justify a prompt adoption of the severest rejoinder by the other side, and, in replying, they became poetic. Said one:—

“It is a dear object of desire to the collector of knowledge; It is the drink of the people of God, and in it is health, It’s odour is Musk, it’s colour Ink: The wise man and the good will sip it pure as milk in its innocence, And differing from it but in blackness.”

And another sang—

“Courtesy is the coat of the customers in a Coffee-house. The Coffee-house itself is as Paradise in its carpets, its company and its tender delights. When the waiter comes with the Coffee in its cup of porcelain, sorrow disappears, and all anguish sinks under its dominion. In its water we wash away our impurities, and burn out our solicitudes in its fire. The man who has looked only on its chafing dish will say, ‘Fie upon the Wine and the Wine Vats.’”

Coffee won the day.

There is, however, another story of its introduction—how in the far-off past a poor dervish, who lived in the deserts of Arabia, noticed that his goats came home every evening in a state of hilarity. Unable to account for this, he watched them, and found them feeding on the blossoms and berries of a tree which he had never before noticed. He experimented upon himself by eating them, and soon became as jocund as his goats, so much so, that he was accused of having partaken of the accursed juice of the grape. But he soon convinced his maligners that the source of his high spirits was harmless, and they, tasting, became converts, and the berry became of general use.

From Abyssinia, the use of coffee spread to Persia and Arabia, thence to Aden, Mecca, Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo and Constantinople, whence it found its way to Venice in 1615. But it is hard to say exactly when its use was introduced into England. Robert Burton mentions it in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_, but not in the 1621 edition. He says,[142] “The Turks have a drink called Coffee (for they use no wine), so named of a berry, as black as soot, and as bitter (like that black drink which was in use among the Lacedæmonians, and perhaps the same), which they sip still of, and sup as warm as they can suffer; they spend much time in those coffee houses, which are somewhat like our alehouses or taverns, and there they sit, chatting and drinking, to drive away the time, and to be merry together, because they find by experience that kind of drink, so used, helpeth digestion, and procureth alacrity.”

Anthony à Wood says that the first coffee-house was kept in 1650 in Oxford, by Jacobs, a Jew; and it seems generally recognised that the first coffee-house in London was opened in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill, in 1652, by one Pasqua Rosee, a Greek, servant to Mr. Edwards, a Turkey merchant. In “A Broadside against COFFEE, or the Marriage of the Turk” (1672), he is thus mentioned:—

“A Coachman was the first (here) _Coffee_ made, And ever since the rest _drive on_ the trade; _Me no good Engalash!_ and sure enough, He plaid the Quack to salve his Stygian stuff; _Ver boon for de stomach, de Cough, de Ptisick_, And I believe him, for it looks like Physick.”

Here is Rosee’s handbill:—

“THE VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK.

“First publiquely made and sold in England, by _Pasqua Rosee_.

“The grain or berry called _Coffee_, groweth upon little Trees, only in the _Deserts of Arabia_.

“It is brought from thence, and drunk generally throughout all the Grand Seignior’s Dominions.

“It is a simple innocent thing, composed into a Drink, by being dryed in an Oven, and ground to Powder, and boiled up with Spring water, and about half a pint of it to be drunk, fasting an hour before, and not Eating an hour after, and to be taken as hot as possibly can be endured; the which will never fetch the skin off the mouth, or raise any Blisters, by reason of that Heat.

“The Turks drink at Meals and other times, is usually _Water_, and their Dyet consists much of _Fruit_; the _Crudities_ whereof are very much corrected by this Drink.

“The quality of this Drink is Cold and Dry; and though it be a Dryer, yet it neither _heats_, nor _inflames_ more than _hot Posset_.

“It so closeth the Orifice of the Stomack, and fortifies the heat within, that it’s very good to help digestion; and therefore of great use to be taken about 3 or 4 o’clock afternoon, as well as in the morning.

“It much quickens the _Spirits_, and makes the Heart _Lightsome_.

“It is good against sore Eys, and the better if you hold your Head over it, and take in the Steem that way.

“It suppresseth Fumes exceedingly, and therefore good against the _Head-ach_, and will very much stop any _Defluxion of Rheums_ that distil from the _Head_ upon the _Stomack_, and so prevent and help _Consumptions_, and the _Cough of the Lungs_.

“It is excellent to prevent and cure the _Dropsy_, _Gout_ and _Scurvy_.

“It is known by experience to be better than any other Drying Drink for _People in years_, or _Children_ that have any _running humors_ upon them, as _the King’s Evil_, etc.

“It is very good to prevent _Mis-carryings in Child-bearing Women_.

“It is a most excellent remedy against the _Spleen_, _Hypocondriack Winds_, or the like.

“It will prevent _Drowsiness_, and make one fit for busines, if one have occasion to _Watch_; and therefore you are not to drink of it _after Supper_, unless you intend to be _watchful_, for it will hinder sleep for three or four hours.

“_It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk, that they are not trobled with the Stone, Gout, Dropsie, or Scurvey, and that their Skins are exceeding cleer and white._

“It is neither _Laxative_ nor _Restringente_.

“Made and Sold in _St. Michael’s Alley_ in _Cornhill_, by _Pasqua Rosee_, at the Signe of his own Head.”

That it met with opposition at its introduction, we have already seen in “A Broadside against Coffee;” but Hatton, in his “New View of London,” 1708, gives a case of clear persecution. “I find it Recorded that one _James Farr_, a barber, who kept the Coffee House which is now the _Rainbow_, was, in the year 1657, presented by the Inquest of St. Dunstan’s in the W. for Making and Selling a sort of Liquor, called Coffee, as a great Nusance and Prejudice of the neighbourhood, etc. And who would then have thought London would ever have had near 3000 such Nusances, and that Coffee should have been, as now, so much Drank by the best of Quality and Physicians.”[143]

[Illustration]

The coffee houses soon became popular, because they filled a social want. There were no clubs, as we know them, although there were limited social gatherings, under the name of club, held at stated periods—and the coffee house provided a convenient place for gossip and news. Here were served alcoholic drinks as well as coffee; here the newspapers might be seen; here, also, men could indulge in a pipe, and its advantages are well summed up by Misson,[144] who travelled in England in the reign of William and Mary. “These Houses, which are very numerous in London, are extreamly convenient. You have all Manner of News there; You have a good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; You have a dish of Coffee, you meet your Friends for the Transaction of Business, and all for a Penny, if you don’t care to spend more.”

“THE RULES AND ORDERS OF THE COFFEE-HOUSE.[145]

“_Enter Sirs, freely, But first, if you please,_ _Peruse our Civil-Orders, which are these._

“First, Gentry, Tradesmen, all are welcome hither, And may, without Affront, sit down Together: Pre-eminence of Place, none here should Mind, But take the next fit Seat that he can find: Nor need any, if Finer Persons come, Rise up for to assigne to them his Room; To limit Men’s Expence, we think not fair, But let him forfeit Twelve pence that shall Swear; He that shall any Quarrel here begin, Shall give each Man a Dish t’ Atone the Sin; And so shall he, whose Complements extend So far to drink in COFFEE to his Friend; Let Noise of loud Disputes be quite forborn, No Maudlin Lovers here in Corners Mourn: But all be Brisk, and Talk, but not too much; On Sacred things, Let none presume to touch, Nor Profane Scripture, or sawcily wrong Affairs of State with an Irreverent Tongue: Let mirth be Innocent, and each Man see, That all his Jests without Reflection be; To keep the House more Quiet, and from Blame, We Banish hence Cards, Dice and every Game: Nor can allow of Wagers, that Exceed Five Shillings, which, oft-times, much Trouble Breed; Let all that’s Lost or Forfeited be spent In such Good Liquor as the House doth Vent, And Customers endeavour to their Powers, For to observe still seasonable Howers. Lastly, Let each Man what he calls for _Pay_, And so you’re welcome to come every Day.”

To know of coffee-houses in their prime, we must turn to the pages of Addison and Steele, to the _Guardian_, the _Spectator_, the _Tatler_, etc., but they are well epitomised in the following poem, which bears date 1667:—

“NEWS FROM THE COFFEE-HOUSE.

“In which is shewn their several sorts of Passions, Containing Newes from all our Neighbour _Nations_.

“A POEM.

“You that delight in Wit and Mirth, And long to hear such News, As comes from all Parts of the _Earth_, _Dutch_, _Danes_, and _Turks_, and _Jews_, I’le send yee to a Rendezvouz, Where it is smoaking new; Go, hear it at a _Coffee-house_, _It cannot but be true_.

There Battles and Sea-Fights are Fought, And bloudy Plots display’d; They know more things than ’ere was thought Or ever was betray’d: No Money in the Minting House Is halfe so Bright and New; And, comming from a _Coffee-House_ _It cannot but be true_.

Before the _Navyes_ fall to Work, They know who shall be Winner; They there can tell ye what the _Turk_ Last Sunday had to Dinner; Who last did cut _Du Ruitter’s_ Corns, Amongst his jovial Crew; Or Who first gave the _Devil_ Horns. _Which cannot but be true._

A _Fisherman_ did boldly tell, And strongly did avouch, He Caught a Shoal of Mackarel, That Parley’d all in _Dutch_, And cry’d out, _Yaw, yaw, yaw, Myne Here_; But as the Draught they Drew, They Struck for fear that _Monck_ was there, _Which cannot but be true_.

Another Swears by both his Ears, _Mounsieur_ will cut our Throats; The _French King_ will a Girdle bring, Made of Flat-bottom’d Boats; Shall compas _England_ round about, Which must not be a few, To give our _Englishmen_ the Rout; _This sounds as if ’twere true_.

There’s nothing done in all the World, From _Monarch_ to the _Mouse_, But every Day or Night ’tis hurl’d Into the _Coffee-house_. What _Lillie_ or what _Booker_ can By Art, not bring about At _Coffee-house_ you’l find a Man, _Can quickly find it out_.

They’l tell ye there, what Lady-ware, Of late is grown too light; What Wise-man shall from Favour Fall, What Fool shall be a Knight; They’l tell ye when our Fayling Trade Shall Rise again, and Flourish, Or when _Jack Adams_ shall be made Church-Warden of the Parish.

They know who shall in Times to come, Be either made or undone, From great _St. Peter’s-street_ in _Rome_, To _Turnbull-street_ in _London_. And likewise tell, in _Clerkenwell_, What w⸺ hath greatest Gain, And in that place, what Brazen-face Doth wear a Golden Chain.

At Sea their knowledge is so much, They know all Rocks and Shelves, They know all Councils of the _Dutch_, More than they know Themselves. Who ’tis shall get the best at last, They perfectly can shew At _Coffee-house_, when they are plac’d _You’d scarce believe it true_.

They know all that is Good, or Hurt, To Dam ye, or to Save ye; There is the _Colledge_ and the _Court_, The _Country_, _Camp_, and _Navie_; So great a _Vniversitie_ I think there ne’re was any; In which you may a Schoolar be For spending of a Penny.

A _Merchant’s Prentice_ there shall show You all and every thing, What hath been done, and is to do, ’Twix _Holland_ and the _King_; What _Articles_ of _Peace_ will bee He can precisely show, What will be good for _Them_ or _Wee_, He perfectly doth know.

Here Men do talk of every Thing, With large and liberal Lungs, Like Women at a Gossiping, With double tyre of Tongues; They’l give a Broad-side presently, Soon as you are in view, With Stories that you’l wonder at, Which they will swear are true.

The Drinking there of _Chockolat_, Can make a _Fool_ a _Sophie_, ’Tis thought the _Turkish Mahomet_ Was first Inspir’d with Coffee: By which his Powers did Over-flow The Land of _Palestine_; Then let us to the _Coffee-house_ go, ’Tis Cheaper farr than Wine.

You shall know there, what Fashions are; How Perrywiggs are Curl’d; And for a Penny you shall heare All Novells in the World. Both Old and Young, and Great and Small, And Rich and Poore, you’ll see; Therefore let’s to the _Coffee_ all, Come All away with Mee. _Finis._”

J. A.

[Illustration]

Different Sorts of Coffee—Its Enemies—Its Composition and Treatment—Methods of Making—Adulterations—Liberian Coffee—Date Coffee and other Substitutes.

There are about twenty-two species of coffee, seven of them belonging to Asia, and fifteen to Africa, where it grows in districts widely apart, as in Angola and on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza; yet, although it is so widely disseminated, and comes from so many different places, it is getting commercially dearer without any present prospect of any reduction. Its value in the market is as follows—the first being the highest, and the last the lowest in price. Mocha, Jamaica, Ceylon, Honduras, Mysore, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, New Grenada, and divers East Indian growths; and its consumption per head in Europe, ranks thus: Holland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Austria, Greece, Great Britain, Italy and Russia.

Unfortunately the coffee plant has its enemies, in the shape of two fungi which have devastated the plantations of Ceylon and Mysore, one the _Hemileia Vastata_, and the other the _Pellicularia Kolerota_, whilst an insect called the coffee bug (_Lecanium Coffeæ_) causes great destruction, as does also the coffee, or Golunda rat. Indeed, these enemies so prevailed in Ceylon as to render coffee growing not only unprofitable, but almost impossible, so the planters took to growing tea, with the good results which we have seen.

Raw coffee has very little scent, and a bitter taste, and no one would credit it with the delicious aroma which is developed—like the tea leaf—by roasting, an operation which increases the bulk of the berry, whilst diminishing its weight. Its commercial value is in proportion to its aroma; and it is found that, by keeping the raw berry, a chemical change takes place, which very much improves inferior qualities. But this aroma is extremely volatile, and ground coffee should be kept in scrupulously air-tight cases. Indeed, so fugitive is it, that coffee to be drank in perfection should be made from berries roasted freshly every day, as is frequently done in France.

Raw coffee contains an astringent acid, which does not stain iron black, like that of tea, but green; and it also embodies Theine, or, as it is called when applied to coffee, _Caffeine_. This alkaloid does not exist in large quantities as in tea, _i.e._, the drinker of an equal number of cups of both beverages would have less of the alkaloid if coffee was drunk.

The berries, when roasted, and their flavour developed, are ground—coarse or fine according to taste, and are then ready to be made into a drink. It is here, in conjunction with the use of stale, and consequently, tasteless coffee, that we, in England, go to grief. Of coffee-making machines there are numbers; but if pure coffee is used, they might as well be dispensed with, whilst they are almost necessary if the coffee is adulterated. Another thing that our English housekeepers do not understand is, that coffee, in order to be productive of a good result, should be used large-handedly and generously, and not according to the time-honoured, grandmotherly, but parsimonious method applied to tea, of a teaspoonful for each person and one for the pot. The allowance of freshly ground coffee should be from 1½ to 2 oz. per pint of water, and any less does not make coffee, but only “water bewitched.”

With this quantity excellent coffee can be made without the aid of any machine. Warm the coffee pot, or jug, put in the coffee, and then add the water, which, as with tea, should just have come to the boil, and after standing a little time, the coffee is fit to drink. If the coffee is boiled, the extremely volatile aroma is dissipated, and its exquisite flavour lost.

But a good way of making coffee is to make it over night. Put the coffee in a jug, and pour cold water on it. The lighter particles soon get soaked and fall to the bottom. In the morning it has only to be warmed until it just boils, when it should be strained and served at once. This only applies to _pure_ coffee.

There are too many adulterants used, and what “French Coffee” and “Coffee as in France” is made of, the Lord and their manufacturers only know. The chief of these offenders in England is the root of the succory, chicory, or wild endive (_Cichorium Intybus_), which, originally wild, is now extensively cultivated in England; whilst on the Continent it is very largely grown in France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland, and both home-grown and foreign chicory are largely in our market, the latter fetching the higher price. It does not taste like coffee, nor has it any aroma; but, when roasted, it gives a dark colour to water, and a bitter taste, as if a great deal of coffee had been used; and for this purpose it must have been first used in the old coffee-houses. But it is a question whether you buy pure roasted and ground chicory. In Germany it is adulterated largely with turnips and carrots, whilst Venetian red is used to give it a colour.

Notice has already been made of the different kinds of coffee, but not the West African species—the Liberian coffee (_Coffea Liberica_)—which has not, as yet, come into common use in England. There are many substitutes for coffee, one of which developed a few years since into a large commercial undertaking, but eventually collapsed. It was Date Coffee, made out of date stones roasted and ground. Among other substances used in lieu of coffee, are the roasted seeds of the yellow water-lily (_Iris pseudocorus_); the seeds of a _Goumelia_, called in Turkey _Keuguel_; roasted acorns and beans, chick peas, rye and other grains, nuts, almonds, and dandelion roots (_Leontodon taraxacum_), whilst in Africa many berries are used in its stead.

J. A.

[Illustration]

COCOA.

Where Cocoa is Grown—Its Manufacture—Its Use Abroad and in England—Cocoa as a Drink—Chocolate, Edible and Otherwise—Substitutes for Cocoa.

Linnæus was so fond of the drink made from the seeds of this plant that he gave it the name of _Cacao Theobroma_, or “Food of the Gods.”

As a drink it cannot be classed among the infusions, like tea, nor is it roasted and ground to powder like coffee; but the seeds are crushed and mealed in a mill, and from this oily meal is made the thin gruel which we drink as cocoa.

It seems to have been originally a native of Mexico, and is now cultivated there, in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, New Granada, Venezuela, Guiana, and most of the West India Islands. Commercially the different sorts rank in value as follow: Trinidad, Caraccas, Grenada, Guayaquil, Surinam, Bahia, Ceylon, and British West Indies.

It grows, as we see in the illustration, somewhat like a melon, which contains some fifty or more seeds, in rows embedded in a spongy substance, from which the seeds are cleansed and then dried in the sun, when it becomes brittle and of a dark colour internally, eating like an oily nut, but with a decidedly bitter and somewhat astringent taste. To render it fit for food, it is gently roasted to develop the aroma, allowed to cool, deprived of its husk, and then crushed into small fragments called cocoa nibs, which is the purest form in which it is used, but also the one which entails the greatest trouble in making a drink therefrom. The granulated, rock, flake, and soluble cocoas are made by the beans being ground into a paste in a rolling mill; starch, flour, sugar, and other ingredients being used, according to the taste of different manufacturers.

It was used by the Mexicans and Peruvians before their conquest by the Spaniards, and formed an article of barter among them. Columbus brought a knowledge of it to Europe; but those were not the days of non-alcoholic drinks, and it was some time before it came into vogue. Naturally, first of all in Spain, and to this day Spain is the greatest European consumer of cocoa in some shape or other. It was introduced into England about the same time as tea and coffee, but the chocolate houses, pure and simple, as such, were very few compared to the coffee houses. It was taxed as a drink by the same Acts as tea, and paid the same duty. In the eighteenth century it became a fashionable morning drink, especially for ladies, and is perpetually alluded to by the essayists; but it was so expensive as to be only a drink for the upper classes.

[Illustration: CHOCOLATE DRINKING.]

Cocoa as a drink is far more nutritious than either tea or coffee, and like those two substances it has a volatile oil which gives the delicious aroma, and an active principle resembling Theine or Caffeine—but not identical with them—called _Theobromine_. It has no tannic acid, but it has what the other two do not possess, it has a peculiar fatty matter, known as cocoa butter, which sometimes amounts to half the contents of the seed. It is this excess of fat which renders it liable to disagree with some susceptible stomachs, but the mixture of farinaceous matter and sugar tend in a great measure to obviate this inconvenience.

In another method of manufacture it is known as Chocolate, which is simply the cocoa bean ground and flavoured with sugar, vanilla, almonds, cinnamon, or what not, according to taste. It is in a dry form the most popular of sweetmeats, although the adulterations practised by low class firms, in order to sell a cheap article, are many, owing to its high price; yet the goods of first-rate firms like Menier, Fry, Cadbury, and others, may be taken without suspicion, and are—good!!!

There are pseudo cocoas, as there are pseudo coffees and teas. The Guarana, or Brazilian Cocoa (_Paullina sorbilis_); a ground nut, the _Arachis hypogeia_, used in South Carolina, Angola, and elsewhere; the _Cyperus esculentus_, or earth chestnut, in Spain, are the chief substitutes; but it is needless to say that none compare with the THEOBROMA. Alas! that it should be adulterated.

J. A.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

AËRATED DRINKS.

Ginger Beer—Old and New Methods of Manufacture—Lemonade—Chemicals in Non-Alcoholic Drinks—Fruit Syrups—Non-Alcoholic Cordials and Liquors—Natural Mineral Waters—Their Constituents—Artificial Aërated Waters—Their Introduction into England—Manufacture.

Popular among non-intoxicant drinks is the homely Ginger Beer, so dearly beloved of thirsty holiday makers and small children; dear also to the boating man in connection with good ale, as “Shandy-gaff.” And the stone bottle, in which it used generally to be encased, is familiar to every reader. We say, advisedly, _used_, because now-a-days it is also put up in glass bottles; nay, it is sold in casks, like beer, to the publicans and others. The probability is that, in the old days, its somewhat murky colour would not bear inspection through bright glass. The old ginger beer, whose flavour cannot be approached by the modern decoctions, was made of Jamaica ginger macerated in water, with the addition of lemon juice and sugar. It was allowed to ferment, and possessed decided traces of alcohol. It was made after this fashion:—

Take 1 ounce of best Jamaica ginger, and crush thoroughly with a hammer or suitable crushing machine; boil gently for about an hour in about a quart of water, then add 1 lb. of best loaf sugar, and make up to a gallon with hot water; stir until all is dissolved. Add a small quantity of the soluble essence of lemon, and gum extract, the quantity to be regulated to taste of the maker. Then stir in ¼ ounce of tartaric acid, and, if required for quick fermentation, a very small quantity of yeast. The beer should fine down perfectly clear, and should then be bottled. In from one to three weeks time it is ready for drinking, and should keep good about six months.

This was the old fashion—now for the new.[146]

Plain Syrup, from 56° to 60° T.[147] 3 quarts Boiling Water 1 quart Oil of Lemon 24 minims Acetic Acid 4 fluid ounces Ginger Tincture (21, 22, or 23), Q.S.[148]

Use 1 to 1½ ounce of the flavoured spirit to each bottle.

First incorporate the lemon oil with 1 quart of the thick syrup. (If the oil contains a large proportion of insoluble matter, it may be well to use rather less than 1 quart of syrup in the first place.) Then add the boiling water, and, after that, the remaining syrup; taking care to keep the mixture constantly agitated during the process.

Lastly, add the acid, and ginger tincture according to taste, or the requirements of the public analyst.

By adding boiling _syrup_ instead of boiling water to the mixture of plain syrup and oil of lemon, and subsequently adding the required quantity of cold water, the whole operation will be brought more thoroughly under control, and a larger proportion of oil may be employed without waste. With some samples of the oil, it may be necessary to heat a larger portion of the syrup; but the oil should always be mixed with _cold_, _thick_ syrup in the first place, unless a perfectly _close_, _air-tight vessel_ is provided for mixing; in this case, hot, thick syrup may be poured on the oil, cold water being subsequently added to give the requisite density.

When it is required to incorporate a maximum quantity of lemon oil with the syrup, it should first be whisked into the _whole_ of the thick syrup _cold_; the flavoured syrup should then be carefully heated by means of a steam jacket, or other convenient arrangement, until the suspended oil is reduced to a state of solution. The syrup will then be transparent. Let it be cooled again as quickly as possible.

_Gingerade._

Plain Syrup, 42° T.[149] 1 gallon Ginger Tincture (No. 21 or 22) 4 fluid ounces Acetic Acid 4 ” Bitter Orange Tincture, Q.S.

Use 1 to 1½ ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

Ginger Ale is a beverage supposed to beguile the artless teetotaller into an idea that he is doing something naughty, or at all events, placing himself on the very verge of tampering with the accursed thing “Beer.” Hence its name, but what a difference in the two drinks! Here are two receipts for making

_Ginger Ale._

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon Comp. Ginger Tincture (No. 23) 4 fluid ounces Acetic Acid 4 ” Sugar Colouring ½ ”

Or

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon Ginger Tincture (No. 21 or 22) 4 fluid ounces Capsicum Tincture (No. 24) 1 ” Sugar Colouring ½ ”

Use 1 to 1½ ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

If desired, the _bouquet_ may be enriched by the use of one or more of the following ingredients:—

Essence of Vanilla 3 drams (180 minims) per gallon Butyric Ether 4 minims ” Otto of Roses ⅓ ” ”

Half an ounce of Spanish liquorice to the gallon will considerably improve the flavour.

_Lemonade._

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon Lemon Tincture (No. 19) 4 fluid ounces Acetic Acid 4 to 5 ”

Use 1½ ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

When lemonade is required specially for medicinal purposes, and is sold expressly as a genuine fruit preparation, citric acid should be employed instead of acetic. In that case dissolve 1 lb. of citric acid in a pint of boiling water, and use 4 fluid ounces of the clear solution to each gallon of syrup.

Some manufacturers have attained a high reputation for their lemonade by adding a small quantity of _Neroli_[150] to the ordinary syrup. This, if judiciously used, will doubtless be deemed an improvement by connoisseurs generally, provided they are kept in ignorance of the substance employed; but a still greater improvement is produced by adding about 1 fluid ounce of good _orange flower water_ to each gallon of syrup.

In the next beverage we are perilously tempting the fiend Alcohol, although it ranks as a Temperance drink.

_Champagne Cyder._

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon Butyrate of Ethyl[151] 4 minims Acetate of Amyl[152] 4 ” Nitrate of Amyl 2 ” Acetic Acid 4 or 5 fluid ounces Sugar Colouring 1 ”

Use 1 to 1½ fluid ounces of this syrup to each bottle.

But here is a direction which plainly shows the cloven hoof.

“The Ethyl and Amyl compounds are conveniently used by mixing them separately in the first place with nine times their bulk of Alcohol, or strong rectified spirit, adding these mixtures to the Acetic Acid, and this in turn to the syrup.”

At every turn, in all these drinks, are chemicals used. Do you want the flavour of the luscious Jargonelle pear? hey, presto! There it is for you in a spirituous solution of Acetate of Amyl, made by distilling potato spirit with Oil of Vitrol and Acetate of Potash, at least this gives a fine fruity flavour, but to bring out the true Jargonelle taste it must be mixed with six times its bulk of spirits of wine (_Mem. for Teetotallers_). The taste of apples can be counterfeited by mixing Amylic Ether (potato ether) and Valerianic Acid, which latter is made by substituting Bichromate of Potash for Acetate of Potash, and largely added Alcohol. The delicious aroma of the Pine-apple is made from Butyric Acid, mixed with ordinary ether, and dissolved in Alcohol. Indeed with compounds of the Ethyls, Methyls, and Amyls, all the bouquets contained in wines or spirits can be obtained.[153]

Does your chemical compound look flat and dull when poured out? lo! you can produce a “head,” or froth, made out of isinglass, gum arabic, gelatine, white of egg, Irish moss, or soapwort. The latter gives an excellent head; but as these frothing mixtures detract from the keeping of the chemical drink, yet another chemical has to be used as an antiseptic, and Salicylic Acid, made from Carbolic Acid, is recommended. Do you want to colour your decoctions? There is a wide range of tints for you to choose from, from the harmless burnt sugar to the Acetate of Rosaniline, or Aniline Magenta, of which 1/30th of a grain will colour a bottleful, a beautiful red.

For the fruit syrups, fruits are very often used, but of course not necessarily. Even milk is not sacred from the chemist. Here are two recipes for making Cream Syrup:—

No. 1.

Fresh Cream ½ pint Fresh Milk ½ ” Powdered Sugar 1 pound

Another formula:—

No. 2.

Oil of Sweet Almonds 2 ounces Powdered Gum Arabic 2 ” Water 4 ”

Make an emulsion, and add simple syrup to make up 2 pints, and there you are, thoroughly independent of the cow!

In these syrupy mixtures the Americans run riot, and a few years since many shops, notably druggists, sold strange and curious frothing mixtures; but there was no call for them in the winter, and they died out as suddenly as they were introduced. The following is a fair list of syrups, some of which, however, are decidedly exciseable. Ambrosia, Apple, Apricot, Banana, Blackberry, Brandy, Capillaire, Cherry, Chocolate, Citron, Clove, Coffee, Cream, Curaçoa, Currant (black or red), Ginger, Grape, Groseille, Gum, Lemon, Limes, Mulberry, Nectar, Nectarine, Noyeau, Orange (bitter), Orange (sweet), Orange (Tangerine), Orgeat, Peach, Pear, Peppermint, Pine-apple, Plum, Quince, Raspberry, Roses, Sarsaparilla, Sherbet, Strawberry, Vanilla, Violets.

And here is a list of Non-Alcoholic Cordials and Liqueurs (non-exciseable), it is said; but if so, they must be fearfully and wonderfully made. Anisette, Bitters, Caraway, Cherry Brandy, Clove, Curaçoa, Elderette, Fettle, Ginger Brandy, Ginger Cordial, Ginger Gin, Ginger Punch, Gingerette, Lemon Punch, Lime Fruit, Nectar Punch, Noyeau, Orange Bitters, Orange Gin, Peppermint, Pepper Punch, Pick-me-up, Raspberry, Raspberry Punch, Rum Punch, Rum Shrub, Sarsaparilla, Shrub, Spiced Ale, Strawberry, Tangerine, Tonic, Winter Punch.

But enough of these chemical concoctions of man; let us go to Nature, and see what she turns out of her laboratory. Most marvellous combinations of Minerals, Acids, Gases, and Water. Among the Minerals may be named Alumina, Arsenic, Barium, Boron, Bromine, Cæsium, Calcium, Copper, Fluorine, Iodine, Iron, Lithium, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, Rubidium, Silicon, Sodium, Strontium, Sulphur, Zinc, etc. And of Gases we have Ammonia, Carbonic Acid, Hydrogen, Hydro-Sulphuric, Nitrogen, and Oxygen. These materials are mixed in very varying amounts, and from very valuable medical agencies, from the purgative Friedrichshall, to the nauseous Harrogate. But all are not nasty: some are just sufficiently alkaline to be tasty, and, having a briskness imparted to them either naturally, or otherwise, by carbonic acid, make pleasant drinks for table.

These simple waters are abundant on the Continent. In Germany we have the well-known Apollinaris, Selters, Landskro, Brückenau, Roisdorf, Gieshübel, and Heppingen, whilst in France there are those of St. Galmier, Chateldon, and Pougues, besides some in Italy and many in America.

These, especially the medical waters, are imported into England; but mineral waters are largely manufactured. By mineral waters I do not mean the aërated waters we drink under the names of Soda, and Seltzer, but the medicinal waters.

The effervescing, or aërated waters, which are now so much used all over the civilized world, were first made on a large commercial scale by the firm of J. Schweppe, of Geneva (a name very well known in England, in connection with the manufacture), in 1789; and ten years afterwards, his partner, Mr. N. Paul (whose name yet survives in the firm Paul & Burrows, St. George’s Road, S.E.), established an Aërated Water Factory in England. It is somewhat curious how the names last in this trade, for in 1799 a Mr. Thwaites established a factory in Dublin, and the firm still remains as A. & R. Thwaites & Co.

Since its introduction, aërated water has much improved, especially the universal soda water, which is simply ordinary water charged with carbonic acid gas. Vastly improved machinery has been introduced, cleanliness and purity of materials are specially looked after, and the bottles and vessels for holding it wonderfully improved. We have not, in England, taken so kindly to the syphon as they have abroad; but the cork in the bottle has been nearly entirely done away with, and we are no longer compelled to pay for, if we could not drink, the large bottle, which at one time bid fair to be perennial; but which has almost succumbed to its younger brother the “Small” Soda. Year by year, through competition and vastly increased consumption, aërated waters are getting cheaper, and consequently more used.

The ordinary soda water of commerce contains no soda,—it is made by the absorption, under pressure, of carbonic acid gas, which is generally obtained from chalk or whitening, and sulphuric acid, which makes as good a gas for commercial purposes as if it were produced from the purest Carrara marble.

The number of chemical teetotal drinks is legion. They are all calculated according to their concocter’s reports, to make the drinker healthier and wiser; nay, even to provide him with extra brain power, as did the vaunted Zoedone, which contained phosphates and iron. They have their little day, and another nostrum takes their place. It has, hitherto, always been so, and probably will continue, only intensified, to the end of time.

J. A.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

MILK.

First Food of all Mammals—Skim and Butter Milk—Chemicals used in its Preservation—Condensed Milk—Syllabubs—Koumiss—Its Early Use—When first utilized in Medical Treatment—Koumiss from Cows’ Milk—Methods of Manufacture—Intoxicating Drinks made from Milk.

Milk is the first liquid food taken by man, in common with all mammals, after his birth; and this liquid is so happily ordered, as to contain all the elements of food necessary for him, at this period of his existence. The new-born mammal naturally, and directly after its birth, seeks the fountain of its nourishment, and even that most helpless of all created beings, a baby, is soon taught where to seek its food.

But we have to consider milk as a beverage, more than as a food, and, as a drink, it is comparatively a failure, as to most people it is indigestible, if taken in any quantity. It may, however, be taken with comparative impunity as skim milk, _i.e._ when deprived to a very large extent of its fat, and of a hot day, for a perfect thirst quencher, let us commend slightly acidulated butter milk. Milk has very great disadvantages as a beverage: first, that it will not keep good any time, unless chemicalized by salicylic acid, borax, liquor potassæ, or some other bedevilment, except as condensed milk, which is milk with much of its water evaporated, and sugar added. This, however good it may be as a substitute for fresh cow’s milk, where such is not attainable, can hardly be called a drink. Secondly, milk, in common with all fatty animal substances, has a tendency to absorb any odour which may come in contact with it, and is a ready vehicle for the seeds of disease, especially the microbes of fever or cholera.

It is singular that milk has not been made into more _drinks_. Of modern times we have soda and milk, or aërated milk and water, and in the pastoral times of the last century, the times of Corydon and Phyllis, Chloe and Strephon, it was _de rigueur_ to indulge in “syllabubs” whenever the nearest approach to rurality, in the shape of a grass field, and a cow, presented itself. Whoever tastes a syllabub now? Ask fifty people—forty-nine at least, will answer that they have never partaken of the delicacy, and the vast majority will be totally ignorant even of its composition. It was made of milk, milked from the cow into a bowl containing mashed fruit, such as gooseberries, and sugar, or else, wine or beer. The great thing was to make it froth, as we may see in the following recipe for an Ale Syllabub, which our forefathers considered as the _ne plus ultra_ of a syllabub.

“No Syllabubs made at the milking pail, But what are composed of a pot of good ale.”

“Place in a large bowl, a quart of strong ale or beer, grate into this a little nutmeg, and sweeten with sugar: milk the cow rapidly into the bowl, forcing the milk as strongly as possible into the ale, and against the sides of the vessel, to raise a good froth. Let it stand an hour, and it will be fit for use. The proportion of milk, or of sugar, will depend upon the taste of the drinker, who will, after a trial or two, be able to make a delightful beverage. Cider may be used instead of malt liquor for those who object to the alcoholic strength of the ale, or a bottle of wine.”

The Dutch, who are naturally a pastoral people, make a syllabub of milk, sugar, etc., which they call _Slemp_; but this rustic delicacy has died out owing to the universal use of tea and coffee. Curds and whey used to be much drank, and white wine whey is not to be despised when one has a very heavy cold—but, of course, it can only be drank by the wicked and intemperate; good people confining themselves to hot milk, or treacle posset, either of which served the purpose nearly as well. So, also, the unregenerate have the solace of rum and milk in the early morning.

We have now exhausted all the milk drinks we know of, except “Koumiss,” which, although as old as the hills, is of very modern introduction into civilization, and comes to us heralded by a fanfare of medical trumpets as a _panacea_ for many evils which the human body has to bear, especially consumption; but Koumiss is decidedly alcoholic.

[Illustration]

As a drink made from mare’s milk, it has been known for centuries to the Tartars, Khurgese, and Calmucks of the Russian Steppes, and Central and South Western Asia. Perhaps the first mention of it may be found in the _Ipatof Annals_, published at St. Petersburg, 1871. “In 1182, Prince Igor Seversky was taken prisoner by the Polovtsky, and the captors got so drunk upon Koumiss that they allowed their prisoner to escape.” The old monk and traveller Gulielmus de Rubruquis, who travelled in Tartary in the middle of the thirteenth century, says: “The same evening, the guide who had conducted us, gave us some _Cosmos_. After I had drunk thereof, I sweat most extremely from the dread and novelty, because I never drank of it before. Notwithstanding I thought it very savoury as indeed it was.” And in another place, he thus refers to it: “Then they taste it, and being pretty sharp, they drink it; for it biteth a man’s tongue like wine of _raspes_,[154] when it is drunk. After a man has taken a draught thereof, it leaveth behind it a taste like that of almond milk, and maketh one’s inside feel very comfortable; and it also intoxicateth weak heads.” Ser Marco Polo speaks of it. “Their drink is mare’s milk, prepared in such a way, you would take it for a white wine; and a right good drink it is, called by them _Kemiz_.”

It remained as a traveller’s curiosity until 1784, when Dr. John Grieve, a surgeon, one of the many Scotchmen who have from time to time entered the Russian service, wrote to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (who published his communication in their “Transactions,” Vol. I., 1788). “An account of the Method of making a Wine, called by the Tartars Koumiss, with observations on its use in Medicine,” and, especially, he thought that, “with the superaddition of a fermented spirit, it might be of essential service in all those disorders where the body is defective either in nourishment or strength.” And he further proved the benefit of the milk-wine on three patients, two consumptive, and one syphilitic, sending them to the Steppes among the Tartars, whence they returned stout, and in perfect health. From time to time, until the middle of this century, phthisical patients were sent to Tartary to undergo this milk cure; but life among these nomad tribes, with its filth and privations, was hardly congenial to a sick man, so that although some returned cured, others came back only to die.

But, in 1858, Dr. Postnikof started an establishment for the cure of diseases by fermented mare’s milk, at Samàra, in Eastern Russia, and a similar establishment, about forty-five miles distant, was started by the late Dr. Tchembulatof, both of which have been extremely well patronised, as their places were well ordered, and the Koumiss was prepared in a cleanly manner. So successful were they, that the Russian Government, in 1870, started a place of their own for the cure of sick soldiers belonging to the Kazan district. Here are beds for 100 soldiers and 20 officers.

The curative effect of fermented mare’s milk set people thinking whether the milk of cows, which is much more easy to procure, would not answer the same purpose. It was tried, and a new drink was given to the civilized world, as also a new name, which was coined expressly for it—GALAZYENE, from γάλα, milk, and ζῦμη, a ferment. It can be obtained in London from the large dairies.

Dr. Polubensky gives the following formula for fermenting cow’s milk.

“An oak churn, such as is used for churning butter, has a bottle of fermented cow’s or mare’s milk, five days old, poured into it in the morning. A tumbler and a half of warm milk (of a temperature of about 90° Fahr.), in which half an ounce of cane, still better milk, sugar has been dissolved, and a bottle of skimmed cow’s milk, are then added.

“The addition of the sugar is made for the purpose of remedying the small amount of lactine in cow’s milk; the water is added to make the milk, which is rich in casein, thinner, and thus to facilitate its agitation and emulsion. Skim milk is used because it contains less fat, an excess of which interferes with fermentation. The mixture is then beaten up during half an hour, to prevent the curdling of the casein, and is then laid aside for three hours. (This is effected at an ordinary room temperature of 60° Fahr.)

“After the lapse of three hours, when the surface of the mixture is covered with a film (of casein and fat in a non-emulsioned condition), it is again agitated for half an hour, and another bottle of skim milk—with or without warm water, according to the thickness of the milk—is added; the whole mass is again churned for an hour and a half, or longer, until the casein is well divided, and small bubbles appear on the surface of the fluid. Then the mixture, having stood for half an hour, has a fresh bottle of milk added to it, and the stirring is again renewed, with short intervals, until the Koumiss is ready, which usually happens by 10 o’clock p.m., if its preparation was commenced at 8 a.m.

“The approaching completion of the Koumiss is known by a thick froth, which sometimes rises very high, forming on its surface; while the full completion of fermentation is recognised by a falling of the froth, and by certain signs detectable by the ear and hand; the process of churning becomes easier, and the splash of the drops during agitation presents a clearer and more metallic sound. The Koumiss is then poured into Champagne bottles, well corked, and left for the night at a room temperature of from 60° to 70° Fahr. Towards morning, the Koumiss is quite fit for use. Left in bottle till the next day, it becomes stronger, but is still drinkable; while, if placed in a cold room, it may be used even on the fifth day.

“In order that the preparation of Koumiss may be carried on successfully, it will be necessary to put aside two bottles of the Koumiss first prepared, and to keep them for three or four days, so as always to have a bottle of four days old Koumiss in store for fermenting new portions of milk, and of replacing the used bottles by new ones.”

This seems to be rather a long method of making Koumiss, compared to that given by Dr. Wolff of Philadelphia, which is excessively simple.

“Take of grape sugar ½ oz.; dissolve in 4 ozs. of water. In about 2 ozs. of milk dissolve 20 grains of compressed yeast, or else well washed and pressed out brewer’s yeast. Mix the two in a quart Champagne bottle, which is to be filled with good cow’s milk to within two inches of the top; cork well, and secure the cork with string or wire, and place in an ice chest or cellar at a temperature of 50° Fahr. or less, and agitate three times a day. At the expiration of three or four days, at the latest, the Koumiss is ready for use, and ought not then to be kept longer than four or five days. It should be drawn with a Champagne syphon tap, so that the carbonic acid may be retained, and the contents will not entirely escape on opening the bottle.”

Be wary in opening a bottle of Koumiss, or you may be thoroughly drenched, and have nothing left to drink, for it generates a large quantity of carbonic acid gas, so much so, indeed, that extra thick bottles should be used.

There is an interesting speculation abroad, that the milk which Jael gave Sisera was fermented, and highly intoxicating, which rendered him in a condition favourable for her purpose.

The Usbecks, Mongols, Kalmucks, and other Tartars not only make milk into Koumiss, but distil a very strong spirit from it, which they call _araka_, conjectured by some, from its high antiquity, to be the true source whence the Indian _Arrack_ derives its name. The distillation is generally effected by means of two earthen pots closely stopped, from which the liquor slowly runs through a small wooden pipe into a receiver, which is usually covered with a coating of wet clay. The spirit, at first, is weak, but after two or three times distilling, it becomes exceedingly intoxicating. Dr. Edward Clarke, in his _Travels in Russia, Turkey, and Asia_, saw this process performed by means of a still constructed of mud, or very coarse clay, having for the neck of the retort a piece of cane.

J. A.

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ADDITIONAL DRINKS.

Jewish Prayers respecting various Drinks—Women’s Tears—Dew—Oil—Sea Water—Blood—Vegetable Water—Ganges Water—Vinegar—Ptisana—Toast Water—Bragget—Ballston Water—Warm Water—Asses’ Milk—Ghee—Milk Beer—Kumyss—Syra—Lamb Wine—Rice Wine—Garapa—Fenkål—Brandy and Port—Methylated Spirit.

In the Jewish prayers there is an especial, exclusive and extensive blessing upon wine, which runs in the following wise:—

“Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, universal King, for the vine, and for the fruit of the vine, and for the produce of the field, and for the land of delight and goodness and amplitude which Thou hast been pleased to give as an inheritance to thy people Israel, to eat of its fruit, and to be satisfied with its goodness.” Then follow petitions for the divine mercy upon those who say the blessing, upon Israel, God’s people, and upon God’s city, Jerusalem, and upon Zion, the dwelling-place of His glory, and upon His altar, and upon His temple.

The blessing concludes with a prayer for speedy transportation into the holy city: “Bring us up into the midst thereof eftsoons, even in these present days, that we may bless Thee in purity and holiness. For Thou art good, and the Giver of good to all. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, for the land and for the fruit of the vine.”

This beautiful prayer,[155] of which only the roughest sketch has been given here, has been said by pious Hebrews at every meal in which wine has been drunk from time immemorial. But upon wine alone has this honour been conferred. Those who drink _Shecar_, or water, or any other beverage except wine, say before their draught thus much only: “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, universal King, by whose word all things were made;” and after it, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, universal King, the Creator of many souls, and their needs, for all which Thou hast created, to keep alive the soul of every living thing. Blessed art Thou who livest everlastingly.”

But these two prayers have no especial and necessary relation to drinks. They are also used where aught is eaten which has not grown originally and directly out of the earth, as, for example, the flesh of some beasts, and birds, and fishes, and cheese, milk, butter, and honey.

In the present work particular attention has been given, in the case of alcoholic drinks, to wines, spirits, liqueurs, and beers, and in the case of non-alcoholic, to mineral waters, tea, coffee, and other beverages usually considered non-intoxicant; but under both these widely extended categories a large number of drinks must enter of which no mention whatever has been made in the preceding pages. It remains for us, therefore, to consider in the present chapter the most interesting and important of these drinks which have been hitherto excluded. Of the curious and, in many cases, repulsive liquids which have from time to time been taken, either to assuage the pangs of human thirst, or to gratify the taste of the human palate in health or in disease, the reader who has not devoted some little time and attention to the investigation of this subject will probably have but a very faint conception. To go no farther back on the pathway of time than to the age of John Taylor, the water poet, we find so strange a drink as women’s tears.

But at a date far earlier than that of the water poet, the date of the Babylonian Talmud, in _Machshirin_, vi. 64, there are seven liquids comprehended under the generic term _drink_ (Lev. xi. 34, and therefore liable to ceremonial defilement), dew, water, wine, oil, blood, milk, and honey. Upon every one of these seven liquids something curious and interesting might be written.

About these drinks a question arises in the Talmud, whether under water are included such beverages as mulberry water, pomegranate water, and other waters of fruits which have a _shem livoui_, or compound name. Rambam the great Eagle, more commonly known as Maimonides, seems to exclude these drinks from the general category. By honey is to be understood the honey of bees; the honey of hornets is not to be numbered in the list. In the _Tosephoth_ of _Shabbath_ it is asked, How do we know that blood is a drink? Because it is said (Num. xxiii. 24), And drink the blood of the slain. How do we know that wine is a drink? Because it is said (Deut. xxxii. 14), And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. How do we know that honey is a drink? Because it is said (Deut. xxxii. 13), But He made him to suck honey out of the rock. How do we know that oil is a drink? Because it is said (Isa. xxv. 6), A feast of fat things. How do we know that milk is a drink? Because it is said (Judges iv. 19), And she opened a bottle of milk and gave him drink. How do we know that dew is a drink? Because it is said (Judges vi. 38), And wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. There is a curious addition, reminding us of Taylor, the water poet. How do we know that the tears of the eye are a drink? Because it is said (Ps. lxxx. 5), And givest them tears to drink in great measure. How do we know that the water of the nose is a drink? Because—but the reader has had probably enough of the Rabbinical lucubrations.

A chapter of this book might, were not space a consideration, be devoted to water, which Thales[156] declared to be the first principle of things, and, according to Seneca,[157] _valentissimum elementum_. Iced, it was inveighed[158] against by the Stoic philosopher, as injurious to the stomach. The desire for it was said to proceed from a pampered appetite. Pliny[159] speaks of a wine made from sea water, but considers it, with Celsus, a bad stomachic. In later times sea water has been converted into fresh.

Bory de St. Vincent,[160] in his _Essais sur les Isles Fortunées_, an entertaining description of the archipelago of the Canaries, says that in Fer, one of the Canary Islands, a nearly total privation of running water was compensated by an extraordinary tree. Bacon (_Nov. Scient. Org._, 412), the Father Taillandier (_Lettr. Edit._, vii., 280), Corneille (_Grand Dict._, under _Fer_) may be consulted about this tree, called the holy one. Gonzalez d’Oviedo (ii., 9) says it distils water through its trunk, branches, and leaves, which resemble so many fountains. The “exaggerator Jakson,” says Bory de St. Vincent, being at Fer in 1618, saw this tree dried up during the day, but at night yielding enough water to supply the thirst of 8,000 inhabitants and 100,000 other animals. According to this authority, it was distributed from time immemorial all over the island by pipes of lead. It is nothing to “Jakson” that lead was not known from time immemorial. Viana (_Cant._, i.) speaks of the sacred tree as a sort of celestial pump.[161] Another author says the holy tree was called _Garoe_, and that its fruit resembled an acorn, that its leaves were evergreen, and like those of a laurel. During an east wind the water harvest was the most abundant.

This celebrated vegetable product was unfortunately destroyed by a hurricane in 1625. But even about this date authors disagree. While Nunez de la Pena is an authority for that given, Nieremberg assures us the catastrophe occurred in 1629. Another date mentioned is 1612.

The view of Bory de St. Vincent is that this holy tree was nothing more than the _Laurus Indica_ of Linnæus, which is indigenous to the mountain summits of the Canary Islands. His concluding remark is pregnant with common sense: _Si les auteurs que nous ont parlé du Garoé ont dit qu’il était seul de son espèce dans l’île, c’est qu’ils n’étaient pas botanistes, et qu’ils n’avaient pas réfléchi que cet arbre ayant un fruit, devait se reproduire, comme tous les autres végétaux._

The water of rivers is often clarified in a peculiar manner before drinking. For instance, that of the Ganges is said to be improved by rubbing certain nuts on the edges of the vessel in which it is kept,[162] though how this may be it is as difficult to understand, as how the turtle is affected by a touch of his carapace, or the Dean and Chapter—to borrow Sydney Smith’s illustration—of St. Paul’s by stroking the cupola of that cathedral. The Nile water is also said to be purified by treating the vessel which holds it in a similar manner to that which holds the water of the Ganges, with bitter almonds. The bitter waters of Marah were made sweet in a far different fashion.

The _Melo-cacti_ of South America have earned for themselves the name of “springs of the desert,” owing to their liquor-preserving properties. An ingenious drink is that of the natives of Siberia, a drink prepared of an intoxicating mushroom,[163] in a peculiar and economical manner, by natural distillation.

Vinegar appears as a beverage in a few countries only, and then for special purposes. The Roman soldiers received it as a refreshing drink on their marches, and even in the time of Constantine their rations included vinegar on one day and wine on the other. After all, this vinegar may have been nothing more than what many of us drink at present under the title of wine. That “excellent claret,” for instance, “fit for any gentleman’s table,” which may be had at 1_s._ 6_d._ a bottle, may be very like the vinegar of the Roman soldier. Roman reapers used it mixed with water, we are told by Theocritus (Idyl x.), and before that time Ruth was directed to dip her morsel in the vinegar when she gleaned in the field of Boaz.

_Ptisana_, mentioned by Celsus (iii., 7), appears to have been a mixture of rice or barley water and vinegar.

Toast-water is a drink which may be held by some unworthy of mention, but they may change their minds after reading what Mr. James Sedgwick, apothecary at Stratford-le-Bow, had to say on this subject in the year 1725. The burning of a crust and putting it hissing hot into water has, according to this gentleman, several good advantages. By it, the “raw coldness from nitrous particles are (sic) taken off and moderated, and it becomes more palatable, besides which, from the sudden hissing opposition of temperament, an elevation is made of the heterogeal particles, a motion, an interchanging position is obtained: These Principles during their intercourses will be imbibed and sucked into the bread in order, according to their respective distance and gravities, whereby the liquor will become more pure and almost uncompounded, less foreign than it was under its natural acception.” And yet though all these securities are taken to blunt the “frigorific mischiefs” of the water in general, yet in many constitutions and at particular seasons it is not to be trusted without some “substantial warmth to give and maintain a glowing, e’er it dilutes and disperses.” He goes on to say that it is better to add wine to the water, “to prevent the contingent hazards from the limpid element.”

_Braket_ or _Bragget_ or _Bragwort_, was a drink made of the wort of ale, honey, and spices.[164] Her mouth, says Chaucer, speaking of Alison, the carpenter’s pretty wife in the _Mother’s Tale_,

“was swete as _braket_ or the meth, Or hord of apples, laid in hay or heth.”

And in Beaumont and Fletcher’s _Little Thief, or the Night-Walker_, Jack Wildbrain speaks with contempt of

“One that knows not neck-beef from a pheasant, Nor cannot relish _braggat_ from ambrosia.”

The opponents of alcoholic drinks are often met by the objection that some of the drinks recommended by themselves are alcoholic, as indeed they often are. Even water appears to possess, in some cases, an intoxicating property. Pliny (_Nat. Hist._, ii., cvi.) speaks of a _Lyncestis aqua_,[165] of a certain acidity, which makes men drunken. The celebrated _Ballston_ waters in the State of New York, are said to be affected with qualities “highly exhilarating,” sometimes producing vertigo, which has been followed by drowsiness; in other words, they who drink them exhibit the usual symptoms of drunkenness.

Timothy Dwight, in his _Travels in New England and New York_, says that these waters are considered by the farmers of the neighbourhood as an excellent beverage, and are sent for from a considerable distance for drink to labourers during haymaking and harvesting, a time well known to be full of desire on the part of country people employed in these agricultural pursuits, for alcoholic refreshment. “They supersede,” says Dwight, “in a great measure the use of any ardent spirits.” But since the result of drinking these waters seems precisely the same, as far as regards inebriation, as that of drinking beer or other alcoholic liquor, it is questionable whether any advantage is gained by this supersession.

The properties of the _Saratoga_ water, situated some seven miles from that of _Ballston_, are also of a very remarkable nature. They abound to such an extent in a species of gas, that we are told a very nice sort of breakfast bread is baked from them instead of yeast.

The Romans considered warm water an agreeable drink at the conclusion of the chief repast of the day. This may explain why Julius Cæsar was always taken ill after dinner.

Many drinks are derived from animals, either wholly as milk and blood, or from animals and vegetables in common, as oil.

It is said that there are people here in England who like—so strange is the diversity of tastes—a draught of oil from the liver of a cod as much as an Esquimaux approves of a draught of the oil of a porpoise or a seal.

Of milk a large catalogue of drinks can be reckoned. First, there are the different kinds of milk of different animals, as the milk of asses, of women, of goats, of cows, of sheep, of reindeer, of camels, of sows, and of mares. Then it may be swallowed as it is drawn, or in the form of whey, or curdled. _Ghee_[166] is a common favourite throughout all India. It is a stale butter clarified by boiling and straining, and then set to cool, when it remains in a semi-liquid or oily state, and is used in cooking, or is drunk by the natives.

In milk-beer, milk is substituted for water. _Kef_ is a kind of effervescing fermented milk, much resembling _Koumiss_ (or rather _Kumyss_), of which the best is probably to be obtained in Samàra. _Youourt_[167] is a favourite drink at Constantinople, made of milk curdled after a peculiar fashion. _Syra_, a form allied with the German _Säure_, is a sour whey, used for drink like small beer in Norway and Iceland. _Aizen_ and _Leban_ are both sorts of _Kumyss_, one of the Tartars, the other of the Arabs. The latter have also an intoxicating liquor _Sabzi_, made of _Bhang_, a species of hemp. The green leaf from which the drink derives its name is pounded and diluted with sugared water.

Even the warm blood of living animals has been considered suitable for a drink. In the book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian, concerning the marvels of the East, we are told, the Tartar will sustain himself in an economical manner, by opening a vein in the neck of the horse upon which he rides, and having taken a sufficient drink will close the aperture, and ride on as before. Carpini says much the same of the Mongols. This appears indeed to have been a time-honoured institution.

Dionysius Periegetes, in the nineteenth chapter of his _Description of the World_, treating of Scythia and other ancient nations situated in what is now known as Great Tartary, says of the Massagetæ that they have no eating of bread nor any native wine, but

ἵππων Αἵματι μίσγοντες λευκὸν γάλα δαῖτα τίθεντο.

“Or with horses blood, And white milk mingled set their banquets forth,”

_Orbis Desc._, 578.

And Sidonius, to the same effect,

“_solitosque cruentum_ _Lac potare Getas, et pocula tingere venas._”

_Parag. ad Avitum._

Another strange variety of drink is made by the Peruvians. The ordinary _chica_ is mixed with the bloody garments of a slain warrior. Temple (_Travels_, ii., 311).

According to Lobo, the Abyssinians esteem the gall one of the most delicious parts of a beast, and drink glasses of it, as epicures with us drink _Château Lafitte_. Pearce (_Adventures in Abyssinia_, i., 95) says that they also drink blood warm from the animal with an extraordinary relish.

The Mantchoos, the conquerors of China, prepare a wine of a peculiar mixture from the flesh of lambs, either by fermenting it reduced to a kind of paste with the milk of their domestic animals, or by bruising it to a pulp with rice. When properly matured, it is put into jars and drawn as occasion requires. It is said to be strong and nutritious, and the most voluptuous orgies of the Tartars are the result of an intoxication from _lamb wine_. Abbé Rickard, _History of Tonquin_.

The only wine in Sumatra, according to Marco Polo, was derived from a certain tree, the _sacred wine_-tree as it might be called, in comparison with the _sacred water_-tree, afterwards known as _Areng Saccharifera_, from the Javanese name, called by the Malays _Gomuti_ and by the Portuguese _Saguer_. It has some resemblance to a date palm, to which Polo compares it, but is much coarser and more ragged, _incompta et adspectu tristis_, dishevelled and of a melancholy aspect, as it is described by Rumphius. A branch of this tree was cut, a large pot attached, and in a day and a night the pot was filled with excellent wine, both white and red, which, says the Venetian, cures dropsy and tisick and spleen.

The Chinese _Rice Wine_ and its manufacture is described in Amyot’s _Memoires_, v., 468. A yeast is employed, with which is often mixed a flour prepared from fragrant herbs, almonds, pine seeds, dried fruits, etc. Rubruquis says the liquor is not distinguishable, except by smell, from the best wine of Auxerre, a wine so famous in the middle ages that the historian friar Salimbene went to that town for the express purpose of drinking it. Ysbrand Ides compares it to Rhenish, John Bell to Canary, and a modern traveller, quoted by Davis, “in colour and a little in taste to Madeira.” Marco Polo says, “it is a very hot stuff,” making one drunk sooner than any other beverage.

From the walnut, which is cultivated to great extent in the Crimea, a sweet clear liquor is extracted in the spring, at the time the sap is rising in the tree. The trunk of the walnut is pierced and a spigot placed in the incision. The fluid obtained soon coagulates into a substance used as sugar. It does not, however, appear that the juice has been converted to any inebriating purpose. Not only, however, from the walnut can a good drink be extracted, but also from the birch, the willow, the poplar and the sycamore.

A sort of birch wine is made in Normandy.

An excellent drink, resembling brandy, has been distilled, it is said, from water melons in the southern provinces of Russia, where consequently much attention is paid to the culture of this vegetable, producing in some cases water melons of thirty pounds in weight.

In the Sandwich Islands a drink is distilled from the root of the _Dracæna_, something like the beet of this country. The root of the _Dracæna_ gives a saccharine juice resembling molasses. From this, with the addition of some ginger, a kind of tea is made, also a spirit called by the natives _Ywera_. Their manufacture of this drink is remarkable for its complexity, involving certain mystic operations with an old pot, a leaky canoe, a calabash, and a rusty gun-barrel. It is unnecessary to give a detailed account of the process. We yearn in vain for that absence of entanglement which distinguishes the religion of the Iroquois, who have no other worship than the annual sacrifice of a dog to _Taulonghyaawangooa_, which being interpreted is the “supporter of the Heavens.” At this sacrifice they eat the dog.

_Sbitena_, or Sbetin, is the name of a delightful drink sold in the streets of _St. Petersburg_ to the populace. In Granville’s _St. Petersburg_ (ii., 422) a mention is made of this beverage. It is composed of honey and hot water and pepper and boiling milk.

A drink called _Omeire_ is prepared in the South-West of Africa by the aid of some dirty gourds and milk vigorously shaken therein at stated intervals.

In Nubia the crumb of strongly leavened bread made from _dhurra_ is mixed with water and set on the fire. It is afterwards allowed to ferment for two days, strained through a cloth, a lady’s garment by choice, and drunk. It is called _Ombulbul_, or the mother of the nightingale, because it makes the drinker sing like that bird. _Pulque_ is a vinous beverage made in Mexico by fermenting the juice of the _agave_. Its distinctive peculiarity is its odour, which has been compared by an experimentalist to that of putrid meat.

There are four drinks in Madagascar: _Toak_, made from honey and water; _Araffer_, from a tree called _Sater_, resembling a small cocoa-nut; _Toupare_, from boiled cane, a liquid so corrosive as in a short time to penetrate an egg shell; and _Vontaca_, from the juice of the so-called Bengal quince. The last soon produces intoxication, against which another curious drink is mentioned as a remedy by Ovalle, to wit, the sweat of a horse infused in wine.

The aborigines of Australia (Dawson’s _Present State of Australia_, p. 60) are inordinately fond of a beverage known by them under the name of _bull_. The recipe for this, as given by Mr. Dawson, runs thus: Get an old sugar bag, steal it if you cannot get it by any other means, and cut it into small pieces. Prepare a large kettle of boiling water, throw into it as many of these pieces of bag as it will hold, and let it simmer for half a day. An excellent _bull_ will be the result. This _bull_, says Dawson, they are extremely fond of, and will drink it till they are blown out like an ox with clover, and can contain no more.

Poncet speaks of booza as the usual liquor of the Abyssinians, “vastly thick and very ill tasted,” produced from a day’s soaking of a roasted berry.

The negroes of Brazil affect a mixture of black sugar and water without fermentation, called _Garapa_, to which heat is sometimes added by the leaves of the _Acajou_ tree.

Snow melted and impregnated with the flavour of smoke from the fire upon which it is placed is the common drink of the Lapp. Occasionally he gets a decoction of the herb _angelica_ in milk. The maritime Lapp drinks with gusto the oil squeezed from the entrails of fish. Women, it is said, will take a pint and a half of this so-called _tran_ at a meal. But the favourite drink is composed of water and meal flavoured with a quantity of tallow, and, if circumstances will permit, the blood of the reindeer.

_Taidge_ or _Tedge_ or _Tedj_ is a kind of honey wine or hydromel, said by Father Poncet[168] to be a delicious liquor, pure, clarified, and of the colour of Spanish white wine. The process of its manufacture is simple. Wild honey is mixed with water, and set in a jar, with a little sprouted barley, some _biccalo_ or _taddoo_ bark, and a few _geso_ or _guécho_ leaves. A superior kind is made by adding _kuloh_ berries. This is called _barilla_. The taste of _tedj_ has been described as that of small beer and musty lemonade. The women commonly strain it through their shifts.

_Besdon_ is made like _tedj_, with honey, and is highly valued in some parts of Africa. _Ladakh_ beer has the merit of portability. It is made of parched barley, rice, and the root of an aromatic plant, and pressed into a cake. A piece of this is broken off and cast into water. It resembles in taste sour gruel.

_Pombe_ is a liquid brewed of fruit, furnishing a common sort of cider known well in Eastern Africa.

In Tonquin[169] on the annual renewal of allegiance, they drink chicken’s blood mixed with arrack. They make a sort of cider from _miengou_, a fruit like a pomegranate. An extract of wheat, rye, or millet is mixed with _peka_, consisting of rice flour, garlic, aniseed, and liquorice. After fermentation it is distilled and becomes the celebrated _Samchou_.

In Sweden, with the _smör-gås_, or fore taste[170] at a side-table a glass of _fenkål_, sometimes very good, sometimes very bad, is given to him who is about to dine. It is made from fennel—a form perhaps of _fœniculum_—growing wild and abundant, as at Marathon[171] the celebrated deme on the east coast of Attica, the field of the famous battle.

In addition to strange compounds known in various parts of this country, such as Gin and Lime Juice, Whiskey or Rum and Milk, Brandy and Port, a drink said to have originated in Lancashire, Dog’s Nose, Shandy Gaff, etc., etc., may be mentioned Ethyl or Methylated Spirits, a beverage which, like ether in Ireland, has of late years advanced considerably in public estimation. It has the two advantages of being cheap and heady. An Act of 1880 imposed penalties on any retail tradesman selling it for the purpose of drink. A better method perhaps to prevent its being poured down the throats of Her Majesty’s liege subjects would be to take steps to ensure its being mixed before sold with a strong emetic. The palate can be trained, but the stomach is far less docile.

[Illustration]

FOOTNOTES

[1] These essences and colours are no new thing. Addison spoke of them nearly two hundred years ago in his “Trial of the Wine Brewers” in the _Tatler_. Tom Tintoret and Harry Sippet have left a large family behind them.

[2] See tailpiece, where a servant is coming to the assistance of her mistress.

[3] Jablonski is our authority for supposing it primarily an Egyptian drink. A _zythum_ and a _dizythum_ seem to have existed, corresponding, let us say, to our _Single_ and _Double X_.

This _zythum_ is nearly allied to the _sacera_ of Palestine, the _cesia_ of Spain, the _cervisia_ of Gaul, the _sebaia_ of Dalmatia, and the _curmi_ or _camum_ of Germany. According to Rabbi Joseph, this beer was made ⅓ barley, ⅓ _Crocus Sylvestris_, ⅓ salt. He adds, “He that is bound, it looseth; and he who is loose, it binds; and it is dangerous for pregnant women.”

[4] Information on this subject is given by Sir Edward Barry, _Observations on the Wines of the Ancients_; Henderson, _History of Ancient and Modern Wines_; and Becker’s _Charicles_.

[5] This is probably the murrhina of Plautus (_Pseudol._ ii. 4, 50)

[6] This drink must not be confounded with ὑδρόμελι, honey and water, our mead, or ὑδρόμήλον, our cider.

[7] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xiv. 19, etc.

[8] Line 964, etc.

[9] Line 4044, etc.

[10] Line 1387, etc.

[11] Line 1432, etc.

[12] Line 135, etc.

[13] _Hist. Account of the Cathedral Church of York_, Lond., 1715, p. 7.

[14] That division of the ancient kingdom of Northumberland, which was bounded by the river Humber southwards, and to the north by the Tyne.

[15] A liquor made of honey, wine, and spice.

[16] Honey, diluted with the juice of mulberries.

[17] In this sense it is apparently used in Gen. ix. 24: “Noah awoke from his _wine_.”

[18] From an Arabic word for antimony, applied to the eyes, the name is said to have been transferred to rectified spirits (C₂H₆O). It is a liquid formed by fermentation of aqueous sugar solutions. _Spirit of Wine_ contains about 90 per cent. of alcohol. 55 parts of alcohol and 45 of water form _proof spirit_. Of alcohol, spirits contain 40-50 per cent.; wines, 7-25; ale and porter, 6-8; small beer, 1-2.

[19] Who would believe this from the specimens tasted in England? Yet we are assured the statement is perfectly true.

[20] Patterson’s _Travels in Caffraria_, p. 92.

[21] One of these inspired Longfellow, who thinks (poetically) the richest wine is that of the West, which grows by the beautiful river, whose sweet perfume fills the apartment, with a benison on the giver:—

“Very good in its way is the Verzenay, Or the Sillery, soft and creamy; But Catawba wine has a taste more divine, More dulcet, delicious, and dreamy.”

A dreamy taste is something startling even in poetical description.

[22] Chili has lately taken Paris medals for its wines; it also produces a light and wholesome beer.

[23] The _rébêche_ is principally sold to people manufacturing cheap Champagnes; by mixing with other wines of very light complexion, they give them body, and make a stuff which can be produced at a very low price.

[24] _De Proprietatibus Rerum._ Argent. 1485, lib. xix. cap. 56.

[25] Blount’s _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_. Sec. “Grand Serjeantry,” No. IV.

[26] _The Wines of the World, Characterized and Classed_, 1875, pp. 16, 17.

[27] This wine is said to profit much by a quiescent state of the air afforded by the town wall.

[28] A wine at Homburg, called _Erlacher_, at about one mark a bottle, is, says Dr. Charnock, frequently superior to the ordinary _Niersteiner_.

[29] “Hock,” says one of those wine circulars, which weary alike the postman and the public, “is the English name for the noble vintages of the Rhine, which afford models of what wine ought to be. Their purity is attested by their durability. They are almost imperishable. They increase appetite, they exhilarate without producing languor, and they purify the blood. The Germans say good Hock keeps off the doctor. Southey says it deserves to be called the Liquor of Life. And so Pindar would have called it, if he had ever tasted it.” Nothing surely can be added to this description of its virtues.

[30] Thus unfortunately translated, “Rhine wine is good, Neckar pleasant, Frankfort bad, Moselle innocent.” But Moselle, we have been told, is very far from “innocent.” _Unnosel_ is without bouquet. _Tranken_ means not bad but drinkable, and _lecker_ is rather lickerish than good. A sample of the same carelessness occurs on the next page, where _ein weinfask von anderhalb ahm ein pipe_ is intended to express _ein Weinfass von anderthalb Ohm, eine Pipe_. It is a pity that an excellent work, to which we, as many writers on wine like ourselves, have been deeply indebted, should be marred by these irregularities.

[31] Colonel Leake described the ordinary country wine as a villainous compound of lime, resin, spirits of wine, and grapes, without body or flavour. Nor were things better in the days of old. Dugald Dalgetty, a German Ensign, writing from Athens in 1687, says, “Would that I could exchange a cask of Athenian wine for a cask of German beer!” The _vin du pays_ is impregnated with resin or turpentine now as formerly, whence, according to Plutarch, the Thyrsus of Bacchus is adorned with a pine cone. Pliny says it favours the preservation of the drink.

[32] The island owes this name to its patron saint Irene, martyred here A.D. 304.

[33] The value attached to this wine is one example among many of the caprice of fashion. The _Muscadine_ of Syracuse or the _Lagrima_ of Malaga is equal to it in richness, and few people would prefer it to other wines, did they dare to contradict the decision of fashion in its favour, and to have a taste of their own.

[34] So called from its green colour. It is said to have been a favourite wine of Frederick the Great. It is held now in slighter esteem.

[35] Called _Est Est_ from the writing under the bust of the valet of the bibulous German bishop Defoucris, who drank himself to death, upon which his valet composed his epitaph.

_‘Est est,’ propter minium ‘est,’._ _Dominus meus mortuus est._

Reverence for antiquity is our sole excuse for the reproduction of these wretched lines. _Monte Pulciano_ has also the credit of having killed a Churchman. Other wines doubtless have had the same honour.

[36] “Let no man,” says the Talmud, “send his neighbour wine with oil upon its surface.”—_Chulin_, fol. 94, col. 1.

[37] Malmsey wine is also a product of Funchal, in Madeira. The first so-called wine was shipped for Francis I. of France. The word is probably a corruption of _Malvasia_ or _Monemvasia_ (μόνη ἐμβασία, or single entrance), a Greek island from which the grape may have been brought by the Florentine Acciajoli in 1515.

[38] Rota wines are mostly coloured, or _Tintos_, whence our English sacramental drink. They are all simmered—at their best in youth, and their worst in age.

[39] Supposed by some to be the old English Sack. The reader interested may consult Hakluyt, Nicols, Hewell’s Dictionary, and Venner’s _Via Recta_.

[40] The etymology is uncertain. Some derive it from the town near Seville, others from the Spanish word for an apple, and others again from that for a camomile flower.

[41] _Valley of Rocks_, indicating the soil on which it is grown.

[42] It is frequently damaged by the carelessness of the _vinatero_, or wine-seller, to such an extent that the proverb _Pregonar vino y vender vinagre_ becomes, like wisdom, justified of her children.

[43] So called from the grape common in most parts of Spain.

[44] The fine old Amoroso, of which a small stock is still remaining.

[45] So called from the battle of Birs, in the reign of Louis XI., in which 1,600 Swiss opposed 30,000 French, and only sixteen of the former survived. The fallen succumbed, we are told, less to the power of the foe than to the fatigue of the fighting.

[46] It is supposed by the erudite divine, Adam Clarke, to be probably borrowed from the Hebrew word שֵׁכָר, Greek σίκερα, which, according to St. Jerome (_Epist. ad Nepotianum de vita Clericorum, et in Isai. xxvii. 1_), means any intoxicating liquor, whether of honey, corn, apples, dates, or other fruits.

[47] In a treatise of the Talmud, _Abodah Zarah_, fol. 40, col. 2, cider is called “wine of apples.”

[48] Walker: _Hist. Essay on Gardening_, p. 166. _Anthologia Hibernica_, i. 194.

[49] The extra dry old lauded or pale cremant, or the extra reserve Cuvée, 1884 vintage.

[50] For further information, see Crocker, Marshall, Knight, and especially Stopes.

[51] The French name, _Eau de Vie_, having the same meaning.

[52] “The Vertuose boke of Distyllacyon of the Waters of all maner of Herbes, with the fygures of the styllatoryes, Fyrst made and compyled by the thyrte yeres study and labour of the most con̅ynge and famous master of phisyke, Master Iherom bruynswyke. And now newly Translated out of Duyche into Englysshe,” etc. Lond., 1572.

[53] Lethargy.

[54] Belching.

[55] Pleurisy.

[56] A Spanish Wine.

[57] ? Orrice.

[58] Stir.

[59] Phial.

[60] _Adam and Eve stript of their furbelows_, 1710 (?)

[61] Act III., s. 3.

[62] _My Life and Recollections_, Vol. I., p. 59.

[63] Now called Athol brose.

[64] Of the word gill-house a recent editor of Pope observes that it is doubtful whether it is to be understood as a house where gill, or beer impregnated with ground-ivy, was sold, or whether as an inferior tavern, where beer was sold by the measure known as a gill.

[65] There are two other prints connected with this event, all published at the same time. One is “The Funeral Procession of Madame Geneva, Sept. 29, 1736.” The other is a Memorial, “To the Mortal Memory of Madame Geneva, who died Sept. 29, 1736. Her weeping Servants and loving Friends, consecrate this Tomb.”

[66] Whose premises were burnt down during the Lord George Gordon riots. Dickens immortalized Langdale in _Barnaby Rudge_. The distillery is still in existence at the same place.

[67] A whistling shop was a sly grog-shop. No spirits were allowed in the Fleet prison, but of course they were introduced, and could be got at some places. The method of telling who could be trusted, was for the customers to whistle—hence the term.

[68] _Alcoholic Drinks_, 1884, p. 67.

[69] Scott’s _Ivanhoe_, cap. iii.

[70] _Morat_ is a composition of honey and mulberries, from which latter its name is derived.

[71] According to their first institution the Jesuits were not priests. This was conceded to them afterwards by Paul V. Their primitive principal occupation was the assistance of the sick and the distillation of salutiferous waters, whence they were known as “_padri dell’ acquavite_,” or Fathers of brandies.

[72] A liqueur made with the flower of citron.

[73] _Ad majorem Dei gloriam._

[74] Roret’s “_Manuel du distillateur-liquoriste_.”

[75] _Gui-Patin Lettres_, ii. 425.

[76] One of the most important liqueur manufactories is that of Marie Brizard and Roger of Bordeaux. In 1755 Marie Brizard, in the Quartier S. Pierre, a lady of much devotion and charity, devoted a large portion of her time, in imitation of the monks, to the concoction of medicinal cordials. Of these, her _Anisette_, so called from its chief ingredient, soon attained a wide reputation. Roger married the niece of this lady, and the firm is now known under their joint names. They manufacture many other liqueurs, but are still chiefly famous for the old medicinal cordial.

[77] الاكسير, _alacsir_, from ξηρόν, dry.

[78] Here is the etymological process for the linguistic student: _Ligusticum_; Lat., _levisticum_; Fr., _luvesche_, _leveshe_, _livèche_; O. Eng., _livish_, _lovage_. The Italian has the form _libistico_, and the Portuguese _levistico_.

[79] A technical term.

[80] So called because said to be prepared from the maidenhair fern, _Adiantum capillus Veneris_; “but,” says Pereira, (_Materia Medica_), “the liqueur sold in the shops under this name is nothing but clarified syrup flavoured with orange-flower water.”

[81] These colours by which _soi-disant_ connoisseurs profess to determine the excellence of the liqueur, are in most cases merely adscititious. Rules are given for their manufacture. Rose, for instance, is the outcome of cochineal or sanders wood steeped for a fortnight in spirits of wine. Blue, of indigo and sulphuric acid. Yellow, of saffron. Pink, of cudbear, a corruption of the name of the chemist, Dr. _Cuthbert_ Gordon, who first employed this lichen; and green, of blue and yellow mixed.

[82] A pharmaceutical term for volatile oil of orange flowers. Said to be derived from an Italian princess, Néroli, who invented it.

[83] From Arabic خلنج _Khulanj_, “a tree from which wooden bowls are made,” Richardson. A dried rhizome brought from China, an aromatic stimulant of the nature of ginger. The drug is mostly produced by _Alpinia officinarum_.

[84] Also called Luft-Wasser.

[85] Only an Italian, we are told, can make this liqueur. The composition is a dark secret, but, we are also told, it originated in Austria, and is a mixture of tea, wine and milk in unknown quantities.

[86] Said, on account of its carminative properties, to be derived from the three words _vesse_, _pet_, and _rot_, which it is not incumbent upon us to translate.

[87] Merely a corruption of _Usquebaugh_.

[88] So called from the inventor. Said to be useful in stomachic affections.

[89] _Sic_, aimable (?)

[90] So called because made with _guignes_, Sp. _guindas_; dark red, very sweet cherries, smaller than the _bigarreaux_. The _Guignolet d’Angers_ is especially famous.

[91] This is composed of fennel, celery, coriander, and angelica.

[92] Sometimes written _Karoy_. _Carum carve_, L., from the Greek κάρον, an umbelliferous plant of which the root by culture becomes edible. The fruit is analogous to that of anise.

[93] Also written more correctly _d’Hendaye_; white, yellow, and green, according to its alcoholic strength.

[94] _Cassis_ would appear to be the name of a _ville_ (_Bouches-du-Rhone_) which has a commerce of wine and fruit.

[95] _Stolberg’s Travels_, i., 146.

[96] Germ. _Wermuth_, absinthe or wormwood, plant of genus _Artemisia_—perhaps originally connected with _warm_, on account of the warmth it produces in the stomach. This bitter, though commonly quoted under liqueurs, should be classed with _Quinine Wine_, _Angostura_, _Khoosh_, etc., _Juglandine_, made in France from the walnut, _Malakoff_ made in Silesia, the _Shaddock_ and _Quassia_ bitters of the West Indies, and the _Schapps_ bitter of Switzerland.

[97] The dictionary explanations of these terms are commonly unsatisfactory. The experience of the bar-tender is more than the learning of the lexicographer. _Cobbler_, indeed, is well explained as compounded of wine, sugar, lemon, and sucked up through a straw; but of _cocktail_ we only learn that it is a compounded drink much used in America. The etymologies given are generally satisfactory. _Julep_ is from گلاب rose water. _Mull_ from _mulled_, erroneously taken as a past

## participle. According to Wedgwood, _mulled_ is a form of _mould_, and

_mulled_ ale is funeral ale, _potatio funerosa_. _Nogg_ is from _noggin_, signifying a pot, and then the strong beer which it contains. _Negus_ is commonly known to have been the invention of Col. Francis Negus in the reign of Anne. _Punch_ is of course from the Hindustani پانچ, signifying 5, from its five original ingredients, to wit, _aqua vitæ_, _rose water_, _sugar_, _arrack_, and _citron juice_. A very unsatisfactory derivation of _Sangaree_ is from the Spanish _sangria_, the incision of a vein. _Shrub_ is clearly the Arabic شرب or syrup. _Smash_, explained curtly as “iced brandy and water.” (_Slang_) is probably from the smashing of the ice; while _sling_ seems evidently to be from the German _schlingen_, to swallow.

[98] The verdict of François Guislier du Verger, the master-distiller in the art of chemistry at Paris, in his _Traité des Liqueurs_, in 1728, is altogether unfavourable to what he calls _Le Ponge_. “It is,” he says, “an English liqueur, and a man must be English to drink it; for I think it cannot be to the taste of any other nation in the world. It upsets the stomach, provokes the bile, and violently affects the head. How, indeed, can it be otherwise, seeing that it is composed of white wine, Eau de vie, citrons, a little sugar, and bread crumbs.” And then follows the observation: “If water were put instead of Eau de vie, with an equal quantity of wine, a citron, and four ounces of sugar, a liqueur suitable to every one would be the result, a liqueur which would do as much good as the other does harm.”

[99] Such at least is the signification of _sangaree_ as far as American drinks are concerned. But _Sang-gris_ is said by Bescherelle to be a mixture of tea in wine amongst the sailors of the North. Perhaps the name is taken from the colour. It recalls David Garrick’s “Why, the tea is as red as blood.” In the West Indies it is made of Madeira, water, lime juice, and sugar. Spices are sometimes added. Pinckard’s “West Indies,” i. 469.

[100] _Shrub_ is called _santa_ in Jamaica. It is made in the West Indies with rum, syrup, and orange-peel.

[101] The Slang Dictionary, however, defines _Sling_ as a drink peculiar to Americans, generally composed of gin, soda-water, ice, and slices of lemon. At some houses (understand public) in London _gin slings_ may be obtained. Francatelli has an exquisite note on _Gin Sling_, which he directs to be sucked through a straw. “I fear that very genteel persons will be exceedingly shocked at my words; but when I tell them that the very act of imbibition through a straw prevents the gluttonous absorption of large and baneful quantities of drink, they will, I make no doubt, accept the vulgar precept for the sake of its protection against sudden inebriety.”

[102] Aromatic tincture: Ginger, cinnamon, orange peel, each 1 oz.; valerian, ½ oz.; alcohol, 2 quarts. Macerate for fourteen days and filter through unsized paper.

[103] Those who wish to investigate the antiquity of beer may find ample matter to supply their desire in a work commonly attributed to Archdeacon Rolleston, entitled, “Οινος Κριθινος, _a dissertation concerning the origin and antiquity of barley wine_.” Oxford, 1750.

[104] Much has been written on the comparative merits of wine and beer. Perhaps as good a remark as any on this subject was made by a modern tradesman who, wishing to sell both, explained that, while strongly advocating the introduction of wine, he did not at all intend to depreciate the merits of our national beverage, beer. Where, he continued, plenty of out-door exercise is taken, and little intellectual effort is demanded, good beer is perhaps the most wholesome of all drinks; and therefore he advised the “labouring man,” who could not probably afford to buy wine, to drink beer, while others, who might be supposed able to afford wine, were warned that they could not drink beer with impunity.

[105] The world has little altered since the time of Martial (i. 19).

“_scelus est jugulare Falernum,_ _Et dare Campano toxica sæva mero._”

[106] This is the sweet potato, introduced into Europe before the common potato.

[107] For an interesting account of this, vid., Dr., Charnock’s _Verba Nominalia_.

[108] _Beajus_, which in Malay signifies a wild man.

[109] Roggewein’s _Voyage Round the World_.

[110] According to Kotzebue, old women chew, as in the South American _chica_—let us hope this cannot be correct—and little girls spit on it to thin the paste. Kotzebue’s _New Voyage Round the World_, vol. ii., p. 170.

[111] From the old French _Pallir_, to become vapid, lose spirit. Washy stuff.

[112] See second part of _Westminster Drollery_, 1672.

[113] General Monk’s receipt is given in the _Harleian Miscellany_, i., 524. London, 1744.

[114] “Mum’s the word,” etc.

[115] _Der Bierbrauer_, Prag., 1874.

[116] Hamilton’s _Account of Nepaul_.

[117] Pinckard’s _Notes_, p. 429.

[118] Robertson’s _History of America_, ii., 7.

[119] This is the beverage in general use. Titsingh’s _Japan_. Some writers have connected it with our “_sack_.”

[120] When cold, it is said to produce _serki_, a species of fatal colic.

[121] For this list we are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton, 13, Rood Lane, London, E.C.

[122] Messrs. William, James & Henry Thompson, 38, Mincing Lane London.

[123] Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton.

[124] In September, 1890, a small parcel of Flowering Pekoe fetched, at public sale, 36_s._ per lb., and this price has been largely exceeded on former occasions.

“A parcel of tea from the Oriental Bank Estates Company’s Havilland Estate in Ceylon was sold at auction in Mincing Lane yesterday for £17 per lb., or over one guinea an ounce.”—_Standard_, May 6th, 1891.

“A small lot of Golden Tip Ceylon tea from the Gartmore Estate was sold by auction in Mincing Lane yesterday to the Mazawattee Ceylon Tea Company at £25 _10s._ per lb.”—_Standard_, May 8th, 1891.

[125] Messrs. Wm. Jas. and Hy. Thompson.

[126] _Joannis Petri Maffeii Bergomatis, e Societate Jesu, Historiarum Indicarum_, etc. _Florentiæ_, 1588.

[127] _Delle Cause della grandezza delle Città_, etc., del Giovanni Botero. _Milano_, ed. 1596, p. 61.

[128] _Divers Voyages et Missions du P. Alexandre de Rhodes, en la Chine, & autres Royaumes de l’Orient_, etc. _Paris_, 1653, p. 49.

[129] Catharine of Braganza, wife of Charles II.

[130] Portugal.

[131] The Works of Thomas Brown, ed. 1708, vol. iii., p. 86.

[132] His friend Tyers parodied the last phrase as “_te_ inviente die, _te_ decedente.”

[133] _Relation du voyage de la Mer du Sud, aux côtes du Chily, et du Pérou, fait pendant les années 1712, 13, 14_, par Amédée François Frezier. _Paris_, 1716, 4ᵒ.

[134] _Joyfull Newes out of the newe founde Worlde_, etc. Englished, by Jhon Frampton, _Marchaunt_, 1577, fol 101 b.

[135] Garden beds in which seeds are planted.

[136] Lima.

[137] Tschudi travelled in Peru, 1838-1842.

[138] _Travels in Peru_, by C. R. Markham, 1862, p. 237.

[139] In 1861, the cesto of Coca sold at 8 dollars in Sandia. In Huanaco it was 5 dollars the aroba of 25 lbs.

[140] Ed. 1879, p. 363.

[141] _A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea, etc., by John Barbot, etc. Now first printed from his original MS., 1732._

[142] Part 2, Section 5.—Mem. 1, Sub. 5.

[143] For a list of 500 Coffee Houses, see Appendix to _Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne_, by John Ashton.

[144] _Memoirs and Observations in his Travels over England_, etc.

[145] _A Brief Description of the excellent Vertues of that Sober and Wholesome Drink called Coffee._ 1674, s. sh. fol.

[146] _The Mineral Water Maker’s Manual for 1866_, from which many receipts are taken with thanks.

[147] Twaddell’s Hydrometer. From 11 to 12 lbs. sugar to the gallon should give something near this specific gravity.

[148] A sufficient quantity.

[149] About 8½ lbs. loaf sugar to the gallon of water should produce this S. G.

[150] An extract made from orange flowers.

[151] Or Butyric Ether, known as Essence of Pine-apple.

[152] Jargonelle Ether.

[153] Beware, however, of one compound ether, which gives the taste of cinnamon, and is, Ethyl Perchlorate. This mixture is _explosive_!!!

[154] Raspberries.

[155] The form of this thanksgiving is very nearly akin to that said on the occasion of eating any of the five kinds of cooked food from which the _challah_ is due.

[156] Arist., _Metaph._, i., 3.

[157] Seneca, _Nat. Quæst._, iii., 13.

[158] _Ibid._, iv., 13.

[159] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxiii., 24.

[160] p. 220.

[161] Other authorities concerning this remarkable drinking fountain are Nieremberg (_Occult. Philos._, ii., 350), Clavijo, Cairasio, and Dapper.

[162] _Harper’s New Monthly Magazine_, xi., p. 499.

[163] The mushroom used by the Chukchees is described by Lansdell, _Through Siberia_, ii., 269, as “spotted like a leopard, and surmounted by a small hood—the fly agaric, which here has the top scarlet, flecked with white points. It sells for three or four reindeer.” So powerful is the fungus that the native who eats it remains drunk for several days. Half a dozen persons may be successively intoxicated by a single mushroom, but every one in a less degree than his predecessor. Goldsmith, _Chinese Philosopher_.

[164] Another description is, “Ale mixed with pepper and honey.”

[165]

Quem quicunque parum moderato gutture traxit, Haud aliter turbat quam si mera vina bibisset.

—Ovid, _Metam._, xv., 329.

[166] The Hindustani گهي.

[167] A corruption of the Turkish يوغرت _Yughurt_.

[168] Lockman’s _Travels of the Jesuits_, i., 218.

[169] P. Alex. de Rhodes, _Voyages et Missions_. P. de Marini, _On the Kingdom of Tonquin_.

[170] A word which, according to the _Glossarium Suiogothicum_, originally meant simply bread and butter. It now comprehends anchovies and other antepasts.

[171] So called probably from its being overgrown with fennel (μαραθρῶν in Strabo, 160).