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The application of this argument is familiar and clear. Many persons assert that alcohol is contained in grain and fruit, and in every part of vegetable creation, and that therefore it is intended by the Creator for the use of man. Such, however, is not the case. The elements of alcohol, indeed, are to be found throughout the whole of vegeta ble creation, and so are the elements of other deleterious substances, but not a particle of alcohol itself. So long us the chemistry of life retains its sway, will the constituent materials of vegetable matter hold together in the relation in which nature has placed them. Death, however, or in other words, decomposition, subverts this natural arrangement, dissolves its connexions, and new and totally different combinations are thereby formed. So it is with alcohol. In wines, this poison undergoes evolution during the decay or decomposition of the juice of the grape ; in malt liquors, man destroys the vital principle of the barley, by converting it into malt; and then subjects it to another artificial process, which produces results similar to those which take place in the production of wine.

By many, it has been supposed, that alcohol does not exist ready formed in fermented liquors, but that it is generated by the heat used in the process of distillation. The fallacy, however, of this view, is manifest from several considerations, and by none more, than by the following decisive experiment made by Mr. Brande, and subse. quently confirmed by other distinguished philosophers. Add to wine a solution of the subacetate of lead, and the colouring and extractive matter will be precipitated. The further addition of a small portion of dry subcarbonate of potassa, separates the alcohol from the fluid which floats on the surface and will ignite on coming in contact with a lighted taper. By this means, we decisively determine, that distillation separates merely the alcohol, which had been previously evolved by the process of fermentation; its constituent parts being thereby extracted, in their elementary forms, from the saccharine juices of the grain or fruit, and combined under a new, a potent, and a deleterious form.

Arguments like these are interesting, and even necessary to remove such objections as are urged in proof that alcohol is a “Good creature of God.” The great point however to be ascertained, is the effect of these liquors on the moral and physical powers of man.

Let it be admitted, for the sake of argument, that alcohol is a creature of God, and no advantage will be derived by its advocates from the concession. Many of our most powerful poisons are the creatures of God. The poisonous upas, and the deadly hemlock, are each of them creatures of God; yet, the Creator no where authorises his creatures to make use of them as habitual articles of diet. 'He has given to man the power of distinguishing between moral good and evil; and, although the scientific knowledge of the precise character, and quality of articles generally used for dietic purposes, may be limited in a great measure, to professional men, yet it is every man's duty, as it is obviously his interest, to acquire by experience all the knowledge he can, upon that important subject : and conscientiously to abstain from every indulgence, which is calculated either to affect his moral character, or to injure the exquisite texture of his intellectual or corporeal frame. For both of which, he is clearly responsible to his wise and benevolent Creator.

CHAPTER XI.

ADULTERATIONS OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS.

How can wine possibly prove innoxious, when it is mixed with so many destructive ingredients.-PLINY.

Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark

For a charm of powerful trouble.
Like a hell-broth, toil and bubble;
Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.-SHAKSPEARE.

The adulteration of intoxicating liquors, forms an interesting and important subject of inquiry. The value of the traffic led to an early adoption of this injurious practice. Ancient writers distinctly allude to the subject of adulteration.

The observations contained in the present chapter, must not be understood to implicate all who are engaged in the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Evidence, however, of the most conclusive character, demonstrates that the practice, although not universal, is very general, and that it is carried on to a most alarming extent.

This deleterious system has two objects in view, viz., 1st, To substitute an artificial compound at a cheaper rate in the place of the genuine article. This is effected by various means adapted to imitate the colour, taste, and intoxicating quality of the liquors professed to be prepar. ed; and, 2ndly, To prevent these liquors from going into pcculiar states or conditions, termed by some, diseases, and thence popularly denominated the art of "Doctoring. " This practice will be explained in its proper place.

ADULTERATIONS OF WINE.

The wines of the ancients were frequently adulterated. The writings both of Greek and Roman authors, acquaint

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Their genti

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us with numerous receipts for this purpose.
ine wines were rendered more potent by the admixture of
wines of a stronger kind, or, as was commonly the prac-
tice, articles were added, with the view to impart to them
an artificial favour, as well as to render them more
durable.

In a passage of the “ Æsopus," of Alexis, allusion is made to the practices of the Athenian wine merchants, who, as is humorously described, in order to spare the heads of their customers, put it out of their power to drink unmixed wine at their meals, by selling it ready diluted from the carts.*

In England, there are early notices of this practice. In the fourteenth century, in the reign of Edward III., a law was enacted, imposing penalties on adulterations, and directing that an essay of all the wines imported should be made, at least twice a year in every town.

In 1426, Sir John Rainewell, mayor, received informa- . tion that the Lombard merchants were guilty of mal-practices in the adulteration of wines; upon inquiry, he ascertained that the charge was well founded, and ordered that the noxious compound, to the quantity of 150 butts, should be thrown into the kennel.t

In the sixteenth century, a similar enactment was passed in the fifth year of Mary. Much dread is expressed of adulteration of good wine, either with inferior wines or water, the penalty on discovery being the loss of their whole stock. “And besyde the samin sic wymes as are sould in commoun tavernis ar commonlie mixt with auld corrupt wines and with watter, to the greit appeir and danger and seikness of the byaris and greit perrell of the saulis of the sellaris.”

In the seventeenth century, the practice of adulterating intoxicating liquors, appears to have been very prevalent. It was common at that period to mix burnt lime or gypsum

with dry Spanish wines. Shakspeare alludes to this prevalent custom: “You rogue, there is lime in this sack too. There is nothing but roguery to be found in villanous man!" Sir William Hawkins makes the following remarks, in his

Observations on a Voyage into the South Sea,” A. D., 1622: “Since the Spanish sacks have been common in our taverns, which for conservation, are mingled with the lime in the making, our nation complains of calentures, of the

Athenæus, x.

f Dr. Hughson's, London, p. 94.

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stone, the dropsy, and infinite other distempers, not heard of before this wine came into common use. Besides, there is no year that it wasteth not two millions of crowns of our substance, by conveyance into foreign countries."

In the 12th Car. ii. c. 25, sec. 11, certain restrictions are found in regard to the mixing and adulteration of wines. The guilty persons were subject to heavy penålties on conviction.

The fictitious preparations of wines has been thus satirized in an old song:

One glass of drink, I got by chance,
'T was claret when it was in France ;

But now from it moche wider.
I think a man might make as good
With green crabbes, boiled in Brazil wood,

And half a pinte of cider.

Addison, in the Tatler, seems to have been well aware of the practice of palming fictitious wine on the public :“ There is in the city, a certain fraternity of chemical operators, who work under ground in holes, caverns and dark retirements, to conceal their mysteries from the eyes and observations of mankind. These subterraneous philosophers, are daily employed in the transmutation of liquors, and by the power of magical drugs and incantations, raising under the streets of London, the choicest products of the hills and valleys of France. They can squeeze Bourdeaux out of the sloe, and draw Champaigne from an apple. Virgil in that remarkable prophecy, Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,

VIRGIL, Ecl. iv. 29. seems to have hinted at this art, which can turn a plantation of northern hedges into a vineyard. These adepts are known among one another, by the name of wine brewers ; and, I am afraid, do great injury, not only to Her Majesty's customs, but to the bodies of many of her good subjects.

The present race of “chemical operators,” are no less ingenious, than those to which Addison alludes. Wine merchants guides abound in recipes for the preparation and adulteration of fictitious wines. The present state of the wine trade, indeed, is such, that it is almost impossible to procure genuine wine of any description. It would appear that the quantity professed to be exported from

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* Tatler, No. 131.

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