All malt liquors may be adulterated. Bitter herbs are used instead of hops. Copperas is used in lager beer; tobacco, nux vomica, and cocculus indicus in London porter—brown stout. To avoid them, drink no beer. It is of no earthly or heavenly use. A patient who would die without beer will certainly die with its use. Spanish flies are said to be used in liquors sometimes.
The strychnine—of whiskey—directs its action to the superior portion of the spinal cord: hence paralysis, insanity, and sudden death of whiskey drinkers.
Drinkers often suffer from gravel, from the lime, or chalk, or other minerals contained in liquors. Alcohol itself will not digest, yet ignorant physicians prescribe alcoholic drinks for dyspeptics.
Vinegar is often made from sulphuric acid. Good vinegar will not burn on your lips. To detect acid-sulphuric, drop a little of solution of sugar of lead in your vinegar; the lead precipitates a whitish sediment.
A short Sermon.
“There’s nine men standin’ at the dore, an they all sed they’d take sugar in there’n. Sich, friends and brethering, was the talk in a wurldli’ cens, wonst common in this our ainshunt land, but the dais is gone by and the sans run dry, and no man can say to his nabur, Thou art the man, and will you take enny more shugar in your kaughey? But the words of our tex has a difrunt and more pertikelur meenin than this. Thar they stood at the dore on a cold winter’s mornin, two Baptiss and two Methodies and five Lutharians, and the tother was a publikin, and they all with one vois sed they wouldn’t dirty their feet in a dram shop, but if the publikin would go and get the drinks they’d pay for ’em. And they all cried out and sed, ‘I’ll take mine with shugar—for it won’t feel good to drink the stuff without sweetenin’.’ So the publikin he marched in, and the bar-keeper said, ‘What want ye?’ and he answered and sed, ‘A drink.’ ‘How will ye have it?’ ‘Plain and strate,’ says he, ‘for it ain’t no use in wastin’ shugar to circumsalvate akafortis. But there’s nine more standin’ at the dore, and they all sed they’d take shugar in ther’n.’ Friends and brethering, it ain’t only the likker or the spirits that is drunk in this roundabout and underhanded way, but it’s the likker of all sorts of human wickedness in like manner. There’s the likker of mallis that menny of you drinks to the drugs; but you’re sure to sweetin’ it with the shugar of self-justification. Ther’s the likker of avris that some keeps behind the curtain for constant use, but they always has it well mixt with the sweetin’ uv prudens and ekonimy. Ther’s the likker of self-luv that sum men drinks by the gallon, but they always puts in lots of the shugar of Take Keer of Number One.
“An’ lastly, ther’s the likker uv oxtorshun, which the man sweetins according to circumstances.... And ther’s nine men at the dore, and they all sed they’d take shugar in ther’n. But, friends and brethering, thar’s a time comin’ and a place fixin’ whar thar’ll be no ‘standin’ at the door,’ to call for ‘shugar in ther’n.’ But they’ll have to go rite in and take the drink square up to the front, and the bar-keeper’ll be old Satun, and nobody else; and he’ll give ’em ‘shugar in ther’n,’ you’d better believe it; and it’ll be shugar of lead, and red-hot at that, as shure as my name’s Conshunce Dodger.”
Alcohol contains no life-supporting principle. It has no iron or salts for the blood, no lime for bone, phosphorus for brain, no nitrogen for vital tissue. Burton’s “Old Pale Ale” is given to invalids, but (by Dr. Hassal’s analysis of one gallon), one must swallow 65,320 parts (grains) of water, 200 of vinegar, 2,510 of malt gum, etc., in order to get 100 of sugar, which is the only nourishing quality therein.
Fish is a good and wholesome article of diet, and salt water fish are never poisonous, if fresh. I once knew of fresh water fish being poisonous. The following article appeared in the Daily Courant of Hartford in 1864.