[60]. What other discovery or invention ever produced such political consequences as the introduction of the Potatoe as an article of food? From its operation as the main constituent of national sustenance the population of Ireland has advanced from little more than one million to near seven millions, within the last century and a half!
[61]. Med. Trans. of the College of Physicians, vol. vi. p. 92.
[62]. That the warm and not the cold bath was esteemed by the ancient Greeks, for its invigorating properties may be inferred from a dialogue of Aristophanes, in which one of the characters says, ‘I think none of the sons of the gods ever exceeded Hercules in bodily and mental force,’—upon which the other asks ‘Where didst thou ever see a cold bath dedicated to Hercules?’
[63]. The prohibition of the bath was numbered amongst the mortifications to which certain priestesses in Greece were bound by the rigid rules of their order.
[64]. T. Bartholini Hist. Anat. et Med. cent v. Hafniæ. Med. Transactions, vol. 3, p. 177.
[65]. Madame Nouffleur’s Receipt is as follows. Three drachms of the root of the Male Fern, reduced to a fine powder, and mixed with water—this constitutes one dose. Two hours after taking the powder, a bolus of Calomel, Scammony, and Gamboge, is to be administered.
[66]. Duke of Portland’s Powder for the Gout.—Equal quantities of the roots of Gentian, and Birthwort (Aristolochia rotunda) the tops and leaves of Germander (chamædrys) Ground Pine (Chamæpitys) and lesser Centaury, (Chironea Centaurium) powdered and mixed together.—As this is a combination of bitters, it might, without doubt, be serviceable in certain cases of Gout.
[67]. This medicine was brought into vogue by M. Husson, a military officer in the service of France, about fifty years ago.
[68]. So popular was this plant that it acquired the title of ‘Anima articulorum.’ It formed the basis of the Dia Articulorum, the Pulvis Arthriticus Turneri, and the Vienna Gout Decoction.
[69]. Alexander’s Prescription consisted of Hermodactyllus, Ginger, Pepper, Cummin seed, Aniseed, and Scammony; which, says he, will enable those who take it to walk immediately.