In new brandy there also appears to be an uncombined acid, giving to it a peculiar taste and quality, which are lost by age. This explains the reason why the addition of five or six drops of “liquor ammoniæ,” to each bottle of new brandy, will impart to it the qualities of that of the oldest date.
[648]. Taylor’s Red Bottle, commonly called the Whitworth Doctor. British Brandy coloured with Cochineal, and flavoured with oil of Origanum.
[649]. Mr. Parkes, in his Chemical Essays, has the following remark: “an ingenious friend assures me that if new rum be exposed for a night to a severe frost, and then removed to a heated room, and thus alternately treated for a week or two, it will in that short time have acquired a flavour equal to fine old spirits.” The mischievous effects of new rum, as drank in the West Indies, would seem to depend upon the presence of Lead; see Plumbi Acetas.
[650]. Mock Arrack. The author of ‘Apicius Redivivus,’ directs, for the purpose of making a mock Arrack, that two scruples of Benzoic acid be added to every quart of Rum. By a receipt of this kind the celebrated Punch of Vauxhall is prepared.
[651]. The famous Helvetian Styptic, described in page 83, depended wholly on this accidental contamination for its colour, and it was no small mortification to our chemists, when this nostrum was first introduced amongst us, that they could not prepare it with our own spirits, but were obliged to be at the expense of true French Brandy. Our own Spirits, although equally coloured, would never produce a violet tincture; at length, however, the mystery was discovered, and the gall nut imparted to the tincture that characteristic colour which was so long considered essential to its efficacy; but the discovery threw discredit upon the nostrum, and it fell into disuse.
[652]. If any additional argument were necessary, we might repeat, that Arsenic in its metallic state is not poisonous. As it is almost impossible to reduce metallic arsenic to a state of powder, without its becoming oxidized, M. Renault had recourse to its alloys for deciding the question; and he found that Mispickel (an alloy of iron and arsenic,) when given to the extent of two drachms, had no apparent effect; this result agrees with the conclusion of Bayen in his work on Tin, and proves that the arsenic which may be contained in that metal cannot produce any medicinal effect, as it exists in its metallic state. Recherches Chimiques sur l’Etain, par Bayen et Charlard, 1781.
[653]. Guy’s Powder or Ethiopia. This once celebrated remedy consisted of pure rasped Tin, Mercury, and Sublimed Sulphur, triturated together.
Blaine’s Powder for the Distemper in Dogs. The basis of this nostrum is the Aurum Musivum, or Sulphuret of Tin, and which has been said to be more efficacious in cases of Tænia than the simple metal.
Mathieu’s Vermifuge was indebted to Tin for its efficacy, see Filicis Radix.
[654]. Sulphur Lozenges. Sublimed Sulphur one part, sugar eight parts, Tragacanth mucilage q. s. used in Asthma, and in Hæmorrhoids.