The teamsters in mountainous countries frequently add a dose of arsenic to the fodder, which they give their horses, before a laborious ascent. The practice of giving arsenic to horses may continue for years without accident, but as soon as the animal passes into the hands of a master who does not use arsenic, he becomes thin, loses his spirits, and, in spite of the most abundant nourishment, never recovers his former appearance.
The use of arsenic for horned cattle is less frequent; it is only given to oxen and calves intended for fattening. In Austria, hogs and other animals are also fattened by a careful use of arsenic.
Precious metals, like precious stones, are subject to misfortunes. As of the latter, a learned professor saith, “Patents of nobility are distributed here in the most arbitrary manner, and outward aspect and character, weigh heaviest in the scales by which they are determined. To such an extent is this the case, that the stones which have literally and truly fallen from the skies, are not reckoned among the precious stones, although they have been in all times objects of curiosity to the most cultivated minds, and certainly are of very high descent, since they came, at least, from the moon, and are even imagined to be young worlds, little princes, which would in time have come to reign as planets. And whence this injustice? Because these little strangers, which, perhaps, are pleased to travel incognito, have an inconspicuous exterior, are enveloped in a dark weather-proof cloak, because from under this cloak, only a greyish suit, without gold lace, with merely a little iron scattered about it, comes to light; because this aspect does not show from afar off that they have fallen from the skies, and because they do not say to everybody, ‘My mother lives in the mountains of the moon.’”
And although Mercury, not only in name, but also in its volatile and skyward tendencies, claims kindred with the planetary system, which tendencies are likewise shown in the behaviour of the other metallic substance, of which this chapter discourses. Yet their high claims are disregarded, and, like the aerolites, they are condemned by the majority of men to a plebeian rank and menial offices.
[CHAPTER XXIV.]
DATURA AND CO.
“That skulk in the depths of the measureless wood
’Mid the Dark’s creeping whispers that curdle the blood.
Where the wolf howls aloof, and the wavering glare
Flashes out from the blackness the eyes of the bear.”