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INDICATE NATIONAL ANALOGIES.

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cise on the final fortunes of this or that people. The fate of nations has frequently been decided by the slow operation. of long-acting causes, unthought of and unestimated by the historian, which, while the name and local home of the people remained the same, had gradually changed their constitution, their character, and their capabilities.

70. ASIATIC AND AMERICAN CUSTOMS.-In connection with this subject, it is also very striking that so many close coincidences should exist between Asiatic and American customs. Such are the very ancient use of tobacco in China, as well as in Central America-the use of hemp by the natives of Brazil, as well as by those of India and the East -the practice of chewing lime or plant ashes with the coca in Peru, and with the betel in India and China*—the use of the red thorn-apple by the hill Indians of the Andes, and of the common thorn-apple by the hill people on the slopes of the Himalayas. All these coincidences can scarcely be the result of chance; they are evidences rather of ancient intercourse between Asia and America-possibly even of ancient family relationship between their early inhabitants.

We are accustomed to trace analogies among nations by means of alphabets, names of things, forms of speech, modes of writing, religious rites, &c., and from these to infer a family connection or a community of origin. But old habits and peculiar customs of common life, clung to often not only with the fondness of a natural instinct, but with a reverence

*It is a singular circumstance, with which I was not acquainted while writing the chapter on tobacco, that the Mograbins of Northern Africa chew natron (the natron carbonate of soda of the desert bordering countries) with their tobacco; and that the blacks of Gesira make a cold infusion of natron and tobacco, with a mouthful of which they delight to rinse their mouths for a quarter of an hour, and then reject it. Is this custom of chewing soda with tobacco an imitation of the betel and lime used by the Indian traders to the African ports of the Red Sea ?—or is the origin of both customs to be found in the abundance of natron about the natron lakes and elsewhere in Northern Africa? In either case, it is equally remarkable that a similar practice should prevail on the Andes of Peru.

inspired by high national antiquity-these are not less important evidences of ancient intercourse. They are also more persistent. They may survive after power, civilisation, language, alphabets, writings, and even old religions, have disappeared. The chewing of coca in Peru has outlived all these. The common-life customs and the bodily features of the people have alone survived.

Philological travellers describe, as the most ancient race among the Mexican mountains, a tribe of Indians speaking a monosyllabic language which bears considerable resemblance to the Chinese. The similarity of customs above described is equally close and striking. And the most cautious ethnologist will scarcely refuse to consider the two kinds of evidence as materially aiding each other, and giving strength to the conclusion to which they both point-that a remote family connection exists between the Indian inhabitants of America and the most ancient populations of Eastern Asia.

8°. GENERAL SUMMARY.-From all that we know on the subject of the narcotics, we may, I think, extract these general propositions :

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First, That there exists a universal craving in the whole human race for indulgences of a narcotic kind. This is founded in the nature of man.

Second, That this craving assumes in every country a form which is more or less special to that country. It is modified most by climate, less by race, and least, though still very sensibly, by opportunity.

Third, That among every people the form of craving special to the whole undergoes subsidiary modifications among individuals. These are determined by individual constitution first, and next by opportunity. Hence different professions, in consequence of acquired habits and states of body, show the craving in differently modified forms. And

OUR HUMAN WEAKNESS.

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hence, also, the different classes of society, because of their unlike means and opportunities, exhibit similar differences.

Fourth, That differences in physiological action, which are sometimes very slight, separate

a. The more dreaded from the less dreaded narcoticsopium and hemp from tobacco and the hop.

b. The narcotics from the fermented liquors-opium from alcohol.

c. The milder from the fiercer alcoholic drinks-the beers and wines from the brandies.

d. The mildest fermented drinks from the beverages we infuse-the beers from the teas and coffees.

All these indulgences shade into each other, often by almost imperceptible degrees, and our constitutions, in favourable circumstances, insensibly adapt themselves to all. How much, therefore, ought we to be on our guard against their insidious attractions.

Lastly, I may remark that, with the enticing descriptions before him, which the history of these narcotics presents, we cannot wonder that man, whose constant search on earth is after happiness, and who, too often disappointed here, hopes and longs, and strives to fit himself for happiness hereafter we cannot wonder that he should at times be caught by the tinselly glare of this corporeal felicity, and should yield. himself to habits which, though exquisitely delightful at first, lead him finally both to torture of body and to misery of mind;—that, debilitated by the excesses to which it provokes, he should sink more and more under the influence of a mere drug, and become at last a slave to its tempting seductions. We are indeed feeble creatures, and small in bodily strength, when a grain of haschisch can conquer, or a few drops of laudanum lay us prostrate; but how much weaker in mind, when, knowing the evils they lead us to, we are unable to resist the fascinating temptations of these insidious drugs!

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The consumption of white arsenic.-Action of arsenic upon the system.-Practice of using it in Styria.-Its effects in improving the complexion and removing breathlessness. Quantity taken.-Length of time it may be used with impunity.-Illness produced by discontinuing it.-Its effects upon horses.-Its chemico-physiological action in producing these effects.-Ancient love-philtres and charms.-Incredible things formerly believed.-The eating of clay.-Practice in Guinea, in the West Indies, in Java, in the Himalayas.-Use of bread-meal and mountainmeal in Sweden, Finland, and North Germany.-The Otomacs in South America. -Humboldt's account.-Does clay support life?-Eaten by the Indians of Bolivia and Peru.-Its physiological action.-Our ignorance still great.

I SHOULD Omit from this outline of the chemistry of common life some of the most remarkable features it presents, were I not to add to the preceding chapters on narcotic indulgences a brief notice of two other forms of indulgence not less wonderful and extraordinary. These are, the habitual consumption of arsenic, and the practice of eating clay.

I. THE CONSUMPTION OF WHITE ARSENIC.-Arsenic, as we commonly call it-the white arsenic of the shops and the arsenious acid of the chemist-is well known as a violent poison. Swallowed in large doses, it is what medical wri ters call an irritant poison. In very minute doses it is known to professional men as a tonic and alterative, and is sometimes administered with a view to these effects. It is

EFFECTS OF ARSENIC UPON MAN.

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remarkable also for exercising a peculiar influence upon the skin, and is therefore occasionally employed in cutaneous diseases. The use of arsenic, however, is unfrequent among regularly educated practitioners, and it is never, I believe, used as a household medicine by the people.

In some parts of Lower Austria, however, in Styria, and especially in the hilly country towards Hungary, there prevails among the common people an extraordinary custom of eating arsenic. During the smelting of lead, copper, and other ores, white arsenic flies off in fumes, and condenses in the solid form in the long chimneys which are usually attached to the smelting furnaces. From these chimneys, in the mining regions, the arsenic is obtained, and is sold to the people by itinerant pedlars and herbalists. It is known by the name of Hidri, and the practice of using it is of considerable antiquity. By many it is swallowed daily throughout a long life, and the custom is even handed down hereditarily from father to son.

Arsenic is thus consumed chiefly for two purposesFirst, To give plumpness to the figure, cleanness and softness to the skin, and beauty and freshness to the complexion. Second, To improve the breathing and give longness of wind, so that steep and continuous heights may be climbed without difficulty and exhaustion of breath. Both these results are described as following almost invariably from the prolonged use of arsenic either by man or by animals.

For the former purpose young peasants, both male and female, have recourse to it, with the view of adding to their charms in the eyes of each other; and it is remarkable to see how wonderfully well they attain their object, for those young persons who adopt the practice are generally remarkable for clear and blooming complexions, for full rounded figures, and for a healthy appearance. Dr. Von Tschudi

* A corruption of Hutter-rauch, smelt-house smoke.

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