The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-08-22 00:00:00

it itrraturt.

POETRY.

THE DREAD MESSENGER.

(From the Church of England Magazine.)
" t saw him pass by, while the east wind blew,
And the vernal bloom from the branches flew."

Where art thou not, 0 Death?
Byond the ocean's roar
Thy p stitential breath
th swept the world o'er.
The 'tonne in beauty shine,
Yet mint they yield to thee;
E.,rtlt's faire t 11:twer's are thine,
King of inort.a.ity

On Bramah's golden shore
Is poured thy fiercest ire:
Life's last cries upward soar
Amid devouring fire
And o'er its mountains wild
Thy fatal wings were spread;
When, by his foes beguiled,
The British warrior bled.

Even 'neWh Italia's skies
Is seen thy fearless hand;
Some early sacrifice
I,os in a foreign land.
conid the sunlit sky
01 that fair genial clime,
Relume the glassy eye
When came thy blighting time

The wid..w'd heat must mourn
Some beauteous hope laid low;
Love's ties !hy hand hath torn,
Thou hArbin,Ter of woe!
Ye F hail thy sceptre fall;
Upon a purer shore
Those sever .1 here shal all
Unite, to part no more

E. B. B

HINTS FOR PEDESTRIANS, PRACTICAL

AND NIEDICAL:

(From an unpublished Manuscript, by a Physician of

Liverpool.)

BY M EDICUS.

(CONTINLTh:D FROM OUR LAST.)

59. Supposing that now our friends—we use the plu-
ral, because we wish it to be understood there must be
a little knot of two, three, or four " jolly companions
every one," banded together for the trip, in order that
even one individual may reap the whole benefit of the
tour —supposing, then, that all are in full sail now,
passing along the pleasant hedgerow, the rude stone
wall, or crossing some open moorland, singing and shoat-
7ng as yougo along : we would commend sogoodly- an exer-
cise for the lungs, whose proportionate expansion calls
forth, and gives new tone to, their elastic tissues,
whereby the blood is more freely received from, and re-
mitted to, the heart ' • and, by its more than wonted con-
tact in these channels with the virifyiny air, it circulates
with a freer bound, imparting new zest to life; and so
leap forth ideas of wit, pleasant mirth, and merriment,
till it becomes difficult to trace tb interfused relations
of cause and effect, in our wondrously compounded
union of mind and body.

We have a few observations to press upon our tourist
friends, in reference to-
-60. Thirst; as, from the ignorance of many about
the real danger of inducing disease, and even death
itself, by too sudden a cooling of the heated system, we
desire to make ourself clearly understood on this impor-
tant subject. First, in order to convince any wilful or
heedless reader, if there he such, who may peruse these
pages, (and for none more than fur them are these
hints." written,) that the subject has been one of
earnest, cautious entreaty from the lips of experience
and enlightened reflection: we shall open our own
remarks by quoting those of other people, qualified to
express that opinion front actual experience, even
more than ourselves. Col. Shaw says, as referring to a
grave matter wherein the temptation to transgress is
never stronger, because a gratification is associated
with an urgent and imperative necessity,—" To prevent
thirst in hct weather, nothing is better than to take a
great quantity of fresh butter with your breakfast.
Avoid drinking as you would poison; in shoat, drink as
little as possible of anything, and do not give way to
the first sensation of thirst. I should strongly recom-
mend starting at daybreak, having previously taken
breakfast." An old hand at walking remarks—" Be
not always tempted by the crystal fountains you may
meet with, being
yourself warm. Should your thirst be
overwhelming, take a mouthful; keep it for some se-
conds in the mouth, so as to warm it a little before
swallowing. Never take ices except in brandy or other
spirit, and then only being quite cool yourself." We
shall use the liberty of completing the quotation, though
it passes on to correlative points ; because we have no
especial head under which to reduce them precisely.
Our continental friend M. M. goes on to urge —" Drink
not anything cold, being hot. Pull not off your clothes
when in perspiration, neither sit in draughts of air nor
upon moist turf or moss ; but rather, if you must take
liquid, make use of a drop of real eau de vie (brandy) or
other spirit, because, when the whole body is exces-
sively heated, any cold beverage suddenly gulped down
in the eagerness of gratifying thirst too rapidly cools
down am blood, and check, dangerously the circulation !
See that the food you take be fresh, and not greasy"
(that is, not had or old). I shall be excused in present-
ing one more additional quotation in reference to the
effects of water as applied to the skin in allaying thirst,
borrowed from the narrative of the gallant officer
before mentioned :—" The heat was dreadful, and the
enemy had cut the ropes of the different wells. I had
learned, from my walking experience, that to thirsty
men drinking water only gives momentary relief, but
that if the legs are wetted, the relief, though not at first
apparent, positively destroys the pain of thirst. Seeing
a muddy pool at the bottom of one of the hills, by which
we must pass to attack the convent of Bostillo, I halted
for a few minutes, making the men wet themselves from
the kliees downwards." Satisfied of the correctness of
this easy plan, we have introduced in the frontispiece
the plan as it should he carried out for a moment or two
only. Against this plan an objection has been pointed out,
based upon the fear of danger from plunging the legs in
water, orwetting them. A party solooking at it has recom-
mended, the method of rinsing the mouth with cold spring
water, and the use (f a soft tooth-brush, as refreshing and
quenching to the thirst, without the risk of evils attend-
ing the swallowing part of the business. We can only
say, that this rinsing is very good and unexceptionable
where and when practicable—only that where the rin-
sing can he put in practice, the teronfation to the swal-
lowing presents itself ; and we think there are few
minds strong enough to resist an involuntary, though
intentionally moderate, pull at a glass of sparkling cold
•spring water, under the exciting urgency of thirst, if
raised to the lips 0n..-,e and oftenerin orderto accompany and
second the tooth-brush. Now, with Col. Shaw's plan,
undrinkable, unrinsible, muddy water will afford a relief,
free from any great risk, providing the aspersion of the
feet and legs he not too suddenly done or too prolonged.
The rule may be safely laid down that this experiment
is free from harm, if practised for a moment or two only;
or, as we would prefer, plunging the legs in and out of
the water two or three times, and no more; so as to
anticipate that sudden and general refrigeration of the
whole body, which is manifested warningly by a feeling
of chill, and which is the point where all danger would
be likely to set in, whereby the balance of the circula-
tion is destroyed, and congestion of the vascular (circu-
lating) system is on the eve of taking place towards some
important part of the body, determined according to the
comparative weakness or strength of the various organs
towards the one with the least vital tone—in other
words, the weakest. Whilst we have thus acknow-
ledged the possible danger, and even described its mode
of setting in, in order to place the pedestrian on his
guard, we do maintain that if he will take the rule just
broached—viz., to beware of the chill (not herein only,
but under all manner of cooling indulgences)—for a
guide he will be ordinarily safe in the practice of this
mode, when the nature of the water resorted to may be
such as to put a stop to the rinsing attempt altogether,
unless he have the limited taste of the Esquimaux.
Extreme recommendations are the least likely to be
carried out, except by a resolute and prudent few ;
therefore, we shall conclude our remarks touching thirst
by saying, that, on the whole, for those in an ordinary
walking trip who desire to slack their parched throats,
and have brought it along with them, or when they can
obtain it, the best plan is to take about a dessert-spoon-
ful of some spirit—brandy or whiskey—in about six or
seven times as much water. If this is to be done whilst
standing at some little rill or spring on the roadside,
and therefore without having occasion to wait for any-
thing being fetched by another person, as a waiter at an
inn,—which delay, by giving the body time for a mi-
nute's cooling down, does a great service,---if then, all
in the heat of the moment, a delicious, though limited
draught must be indulged in, there is a point worthy of
attention. Generally the spirit is mixed with the water
too unequally, from the extemporaneous device which
may be had recourse to; such as first filling the half
cover of your pocket pistol with water, then adding the
spirit, which is of course, from the greater lightness of
the latter, just the worst way for obtaining a mixture of
both elements, and which is then so drunk off. What
we want to suggest, is the sailor's plan of making
" grog," viz., by putting the palm of the hand over the
mouth of the tumbler, or its substitute, and shaking, for
half a minute or more, the contents well together as
rapidly as you can. By this means the air gets entail,
gled in the mixed fluids, and a sweetness and brisknessfit
is
is imparted to the drink, whilst the temperature o
a little raised —which latter, though an imperceptible
difference to the lips, is yet less chilling t
is,
o the more
sensitive throat and stomach ; another plan to twirl
a stick or spoon in it, for the same end. This is the
" swizzle," on board our navy, when rum is the spirit
used. It is simple and easy of adoption, and we beg
parties will take the trouble to do it always on Spell
occasions, for their own good : it has taken perhaps long
lescribe, but that is owing to the need of explaining
and securing conditions. From personal expe-