The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-10-24

From the scspci.
WHAT WILL YOU DRINK.

/ sa From the scspci.s
WHAT WILL. YOU DRINK. @
| We presume few persons can pass day
in the city Of New York without hearing this
question asked. The answer may DO va.
rious, but the meaning Of the answer inva-
riably implies that the drink, whatever It
may be, il to be an alctoholic one. Larger
beer, Scotch ale, mint julcp, brandy smash,
whiskey toddy, gin sling; MADEIRA, claret,
hook, champagne, and so on, are regarded
as drink. As we do not belong to the liquor
party, We do not learn our philosophy in the
bar-roon.
Let us state at tho beginning Of our arti-
Gle, what We mean by drink, and drinking.
By drink, We mean some fluid which the
body of man requires to preserve it, fuidity.
II we analyze the body Of man, we find it IL
composed of four ffths rater. Ii we anal
| yze the world in which we live, we find it
composed Of water in the same proportion.
How natural-nay, more-how inevitable
the conclusion, that water is the natural and
appropriate drink for man. 5i3f
BY drinking, we mean the act of swallow
ing the fluid appropriate for preserving the
fuidity Of the body. We are but too PAIN
fully aware of the pervcrsion Of this word,
to mean the act of drinking some alcoholic
fluid. There is some very peculiar adoption
Of the act of drinking, to poisoning, OF
some very strange fitness in poisons, to the
act Of drinking. Where one person eats
poison habitually, thousands drink it. . 4.
To drink naturally, and in a state of
| health, Is an act which man performs solely
from the sense Of thirst, and thirst can arise
only from the want of water in the body
When man eats food, he is in need of water,
| because he has added more solid matter to
his composition, and needs water to hold
| it in solution. The solids of the body are
deposited from the fluids, and water alone is
| that which makes and keeps the solids fluid.
Water is evcrywhere-in every possible
form and condition. Every animated being
needs it, wants it, and finds it, in the natu-
raj and healthy state. If, from unnatural
and discordant conditions, they do not find
it, they die.
But there are other sensations beside mere
hunger for food, and thirst for water. We
waste some of our elements faster than 9TH
crs, and need them renewed. In the heat
of summer we perspire away the acids Of
our fluids, and by natural necessity, VIC want
the acidity of our fluids restored to their
normal condition. The acid fruits arc ready
at hand for our use, and their juice is as
delicious as it is necessary for us. If we
were an observant and reflective race, we
should perceive as much wisdom and good
ness in an apple or peach, as in the contri-
vance and condition Of world.
We are kept as living machines by con-
slant supply of caioric, or the principle Of
heat, to every part of the body, by the circu-
lation of the blood. When this supply of
calorc is not properly furnished, or is large
ly and especially suddenly abstractcd, de-
bility follows, as an inevitable Consequence.
Now some fluid which will furnish calo,ie
Immediately TO the body, is needed. Onions,
radishes, capsicum, garlic, sugar-canc, tea,
coffee, and spices of every sort, are ready
for US. !s# .ea7. -zs5 +H sa eY.~.a- J.
How mustard, pepper, capsicum, and spi-
ces restore the power to weakened stomach!
Who has come home shivering and sncezing
with a cold, has not found delicious relief
from glass of ginger tea? The secret is
not merely in the heGt of the tea. If we
take mere hot Tdter, We are more inclined
to romit than eat or drink. Philosophy
teaches why. Hot water merely diturbs
the coats of the stomach, and thus wcakens
them.
Ginger, Glove, pepper, or capsicum tea,
containing sugar stimulates the coats of
the stomach, combines the calOfic with
them, and contracts them, thus restoring
them to their natural and healthy condition.
They therefore help to restore the heat and
force Of the body. They are the natural
cordials and stimuants Of the body. .E
Every animal, we suppose, finds its appro-
pirate stmulant III the food and drink pro-
vided for it by nature. However, as socie-
ty progresses, and the arts flourish, there
comes the manufacturer of spirtuous drinks
which must be fermcnted. In every age and
country, there has been drinks manufactured
by fermentation. Almost all the saccharinc
and acid juices, (Which abound in fruits,)
when escaped from their cells, will fern,ent.
The worlds one grand laboratory Of chem
istry. The elements are constantly com
blning or separating and forming new COM
pounds. '''..'.. ..-.5 'r-
When the juice Of the grape is within the
cells which contain it, and the atmosphere
is shut out, there is no change takes place.
If the air and warmth have access to the
grape, the water, and some of the odor, viii
pass off into the air, and the result will be,
dried grapes, or raisins.
If the cells are burst, and air and warmth
have access, fermentation occurs. The
process OF fermentation consists in the
oxygen of the air combining with the carbon
of the sugar, and forming a carbonic acid
gas, which comes to the surface in bubbles,
and flies of. The nitrogen of the air unites
with the albumen. and forms a gluten, which
keeps up the fermentation, and makes the
| substance commonly called Yeast. -.@ .H
| The result of the fermentation is the for
nation of alcohol. This is one of the most
wonderful substances known. Not one drop
Of it is found in any living or undecom-
| pounded vegetable substance; but no
sooner do the juicy fruits die, or decomposc,
! than the process Of fermentation commences
and alcohol and yeast are produced.
| The effects Of all alcoholic finds, when
taken into the stomach and passed into the
circulation, are stimulant and reviving at
! first, and scdative and debilitasing after
wards. They are taken On account Of both
properties. Still, they are generally taken
! for stimulating and exhilcrating: .si43lFs5
| When persons are exhausted, whether
from excessive toll of body or mind, or
| from loss Of substance, or from change Of
substance, nothing Is SO gratefully reviving
as alcohol in some form. Any sort Of wine,
ale, or spirit, is relatively useful under such
| circumstances. These Substances may be
conveniently classed under their appropriate
designations of value,' but their generic title
and use is stimulant. -
| For anv one to make n habitual use of a
sfimulant for n diulent, or .tiuidifer, is to
commit as gross an error as take black or
red pepper, or niustard, for food, on the plea
that it is used ,rith food, andm therefore,
| be food. - RI. . t-s-...-.s.. ..4z-.-...-
We suppose any one would see the
absurdity Of taking ginger tea instead of
water, continually, and yet the taking of
alcoholic drinks habitually, is just as absurd
and deserves the same ridicule and repro
baton. Though we are frequently in the
habit of recommending and prescribing ale,
wine and spirit, for medicinal purposes, we
should be AS Aamable, if we recommended
these things for ordinary drinks, as we
should be if we recommended the habitual
use Of ether, laudanum, hartshorn or pep
permint.
| Two drinks have become hnbitual all the
civilized world over--infusion decoction
of tea and coffee. There could hardly be
/ al general we might saw so ,lniy prsal a con.