Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1857-06-26

a eI0fy mas Teen gong to< Fouuo0
Of the papers for several weeks, The
essence Of which ID contained IN fhs
following paragraph:
In the manufac(ure Of brandy from
raw spirits, q certain article called
essence ofbrandy' is sometimes used
which, in its properties, is nearly al
lied to prussiac acid, and drop or
two viii produce instant death. At
Toronto, recently, manufacturer Of
brandy, named Morris applied bis
tongue to preparation OF this e.
sence with view probably 10 ascer-
tain its strength, and in less than six
~ seconds was corpse. III 7
From the various commentaries
which have been made, in relation 70
this fatal experiment Of touching the
tongue TO the essence Of brandy. II
would seem that many ofour edltori-
al brethren have On extremely vague
and indefinite idea ofthis strange and
potent essence. -.
We purpose TO enlightcn them. TO
the end that they and their readers
will have a good reason 70 adopt the
taste not adage ~ relation 70 this
and all similar essep ses. So
The true essence cf all the alcohol
ie or intoxicating liquors in the
world is alcohol itself Raw spirit
Is simply alcohol diluted with water;
every other alcoholic beverage whcth-
er known as 'spirituous or malt lio-
uors, vino, or cidcr, Is nothing more
nor less than alcohol and water, com
monty known as raw whiskey, and
certain extraneous admixtures, alias
poisons. With this raw whiskey and
the appropriate compound or essence,
all kinds of liquor, rum, brandy, gin,
cider, ale, beer, etc, in all their vari-
ETY., can be made TO order on very
short notice, and of any required de-
gree Of flavor, pungency, or intoxica.
ting potency. The manufacture Of
these compounds has become quite an
important business, and some Of orr
city chemists and druggists make
their manufacture and sale quito an
object. ..n
The adulteration of alcohol. or the
manufacture Of factitious liquors, is
as profitable to the producer as IL Is
killing to the consumer. For exam
pie, ten cents worth Of arsenic OF
corrosive sublimate, added TO barrel
rum, brandy, gin, or whiskey, will
double its commercial value; that 10,
It will enable the dealer TO add 70 It .
barrel Of water, and still have the
same potency TO effect, TO disturb, or
stimulate the system, in an ordinary
drink or DOSE lI'lt
But IL the well-skilled manufaetur-
er wishes to augment the power Of
his liquor 10 act on the brain and
nervous system, rather than on the
digestive and circulating system, 30
as TO intoxicate and stupefy rather
than excite and irritate, he has only
to change the leading drug ofhis cs-
sence from caustic 10 n narcotic.-
Instead Of arsenic, cayenne, corrosive
sublimate, phosphorus, etc, he will
use prussiac acid, strychnine, hen.
bane, belladonna, etc.
A dollars worth Of either of these
drugs will increase the potency of q
whole barrel of alcohol, In whatever
form or disguise II may appear NJ
beverage, one hundred per cent
Hence, il a barrel Of brandy without
essence, will amount, when retailed
by the drink, 10 one hundred and
twenty dollars and ninoty-six cents,
1--WE allow half gill for q drink, the
price six cents), one dollar invested
in prusslac acid or strychnine. will
enable the same barrel TO bear an
equal amount Of water, while each
drink will make drunk come equal
70 the genuine article; and il the fla
voring and pungoncy L. carefully
managed with extract Of logwood,
burnt sugar, sulphuric acid, yitriol,
sugar of lead, grains Of Paradise,
cocculus indicus, hops, alum, horse
rabish, juniper, lime, chalnberlye,
etc, the most fastidious taste will not
be offended, and the connoisseur will
find his cultivated appetency and
sensuality fully satisfied, while the
dealer gets for his barrel of brandy
two hundred and forty-one dollars
and ninety-two cents. 4.a
The paragraph above quoted rep
resents the essence Of brandy which
killed the Toronto manufacturer, to
be, in its properties, very nearly al
lied TO prussiac acid 1t is indeed
so. tits as nearly allied TO prussiac
acid as prussiac acid is to itself The
same experiment has been tried often
before, and with exactly the same
result. Many chemists, physicians,
and apothecaries have accidentally
tasted the contents Of bottles con-
tanning prussiac acid, and, in less
than sixty seconds were corpses.