7 o2 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Condiments act principally upon the nervous system. Some of 

 them, for instance, excite the nerve termini of the mucous membrane 

 of the digestive canal, whence the excitation or stimulus passes to cer 

 tain centres in the intestine, or to more remote centres in the spinal 

 cord, the brain, etc. Others of them, having been absorbed in the 

 blood, reach the central organ of the nervous system, and act upon it. 

 Passing beyond all these nerve-centres, their influence may extend 

 farther, and may, through the intestinal canal, affect portions of the 

 system which have no direct relation to digestion. 



Bearing all this in mind, we perceive that the term condiment is 

 commonly used in too restrictive a sense, being applied to but a few 

 of the substances which act upon the system in the manner above in- 

 dicated. There is no reason why we should give the name of condi- 

 ments only to those substances which produce agreeable and useful 

 stimulation in the nervous system, either by exciting the palate or by 

 entering: into the blood. The site of the excitation is immaterial, and 

 cannot determine whether a substance is or is not properly a condi- 

 ment. The first effects produced by sundry agents not commonly 

 regarded as condiments tea and coffee, for example are at bottom 

 the same as those produced by the condiments. As for those sub- 

 stances which produce their effects only when they have entered into 

 the blood, and which have nothing to do with digestion, these have 

 been regarded as condiments if they are absorbed by the intestinal 

 canal, as caffeine ; or by the nasal mucous membrane, as the nicotine 

 of snuff. To be consistent, we must give the same name of condiment 

 to sundry substances which are not at all eaten. This will readily be 

 admitted with regard to the sense of smell, since many dishes, instead 

 of pleasing by their flavor, please rather by their agreeable odor. 

 The volatile elements of food, by gratifying the sense of smell, become 

 true condiments. The same is to be said of other volatile elements 

 which are not derived from articles of food, such as the fragrance of 

 flowers, etc. 



The excitation of the organs of taste or of smelling produces, in 

 certain determinate portions of the brain, corresponding agreeable sen- 

 sations. The process is essentially the same in the case of sensations 

 of hearing or of seeing. Hence we might reckon among condiments 

 the vibrations of the ether, and those of sound. However wide the 

 difference between the pleasure we experience in the contemplation of 

 a Madonna by Raffaelle, the hearing of one of Beethoven's sympho- 

 nies, inhaling the fragrance of a rose, and tasting a savory fruit, still 

 these have all something in common. External causes will always pro- 

 duce a movement in the nerves, and this will be transmitted to certain 

 points of the central organ, where it will give rise to sensations ; and 

 thence again there may be transmitted to still other centres other 

 nerve-influences, which will produce simultaneous action in other points. 



The term condiment, as commonly used, is taken in too restricted 



