PEPPERS: 565 
A Capsicum gargle of properly modified strength will specially 
relieve other milder forms of sore, and relaxed throat, by virtue, 
not only of its stimulating action, but further because possess- 
ing an inherent specific medicinal affinity for the throat ; 
which part Sydney Smith apostrophized thus in his own 
instance :— 
“Much injured organ! constant is thy toil! 
Spits turn to do thee harm, and coppers boil ; 
Passion, and punch, and toasted cheese, and paste, 
And all that’s said, and swallowed, lay thee waste!” 
Under the invocation of Saint Blaize (in whose processions 
at one time drunkenness prevailed, giving rise to the reproach 
“drunk as Blazes’) a custom has become perpetuated from 
Italy by the Fathers of Charity, for the blessing of throats. Two 
candles consecrated on Candlemas Day, being crossed in the form 
of an X, are placed under the affected person’s chin so as to 
touch the throat, while these words are said: ‘‘ By the inter- 
cession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of St. 
Blaize, Bishop, and Martyr, may our Lord deliver thee from 
every malady of the throat.” Miraculous cures are said to have 
followed this pious ceremony. Saint Blaize was the patron of 
wool-combers. Another “sovereign cure for drunkenness, 
and pleasant withal” is told of by Tuer, in London Cries, as 
having been known by the name of Saloop, which was originally 
dispensed at street corners, where it was consumed formerly — 
for the most part about the hour of midnight. It eventually 
found its way into the coffee houses of past times. The ingredi- 
ents used in preparing this beverage were various, sassafras, 
and other simples of the cuckoo-flower tribe being the principal 
among them. This was not the same old English drink as Salep, 
concocted from the dried tubers of several orchids which were 
mucilaginous, and demulcent, like sago, or tapioca. 
With respect to Peppers, and their allied pungent spices, as 
desirable aids to digestion, doctors have differed, and still include 
objectors. Dr. Beaumont said: “These spicy condiments do 
not afford any nutrition, and their continual use affects the 
stomach as alcohol, and all other stimulants do; the present — 
relief afforded is at the expense of future suffering.” Likewise 
also Mattieu Williams in his Chemistry of Cooking, writes : 
“Thousands of poor wretches are crawling miserably to their 
