THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



170 



soni of which his drink is made, who would 

 have been thrown into great depression 

 and perplexity by advising him to ab- 

 stain from tisane, and to trust to the 

 unassisted vital energies of his own con- 

 stitution. 



Tisanes, then, are liquids which contain 

 in dissolution a certain quantity of medici- 

 nal principles, and which are intended to 

 serve as the habitual beverage of sick per- 

 sons. Tisanes may be grouped into several 

 distinct classes in respect to the elements 

 which they hold in suspension. The selec- 

 tion of the class to be administered to dif- 



him ; but it seems a wanton self-torture to 

 expose one's gustatory organs to the slow 

 passage over them of a pint or more of 

 liquid highly flavoured with senna, liquor- 

 ice, gayac, rhubarb, sarsaparilla, squills, 

 coriauder, and lemon-juice. We are per- 

 fectly content to cede the royal draught to 

 those who have the right divine to quaff 

 it, and to content ourselves with the same 

 ingredients swallowed under a plebeian 

 pilular form. 



The true way of effecting a tisane cure 

 of the numerous small ailments which few 

 people die of, but which are ailments and 



ferent patients, or to the same patient at ; annoyances nevertheless, is to do as you 

 different stages of his complaint, must rest j would in a case of water-cure, of grape- 

 with the medical attendant, or with the cure, or any other regimen in vogue, viz., 

 whim or inclination felt by the invalid and [ adhere strictly to your orders, and be true 

 the faith he places in its curative powers, to your flag. You must swallow no other 

 Many valetudinarians have their favourite i drink but tisane so long as you are seeking 

 herb drink, which, and no other, they restoration through its aid ; and, certainly, 



firmly believe will restore them to their 

 wonted health. 



Herb drinks, too, are subject to the 

 fashion of the day. They have their rise 

 and fall, like gigot-sleeves, short waists, 

 and crinoline. A long-lived physician will 

 have seen the reign and the decadence of 

 toast-and-water, chicken broth, ground-ivy 

 tea, and many others ; tisanes, also, have 

 local reputations. In England, in Syden- 

 ham's time, small beer was in vogue ; 

 mountainous countries generally patronize 

 butter-milk and whey ; the Spaniards put 

 their trust in cacao. Very weak tea, made 

 by boding a mere pinch in a tea-kettle, is 

 fast rising in continental esteem. 



As the amount of active or nutritive 

 principle contained in tisanes is exceed- 

 ingly small in proportion to their bulk, 

 they approach homoeopathic remedies in 

 one respect. Regarding them in another 

 light, they act by a sort of moral power 

 or psychical force, through the implicit con- 

 fidence placed in them by a numerous hody 

 of patients, while the quantity of fluid they 

 contain has an undeniable influence, espe- 

 cially when taken warm, in promoting per- 

 spiration and other aqueous discharges 

 from the human frame. With this very 

 object in view, they are always concocted 

 to be as agreeable to the taste and as light 

 to the stomach as possible. 



There is, however, a purgative tisane, 

 which ought to be banished from the 

 r sal 11 • of me lical art in consequence of its 

 sinning against this very rule, although it 

 is known by the style of royal tisane. We 

 can understand the wish to prolong agree- 

 able sensations, and the desire to have a 

 as long as a crane's neck, when a 



some effect — often beneficial — must be pro- 

 duced on the frame by a complete abstin- 

 ence for a week or ten days from strong 

 tea or coffee, in repeated cupsful; from 

 porter, by the pot ; from pale ale and 

 Guinness, in reiterated pints ; from bottles 

 of brown sherry, and the same of port ; 

 from whets, and drams, and sips of 

 liqueurs innumerable ; from double aud 

 treble nightcaps of hot brandy-and-water, 

 rum-punch, or whiskey-toddy, not to men- 

 tion American cooling draughts, such as 

 cobblers and juleps, taken during the course 

 of the day, which count for nothing in the 

 consumer's estimate. From all these in- 

 cendiaries the stomach is asstfred, so long 

 as the tisane policy is taken up. The first 

 effect may be a slight lassitude, and a 

 lackadaisical sort of feeling, but afterwards 

 comes activity of the perceptive powers, 

 combined with lightness aud tranquillity of 

 the bodily feelings, till an increased appe- 

 tite and a longing for the individual's usual 

 diet show that the tisane has done its duty, 

 and that the patient may be his usual self 

 again, provided always that his original 

 and every-day self do not indulge inhabits 

 of such excess that long continuance in 

 them is impossible to mortal man. Of 

 course, no invalid on the verge of delirium 

 tremens, or within it, can suddenly re- 

 nounce his stimulant, and confine himself 

 to tisane, without running a risk ; but 

 medical men can prescribe the amount of 

 stimulant or sedative to be taken medici- 

 nally during a course of tisane, as they can 

 i h • administration of any other drug that 

 may be specially required. Moreover, 

 when once a man is fairly attacked by de- 

 lirium tremens, the best thing he can do is 



>.s epicurean delicacies set before I (I mean, the best thing he could have 



