DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



549 



finer and more perfect conception of 

 truth. It will clothe its utterances in 

 an imagery as much more varied as the 

 knowledge of to-day is fuller than that 

 of yesterday. It will be artistic beyond 

 the dreams of other days, and its art 

 will be something more than that of 

 mere intuition. It will glow with color, 

 but no crudeness of taste will guide the 

 artist's brush, and the intelligent, 

 aesthetic sense of a broadly cultured peo- 

 ple will find inspiration in it, as once 

 heroes did in the songs of the bards of 

 old. L. W. Smith. 



Tabor, Iowa. 



ANTIQUITY OF THE CHEWING 

 GUM HABIT. 



In the letter of Columbus on the dis- 

 covery of America, facsimile edition, 

 1892, of the four Latin editions belong- 

 ing to the Lenox Library, the following 

 occurs in the translation (page 11) : 

 "Finally, that I may compress in few 

 words the brief account of our depart- 

 ure and quick return, and the gain, I 

 promise this, that if I am supported by 

 our most invincible sovereigns with a 

 little of their help, as much gold can be 

 supplied as they will need, indeed, as 

 much of spices, of cotton, of chewing 

 gum (which is only found in Chios), 

 also as much of aloeswood, and as many 

 slaves for the navy as their majesties 

 will wish to demand." 



The date of this letter is March 14, 

 1493, — over four hundred years ago. It 

 will be seen by the above that the 

 chewing gum habit is by no means a 

 modern or recent one. and doubtless 

 antedates Columbus' letter by many 

 years. 



The reference to Chios, an island in 

 the Grecian Archipelago, is presumably 

 for the purpose of indicating the char- 

 acter of the 'gum.' The Chios 'gum' 

 of the ancients has been described as an 

 earth of a compact character, probably 

 argillaceous, and had the reputation of 

 possessing medicinal qualities. Its 

 consistency and appearance may have 

 been such as to have led to its being 

 popularly called 'gum.' 



That the chewing of gum, or some 



other article or waxy substance suitable 

 for chewing, was in vogue at the time, 

 there can be no doubt, and that the dis- 

 covery of such a substance would be re- 

 garded as an important acquisition is 

 implied by its being specially mentioned 

 and promised by Columbus. 



Years ago, more than half a century, 

 shoemakers' wax, so-called, Burgundy 

 pitch and crude spruce-gum were 

 chewed to a considerable extent, as the 

 writer clearly remembers. 



Betel chewing, the leaves and the 

 nut mixed in certain proportions with 

 lime, as practiced in Asiatic countries, 

 naturally occurs to the mind in connec- 

 tion with the foregoing, as well as oc- 

 casional instances of chewing slate pen- 

 cils and lime mortar, an interesting ease 

 of the latter having been brought to my 

 notice several years since by a well- 

 known physician of Newark, N. J. But 

 these are rather exceptional and indi- 

 vidual cases, therefore not to be re- 

 garded as general or popular habits. 

 From the chewing of earthy substances 

 to the eating of the same, would appear 

 to be but a natural step. The latter 

 habit, so far as facts are available, is 

 of comparatively infrequent occurrence 

 and restricted to a much smaller num- 

 ber of persons. Beds of white infusorial 

 earth, resembling magnesia in appear- 

 ance, known as Bergmehl, occur in Lap- 

 land and Finland. This is, or has been 

 used in seasons of scarcity, mixed with 

 flour made of some kind of grain or 

 ground birch-bark, and clay-eating prob- 

 ably, to a greater or less extent, still 

 continues to be a habit in North Caro- 

 lina as in the past. The effect of this 

 habit, as any intelligent person would 

 suppose, is decidedly injurious to the 

 individual that pursues it. In several 

 cases that have come under my obser- 

 vation the results are exhibited in sal- 

 lowness of complexion, lack-lustre eyes, 

 distension of the abdomen caused by en- 

 gorgement or clogging of the liver, and 

 other intestinal derangement, listless- 

 ness and general debility. 



Rob't E. C. Stearns. 

 Los Angeles, Cal. 



