33 



A spirit may be obtained, by distillation, from any lifuid 

 wliicli lias previously undergone the vinous fermentation. 

 All the grains, vegetable juices, and roots, which contain 

 starch and sugar, may be made to undergo this process ; 

 but the starch must first be converted into sugar, and the 

 germination, in the process of malting, causes the genera- 

 tion of the peculiar proximate principle called diastase, 

 which has the property of converting a solution of starch, 

 at the temperature of from 149 to 168. into sugar and gum. 

 Some animal fluids even may be made to yield a spirit; 

 and the Tartars and Kalmuks prepare from mare's milk, 

 which contains much saccharine matter, a vinous liquor 

 called kumiss ; and, by distillation, a spirit called arki. 



In no respect have savage nations shown greater inge- 

 nuity than in the discovery of fermented liquors, and even 

 of the process of distillation. In illustration of this, may 

 be adduced the singular mode in which the South American 

 Indian women prepare the piworrie, by chewing cakes of 

 cassava, and fermenting the expressed juice; and the rude 

 method of distillation which was practised by the Friendly 

 Islanders in making the spirit called ava from the baked Ti 

 root. 



Tobacco was introduced into Europe, from the New 

 World, in 1559, by Hernandes de Toledo, a Spanish gen- 

 tleman; and, like opium among the Chinese, it has over- 

 come the strongest opposition, and at length succeeded in 

 diffusing itself through every climate, and in subjecting the 

 inhabitants of every country more or less to its dominion, 

 though it gives rise to the filthiest practises, and is, at first, 

 most repugnant to our tastes and feelings. 



The Turks were, probably, the first people who made 

 use of opium as an intoxicating agent ; and in Persia opium- 

 eating is still very prevalent, the drug being sold at stalls 

 kept for the purpose in the bazaars. It is also much used 

 in many parts of Hindoostan; and the Malay inhabitants of 

 the islands of the Indian Ocean, who are passionately fond 

 of narcotic drugs, smoke, instead of chewing, opium. Mr. 

 Smith tells us that in Penang the opium-smokers are the 

 Chinese, the Malays, and a very few of other nations, chiefly 

 the native Portuguese. It is calculated that 10 per cent, of 

 the Chinese, 2£ of the Malays, and about one per cent, of 

 other nations, are addicted to the vice of opium- smoking. 

 The poorer classes smoke in shops erected for the purpose, 

 but the wealthier orders smoke privately in their own houses. 

 A young beginner will not be able to smoke more than five 



