California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



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qjllEVERAGES, so called, are tempters to 

 HI ji the first steps towards drwukenness. At 

 'jiyjf the appropriate seasons, the newspapers 

 CJr, abound in receipts for making various 

 (^jd^ kinds of summer drinks, wines, cor- 

 dials, beers, and cider. There is no easier 

 and more certain way of making a family of 

 drunkards than by having such things al- 

 ways at hand, "in case of sickness," as it is 

 termed. I know a man, my neighbor for 

 many^years, who was accustomed to "lay in" 

 a barrel of cider every autumn, and it was 

 placed on the table every day until exhausted; 

 but every day it became more sour, alcoholic; 

 and by the time it was out, the stimulus of it 

 was so decided that a disagreeable want was 

 experienced, and it was determined that next 

 year he would lay in two barrels; at length six 

 barrels were laid in for the winter's supply; 

 meanwhile, my friend and neighbr had be- 

 come a habitual drinker, on rising, at break- 

 fast, at dinner, in the middle of the afternoon, 

 and from supper until late bed-time; cider is 

 too tame now; his position and means demand 

 and supply the costliest brandies; he is sel- 

 dom drunk, but always full; there does not 

 live anywhere a more honorable and high- 

 minded man; in all business transactions he 

 has maintained the very highest position for 

 incorruptible integrity, and as a neighbor and 

 friend and good citizen, he has no sujjerior; 

 but take from him the brandy bottle for a day 

 and he would go mad, or die of exhaustion — 

 of an insufferable sinking. 



It is an incontrovertible physiological fact, 

 that any artificial stimulus continued for a few 

 days, makes the system feel the want of it, 

 instinctively lean upon it, and look for it; but 

 ibis is not all: the same amount of stimula- 

 tion is demanded every day; but to create that 

 amount, a larger and an increasing quantity 

 of the stimulus becomes necessary, or it must 

 be more frequently supplied. No habitual 

 user of spirits, or of tea and coffee, cau pos- 

 sibly deny this, after ten years' practice; as 

 proof, see how much oftener they drink or 

 smok or chew than when they first entered on 

 the miserable, useless and degrading career of 

 self-indulgence. The truth is, there is no 

 safety except in absolute refusal even to taste 

 a drop or chew an atom. He who takes one 

 drop may die in the gutter; he who has the 

 high moral courage to refuse that first drop, 

 that first atom, never can! 



I kuow a whole family of beautiful grown- 

 up daughters, not one of whom by any chance 

 ever refuses, at home or at a party or on a 

 jiicnic, to take a glass of brandy, toddy or any 

 of its likes. The habit was for-med by the 

 mother making brandy the panacea for every 

 stomach-ache, for nausea, for faintness, for 

 bodily derangement, for a chill, for an over- 

 work or an over-meal. — Boston Watohtiutn and 

 Refleclur. 



The liveh, weighing about four pounds, is 

 the great wheel of life's machine; it regulates 

 the whole mechanism of man; when it "acts," 

 works well, every other wheel, gland, factory, 

 works with it; when it stops, is "torpid," the 

 whole system begins to get out of order; the 

 feet become cold; the head aches; the mouth 

 tastes bad; there are pains at the edges of the 

 ribs; at the shoulder blades; on the tops of 

 the shoulders; the body is chilly; the mind is 

 confused; the spirits despondent; the dispo- 

 sition fretful, peevish and complaining; there 

 is no ambition, no animation, no hfe; and if 

 these things are allowed to go on, especially 

 if moodiness is cherished and melancholy 

 feelings are indulged in, the end is suicide. 

 This unhappy state of mind ana body is the 

 result of what is called "biliousness," that is, 

 the liver, whose office it is to withdraw the 

 bile from the blood, fails to perform that duty, 

 and the blood, having more and more bile in 



it, becomes more and more impure, thickens 

 more and more, until at length it is almost 

 too thick to flow at all; if this take place in 

 the chest, it is called congestion of the lungs; 

 if in the liver, congestion of the liver; if in 

 the skull, congestion of the brain; if in the 

 whole body, it is oongestive fever, which gen- 

 erally means death. Some of these conges- 

 tions may arise from other states than a dis- 

 ordered liver. 



The bile is composed mainly of those' waste 

 portions of the human machine, which, hav- 

 ing subserved their jjurpose, are not further 

 needed, but require to be removed from the 

 body; and in the wonderful wisdom and econ- 

 omy of the great Architect of our frame, and 

 of all worlds, the very passing out of this 

 waste is made to answer a, purpose funda- 

 mentally essential to all human health; for, 

 after having eaten a meal, the bile is conveyed 

 into the intestinal canal, drop by drop, caus- 

 ing an action which results in the regular 

 daily motion of the bowels, without which 

 there can never be good health for forty-eight 

 hours at a time; hence, "constipation" shows 

 that the liver is not working healthfully, and 

 remedies are required which "act upon the 

 liver," There are two safe, unmedicinal 

 modes of acting on the liver, of starting the 

 machinery of life, when it tends to stand still: 

 go to bed, wrap up warm, make hot applica- 

 tions to the feet, drink warm teas abundantly 

 so as to cause profuse perspiration for two or 

 three hours; a better plan is, go to work in 

 the open air and keep at it, to the extent of 

 exciting a gentle perspiration until tired or 

 very hungry, for whatever starts perspiration 

 on the skin starts the wheel of the liver to 

 working, and the person gets well apace. — 

 Di'. Hall's Journal. 



Dyspepsia. — The most universal cause of 

 dyspepsia is eating too often, too fast, and 

 too much. The general rules should be: 



1 — Eat thrice a day. 



2 — Not an atom between meals. 



3 — Nothing after two o'clock but a piece of 

 cold bread and butter and one cup of hot 

 di-ink. 



i — Spend half an hour at least in taking 

 each meal. 



5 — Cut up all meats and hard food in pea- 

 sized pieces. 



6 — Never eat enough to cause the slightest 

 uncomfortable sensation afterward. 



7 — Never work or study hard within half an 

 hour of eating. 



The most universal and infallible indication 

 that a person is becoming dyspeptic is some 

 uncomfortable sensation coming on uniformly 

 after each meal, whether that be in the stom- 

 ach, throat or any where else. The forma- 

 tion of wind in the stomach, indicated by 

 eructation, belchiugs, or otherwise, demon- 

 strates that dyspei^sia is fixing itself in the 

 system. Then there is only one course to 

 pursue, and that is infallible : eat less and less 

 at each meal, until no wind is generated and 

 no other uncomfortable sensation is experi- 

 enced in any part of the body. No medicine 

 ever cured confirmed dyspepsia; eating plain 

 food regularly and living out of doors indus- 

 triously, will cure most cases. — Dr. Mall's 

 Journal. 



Tea and Coffee. — The following result of 

 an analysis of adulterated tea, which is given 

 by Dr. Smith in his work on "Foods," is a 

 fair illustration: 



"Iron, plumbago, chalk, China clay, sand, 

 Prussian blue, tumeric, indigo, starch, gyp- 

 sum, catechu, gum, the leaves of the camellu, 

 savangua. CldoranUms officinalis, elm, oak, 

 willow, poplar, elder, beech, hawthorne, and 

 sloe." 



It will be observed that in this sample there 

 was not a single leaf of genuine tea, while 

 there were two or three poisonous substances. 

 Prussian blue contains a large proportion of 

 prussic acid, one of the most deadly poisons 



known. Green and black tea are both made 

 from the same plant, the only difference be- 

 ing in the mode of preparation. In general, 

 the only ditt'erence is thaa green tea is colored 

 with Prussian blue. According to reliable au- 

 thorities, the proportion of the poison used is 

 ojie grain to every ounce of tea! How many 

 thousands may have been the unsuspected 

 victims of this wholesale poisoning. This 

 mode of adulteration is exceedingly common 

 with the Chinese in their preparation of tea 

 for foreign markets. It is well known that 

 they never use green tea themselves, on this 

 account. 



During the single month of July, 1872, 

 183, out), 000 pounds of tea passed through the 

 English custom house, of which 10,01)0,000 

 pounds were found so badly adulterated us to 

 be entirely unsafe for use. 



Here are a few of the diseases resulting 

 from the use of tea, coffee, chocolate and sim- 

 ilar beverages: Nervousness, sleeplessness, 

 hypochondriasis, sick headache, insanity, tre- 

 mens, convulsions, paralysis, insensibility, 

 torpidity and congestion of the liver, vertigo, 

 palpitation of the heart, tawny and torpid 

 skin, consumption and other lung diseases, all 

 sorts of nervous diseases, decay of the teeth, 

 loss of sense of taste, constipation, diarrhea, 

 hemorrhoids, dyspepsia, general muscultu' and 

 nervous debility, epileijsy, cancer, and defec- 

 tive circulation. 



Ask the tobacco-user, whose whole body is 

 saturated with the filthy poison, if his nature 

 makes any remonstrance to his daily abuse. 

 He will tell you. No. Put the same question 

 to the confirmed inebriate, and although his 

 blood may contain so much alsohol as to be 

 inflammable, he will tell you that it does him 

 no harm. The user of tea will declare that 

 the beverage is absolutely indispensable for 

 the maintenance of his life; and the opium 

 eater will declare that his daily dose of mor- 

 phia "does him good." 



Even the most invetei-ate user of either tea 

 or coffee can cease its use at once without any 

 fears of shortening his life by doing so, al- 

 though he may feel as though death would 

 certainly result. All his bad feelings are 

 simply evidences of the injury which the tea 

 and coffee have already done, and not of the 

 necessity for their use, or of any injury re- 

 sulting from abstaining from them. But when 

 so sudden a change is made, the individual 

 should make an exclusive business of it. Lay 

 aside all cares and responsibilities. Do not 

 attemjjt to pursue your usual avocations, at 

 least, let only a very small proportion of the 

 ordinary amount of work be done. Avoid 

 anything taxing or unpleasant. Secure rest 

 and quiet. If the head aches severely, and 

 the nerves seem to be all unstrung, apply hot 

 cloths to the heavl for a few minutes, take a 

 tepid bath, and go to bed. A few days of 

 persevering effort will end the struggle and 

 give you the victory. 



A less satisfactory plan is to gradually de- 

 crease the strength of the beverage and the 

 frequency of its use until it can be relin- 

 quished without notice. — Ueallh Reformer. 



The deepest well in the world is in the vil- 

 lage of Speremburg, twenty miles from Ber- 

 lin, Prussia. It was bored by the German 

 Government for a suppl3' of rock-salt. Ope- 

 rations were commenced five years ago by 

 sinking a shaft sixteen feet in diameter, and 

 salt was reached at the depth of 287 feet. In 

 order to find how thick the salt was, boring 

 was commenced at a diameter of thirteen 

 inches, to a depth of 960 feet farther, always 

 boring into rock salt. Encouraged by this, a 

 steam engine was erected, and the boring con- 

 tinued by its help until the present time, when 

 a total depth of •l,19i feet has been attained, 

 without having gone through the salt deposit, 

 which is here at least 3,907 feet thick, while it 

 it not known how much thicker it may yet be 

 found to be. 



The end of everything — The letter g. 



