558 JAMAICA. 



to difann it of noxious qualities, and adapt it with greateft fafcty to 



common ufe. 



I . Ardent fpirits, in their pure ftate (/. e. not dulcified by union with 

 fome corrective), have a violent aftringentaclion upon the folld parts of 

 animals, coagulate the fluids, and diininifli the power of the nervous 

 Ijftem. 



From thefe caufes they produce fuitable effedls : 

 ' A tabidnefs, or walling of the extremities, 

 A nervous weaknefs, or tendency to palfy, 

 Deftroy the appetite and fecretions, 

 Render the liver fchirrous, and occafion dropfics. 

 On diflefting the bodies of perfons, who have died of exceffive dram- 

 <3rinking, the whole liver has been found converted into a fchirrus of 

 peculiar hardnefs, fo as to be altogether incapable of its office, oi fe- 

 creting the bile ; and the mefentery fometimes aftonifliingly enlarged 

 and tumefied. 



§ To this may alfo be added, Doftor Macbride's pofition, that fuch 

 fpirits contain little or no air per fe ; and that they prevent the ready 

 extrication of it from alimentary fubaftnces during the digeftive pro- 

 cefs. From all which caufes it is evident, that perfons, who indulge 

 in fuch drink, generate nothing but crudities in the ftomach : and are 

 fubjeft to dyfenteries, wafting of the flefh for want of nourifhment, 

 all forts of nervous diforders by the continual irritation of acrid mat- 

 ter, and to dangerous fevers ; from the want of that aerial principle, 

 which is neceliary to ferment and prepare the aliment for concoiSion. 

 Ruin is therefore leaft wholefome, when it comes neareft to fuch 

 pure ardent fpirit in its properties ; and hence, new or frefli diftilled 

 rum, which is in this predicament, appears to be in its moft unwhole- 

 fome ftate. 



2. The fubitances, which, by uniting with pure ardent fpirit, coun- 

 leraft its noxious qualities, are, volatile oils, generated either in the 

 fermentation or diftillation ; and acids, either fuch as were natives in 

 the particular vegetable matter which was the fubjedl of fermentation, 

 or fuch as are generated in the courfe of the fermentation. 



3. Thefe corrective fubftances are, in part, combined with the fpirit 

 before diltillation, and rile united with it ; and, in part, uncombined 



with 



