NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



29 



iiiciitions. WoiiM it not l)e priictinilile, nnd 

 cerliiinly it "onlil be liniiuuriilile (o lliose_»vlio 

 shonlil do it to liriiid: homo some roots ot" tlu' 

 Esculent Sagitlaria ofCunlon iind of the A''ni!h 

 Wcsl ? All lh:il would he r. quired would he a 

 very tisflit box. Although iiu iiquiilic plant, :i!l 

 the Sii^iltarias will live and thine u-ilhout 

 great n)oislure. Thev misriit he lirouijhi to 

 thisrounlry, and our nalional ciiararler reqoii'es, 

 that we. should not let Europe send this iiatlvt: 

 plant to us. a« she ha« done many others. 



We hope this (luroly American article will 

 Dot be considered as inisplaced in our Journal. 



From the Columbian Conlinel. 



ILL EHTECTS OF CIIEESF. 



Mr. RrssF.i.L, — A caution respecting the ill ef- 

 fects of Cheese in South Readinif, which you 

 was requested, and had the goodness (o publish 

 in one of your last May numbers, was seut lo 

 your office by the subscriber of this article. 

 Soon after that publication, the Selectmen of 

 (his town received a letter from Boston Post- 

 OfBce, subscribed " An Agriculturalist of Mid- 

 dlespx," signifying his disbelief of the statement 

 referred to, and assigning a ditferent cause of, 

 (he ill effects of Cheese in South Reading, from ; 

 what was staled in that caution, saying, he had i 

 learned from good authority, that in New-Brain- [ 

 tree and its vicinilv, " i( '<i.'as expected one cheese 

 or more, in a dairy u-ould be poison ! '. .''"* and 

 that agriculturalists had endeavored to ascer- 

 tain the cause of this, but had not yet succeed- 

 ed. On this phenomenon I am not disposed to 

 trouble the public with any commoni of mine ; 

 but will only say, if our good dairy women 

 should, by any means, know when the " one or 

 more poison cheese" is about to come, their duly 

 to the public and to themselves would require 

 them to dispose of it in some other way. 



Since I sent you that notice, sir, a number of 

 other instances of the ill effects of cheese have 

 come to my knowledge. It has not indeed been 

 absolutely ascertained that in all these cases /eat/ 

 was the cause of the excruciating distress and 

 continued sickness which have been endured, 

 but it has been ascertained that cheese contained 

 the evil. More than tzeenty in this small village 

 have been made sick, and numbers very sick, 

 by the use of cheese purchased here. Since 

 May last, more than eighty instances have come 

 to my knowledge by credible information from 

 different places, and most of them not 20 miles 

 from Boston, of similar suffering by the use of 

 cheese. Some of these instances have already 

 appeared in the public papers; and I (rust, for 

 the good of community, all instances of (he kind 

 will be given lo the public that every precau- 

 tion may be adopted, which shall better secure 

 the comfort, health, and lives of our citizens, 

 which have been thus sncriticed, perhaps a 

 thousand fold more than what has come to our 

 knowledge. I apprehend it is no new thing 

 that cheese has had such deleterious effects. — 

 ^Ve have often heard and known of individuals 

 and whole families suddenly taken very ill, and 

 affected in the manner above related, and the 

 cause never known ; consequently prescriptions 

 and applications made, which would not have 

 been judged the most judicious had the cause 

 been known. That such bane should be con- 



* We have used New Braintree cheese for very ma- 

 ny years, aud always found it nutritious. — Editor, 



coali d in an article so exiensivelv used, is e- 

 riough, surely, one would (liink, to excite alarm 

 I hope for llio good of my follow cilizons. Ilia! 

 this and similar notice*, will Ix^ pulilished in 

 every newspaper in our country; thai effecliial 

 •noasurns will be lakon in all ourmarki't lo.v'is 

 for ihe detection of (he evil; and lli.il all pur- 

 chasers of (hat ardcle w'll use such canlinn as 

 will preserve th.'^m from (he distres.sinir evils 

 endnred bv niv fimilv and olhcrs to which re- 

 ference is had in this piper. 



REUBEN EMERSON. 

 South Rending. A'/::. IS'i-l. 



Tviijn thi- Concord Gazi-tte. 



Thn follorriiig' )<'t"r from a resppctable Physician 

 brings 10 ijo-li' a nfw cxamplr of the miechief, which 

 the coramnnity suSers from time to time from the 

 saU' of clieopes which have been nitjhf.d or smeared 

 w'th e .' ead. It s a subject whirli nug-ht to excite 

 strong feel nps, a- d we hope th- le?:isl:ture will 

 think it o sufiic ent conse uence to rcq'T their in- 

 !e rence. 



Messrs. Printers, — .\ gentleman of Boston, 

 ownm/ n f..i:'; ,<\ this neighlinrliood, was about 

 erecting a huildinsr on the same ; and on Satur- 

 day last (he neighbors were invited lo assist in 

 raising the frame. After the raising was com- 

 pleted, supper vvas prepared; there was on the 

 table two kinils of cheese; one of a very red 

 color was brought from Boston and appeared lo 

 he of the first quality, the other was made in 

 (his place and not colored. As I had gone (o 

 the place to have an interview with my neigh- 

 bor who had formerly lived on Ihe (arm, 1 par- 

 took of (he fare wi(h others. In the course of 

 (he supper 1 ale a piece of the red cheese, but 

 being called away from home, 1 did not return 

 until about ten o'clock, at which time 1 felt very 

 unwell ; my distress increased rapidly and I soon 

 found my stomach very much distressed, and 

 began vomiting at an unusual rate ; I found that 

 1 had thrown up considerable blood, and seve- 

 ral of my succeeding vomitings were principally 

 blood. The last blood thrown up did not coag- 

 ulate, hut turned of a very dark color. My pulse 

 was accelerated, small and hard. I perspired 

 profusely, and at the same time I experienced 

 a remarkable coldness on the forehead, which 

 a number of others who underwent a similar 

 operation, except the discharge of blood, very 

 particularly noticed, and were very generally 

 exercised with cramp in the limbs. 



Eighteen persons in this town suffered more 

 or less by eating of this cheese, and every one 

 that ate of it suffered, excepting one who took 

 but a very small quantity. This same gentle- 1 

 man left a part of the same at home, and on his 

 return found nearly all his family suffering in 

 the same manner, so (hat we may number 24 

 or 25 that suffered by this one poisonous cheese. 

 From the extreme distress (hat I underwent my- 

 self, I am confident that nature could not have 

 long withstood it. 



Have not numerous and repeated instances of 

 persons being injured by eating colored cheese, 

 become of sufficient importance to attract the 

 attention of our Legislature ? or may people 

 poison what they sell in the market with impu- 



nity 1 



AMARIAII PRESTON. 



Bedford, Aug. 6, 1824. 

 N. B. I bare not recovered my health at this 

 time. 



POISON. 



In the year 1805, an ajinibccary in one of 

 IhP norlh:rn cnunlirs having drunk some bot- 

 tled porler was seized with symptoms which 

 convinced him th:it he was poisonrd ; but not 

 knowing wlial noxious mailer he bad taken, 

 and not being capable of analizing llio remain- 

 iler. no antidote could be ajiplicd, and he gave 

 hlrr«clf up as lost. A physician had bee.n cal- 

 led in : hut neither he nor the patient, nor his 

 partner, could gel any information by examin- 

 ing the remaining contents of Ihe fatal bottle ; 

 though, I understand, they are all intelligent 

 men, and in ^reat repiile in their profession. 

 In (his dilemma what could be done ? It was 

 recollected, however, (hat a neighboring f»en- 

 tleman had Ihe reputation of being a good 

 chemist. To him tlie physician and ibe part- 

 ner of the patient has(ene<i, to gel Ihe dregs 

 analv.'ed, and !o learn what onglil to be admin- 

 istered. Fortunately, Ibis gentleman had just 

 received Goltling's Book of Tests, which 1 hn& 

 procured for his brother, and which had been 

 sent to him but a very short time before. By 

 this book he was enabled to ascertain that the 

 poison ivas oxide of antimony : and when the 

 patient was informed of it, he recollected (hat 

 andmonial wine bad been kep( in a similar hot- 

 (le some years before ; and sujiposed that the 

 porter must have been bottled without (he 

 dregs being properly washed out. This cir- 

 cumslance led to the proper aatidote, which 

 was administered immediately ; and the life Oi 

 the unfortunate man preserved: but, in conse- 

 quence of the loss of lime, the poison had so 

 far taken possession of the system us lo deprive 

 him of the use of a limb. 



[Parkes^ Chemical Essays. 



Surprising property of Oil. — The action of 

 oil, in slopping the violent ebullition of various 

 substances, is truly surprising. It is well known 

 that if a mixture of sugar, honey, or the like, 

 be boiling upon the fire, and in danger of rising' 

 over the sides of the vessel, the pouring in of 

 a little oil makes it immediately subside. In 

 many cases the marking a circle round the in- 

 side of a vessel, in which a liquor oi this kind 

 is lo be boiled, with a piece of hard soap, shall, 

 like a magic ring, confine the ebullition to that 

 height, and not suffer it lo stir any further. — 

 This is wholly oiving lo Ihe oil or fat contained 

 in the soap ; but there is, besides these, ano- 

 ther very important use of oil on a like occa- 

 sion, which is the pouring a little of it on any 

 metallic solution, while making; this restrains 

 the ascent of the noxious vapours ; preserves 

 the operator from danger ; and, at the same 

 lime, by keeping down the evaporating mat- 

 ter, gives redoubled strength to the menstruum. 

 Pliny has mentioned an extraordinary effect of 

 oil, in stilling the surface of water when it is 

 agitated with waves, and the use made of it, by 

 the divers for this purpose. 



Gardiner Lyceum. — The annual examinaticu 

 look place on the 20th ult. It was highly satis- 

 factory to the Trustees, visitors, and other com- 

 pany. Gov. Parris expressed his gratification, 

 and his conviction that the institution will re- 

 deem the pledge it has given of great useful^ 

 nesg. Somerset Journal, 



