202 FOOD AND FEEDING 



effect of brandy, applied, say, to the arms, is gently stimu- 

 lating and pleasurable, somewhat in the same way as when 

 normally swallowed in conjunction with the habitual 

 seltzer. In short, most things which give rise to distinct 

 tastes when applied to the tip of the tongue give rise to 

 fainter sensations when applied to the skin generally. And 

 one hardly needs to be reminded that pepper or vinegar 

 placed (accidentally as a rule) on the inner surface of the 

 eyelids produces a very distinct and unpleasant smart. 



The fact is, the liability to be chemically affected by 

 pungent or acid bodies is common to every part of the 

 skin; but it is least felt where the tough outer skin is 

 thickest, and most felt where that skin is thinnest, and 

 the nerves are most plentifully distributed near the surface. 

 A mustard plaster would probably fail to draw at all on 

 one's heel or the palm of one's hand ; while it is decidedly 

 painful on one's neck or chest ; and a mere speck of mus- 

 tard inside the eyelid gives one positive torture for hours 

 together. Now, the tip of the tongue is just a part of one's 

 body specially set aside for this very object, provided with 

 an extremely thin skin, and supplied with an immense 

 number of nerves, on purpose so as to be easily affected by 

 all such pungent, alkaline, or spirituous substances. Sir 

 Wilfrid Lawson would probably conclude that it was 

 deliberately designed by Providence to warn us against a 

 wicked indulgence in the brandy and seltzer aforesaid. 



At first sight it might seem as though there were 

 hardly enough of such pungent and fiery things in exist- 

 ence to make it worth while for us to be provided with a 

 special mechanism for guarding against them. That is 

 true enough, no doubt, as regards our modern civilised life ; 

 though, even now, it is perhaps just as well that our chil- 

 dren should have an internal monitor (other than con- 

 science) to dissuade them immediately from indiscriminate 



