70 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[July 27, 1872. 
Thirst, as I showed the world when I wrote on cheap 
wines, is of three kinds. There is, first, the real thirst, | 
trom want of liquid, especially when a copious sweat 
exhales from the skin during honest labour in the heat; 
and this cannot be relieved without water in some shape. 
1 hen, secondly, there is that dreadfully painful clammy 
state of the tongue—the dry mouth caused by mental 
anguish, or bodily pain, as of wounds ; that which oc¬ 
curs, too, in fevers and other diseases. This is not 
caused by mere lack of water, but by a defective or de¬ 
praved and nauseous state of the secretions of the tongue 
and fauces Tinder the influence of a worried nervous ! 
system. This is not relieved by water alone; on the 
contrary, water may excite loathing and disgust. This 
kind ot thirst is relieved by those readily acting and 
and comforting varieties of food which are known as 
stimulants ” of various kinds. And inasmuch as there 
is seldom much thirst without some exhaustion, so the 
addition of some stimulant to common drink is expedient. 
1 he last kind of thirst is thecraving for mental stimula¬ 
tion—the desire of a torpid brain to have its imagination 
roused, its feelings of benevolence, sociality,and self-es-1 
teem excited and gratified. This is what men drink for 
in company in convivio —at the times when each man 
shares with his neighbour the true delights of life ; con¬ 
i' tvium —a word sacred by association, and immeasurably 
superior in moral force to the Greek symposium ; a remark 
which, whether borrowed from Marcus Tullius Cicero, j 
or from the judicious Hooker, slips my present memory. 
A true “ thirst extinguisher,” then, as may we deduce 
from the foregoing principles, must be something more 
than the mere tepid water which is accessible to the 
population of our towns. 
The most obvious “ potential ” stimulant is cold; ; 
“ potential ’ because, whilst adding no material, it alters 
the distribution of the blood, and allays the restlessness 
arising from heat that cannot pass off. Whoever desires 
to convert our population to water-drinking should sup¬ 
plement those great boons, the street fountains, with 
some contrivance for cooling the water. A small glass 
of really cold water will quench thirst better than six 
times the quantity of lukewarm, But iced water and 
ice in its various forms sometimes create heat and dry¬ 
ness of the tongue. 
With cold ranks carbonic acid as the most grateful 
and wholesome of stimulants—pungent to the tongue, 
grateful to the stomach, and felt with a grateful 
coolness as. it escapes from every pore of the skin. 
i? w , soon ^ ^ ? s . use< ^ i* 1 medicine I cannot tell; nor 
v hether the delicious sparkle of natural aerated waters, 
or the briskness of a fermenting drink, or the efferves¬ 
cence w ith acids was in any degree known to the 
ancients. During, the seventeenth and eighteenth cen¬ 
turies the .effervescing draught was known by the name 
cordial julep of Riverius,” and, so far as I know, this i 
great physician was the inventor of the draught, and the 
discoverer of its efficacy in allaying sickness. Hethus 
describes it in one of his volumes of “ Observations:_ 
“ excellent man, Laurence Bosch, apothecary, 
of Montpellier was ill with that epidemic which they 
call purple fever, in the month of December, 1622. 
Amongst other symptoms was obstinate sickness, so that 
he rejected water, wine, medicine, everything but weak 
bioth; his inside was burnt up and his tongue dry. 
ihis so grave symptom was relieved by the following 
.slight remedy : Of salt of wormwood a scruple; of 
flesh lemon-juice one tablespoonful. These were mixed I 
at once in the spoon and administered. The vomiting 
at once ceased, and from that moment the patient took ! 
what he liked and kept it down.* 
. The draught of Riverius soon became, and has ever 
since continued, one of the most popular and useful of 
medicines. No matter whether soda be substituted for 
the “salt of wormwood,” alias carbonate of potass; no 
* Lazari Riverii, ‘ Observationes Hagai Comitum,’ 1656. 
matter whether citric or tartaric acid be substituted for 
the lime-juice, nor whether the nicety of modem phar¬ 
maceutists enables the ingredients to be mixed in a pow¬ 
der, or a granular salt, cheap, portable, and nicely fla¬ 
voured—the principle is that of Riverius, and to him 
belongs the honour. About the time when our native* 
Scottish royal family made their last desperate effort to- 
eject the house of Hanover, Sir John Pringle, in his- 
work on the* ‘ Diseases of the Army,’ speaks in high 
tones of the efficacy of the effervescing draught of Rive¬ 
rius, but regrets that it is too expensive for common 
soldiers. How he would bless modern applied chemistry 
if he saw the powder of soda, tartaric acid, and sugar, 
flavoured with essence of lemons, now sold in all tho 
low neighbourhoods, and called Persian sherbet, one 
penny the glass !—Medical Times and Gazette. 
COMPLIMENTARY DINNER TO DR. TILDEN. 
The announcement of the retirement of Dr. Til den 
from the office of Demonstrator in the Society’s Labora¬ 
tory, in Bloomsbury Square, was marked by an invita¬ 
tion from a few of his friends to a complimentary dinner, 
which took place on Thursday evening last. The: 
occasion was taken advantage of by the officers and 
professors of the Society for the presentation of an. 
Address, of which the following is a copy:—- 
“ The undersigned officers and professors of the Phar¬ 
maceutical Society of Great Britain desire to offer to 
William Augustus Tilden, D.Sc., on his retirement from 
the office of Demonstrator in the Laboratory of the* 
School of Pharmacy their hearty good wishes for his. 
future welfare and happiness, accompanied by the ex¬ 
pression of their high appreciation of his scientific 
attainments, and an acknowledgment of the success, 
with which he lias fulfilled the duties of his office, and 
also of his urbanity and kindness to all with whom he- 
has been associated.” The Address bore the signatures, 
of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and the: 
other officers of the Society, as also of all the Professors- 
PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION. 
A meeting of the chemists of Rochdale was held in 
the Committee-room of the Public Hall, on Wednesday 
evening, July 17th, 1872, to consider the scheme pro¬ 
posed by Mr. Schacht for promoting pharmaceutical 
education in the provinces, the report of the committee., 
and also the expediency of forming a chemists’ associa¬ 
tion in Rochdale. 
Mr. Councillor Booth occupied the chair. 
After Mr. Schacht’s scheme had been carefully gone' 
through, clause by clause, it was moved and carried:— 
“ Whilst this meeting approves of the principles, 
laid down by Mr. Schacht in his scheme for promo- 
ting pharmaceutical education in the provinces, it also, 
considers that registered apprentices and assistants, 
who, by reason of distance or other circumstances are- 
unable to attend classes of any local association, should! 
be eligible to be examined, and receive the grants off 
the Pharmaceutical Society.” 
“ That in the opinion of this meeting, in order to* 
give facilities for the increase of Class 1, the required 
agregate number of marks be reduced from 80 per¬ 
cent. to 75 per cent.” 
The report of the committee appointed at a previous; 
meeting to inquire into the best means of forwarding; 
pharmaceutical education in Rochdale was next read 1 . 
It recommended the formation of a chemists’ association, 
the taking of a suitable room or rooms for the meetings 
of the members and classes, and advised the joining the 
chemists’ classes to the Government Science Classes, so- 
as to conduct them more economically. The report was 
approved of, and the committee was requested to prepare- 
details of a scheme in accordance with its recommenda¬ 
tions, and to report to a future meeting. 
