360         VEGETABLE  PARCHMENT  PRESERVE  COVERINGS. 
their  centimes  in  draughts  of  that  fatal  poison  which  fills  the 
public  and  private  madhouses  of  Paris.  These  absinthe-drink- 
ing clubs  are  certainly  not  numerous,  but  liquor  shops  abound 
in  all  quarters  of  the  city  were  absinthe  may  be  said  to  be  the 
stable  drink  ;  and  lately  several  have  sprung  up  which,  to 
attract  the  youth  of  Paris  to  them,  dispense  the  insidious  bever- 
age at  the  hands  of  pretty  women. 
In  the  French  army  drinking  absinthe  of  the  cheapest  quality, 
and  as  a  matter  of  course  the  most  deleterious  of  all,  used  to 
prevail  to  such  an  extent  that  both  military  and  medical  commis- 
missions  were  appointed  to  report  upon  the  practice  and  the 
effects  resulting  from  it.  The  facts  that  came  to  light  were  so 
alarming  that  the  Government  not  only  formally  interdicted*  its 
consumption,  but  made  every  endeavor  to  keep  it  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  soldiers.  In  Paris  and  other  garrison  towns  these 
efforts  were  not  particularly  successful  ;  but  it  fared  hard  with 
any  camp  followers  of  expeditionary  corps  in  Algeria,  or  at 
Chalons  or  other  parts  of  France  where  temporary  camps  were 
formed,  who  chanced  to  be  detected  in  supplying  absinthe  to  the 
troops.  In  the  French  navy  its  consumption  is  rigidly  prohibi- 
ted, not  merely  to  the  common  seamen,  but  to  the  officers  as 
well. — Chemist  and  Druggist,  May  15, 1868,  from  Pall  Mall  Gaz. 
VEGETABLE  PARCHMENT  PRESERVE  COVERINGS. 
Messrs.  Thomas  De  la  Rue  k  Co.  are  now  supplying  vegeta- 
ble parchment,  cut  into  suitable  sizes  for  jar-coverings,  in  small 
packets,  and  as  this  cheap  and  efficient  substitute  for  animal 
membrane  is  rapidly  coming  into  general  use  we  advise  our 
readers  to  add  these  preserve  coverings  to  their  sundry  wares. 
The  vegetable  parchment  is  in  many  respects  superior  to  blad- 
der for  excluding  air  and  moisture  from  preserves,  and  is  much 
cheaper  than  the  commonest  description  of  skin.  It  is  inodor- 
ous, and  is  not  liable  to  promote  fermentation,  as,  unlike  animal 
membrane,  it  contains  no  nitrogen  ;  it  is  less  subject  to  the 
attacks  of  insects  or  mice,  and  is  more  elegant  in  appearance 
than  bladder.  Its  use  is  attended  with  little  trouble,  for  when 
the  material  has  been  wetted  by  immersion  in  water  it  is  soft 
