Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Nov.  1875.  J 
Rectified  Spirit. 
49J 
While  admitting  that,  considering  the  relative  proportions,  the  flav- 
ors used  are  infinitely  less  injurious  than  the  spirit  to  which  they  are 
added,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  liquor  merchant  derives  a  very  con- 
siderable share  of  his  profits  from  the  mystic  art  of  compounding.  It 
has  been  shown,  ad  nauseam^  that  all  sorts  of  queer,  if  not  positively 
disgusting,  substances  are  added  to  tickle  the  palates  of  the  devotees  of 
the  grogshop  and  gin-mill,  as  well  as  those  of  the  more  fastidious  hab- 
ituSs  of  fashionable  bar-rooms.  Even  some  of  the  most  confirmed 
topers  may  be  somewhat  startled  if  they  learn  that  they  are  occasion- 
ally imbibing  small  doses  of  methylic  ether,  coco-nut  oil,  which,  to 
many  persons  gifted  with  an  acute  olfactory  sense,  is  unpleasantly  sug- 
gestive of  negro  perspiration,  creasote,  artificial  benzoic  acid,  obtained 
from  the  drainings  of  the  stable,  tar,  butyric  acid  and  ether,  produced 
by  the  aid  of  decaying  cheese  or  putrifying  meat,  sulphuric  acid,  tan- 
nic acid,  aqua  ammoniae,  glycerin,  elderberry  juice,  formic  ether,  acetic 
acid,  tinctures  of  Russia  leather,  Cayenne  pepper,  pellitory  root,  green 
tea,  star  anise,  oak  bark,  dried  peaches,  grains  of  paradise,  Quillaya 
bark,  and  many  others. 
Unless  we  are  gifted  with  an  imperturbable  faith  in  the  homoeopathic 
doctrine  of  increase  of  strength  with  the  division  of  the  dose,  we  shall 
be  forced  to  conclude  that  whatever  effect,  for  good  or  evil,  the  flavor- 
ing substances  of  liquors  may  possess,  must  be  entirely  obliterated  by 
that  of  the  vast  excess  of  alcohol  with  which  they  are  combined.  Still, 
these  very  flavors  are  relished  by  the  consumers,  as  is  best  attested  by 
the  very  high  prices  constantly  paid  for  favorite  brands.  The  chief 
point  of  interest  to  us,  however,  is  the  uniform  therapeutic  effect  of  the 
flavored  and  the  natural  liquors. 
Raw  corn  whisky  or  high-wine,  such  as  is  used  for  the  manufacture 
of  alcohol,  is  undoubtedly  strictly  pure,  as  there  is  no  incentive  what- 
ever to  its  adulteration.  Nevertheless,  many  vile  epithets,  such  as 
Jersey  lightning,  rot-gut,  &c.,  are  heaped  upon  this,  simply  because  it 
is  lacking  in  smoothness,  oiliness  and  body  ;  so  that  it  meets  with  little 
favor  among  those  who  are  sufliciently  familiar  with  it  to  recognize  at 
once  its  want  of  age. 
In  the  asthenic  forms  of  many  diseases  it  is  of  prime  and  often  even 
of  vital  importance  to  administer  alcohol.  Nothing  as  yet  known,  so 
well  substitutes  the  functions  of  food,  and  thus  bridges  over  the  chasm 
of  greatest  prostration,  during  which  the  system  would  otherwise  inev- 
itably succumb.    The  dictum  of  Prof.  Henry  Hartshorne  is  to  the 
