and Salt in it,--ripe Fruits, particularly _Grapes_[101],--Oranges,--
Strawberries,--Raspberries,--Mulberries,--Marmalade,--Honey,--
Treacle,--roasted Apples,--stewed Prunes,--Figs,--Raisins,--
Tamarinds,--French Plumbs, &c.;--will almost always produce the desired
effect.
Two or three strong _Cinnamon or Ginger Lozenges_, (see page 234,)
gradually dissolved in the mouth when the Stomach is empty, will act as
an Aperient on many persons.
SALAD OIL is a very pleasant _Peristaltic Persuader_:--by the following
means it may be introduced (as a supper) to the most delicate
Stomach,--without any offence to the most fastidious Palate.
Put a table-spoonful of Sherry into a wine-glass--on this a
table-spoonful of Olive Oil--on this another table-spoonful of
Sherry--or rub together a table-spoonful or two of Oil, with the yolk of
an Egg boiled hard, (No. 547,) add a little Vinegar and Salt to it, and
eat it at Supper as a Sauce to a Salad (No. 138*) of Mustard and
Cresses,--or Lettuce,--Radishes,--Button Onions,--Celery,--Cucumber,
&c.;--or cold boiled Asparagus,--Brocoli,--Cauliflower,--Carrot,--or
Turnip,--Kidney or French Beans,--or Pease;--or Pickled Salmon, (No.
161,) Lobster, (No. 176,) Shrimps, Herrings, Sprats, (No. 170**,) or
Mackarel, (No. 168,) or as a Sauce to cold Meat, &c.
You may give it an infinite variety of agreeable flavours; the
ingredients to produce which are enumerated in (No. 372) of "THE COOK'S
ORACLE."
Hypochondriac people are fond of taking Medicine at certain times, the
spring and fall,--at the full or the new Moon, &c. whether they want it
or not.--For those in Health to attempt to improve it by taking Physic,
is absurd indeed. Remember the epitaph on the Italian Count--
"I was well--
Wished to be better--
Took Physic--and died."
Hypochondriasis--Spleen--Vapours--the Blue Devils--the Bile--Nervous
Debility, &c. are but so many different names for those Disorders which
arise either from CHRONIC WEAKNESS of the Constitution--or an
inconsiderate management of it.--A man who has a strong stamina will
bear irregularities with impunity--which will soon destroy a more
delicate frame.
We do not laugh at the melancholy of the Hypochondriac,--or consider his
Complaints as merely the hallucinations of _un Malade Imaginaire_; but
trace the cause of them to either some Indigestion interrupting the
functions of the Alimentary Canal--which a gentle Aperient would
immediately remove--or the ineffective performance of the Restorative
Process--insufficiently nutritive Diet--or depression of the vital and
animal functions from anxiety or over-exertion of either the Mind or the
Body:--which nothing but Rest and nutritive Food can repair.
The Editor of this little treatise has had from his Youth to bear up
against an highly irritable nervous system,--the means he has found
useful to manage and support it, he is now recording for the benefit of
other Nervous Invalids.
* * * * *
We advise our Friends--never to call in even the gentle aid of
Peristaltic Persuaders,--but when Instinct absolutely insists upon
it--some of the Indications of which are, "A disagreeable taste in the
Mouth--Eructations--Want of Appetite--Sensations of distention in the
Stomach and Bowels--Pains in the Stomach or
Head--Vertigo--Feverishness--Restlessness--Peevishness," &c.--but these
will often disappear by taking a liquid meal, instead of a solid one, or
using more exercise, will often answer the purpose.--Mr. Jones very
sensibly observes, "if people will by no means rest from constantly
tampering with laxatives, instead of using exercise, the habit of using
the _Lavement_ every evening cannot be so destructive, as it irritates
only _twelve inches_ of intestine, and spares raking down the other
_thirty-nine feet_."--_See Med. Vul. Errors_, p. 44.
RELAXED BOWELS[102] are often extremely unmanageable, and difficult to
regulate--and are the principal cause of that _Chronic Weakness_ which
is so generally complained of, and of many other distressing Nervous
Disorders.
If the Bowels are unfaithful to the Stomach, and, instead of playing
fair,--let go their hold of the "Pabulum Vitæ," before the Absorbents
have properly performed the process which that grand organ has prepared
for them--Nutrition will be deficient; and Flatulence, &c. &c.
Giddiness,--Spasms,--Head-ache,--and Back-ache,--and what are called
_Bilious and Nervous_ Disorders,--and all the Diseases incident to
Debility, will attack you on the slightest cause.
Those who are afflicted with a relaxation of the Bowels, are advised to
a _Dry diet_, rather than a _Liquid one_, and must submit to a Regimen
diametrically contrary to that we have recommended to cure Constipation.
"Since I lessened my Drink I have been much more costive than I was
before, and have for two years past freed myself from a Diarrhœa.
Costiveness generally attends dry food in other animals as well as
men."--B. ROBINSON, _on Food and Discharges_, p. 82 and 64.
Live principally upon Animal Food sufficiently cooked, and Stale Bread,
or biscuit;--instead of Malt liquor (unless it be very mild and good
Homebrewed Beer, which is the best of all Beverages) drink Beef-Tea,
(No. 563), or well made Toast and Water[103] (No. 463*), with about
one-fourth part of Wine, and a little Sugar and grated Nutmeg or Ginger
in it;--if the Stomach be troubled with Acidity, or great Flatulence,
one-eighth part of Brandy may agree with it better:--_whatever You eat
and drink should be Warmed_.--See page 94 on _Siesta_, and page 158.
Be watchful of the effects of the Food which you take,--avoid whatever
appears to irritate, and _eat only that which experience has proved
acceptable_.
IRRITABLE BOWELS are excited to inconveniently increased action by any
thing that the Stomach has either not the ability, or the inclination,
to prepare for them,--and _Diarrhœa_ is the consequence.
The easiest and most effectual method of restoring tranquillity in the
Bowels--is to be content with a light diet of Gruel, Broth, or Fish, &c.
till the return of a keen Appetite assures you, that the Stomach has
recovered its powers, and being ready for action, requires its usual
supply of solid food.
_When the Bowels get a trick of emptying themselves too often_,--a
teaspoonful of Compound Powder of Chalk in your Tea,--or a wine-glassful
of the following mixture, taken twice or thrice a day, will generally
cure them of it very speedily:--
℞ Chalk mixture, six ounces.
Tincture of Cinnamon (No. 416*), one ditto.
Opiate Confection, one drachm.
Mixed together.
If Diarrhœa continues obstinate, more powerful Astringents[104] may
be necessary.
TINCTURE OF CINNAMON (No. 416*) is one of the best cordial tonics--see
also (No. 569) and (Nos. 413 & 15.)
OPIUM LOZENGES, containing a quarter of a grain each, and strongly
flavoured with Oil of Peppermint, are recommended to those who are
troubled with relaxed Bowels.
STRONG PEPPERMINT LOZENGES are the most convenient portable
carminative:--as soon as they are dissolved, their influence is felt
from the beginning, to the end of the Alimentary Canal;--they dissipate
flatulence so immediately, that they well deserve the name of _Vegetable
Æther_; and are recommended to SINGERS[105] AND PUBLIC SPEAKERS, as
giving effective excitement to the organs of the Voice,--as a support
against the distressing effects of fasting too long--and to give energy
to the Stomach between meals.
N.B. _Sixty different sorts of Lozenges_, are made in the most
superlative manner, by Mr. Smith, Fell Street, Wood Street, Cheapside.
His _Rose Jujubes_--are a very elegant preparation, which those who have
not a remarkably Sweet Breath, are recommended to take the last thing at
night, and the first in the morning--the breath smells faintest when the
Stomach is emptiest.
His _Mellifluous Aromatics_ are so delicately flavoured, they moisten
the mouth and throat without cloying the Palate, Stomach, &c., which is
more than can be said of most Lozenges.
_To make_ FORTY PERISTALTIC PERSUADERS.
Take,
Turkey Rhubarb, finely pulverized, two drachms.
Syrup (by weight) one drachm.
Oil of Carraway, ten drops (minums).
Made into Pills, each of which will contain _Three
Grains of Rhubarb_.
THE DOSE OF THE PERSUADERS must be adapted to the constitutional
peculiarity of the Patient:--when you wish to accelerate or augment the
Alvine Exoneration--take two, three, or more, according to the effect
you desire to produce--_two Pills_ will do as much for one person as
_five_ or _six_ will for another; they generally will very regularly
perform what you wish to-day,--without interfering with what you hope
will happen to-morrow;--and are, therefore, as convenient an argument
against Constipation as any we are acquainted with.
_The most convenient opportunity to introduce them to the Stomach_--is
early in the Morning, when it is unoccupied,--and has no particular
business to attend to, _i. e._ at least half an hour before Breakfast.
_Physic_ should never interrupt the Stomach, when it is engaged in
digesting _Food_--perhaps the best time to take it, is when you awake
out of your first Sleep--or as soon as you awake in the morning.
Moreover, such is the increased sensibility of some Stomachs at that
time, that half the quantity of Medicine will suffice.
From _two to four Persuaders_ will generally produce one additional
motion within twelve hours.
They may be taken at any time--by the most DELICATE FEMALES, whose
Constitutions are so often distressed by Constipation[106], and
destroyed by the drastic purgatives they take to relieve it. See also
page 224.
Their agreeable flavour recommends them as the most convenient aperient
for CHILDREN, whose indispositions most frequently arise from
obstructions in the Bowels;--it is not always a very easy task to
prevail upon a spoiled Child to take Physic;--therefore--we have made
our Pill to taste exactly like Gingerbread.
For INFANTS, too young to swallow a Pill, pound it, and mix it with
Currant Jelly, Honey, or Treacle.
ON THE FIRST ATTACK OF DISEASE--it may generally be disarmed by
discharging the contents of the Bowels:--IN EVERY DISORDER[107] the main
point is carefully to watch, and constantly to keep up the activity of
the Alimentary Canal--for want of due attention to this, MILLIONS
(especially of _Children_) HAVE DIED OF MEDICABLE DISORDERS!!
FOR BILIOUS OR LIVER[108] COMPLAINTS, (which are now the fashionable
names for all those deranged sensations of the Abdominal Viscera--which
as often arise from the want, as from the excess of Bile--and perhaps
most frequently from _Indigestion_)--and for expelling WORMS[109], for
which it is the fashion to administer _Mercury_[110] (which, because it
is the only remedy for one Disease, people suppose must be a _panacea_
for every disorder) and other drastic mineral medicines, which are
awfully uncertain both in their strength and in their operation.
If, instead of two or three times a week tormenting your Bowels with
_Corrosive Cathartics_,--_Hydragogues_,--_Phlegmagogues_, &c., you take
one or two gentle PERSUADERS, twice or thrice a day;--they will excite a
gradual and regularly increased action of the Viscera--restore the tone
of the Alimentary tube--and speedily and effectually cure the disorder,
without injuring the Constitution.
There is not a more universal or more mischievous _Vulgar Error_, than
the notion, that Physic is efficacious, in proportion as it is extremely
disagreeable to take, and frightfully violent in its operation,--unless
a medicine actually produces more Distress in the System, than the
Disorder it is administered to remove--in fact, if the Remedy be not
worse than the Disease, the million have no faith in it--and are not
satisfied that they can be perfectly cured if they escape
Phlebotomy,--unless put to extreme pain, and plentifully supplied with
Black Doses, and drastic Drugs;--they have the best opinion of that
Doctor who most furiously
"_Vomits_--_Purges_--_Blisters_--_Bleeds_, and _Sweats 'em_."
To perfectly content them that you have most profoundly considered their
case, you must to such Prescription--add a Proscription of every thing
they appear particularly partial to!!!
People who in all other respects appear to be very rational--and are apt
to try other questions by the rules of Common Sense, in matters relating
to their Health, surrender their understanding to the fashion of the
Day,--and in the present Century, on all occasions take _Calomel_ as
coolly as in the last, their Grandfathers inundated their poor Stomachs
with _Tar-Water_.
* * * * *
TONIC TINCTURE, (No. 569) is
Peruvian Bark, bruised, one ounce and a half.
Orange Peel, do. one ounce.
Brandy, or Proof Spirit, one pint.
Let these ingredients steep for ten days, shaking the bottle every
day--let it remain quiet two days--and then decant the clear liquor.
Dose--one teaspoonful in a wineglass of water, twice a day, when you
feel languid, _i. e._ when the Stomach is empty, about an hour before
Dinner, and in the Evening. Twenty grains of the Powder of Bark may be
added to it occasionally.
To this agreeable Aromatic Tonic we are under personal obligations, for
frequently putting our Stomach into good temper, and procuring us good
Appetite and good Digestion.
In low Nervous affections, arising from a languid Circulation--and, when
the Stomach is in a state of shabby debility from age--intemperance, or
other causes--this is a most acceptable restorative.
N.B. TEA made with dried and bruised _Seville Orange Peel_, (in the same
manner as common Tea,) and drank with milk and sugar, has been taken for
Breakfast by _Nervous_ and _Dyspeptic_ persons with great benefit.
CHEWING a bit of _Orange Peel_ twice a day when the Stomach is empty,
will be found very grateful, and strengthening to it.--
* * * * *
STOMACHIC TINCTURES.
Two ounces of CASCARILLA Bark (bruised)--or dried ORANGE PEEL,--or
COLOMBA ROOT--infused for a fortnight in a pint of Brandy, will give you
the Tinctures called by those names.
Dose--one or two teaspoonsful in a wine-glass of water.
* * * * *
TINCTURE OF CINNAMON, (No. 416*).
This excellent Cordial is made by pouring a bottle of genuine Cogniac
(No. 471) on three ounces of bruised Cinnamon (Cassia will not do). This
cordial restorative was more in vogue formerly, than it is now;--a
teaspoonful of it, and a lump of Sugar, in a glass of good Sherry or
Madeira, with the yolk of an Egg beat up in it--was called "_Balsamum
Vitæ_."
"_Cur moriatur homo, qui sumit de Cinnamomo?_"--"Cinnamon is verie
comfortable to the Stomacke, and the principall partes of the
bodie."
"_Ventriculum, Jecur, Lienem Cerebrum, nervosque juvant et
roborat._"--"I reckon it a great treasure for a student to have by
him, in his closet, to take now and then a spoonfull."--COGAN'S
_Haven of Health_, 4to. 1584, p. 111.
_Obs._--Two teaspoonsful in a wineglass of water--are a present and
pleasant remedy in Nervous Languors--and in relaxations of the
Bowels--in the latter case five drops of Laudanum may be added to each
dose.
* * * * *
SODA WATER, (No. 481*.)
The best way of producing agreeable _Pneumatic Punch_, as a learned
Chemist has called this refreshing refrigerant, is to fill two half-pint
Tumblers half full of Water,--stir into one 30 grains of _Carbonate of
Potash_,--into the other 25 grains of _Citric[111] Acid_, (both being
previously finely pounded,)--when the powders are perfectly
dissolved--pour the contents of one tumbler into the other--and
sparkling Soda Water is instantaneously produced.
To make DOUBLE SODA WATER, use double the quantity of the Powder.
_Single Soda Water_ is a delightful drink in sultry weather--and may be
very agreeably flavoured by dissolving a little Raspberry or Red Currant
Jelly in the Water, (before you add the Carbonate of Potash to it), or a
little Tincture of Ginger, (No. 411,)--or Syrup of Ginger, (No.
394,)--or Syrup of Lemon Peel, (No. 393,)--or infuse a roll of fresh and
thin-cut Lemon Peel, and a bit of Sugar in the water--or rub down a few
drops of (No. 408,) with a bit of Lump Sugar, with or without a little
grated Ginger;--a glass of Sherry or a tablespoonful of Brandy is
sometimes added.
The addition of a teaspoonful of the TONIC TINCTURE (No. 569,) will give
you a very refreshing Stomachic--and ten drops of _Tinct. Ferri
Muriati_ put into the water in which you dissolve the Citric Acid--a
fine effervescing Chalybeate.
_The day after a Feast_, if you feel fevered and heated, you cannot do
better than drink a half-pint glass or two of _Single Soda Water_
between Breakfast and Dinner.
DOUBLE SODA WATER (especially if made with tepid water) is an excellent
auxiliary to accelerate the operation of Aperient Medicine--and, if
taken in the Morning fasting, will sometimes move the Bowels without
further assistance.
If some good _Cogniac_ or Essence of Ginger (No. 411) be added to it, it
is one of the best helps to set the Stomach to work--and remove the
distressing languor which sometimes follows hard drinking.
* * * * *
ESSENCE OF GINGER, (No. 411).
The fragrant _aroma_ of Ginger is so extremely volatile, that it
evaporates almost as soon as it is pounded--the fine Lemon peel _goût_
flies off presently.
If Ginger is taken to produce an immediate effect--to warm the
Stomach--dispel Flatulence, &c., or as an addition to Aperient
Medicine--the following is the best preparation of it:--
Steep three ounces of _fresh grated_ Ginger, and one ounce of fresh
Lemon Peel, (cut thin) in a quart of Brandy--or Proof Spirit, for ten
days, shaking it up each day.
N.B. TINCTURE OF ALLSPICE, which is sometimes called _Essence of
Bishop_, for making _Mulled Wine_, _&c._ extempore, is prepared in the
same manner.
* * * * *
GRUEL, (No. 252).
1st. Ask those who are to eat it, if they like it _THICK_ or _thin_; if
the latter, mix well together by degrees, in a pint basin, _one_
tablespoonful of Oatmeal with three of cold water;--if the former, _two_
spoonsful.
Have ready, in a Stewpan, a pint of boiling water or milk--pour this by
degrees to the Oatmeal you have mixed--return it into the Stewpan--set
it on the fire--and let it boil for five minutes--stirring it all the
time to prevent the Oatmeal from burning at the bottom of the
Stewpan--skim--and strain it through a Hair Sieve.
2d. To convert this into CAUDLE--add a little Ale--Wine--or Brandy--with
Sugar--and _if the Bowels are disordered_, a little Nutmeg or Ginger
grated.
Gruel may be made with Broth[112] (No. 490,) or (No. 252,) or (No. 564,)
instead of Water--(to make _Crowdie_, see No. 205*,)--and may be
flavoured with _Sweet Herbs_--_Soup Roots_ and _Savoury Spices_--by
boiling them for a few minutes in the water you are going to make the
Gruel with--or ZEST (No. 255)--Pea Powder (No. 458)--or dried
Mint--Mushroom Catsup (No. 439)--or a few grains of Curry Powder (No.
455)--or Savoury Ragout Powder (No. 457)--or Cayenne (No. 404)--or
Celery Seed bruised--or Soup Herb Powder (No. 459)--or an Onion minced
very fine and bruised in with the Oatmeal--or a little Eschalot Wine
(No. 402)--or Essence of Celery (No. 409)--or (No. 413)--(No. 417)--or
(No. 420), &c.
PLAIN GRUEL, such as is directed in the first part of this Recipe, is
one of the best Breakfasts and Suppers that we can recommend to the
rational Epicure;--is the most comforting soother of an irritable
Stomach that we know--and particularly acceptable to it _after a hard
day's work of Intemperate Feasting_--when the addition of half an ounce
of Butter, and a teaspoonful of Epsom Salt will give it an aperient
quality, which will assist the principal Viscera to get rid of their
burden.
"_Water Gruel_" (says Tryon in his Obs. on Health, 16mo. 1688, p. 42,)
is "the KING _of Spoon Meats_," and "the QUEEN _of Soups_," and
gratifies nature beyond all others.
In the "_Art of Thriving_," 1697, p. 8, are directions for preparing
Fourscore Noble and Wholesome Dishes, upon most of which _a Man may live
excellent well for Twopence a_ _day_: the author's _Obs._ on _Water
Gruel_ is, that "ESSENCE OF OATMEAL" makes "_a noble and exhilarating
meal_!"
Dr. FRANKLIN'S favourite Breakfast was a good basin of warm Gruel, in
which there was a small slice of Butter with Toasted Bread and
Nutmeg--the expense of this, he reckoned at three half-pence.
"Mastication is a very necessary Preparation of solid Aliment, without
which there can be no good Digestion."--The above are the first lines in
ARBUTHNOT'S _Essay on Aliment_.
This first act of the important process of Digestion, is most perfectly
performed, when the flavour, &c. of our Food is agreeable to our
Taste;--we naturally detain upon our Palate those things which please
it,--and the Meat we relish most, is consequently most broken down by
chewing, and most intimately incorporated with the Saliva--this is the
reason why what we desire most, we digest best.
Here, is a sufficient answer, to the Folios which have sprung from the
Pens of cynical and senseless Scribblers--on whom Nature not having
bestowed a Palate, they have proscribed those pleasures they had not
Sense[113] to taste, or comprehend the wise purposes for which they were
given to us, and
"Compound for Sins they are inclin'd to,
By damning those they have no mind to."
How large a share of the business of Digestion is managed by
Mastication, has been shown by the experiments of _Spallanzani_[114].
To Chew long, and leisurely, is the only way to extract the essence of
our food--to enjoy the taste of it, and to render it easily convertible
into laudable Chyle, by the facility it gives to the gastric juices to
dissolve it without trouble.
The pleasure of the _Palate_, and the health of the _Stomach_, are
equally promoted by this salutary habit, which all should be taught to
acquire in their infancy.
The more tender meat is, the more we may eat of it.--That which is most
difficult to Chew, is of course most difficult to Digest.
From 30 to 40 (according to the tenderness of the meat) has been
calculated as the mean number of Munches, that solid meat requires, to
prepare it for its journey down _the Red Lane_; less will be sufficient
for tender, delicate, and easily digestible white meats.
The sagacious _Gourmand_, will calculate this precisely,--and not waste
his precious moments in useless Jaw-work, or invite an Indigestion by
neglecting _Mastication_.
I cannot give any positive rules for this, it depends on the state of
the Teeth[115]; every one, especially _the Dyspeptic_, ought to
ascertain the condition of these useful working tools; and to use them
with proportionate diligence, is an indispensable exercise which every
rational Epicure will most cheerfully perform, who has any regard for
the welfare of his Stomach[116].
It has been recommended, that those whose Teeth are defective, should
mince their meat--this will certainly save trouble to both Teeth and
Stomach--nevertheless, it is advisable, let the meat be minced ever so
fine, to endeavour to mumble it into a pulp before it be introduced to
the Stomach--on account of the advantage derived from its admixture with
the SALIVA.
"By experiment, I determined the quantity of _Saliva_ secreted in half
an hour, to be _whilst the parts were at rest_, four drachms,--whilst
_eating_, five ounces four drachms."--STARK _on Diet_, p. 99.
MASTICATION is the source of all good Digestion;--_with its assistance_,
almost any thing may be put into any stomach with impunity:--_without
it_, Digestion is always difficult, and often impossible: and be it
always remembered, it is not merely what we eat, but what we digest
well, that nourishes us.
The sagacious _Gourmand_ is ever mindful of his motto--
"Masticate, Denticate, Chump, Grind, and Swallow."
The four first acts, he knows he must perform properly,--before he dare
attempt the fifth.
Those who cannot enjoy a savoury morsel on account of their Teeth, or
rather on account of the want of them, we refer to the note at the foot
of p. 260, and also have the pleasure to inform them, that PATENT
MASTICATORS are made by PALMER, _Cutler, in St. James's Street_.