Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 24

From 1825 to 1830 896 yearly. 024 daily.

" 1831 " 1835 874 " 023 "

" 1836 " 1840 1015 " 026 "

" 1841 " 1845 1114 " 031 "

" 1846 " 1850 1103 " 030 "

" 1851 " 1854 1425 " 039 "

In the United States, during the period from 1807 to 1828, the average was 27 litres for every inhabitant, which is even greater than the highest of the two sets of figures just quoted.

The demoralisation of the French army during the late Franco-Prussian war has been also unanimously ascribed to the excessive consumption of spirituous liquids.

The following results of an inquiry inst.i.tuted in 1870 by the Ma.s.sachusetts Board of Health into the comparative sobriety of different nations are gathered from an able paper which appeared in the 'Medical Times and Gazette' of April 15th, 1872, by Dr Druitt, in which he dissects and summarises the results in question. Dr Druitt writes:

"Highest in the scale of temperance come the Turks and Arabs; next the Iberians, Levantines, Greeks, and Latin races; lower down the j.a.panese, Scandinavians, Belgians, and the Irish Celt; lowest of all the so-called Anglo-Saxon of either continent."

Professor Levi contributes to our knowledge on this subject by giving the following statistics:--In 1860 the committals for drunkenness in England and Wales were 88,000, and in 1870 134,000, an increase of 50 per cent.

In Manchester the increase from 1860 to 1870 was 375 per cent., or computed according to the increase of population 353 per cent. In London drunkenness is in the proportion of 543 per 1000, in Leeds 740, in Manchester 3113, and in Liverpool 4282. It must, however, be remembered that these figures are based on mere committals, which greatly depend on the activity of the police, and the noisy or quiet character of the drunkard.

We quote the following from Dr Blyth's work on 'Hygiene,' without, however, attempting either to endorse or controvert what he says on the subject.

"_Whether is Alcohol necessary or not._ All experience, both at home and abroad, shows by facts that cannot be disputed that a person can do quite as hard work without alcohol as with it; and probably as the limits between moderation and excess are easily pa.s.sed, and as the generality of mankind, even without intending it, err on the latter side, the result is that a comparison between total abstainers and even temperate men generally terminates in favour of the former. It would appear that total abstainers live longer, are better citizens, and can do more work than the rest of mankind. The figures of the "United Kingdom Temperance and General Provident Inst.i.tution" go far to prove the above. This insurance society is divided into two sections. One section consists of abstainers, the other of persons selected as not known to be intemperate. The claims for five years antic.i.p.ated in the temperance section were 100,446, but the actual claims were only 72,676. In the general section of the antic.i.p.ated claims were 196,352; the actual claims no less than 330,297. In war the march of 2000 miles in his War of Independence by Cornwallis and his troops (1783), the Maroon war of Jamaica, the 400 miles' march of an English army across the Desert from Komer, on the Red Sea, a march of 1000 miles in the Kaffir war, experiences at sieges, in action, in hot, temperate, and cold climates, where abstinence was either forced through circ.u.mstances or followed, shows to every unprejudiced mind that soldiers endure more fatigue, are healthier, and fight better, without stimulants than with them; and this fact is endorsed by every commander of the present day.

The excess and abuse of spirits, as before remarked, lost the French their military prestige in the Franco-German war. In very hot and very cold climates the Indian observers and the Arctic explorers all unite in condemning its (that is, the use of alcohol) use in the slightest excess, or even in moderate doses. It does not warm the body in cold climates, and the reaction that follows the exciting of the circulation is followed by a dangerous depression; whilst in hot it combines with the climate, and quickly produces disease."

=ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, EFFECTS OF.= In addition to the serious injury to health caused by an excessive or imprudent indulgence in spirituous stimulants (see previous article), even a moderate and not injudicious use of them may often be attended with very disagreeable consequences--a more or less mild or modified form of poisoning, in fact--if the beverages themselves are, as very frequently happens, contaminated, either accidentally or intentionally, with certain objectionable ingredients.

These ingredients are described under the articles BEER, WINES, and the various SPIRITS, such as GIN, BRANDY, ABSINTHE, &c. Of spirit drinking it may be observed, that this dangerous practice is intensified by what is to be feared is the too prevalent custom of taking them undiluted, or "neat,"

as it is termed. There is no doubt that they const.i.tute the very worst form of alcoholic drinks, and shorten the lives of those who indulge in them to excess more summarily than any other intoxicating potion. The greatest and most ineradicable drunkards are almost always found to be spirit drinkers.

Liebig remarked that less bread was consumed in families where beer was drunk, and there seems to be little doubt that the different species of beer, including porter and ale, when pure and free from adulteration, act, although in a small degree, as food. Probably there are some who will agree with, whilst others will dissent from, Benjamin Franklin, who said "there was more sustenance in a penny loaf than in a gallon of beer." The starchy extractive matters of the beer no doubt perform the same function in the animal economy that sugar does. It is well known that those who drink freely of beer mostly become corpulent, as witness the portly forms of draymen. The hop contained in the beer has doubtless tonic and stomachic qualities. We can speak with less certainty about the free acids contained in malt fluids. It is very certain that some people cannot drink a gla.s.s of beer without experiencing rheumatic pains in the joints, which effect is generally ascribed to the acidity of the beer; but which is really supposed to be due to the decreased elimination of urea and pulmonary carbonic acid from the system caused by the alcohol of the beer.

The heavy low-priced beers occasion drunkenness of a peculiarly violent and savage kind, a fact which strongly favours the inference that this form of intoxication is due to some toxic agent, used as an adulterant. Of wines, the clarets and subacid wines are undoubtedly antis...o...b..tic in properties, and light wines as beverages are preferable to the stronger.

Port, sherry, beer, stout, and ale are almost universally condemned in cases where there is a tendency to gout. The light clarets and Rhine wines are far more desirable beverages when this is the case, and the German wines are said to be valuable drinks in many lithic affections. It seems probable that the ethers and the vegetable salts, together with the sugar contained in wines, perform the most important part in the human economy.

It has been proposed to introduce the red subacid wines as drinks for our sailors, because of their antis...o...b..tic qualities. Some of the alcoholic drinks prepared in India frequently cause temporary madness.

=ALCOHOLISM.= ALCOHOL; EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLISM.

=AL'COHOLS.= In _chemistry_, a term applied to compounds possessing a composition, formulae, and chemical properties similar to those of ordinary alcohol. They form a series presenting an unmistakable symmetry, and differ from one another by well-marked gradations, as shown below:--

Methyl-alcohol (_wood spirit_). CH_{4}O Ethyl-alcohol (_ordinary alcohol_) C_{2}H_{6}O Amyl-alcohol (_fusel-oil_) C_{5}H_{12}O Capryl-alcohol C_{8}H_{18}O Cetyl-alcohol C_{16}H_{34}O &c., &c.

=Alcohols.= In _commerce_, pure spirits of a greater strength than about 58 o. p. (sp. gr. 8335), or containing more than about 85% by WEIGHT, or 90% by VOLUME, of pure alcohol, are commonly so called.

=Alcohols.= In _perfumery_, rectified spirit of wine, or commercial alcohol, holding essential oils or other odorous matters in solution.

=Alcohols.= In _Fr. pharmacy_, alcoholic tinctures and essences.

=ALCOOLATIFS= (alcoolatifs). [F.] _Syn_. ALCOHOLATI'VA, L. In _Fr.

pharmacy_, alcoholic solutions of liniments, embrocations, &c., whether made by distillation, maceration, or solution.

=ALCOOLATS= (alcoolats). [Fr.] In _Fr. pharmacy_, spirits; applied by Beral, Henry and Guibourt, and others, to medicated distilled spirits.

=ALCOOLATURES= (alcoolatures). [Fr.] _Syn._ ALCOHOLATU"RA, L. In. _Fr.

pharmacy_, alcoholic tinctures, elixirs, &c. M. Beral confines the term to vegetable juices preserved by alcohol.

=ALCOOLES= (alcoooles). [Fr.] Tinctures; the 'teintures alcoholiques' of the Fr. Codex.

=ALCOOLIQUES= (alcooliques). [Fr.] _Syn._ ALCOHOL'ICA, L. In _Fr.

pharmacy_, alcoholic or spirituous solutions. (Beral.)

=AL'CORNINE= (-nin). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ALCOR'NOCINE (-sin); ALCOR'NEUM, ALCORNI'NA, L. A crystallisable substance, apparently intermediate between fat and wax, discovered by Biltz, in alcornoco bark.

=ALCORNO'CO.= _Syn._ A.-BARK; ALCORNOQUE, Fr.; ALKORNOC, A.-RIND, Ger. The bark of an unknown tree of South America. It is astringent and bitter, and has been highly extolled as a specific in phthisis; but appears to possess little medicinal virtue. The bark of the young branches of the cork tree (_quercus suber_), used in tanning, is also sometimes called alcornoco-bark; but possesses none of the characters of the former article.

=AL'DECAY.= The galls on the leaves of _myrobala.n.u.s chebula_ (Gaertn.), a forest-tree of Bengal. Equal to the best oak-galls.

=AL'DEHYD= (-hid). [_al_-(cohol)-_dehyd_ (rogenatus).] C_{2}H_{4}O. Syn.

HYDRATED OXIDE OF ACETYLE; HYDRATE OF OTHYLE*; HYDROXIDE OF O.* Literally, dehydrogenated alcohol. In _chemistry_, a peculiar ethereal liquid, first obtained in a pure form by Liebig, from alcohol. It is produced under various circ.u.mstances, particularly during the destructive distillation of certain organic matters, and in several processes of oxidation. The following are the most convenient methods of preparing it:--

_Prep._ 1. (Liebig.) Sulphuric acid, 3 parts; is diluted with water, 2 parts; and as soon as the mixture has cooled, alcohol of 80%, 2 parts, is added; and, subsequently, peroxide of manganese (in fine powder), 3 parts.

The whole, after agitation, is then distilled at a very gentle heat, from a s.p.a.cious retort into a receiver surrounded with ice, the connection between the two being perfectly air-tight. The process is continued until frothing commences, or the distillate becomes acid which generally occurs when about one third (3 parts) has pa.s.sed over. The distillate is next agitated in a retort, with about its own weight of fused chloride of calcium, in powder; after which about one half only is drawn over at a very gentle heat (85 to 90 Fahr.), by means of a water bath. This rectification is repeated in a precisely similar way. The last distillate is ANHYDROUS ALDEHYD only slightly contaminated with foreign matters.

2. (Liebig.) Aldehyd-ammonia, 2 parts, is dissolved in an equal weight of distilled water; and, after being placed in a retort, sulphuric acid, 2 or 3 parts, previously diluted with rather more than its own weight of distilled water, and allowed to cool, is added. The whole is now distilled, by means of a water bath, into a receiver surrounded with ice, or (preferably) a freezing-mixture, the temperature of the bath at first being very low, and the operation being stopped as soon, or rather before the water begins to boil. The distillate is then placed in a retort connected with a well-cooled receiver, as before; and after all the joints are made perfectly tight, powdered fused chloride of calcium, in weight equal to that of the liquid in the retort, is added through the tubulature. The heat produced by the hydration of the chloride causes the distillation to commence, after which it is carried on, by means of a water bath, at a temperature ranging from 80 to 82 Fahr. This rectification being very carefully repeated, the last distillate is PURE ANHYDROUS ALDEHYD.

_Prop., &c._ Limpid, colourless, ethereal, neutral, inflammable; mixes in all proportions with alcohol, ether, and water; odour peculiar, penetrating, and, when strong, exceedingly suffocating, the vapour, in quant.i.ty, producing spasmodic contraction of the thorax; boils at 72 Fahr. (70--Ure, 5th ed.); sp. gr. 790 at 60, and 800 at 32 Fahr.; sp.

gr. of vapour, 1532; by exposure to air it is gradually converted into acetic acid, and speedily so under the influence of platinum-black; heated with caustic potash, a brown substance resembling resin (ALDEHYD-RESIN) is formed; gently heated with protoxide of silver, or its solutions, metallic silver is deposited on the inner surface of the vessel, in a uniform and brilliant film, whilst ALDEHYDATE OF SILVER remains in solution; heated with hydrocyanic acid it yields ALANINE. By age, even in close vessels, it pa.s.ses into one or more isomeric compounds (ELALDEHYDE; METALDEHYDE), with change of properties. Aldehyde for experiments should, therefore, be always recently prepared; and it must be kept in a well-stopped bottle, in a very cold place, and preferably in ice.

_Obs._ Aldehyd is important for its a.s.sumed position in the acetyl-series, and the part which it plays in the process of acetification, &c. The word is now also commonly employed, by chemists, as a generic term for any organic substance which, by a.s.similating two atoms of hydrogen, yields, or would yield, a compound having the composition or properties of an alcohol; or which, by taking up one atom of oxygen, yields an acid. Many of the essential oils (as those of almonds, cinnamon, and c.u.min) are composed princ.i.p.ally of bodies which may thus be called aldehyds. One of the most valuable properties of these substances, is their strong tendency to combine with the bisulphites of ammonium, pota.s.sium, and sodium; and by which they may be separated from complex mixtures.

=AL'DEHYD-AMMO'NIA= (-hid-). An ammonia-compound of aldehyd, discovered by Dobereiner and Liebig.

_Prep._ (Liebig.) Aldehyd (of process No. 1, above) is mixed with an equal volume of ether,[16] in a flask surrounded with ice, or (what is better) a freezing-mixture; and is then saturated with dry gaseous ammonia. The crystals which soon form, after being washed with ether, and dried by means of bibulous paper and a short exposure to the air, are pure aldehyd ammonia.

[Footnote 16: Some authorities recommend the use of twice this quant.i.ty of ether.]

_Prop., &c._ It smells like a mixture of turpentine and ammonia; melts at 165 to 170; volatilises, unchanged, at 212 Fahr.; decomposed by exposure to the air; very soluble in water; soluble in alcohol, and more or less so in most other menstrua, except ether; acids decompose it. With sulphuretted hydrogen it forms thialdine.--_Use._ Chiefly to make pure aldehyd (which _see_).

=AL'DER= (awl'-). _Syn._ AL'DER-TREE; AL'NUS (al-), L.; A. GLUTINO'SA (Gaertn.); BETU'LA ALNUS, Linn.; AUNE, AULNE, Fr.; ERLE, Ger. A well-known English tree, chiefly growing in moist grounds near rivers. Its wood is used for hurdles, for various articles of turnery and furniture, and when converted into charcoal, for making gunpowder; it possesses considerable durability under water; but is otherwise of little value. Bark and leaves very astringent, and reputed vulnerary; decoction used as a gargle in sore throat, and, in double the dose of cinchona, as a febrifuge in agues; bark and sap used in dyeing and tanning. The following belong to different nat.

orders and genera to the preceding:--

=Alder, Black.= _Syn._ WIN'TER-BERRY; PRI'NOS VERTICILLA'TUS, Linn. A tree growing in the United States of America. Bark febrifuge, tonic, and astringent; berries tonic and emetic. (Bigelow.) It has been much recommended in dropsies, diarrha, intermittents, &c. _Dose_ (of the dried bark), 1/2 to 1 dr., 3 or 4 times a day.

=Alder-tree, Black.= _Syn._ BERRY-BEARING ALDER-TREE; RHAM'NUS FRAN'GULA, Linn. A large shrub found in the woods and thickets of England, &c. Wood, BLACK DOG'WOOD; bark, bitter, emetic, purgative; used to dye yellow; root-bark, a drastic purgative; berries, purgative, emetic; unripe berries yield SAP-GREEN; charcoal of the wood esteemed the best for gunpowder.

=ALE.= _Syn._ BARLEY WINE*; AILE, Fr.; WEISS-BIER, Ger.; AEL, EALE, Sax.; CEREVIS'IA ALBA, C. LUPULA'TA, A'LA*, AL'LA*, L. Pale-coloured beer, prepared from lightly dried malt, by the ordinary process of brewing. The ale of the modern brewer is manufactured in several varieties, which are determined by the wants of the consumer, and the particular market for which it is intended. Thus, the finer kinds of Burton, East India, Bavarian, and other like ales, having undergone a thorough fermentation, contain only a small quant.i.ty of undecomposed sugar and gum, varying from 1 to 5 per cent. Some of these are highly 'hopped,' or 'bittered,' the further to promote their preservation during transit and change of temperature. Mild or sweet ales, on the contrary, are less attenuated by lengthened fermentation, and abound in saccharine and gummy matter. They are, therefore, more nutritious, though less intoxicating, than those previously referred to.

In brewing the finer kinds of ale, pale malt and the best East Kent hops of the current season's growth, are always employed; and when it is desired to produce a liquor possessing little colour, very great attention is paid to their selection. With the same object, the boiling is conducted with more than the usual precautions, and the fermentation is carried on at a somewhat lower temperature than that commonly allowed for other varieties of beer. For ordinary ale, intended for immediate use, the malt may be all pale; but, if the liquor be brewed for keeping, and in warm weather, when a slight colour is not objectionable, one fifth, or even one fourth of 'amber malt' may be advantageously employed. From 4-1/2 lbs. to 6 lbs. of hops is the quant.i.ty commonly used to the quarter of malt, for 'ordinary ales,' and 7 lbs. to 10 lbs. for 'keeping ales.' The proportions, however, must greatly depend on the intended quality and description of the brewing, and the period that will be allowed for its maturation.