Temperance prize essays / By Drs. Mussey and Lindsly.

Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Temperance prize essays / By Drs. Mussey and Lindsly. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    49/210 (page 43)
    * IN HEALTH OR DISEASE. . <a. given by Mr., afterwards Sir James M‘Gregor, of the march in Egypt of a division of the British army sent from Hindostan to aid the main army in opposing the French under Napo- - girs. meGre- leon. ‘After crossing the Great De- 6° im Egypt. sert in July 1801, from a difficulty in procuring carriage, no ardent spirit was issued to the troops in upper Egypt. At this time there was much duty of fatigue,which, for want of followers, was done by the soldiers themselves; the other duties were severe upon them; they were frequently ex- ercised, and were much in the sun; the heat was excessive: in the soldiers’ tents in the middle of the day the mercury in the thermometer of Fah- renheit stood at from 114 degrees to 118 degrees, but at no time was the Indian army so healthy.’ Dr. Johnson, from whom an opinion a, varkeana on the superiority of water to wine as case by or. a beverage has already been given, remarks, in his Tropical Hygiene, that ‘it might appear very reasonable that in a climate where ennui reigns triumphant, and an unaccountable languor pervades both mind and body, we should cheer our drooping spirits with the mirth-stirring bowl; a precept which Hafiz has repeatedly en- joined. But Hafiz, though an excellent poet, and, _ like his predecessor, Homer, a votary of Bacchus, was not much of a physician; and without doubt his ‘liquid ruby,’ as he calls it, is one of the worst of all prescriptions for a ‘pensive heart.’ I re- member a gentleman at Prince of Wales’ Island, (Mr. S.) some years ago, who was remarkable for his convivial talents, and flow of spirits. The