"Precisely on the same principle," answered
the Doctor, "upon leaving an overheated
room, on your returning homewards, you
expose yourself to an atmosphere many
degrees below that you have just left. The
cold checks the circulation on the surface of
the body; the blood is driven inwards; it
accumulates, consequently, in the internal
organs; and sometimes its pressure is such
on the brain, as to produce on a sudden the
very last stage of intoxication. The limbs
refuse to support their burthen, and the
person falls down in a state of profound
insensibility."

"I have recently," said the Host, "read in
the Police Reports several cases of this
description; and imagined that some narcotic
drug must have been mixed with the liquor
drank by such persons. Adulteration of some
sort must go on to a frightful extent in
gin-palaces."

"Not by any means," answered the Doctor,
"to the extent you suppose. It is said that
the spirit-dealer makes his whiskey or gin
bad by adding a little turpentine to it.
Well! what then? Turpentine is a very
healthy diuretic. It is given to infants to kill
worms in very large doses. Then, again,
vitriol is spoken of; but so strong is sulphuric
acid, that it would clearly render these spirits
quite unpalatable. I do not affirm that the
art of adulteration may not occasionally be
had recourse to, even with criminal intentions,
for such cases have been brought under the
notice of the authorities; but I do not believe
the practice is so general as some persons
suppose. I apprehend dilution is a more
general means of fraud."

"It has often occurred to me," said the
Clergyman, "that our municipal regulations
might, on this subject, be much improved.
Our Excise officers enter the cellars of the
wholesale and retail spirit-dealer, only to
gauge the strength of the spirit, and to ascertain
how much it may be overproof, which
alone regulates the Government duty; but
for the sake of the public health I would go
further than this. If a butcher be found
selling unhealthy meat; a fishmonger, bad
fish; or a baker cheat in the weight of bread,
they severally have their goods confiscated,
and are fined; and so far the public is
protected. But the authorities seem not to
care what description of poison is sold across
the counter of gin-palaces—an evil which
may easily be remedied. I would put the
licensed victualler on the same level with the
butcher and fishmonger: and if he were
found selling adulterated spirits, and the
charge were proved against him by the same
having been fairly analysed, he, too, should
be liable to be fined, or even lose his licence.
The public health is, upon this point, at
present utterly unprotected."

"Some such measure," observed the Host,
"might be advantageously adopted; but I
confess that I do not advocate the prohibition-
principle; instead of preaching a Crusade
against the use of any particular article,
whether of necessity or comfort, let us
educate the people, and improve their social
condition by inculcating sound moral principles;
they will soon learn that habits of industry and
temperance can alone ensure them and their
children happiness and prosperity; and in so
doing, you will teach a sound, practical
permanent lesson."

"But," interrupted the Clergyman, "if we
continue the conversation longer, we shall
ourselves become transgressors; the 'stirrup-
cup is drained: much remains doubtless to
be said respecting the evils, physical and
moral, which arise from intemperance; but
let us now adjourn."

"With all my heart!" exclaimed the Host,
"and now, 'to all and each, a fair good night!'"

LIFE IN A SALADERO.

WHENCE come the thirty-five thousand
tons of ox-hides annually imported into this
country?—whence a large proportion of the
seventy thousand tons of tallow?—whence
the twenty thousand tons of dry bones—
(for sugar-refining, ornamental turnery, and
fancy articles)?—whence the millions of
horns? whence do the great slave populations
of Brazil, Bahia, Pernambuco, and Cuba
obtain the dry and salted beef which is their
staple food?

The answer to these questions is a description
of a South American "Saladero."

Thousands of miles of the finest pasturage
in the world are spread over the Pampas or
Plains of Southern America; and upon them
browse, nearly in a wild state, innumerable
oxen and cows, which are dexterously caught
by means of the lasso; are brought within
the precincts of an "Estancia," (described in
former numbers of this work), and thence
transferred to the "Saladero " to be killed,
skinned, dissected, salted, and distributed to
every commercial quarter of the globe.

A "Saladero" signifies, literally, a salting-
place, from the Spanish word sal, salt. The
chief establishments of this nature are situated
on both banks of the River Plate, near
the two capitals, Buenos Ayres and Monte
Video. Trade and manufacture are, however,
banished from the neighbourhood of the latter
town, by the prolonged siege, which, emulating
that of Troy, has been carried on since 1843; and
commercial, and every other sort of peaceful
activity, has been removed to the Southern-
most province of Brazil, Rio Grande da
Sul. But the Saladeros of Buenos Ayres, not
having been disturbed by warfare, are the
only ones in regular and constant operation.
They number about twenty-four. Most of
them are situated on both sides of a small
river, called Riachuelo de Barracas, at a
distance of about three miles from the city of
Buenos Ayres. Around them a little town
has sprung up, and is gaining fresh inhabitants