------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 19:06:41 +0100 Reply-to: VICTORIA 19th-Century British Culture & Society <[log in to unmask]> From: Lesley Hall <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: brandy (again) To: [log in to unmask] > During the time period of -The Mill on the Floss_(1860) modern >medicine was , at best , in it's infansy - which is to say that, though >there was knowledge of opiates , most people had no immediate access to >them . This is not strictly speaking true: opium preparations were widely available - cf Mrs Gaskell's _Mary Barton_ for literary evidence, and V Berridge _Opium and the People_ for a historical study. Brandy was regarded as a reviver, rather than a soporific (which opiates would be), so the intended action was different anyway. Lesley Hall [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: tom.chambers <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: 13 May 1999 18:49 Subject: Re: brandy (again) >Dear Professor Sutton-Ramspeck , > If you might entertain an opinion based on experience , rather >than academic studies - > I can tell you from personal experience that alcohol can >temporarily free one from some pains which modern pain-killers are only >moderately sucessfull in handling. > I suspect , though this is only a guess , that brandy is the >best way to administer alcohol, because it contains a high sugar content, >which would cause it to be metabolized rapidly. > Perhaps some biologist on the list can explain this for us. > Cheers - > [log in to unmask] >Beth Sutton-Ramspeck wrote: >> Okay, this is driving me mildly nuts. I've encountered brandy yet again, >> this time in _The Mill on the Floss_. Mr Tulliver, when he "feel[s] a bit >> weak," is given some of the brandy that Aunt Pullet had brought for Mrs. >> Tulliver when the latter was ill. Given Aunt Pullet's fixation on illness >> and medications, the choice of brandy was surely well considered. >> Maybe someone who's joined the List since my last query will know the >> answer: why administer brandy medicinally? Why liquor at all, and why >> brandy in particular. >> Just puzzled, >> Beth Sutton-Ramspeck >> [log in to unmask] >> >> Beth Sutton-Ramspeck >> Assistant Professor of English >> Galvin 410A >> The Ohio State University at Lima >> 4240 Campus Drive >> Lima, OH 45805 > >-- > Experience exceeds my most macabre expectations >