of
the best preventatives that ever has been discovered, of the diseases
which are produced by worms. The plague has never been known in this
country, where sugar composes a material part of the diet of the
inhabitants." Dr Mosely, in his Treatise on Sugar, speaks equally
confidently of the nutritious and beneficial effects of this substance.
Now, indeed, the concurrent testimony and opinions of medical men are so
decided on the subject, that it seems impossible to entertain any other
sentiment. The principal objection to the use of sugar in diet, is what
applies to certain cases only, when the stomach and bowels are
_particularly_ disordered, or where there is a strong tendency to an
over full state of the blood-vessels, tending to the production of palsy
or apoplexy, which this article, from its very nutritious properties,
and because also it perhaps undergoes a sort of fermentation in the
stomach, by which something of the nature of wine may be produced, would
be apt rather to augment.--E.]

The common method of dressing food here is by boiling, and as fire-wood
is very scarce, and the inhabitants have no other fuel, they make use of
a contrivance to save it, that is not wholly unknown in Europe, but is
seldom practised, except in camps. They dig a hollow under ground, in a
horizontal direction, like a rabbit-burrow, about two yards long, and
opening into a hole at each end, one of which is large, and the other
small: By the large hole the fire is put in, and the small one serves
for a draught. The earth over this burrow is perforated by circular
holes, which communicate with the cavity below; and in these holes are
set earthen pots, generally about three to each fire, which are large in
the middle, and taper towards the bottom, so that the fire acts upon a
large part of their surface. Each of these pots generally contains about
eight or ten gallons, and it is surprising to see with how small a
quantity of fire they may be kept boiling; a palm-leaf, or a dry stalk
thrust in now and then, is sufficient: In this manner they boil all
their victuals, and make all their syrup and sugar. It appears by
Frazier's account of his voyage to the South-Sea, that the Peruvian
Indians have a contrivance of the same kind, and perhaps it might be
adopted with advantage by the poor people even of this country, where
fuel is very dear.

Both sexes are enslaved by the hateful and pernicious habit of chewing
betel and areca, which the