they be eaten without oil:—hence they are, or ought to be, prepared for the table together with all kinds of roasted meat; and, if they happen to be frozen, or frost-bitten, during severe winters, they should be immersed in spring water for two or three hours, previously to being used; by which expedient their fresh taste and colour will be completely recovered.
SALEP, a nutritious preparation obtained from two species of the Orchis.
Different methods have been proposed and adopted, with a view to procure this nourishing substance; but the most simple is that of Mr. Moult, already described vol. iii. p. 316. We shall, therefore, only observe, that Salep might thus be prepared and sold at the low price of eight or ten pence per pound; and, as it is supposed to contain the largest portion of vegetable nutriment in the smallest compass, its powder has been recommended to form part of the provisions of every ship. Farther, salep possesses the valuable property of concealing the saline taste of sea-water, and retarding the acetous fermentation of milk. Hence Dr. Percival is of opinion, that it may be advantageously used in milk-porridge, especially in large towns, where that fluid is generally acescent, in consequence of the cows being fed with sour grains, and similar acid food.
Beside the particular cases (stated under the article Orchis), in which this preparation is very useful, on account of its mucilaginous and restorative properties; salep is likewise of essential service in the sea-scurvy, as it obtunds the acrimony of the fluids, while it easily assimilates into a mild and salubrious chyle. Lastly, if administered in considerable portions, it is, according to Dr. Percival, an "admirable demulcent" in symptomatic fevers, which are occasioned by the absorption of pus or matter from ulcers in the lungs, from wounds, or after amputations; as it is eminently adapted to resist the dissolution of the crasis, or due mixture of the blood in the human body, and which generally takes place in such cases.
SALIVA, a term applied to the fluid, with which the mouth and tongue are continually moistened: it is secreted by the salival glands.
This humour is thin and transparent; it cannot be reduced to a concrete form by fire, and is almost totally divested both of taste and smell. It is supplied from the glands by mastication; and, being intimately blended with the aliment, essentially contributes to its digestion; serving also to improve the taste of food; to mix with, dissolve, decompose the nutritive matter into its principles; and to moderate thirst.
The saliva of hungry persons, and of such as indulge in violent passion, is extremely acrid, penetrating, and profusely discharged. But, if this fluid be evacuated too copiously, for instance, by those who indulge in smoking tobacco, it excites thirst, and occasions loss of appetite, indigestion, and at length atrophy, with all its attendant evils. On the other hand, if it be swallowed, together with the oil deposited on the tongue from the fumes of that narcotic herb, its effects are alike pernicious. Nor is it advisable to absorb the saliva in sick-rooms, or places where malignant disorders prevail; because the contagious miasma might thus be introduced
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