Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 74, No. 454, August, 1853 by Various
"Blackwood''s Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 74, No. 454, August, 1853" by Various is a literary periodical written in the mid-19th century. It presents a curated mix of essays, travel writing, literary criticism, current-affairs commentary, and serialized fiction, marrying scientific curiosity with social observation and narrative flair. Readers encounter pieces that move from the chemistry and culture of everyday stimulants to political portraits and adventurous journeys. The opening of the issue lists its contents
and begins with “The Narcotics We Indulge In,” a sweeping essay that explains how different cultures meet the human craving for solace and stimulation, then closely examines tobacco (its global spread, manners of use, physiological effects, and active principles) and hops (their English cultivation, role in beer, soothing properties, and adulteration in low-grade brews). It notes the social and economic costs tied to these plants, from soil exhaustion to the entanglement of tobacco with slavery, and briefly reflects on how habitual narcotics may shape national character. A subsequent article, “South American Travel and Adventure,” opens with Dr. Weddell’s ascent into the Bolivian Andes—soroche at the high passes, vicuña hunting, glimpses of La Paz society (including the attempted assassination of President Belzu), and an ultimately fruitless gold probe at the marsh of La Lancha—before moving to the Yungas for scenes of mission life, fish-stunning poisons, and the harsh lot of bark-gatherers. Interleaved are Theodore Pavie’s vivid sketches from the Pampas, including a lively post-house tableau that seeds tension between a muleteer and a convoy chief over the innkeeper’s daughter. This summary covers only the beginning of the issue. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Richard Tonsing, Jon Ingram, Brendan OConnor, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
