SYDNEY SKETCHES. BY HAROLD W. H. STEPHEN.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1809, 9 February 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

SYDNEY SKETCHES. BY HAROLD W. H. STEPHEN.

m Koumiss. r y I have been taking Koumiss. Accideifor threw me in the way of in the «ale of this " great dietetic and hygienic remedy" (see pamphlets — I did 'inofeiihivonfc' this phrase)— and my friend, with moro than tho pertinacity of an American book-agent, insisted upon my tasting it. I was bravo enough to comply. I am not ordinarily courageous ; neither is it my habit 'to make experiments with new food or drink ; and I am inclined to follow Macbeth's advice, and "throw physio to the dogs." But, in this instance, I braced myself for the struggle, and heroically gulped a glassful of the frothing fluid. To my intense surprise, 1 found it rrfore than palatable, and knew at once that I shoulcf soon grow fond of it. The taste is peculiar — I know no other way to describe it than to say that it is like acidulated milk. Take some of the acid drops so dear to children, dissolve them in milk, and pass the mixture through a soda-water machine. The result will be a close approximation to Koumiss, at least as far as taste is concerned. I found, further, that it leaves no unpleasant after-taste, neither does it cloy the palate. Cc nest que le premier pas qni conte — I invested in a dozen bottles, and am now a confirmed Koumiss drinker. Of course I had my reason for indulging in this dissipation. I havo been afflicted with dyspepsia, and I was told that Koumiss was an infallible remedy for that curse of people of sedentary habits. As far as I have got, I am bound to admit that the statement was not exaggerated. The British mind is peculiarly susceptible to prejudice. An average Englishman can rarely be induced to taste anything to which he has not been accustomed from his birth. I have met many people, in the lower ranks of society, who would not, for any reasonable consideration, have eaten an oyster. Therefore, it is no matter for wonder that oonsiderable difficulty is experienced in inducing the public to acoept Koumiss. In the first place, it is popularly supposed that Koumiss is simply fermented mare's milk. Now, why mare's niilk should be considered objectionable, it is difficult to say. Tho mare is a nobler animal than a cow, and quite as clean a feeder ; yet every effort to introduce into England horne-fle3h as an article of food has failed, and maros milk is absolutely unknown. I have eaten horse many a time, and must confess that I do not care for it — it is very dry, and has a strange sour flavour, which might, however, cease to be objectionable as the palate became accustomed to it. But wo do not eat donkeys, yet asses' milk ia regarded as a delicacy. The prejudice against mare's milk is ju°t absurd. Let it bo distinctly understood, however, that the Kounrss in use here is not made from mare's milk, but from the best cow's milk obtainable. Its preparation is attended with many difficulties in this climate, and much time and money wore spent in experimenting before a reliable article was produced. lam informs \ that, even now, there is considerable waste in the manufacture, owing to the sudden changes of temperature. Milk, it is well Known, is j peculiarly susceptible to olimatic influences, and no error can be repaired, so that there is often a considerable waste of material. A» to the constituents of Koumiss, Professor Dixon, F.1.C., F.C.S., of the Sydney School of Arts laboratory, furnishes tho following analysis of a sample submitted to him :—: — Milk sugar, 4-77 per cent. ; laotic acid, '5i percent. ; casein and albumen, 28G per cent. ; milk fat, *72 per cent. ; alcohol (Or. weight), 1f34l f 34 per cent. ; ash, -69 per cent. The Professor adds : " The composition of this sample (11 days old) compares favorably with analysia of Koumiss of European manufacture which I have before me. All the ingredients determined are of nutritive value. The milk sugar, and the milk fat, are the usual reßpimtory materials found in milk, and it is to them that its fattening properties are chiefly due. They are called • respiratory,' as their principal function appears to be to keep up the temperature of the body. The lactic acid may be classed with these, but it, no donbt, would at the same time assist digestion, as it is one of the usual constituents of gastric juice. The casein and albumen are all muscle and nerve-forming materials, whilst the ash supplies the bones and tissues with their inorganic power." It is acknowledged that milk is the most nutritive food in existenco ; but milk, in its pure state, is not always digestible, if the digestive organs are impaired — in the form of Koumiss it is easily assimilated in any case. It is worth noting that, in the history of Koumiss, many cases are mentioned of permanent cures of habitual drunkards. In fact, as far as I can gather, thi3 beverage will cure, or substantially aid to cure any disease under the sun — except love or impecuniosity, for both of which dire evils hard work is the only known panacea. The history of Koumiss is briefly as follows: — Tho name Koumiss is taken from the people Koumanes. This tribe migrated to the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas, and located on the banks of a river called Kouma. Having been conquered by the Tartars in 1215, the use of Koumiss with many ©ther customs passed into the hands of the Tartars. The first scientific description of Koumiss, and of its application to medicine, dates back nearly a century — to 1788. It is due to Dr. John Grieve, who, in his position as a physician in the Russian army, had been able to study, on the spot, the remarkable action of l this beverage. He published his exj>eriencc in "an account of a method of making a wine called by the Tartars 'Koumiss,' with observations on its use in medicine." Since that time several works on Koumisa have been published. In 1843, Dr. Maydell, Medical Inspector of the Government of Orloff, published a report on " The Therapeutic Virtues of Koumiss." Twenty years later, in 1863, the work of Dr. J. Ucke, " On the Climate and Diseases of the City of Samaria," called attention to the distinct reconstructing properties of this agent, attributing to it a specific power on disease of the respiratory organs. Dr. Chomenkoff speaks, equally encouragingly of its effects, bat in more positive terms, having had occasion to experiment on himself, in a chronic disease of the lungs, from whioh he was happy enough to recover through its influence. Dr. Spengler had a few years previously laid down the outlines of a very interesting study " On the Koumiss Cure," in the Journal of Balneology, Paris. To Dr. Schnepf the credit is due for having Koumisa introduced into France, in 1865. The following year, Dr. Karell, Physician Ordiuary to the Emperor of Ku3sia,. full of enthusiasm about this important agent, wrote in an article : " I have seen marvellous effects from it, and we owe to it some truly astonishing cures. I remember having seen two cases of phthisis pulmonalis, in that last degree when hardly a few weeks of existence are granted to the patients. Well, after treatment with Koumiss, these patients had recovered such excellent health that their families were astonished to find them enjoying better health than ever before." Notwithstanding the considerable literature of Koumiss, of which but a small sketch is here given, and in spite of many proofs of its therapeutic value, Koumiss was only theoretically known in France. Its employment in Western Europe was impossible, on account of the ignorance concerning its mode of preparation, for the tribes of Eastern llussia surrounded its manufacture with great mystery. The importation and introduction of the real Koumiss ia due to Dr. Edwards, who established the first' Koumiss factory ih Paris, in 1872, and is its present director. Dr. Edwards, who during his residence in Asia had noticed its effects upon the people he was sojourning with, had long bean anxious to introduce this remedy into Europe, but it was, only after ten years of persistent enquiry that he became acquainted vrith the process of ,its manufacture, ,

Tho original Koumiss of the Tartars was made from mare's milk ; but chemical research and experience of the last tea years, have proved that cow's milk makes an equally good' Koumiss, and has given remarkable reButfcs, as shown in the Koumiss cures of Odessa, Warsaw, Cracow, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Dresden, Paris, London, New York, and San Francisco. '' Its introduction to Sydney was due to Dr. Hiller, a German pbywoian, who induced the late Mr. T. S. Mort to join him in experimentalising. After a while, when the doctor concluded that he had thoroughly succeeded in producing the real article, a company was formed, and Koumiss was formally introduced to the public. Since then many persons have used it with marked results, as witness tho testimonials published by the proprietary, and the refer-, ences permitted to several well-known clergymen and other citizens. It has been contended that the article commonly supplied to the British public is not equal in value to that in use in Huasia, which is manufactured from mare's milk ; but this theory is not borne out by facts, and oven Dr. George L. Carrick, the great advocate of Russian Koumiss, admits, in his "standard work on the subject, that cow's milk Koumiss comes next in value as a dietetic, in wasting diseases, to the Bussian article. The results of experiments made in the hospitals of Paris, is thus summed up by the Gazette Ilebdomadairc de Medecinc :—: — "All these elements — plastic, heat generating, strength generating, anti-wasting — being naturally united in it, explain the powerfully reconstituent action of Koumiss, for it holds a series of substances, each of which is capable of exerting a special effect on the organism, and its action 13 to constitute the resultant of all these isolated effects. " Koumiss offers itself as the most powerful medication against consumption and all forma of wasting disease. And is a certain cure for indigestion. It deserves the high approbation and confidence which it has obtained in the medical world as the sole tribunal competent to judge of the real value of a new therapeutical agent so appreciable and so important." I conscientiously believe that I am acting as a benefactor to my species in introducing this article on Koumiss among my Sydney sketches ; and in thao belief I will further add thfe address of tho proprietors, which is Boyle's Chambers, Bond Street, Sydney. And now, as I feel good, I will smoke a pipe, and drink a bumper of the beverage I have so bepraised.