As when immediately put into the Veins of an Animal they cause sudden Death, so when drank in a large Quantity at once, they coagulate and thicken the Blood to such a degree _as to kill instantly_: And when they are not drank in such Quantities as to kill immediately, but are daily used, then, besides many other Diseases, they are apt to breed _Polypuses_, or fleshy Substances in the Heart, by thickening the Blood there; which _Polypuses_, as they grow larger and larger, do, by hindering and retarding the Motion of the Blood through the Heart, thereby farther contribute to the Faintness and Dispiritedness of those unhappy Persons, and at length, by totally stopping the Course of the Blood, do as effectually kill, as if a Dart had been struck thro’ the Liver. And again, speaking of these same spirituous liquors, he adds:-- Some may indeed be more palatable than others, _but they are all in a manner equally pernicious and dangerous, that are of an equal Strength; and those most destructive and deadly, which are the strongest, that is, which have most Spirit in them_. Which _Spirit_ being of a very harsh, fiery, and acrimonious Nature, as it is found to seize on and harden raw Flesh put into it; so does it greatly injure the Stomach, Bowels, Liver, and all other Parts of human Bodies, especially the Nerves; which being the immediate and principal Instruments of Life and Action, hence it is, that it so remarkably enfeebles the habitual Drinkers of it; and also depraves the Memory, by hardening and spoiling the Substance of the Brain, which is the Seat of Life, and this is an Inconvenience which the great Drinkers of _Punch_ often find, as well as the _Dram_ Drinkers. Fifteen years later (1751) a Scotchman, James Burgh (cousin to the historian Robertson), wrote _A warning to Dram-Drinkers_. Would that it had been effectual! At this time _cider_ seems to have risen to the dignity of civic feasts. At a feast held Nov. 5th, 1737, at an inn, the following are the charges:-- _£_ _s._ _d._ Ordinaries 1 10 0 Wine 2 6 0 Beer, _Cider_, Ale 0 8 10 Candles and tobacco 0 3 6 Beer, gunners and drummers 0 3 4 For firing 0 1 6 Sugar, lemons, and glasses 0 14 0 Wine after the bill delivered 0 6 0 Beer firing, tobacco 0 1 10 ----------- 5 15 0 No bill for feast or treat at any place ... was found to have any mention of cider as used at table, and charged for with beer and ale before this one.[224]