“Alexander died. Alexander was buried. Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth: of earth we make loam. And why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer barrel?”——_Hamlet._ The fact, at one time doubted, but now established beyond dispute, that some tribes indulge in the habit of dirt-eating, is one which, from its singularity, claims notice. The Malayan uses lime as an ingredient in compounding his favourite masticatory, and the coquero of the Andes mixes it with his leaves of coca. The Nubians mingle the saline natron with their quid of tobacco, and the blacks of Gesira the same material to compound their “bucca.” The Ottamacs and Omaguas avail themselves of the assistance of shell lime to give pungency to their intoxicating snuffs. The tribes on the coast of Paria, according to Gomara, stimulated the organs of taste by caustic lime, as other races employ tobacco, coca, or betel. In our own days this practice exists among the Guajiros at the mouth of the Rio de la Hacha. Here the still uncivilized Indians carry small shells, calcined and powdered, in a box made from the husk of a fruit. This box is suspended from their girdle, and serves a variety of purposes. The powder used by the Guajiros is an article of commerce, as formerly was that of the Indians of Paria. What could first have induced these people to use by itself, or other races to mingle with vegetable substances, a mineral only known to us as a whitewash, or for somewhat similar vulgar uses, and to metamorphose it into a luxury, is difficult to understand. We comprehend the value of lime when stirred about in a pail, with sufficiency of water to reduce it to the consistence of cream, and then by the aid of a broad flat brush transferred to the ceilings of our dwellings. We cannot so well comprehend or appreciate the luxury of rolling it into a pellet, and transferring it to our mouths, as a whitewash for regions where the curious eye of man does not penetrate. [Illustration]