WE came to this place July 20, pitched our tent and commenced meetings July 22. The interest has been good from the beginning, our tent being as full as it would hold a number of evenings. An opposition discourse was preached, which we reviewed before a large audience. This only served to increase the interest and to settle conviction more deeply upon those who had been hearing us from night to night. We presented the covenant yesterday and twelve have subscribed to keep all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. We start to-day to our workers' meeting at Clinton. Will return after our yearly meeting to finish up here and hope then to see others, who are deeply interested, take hold of the truth.
A. O. TAIT.
F. D. STARR.
Odin, Ill., August 30.
The Danger of False Prophets
ELIJAH would be called a crank and John the Baptist a lunatic, if they should appear now and denounce popular vices as they did in their own times. It is so in every age. The true prophet is never a universal favorite, and the temptation to faithlessness is, therefore, very great. And yet no worse woe can befall the human race than a false prophet. A sneaking pulpit is an offense in the sight of God, and a curse to mankind.—Western Christian Advocate.
Christ's Divinity Essential to Christianity
You might just as well take away the luminous ether from the atmosphere and call the residuum air, and expect to have its original life-sustaining power, as really to remove the doctrine of Christ's divinity from theology without the actual and complete overthrow of Christianity itself as a consistent and energizing system.—Christian Evidences.
Love Shown by Keeping Christ's Commandments
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. John 14 : 21.
The Word of God’s Seed
This seed, the word of God, being grafted in the heart, works contrary to nature, in that it makes the ground in which it was sown become of the nature of the seed. See the illustration which Paul uses in Rom. 11:17–24. The seed springing up in the heart that has been properly prepared to receive it, makes the individual a new person, as is indicated in the preceding paragraph. To this end the apostle Peter says: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently; being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” 1 Peter 1:22, 23. Our souls are purified, or sanctified, in obeying the truth; but this is done only “through the Spirit.” And thus, by means of this incorruptible seed, the word of God, the man becomes a new man; no longer is he the natural man, a child of wrath, but a partaker of the divine nature, a child of God.
The Commentary.
THE PARABLES OF JESUS.
Lesson 1.—The Sower.
(Sabbath, October 2.)
1. WHEN did Jesus begin his public teaching?—Immediately after his baptism (Acts 20: 37, 38), which was when he was thirty years of age. As this was the age at which the Jews entered public life, John the Baptist was undoubtedly thirty years of age when he began to baptize, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Cæsar. This was in A. D. 26, and Jesus, being six months younger than John, was therefore baptized in A. D. 27.
2. Relate the circumstances of his baptism. Matt. 3: 13–17.
The seed is sown in all places, even by the wayside. From this we may infer that salvation is offered to all men, whatever may be their class or condition.
Cause of Unfruitfulness
CAUSE OF UNFRUITFULNESS.—The seed is all good. In every instance it is the pure word of God. The cause of unfruitfulness lies wholly in the way in which the good seed is received, cherished, and obeyed.
Thorns Sprang Up
THORNS SPRANG UP.—At the time of sowing, the thorns may be so subdued as to give promise of success to the sower, but unless they are rooted out, they will spring up and so choke the good seed that no fruit can come to perfection.
Some a Hundredfold, Etc
SOME A HUNDREDFOLD, ETC.—From this expression it would appear that there will be different degrees of fruitfulness even on what may be termed good ground; for while in some instances the seed brings forth a hundredfold, in others it yields but sixty or thirty.
The Seed Is the Word of God
“THE SEED IS THE WORD OF GOD.”—An entire lesson might be given with profit on this one statement, but we notice only a few points. It is well known, as stated in the parable, that seed must fall into good ground, and must take root, in order that it may bear fruit. The ground must first be prepared, or else the seed will be like that sown by the wayside. To this import are the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 2: 14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The Spirit of God must prepare the ground for the good seed, and for this to be done, the individual must be willing to receive the word. David prayed: “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.” Ps. 119: 36.
The Engrafted Word
But even though the seed be sown on good ground, it must germinate before it can bring forth fruit. The tendrils must work their way into the soil, so that they can draw from it strength and moisture. In harmony with this idea are the words of James: “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” James 1: 21. It is not simply the word that is able to save our souls, but the engrafted word. All know how grafting is performed: the branch is cleft, and the scion is placed within it, and bound in, so that it becomes a part of the branch. Now when the word of God is fastened in the heart, so that it becomes a part of the being, then it is able to save the soul. Then a person's thoughts are God's thoughts, and his ways are God's ways. So David says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Ps. 119: 11.
The Word of God Abides in You
Moreover, although seed may be sown in good ground, and may have taken root, yet if it be plucked up before it matures fruit, all will have been in vain. So if we would be overcomers at last, the good seed must remain fixed in our hearts. Says John: “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” 1 John 2: 14. The condition of strength, and of overcoming the wicked one, is that the word of God abides in us. Compare with this the words of Christ: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15: 7. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5: 17. Now if he abides in Christ, and the incorruptible seed, the word of life, abides in him, he has the promise that whatever he shall ask shall be done for him. What a boundless promise! And since such an one would be sure to ask for deliverance from the wicked one, we readily see that he must necessarily overcome the world.
The Seed That Remains
Now note one more text: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” 1 John 3: 9. What seed is it, which, remaining in the one who is born of God, prevents him from sinning? Why, the seed by which he was born again, even “the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” Compare this with John 15: 7, just quoted. Then read further: “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5: 18. How is it that “that wicked one toucheth him not?” Because he abides “in Christ,” and the temptation is resisted the same as though it were directed against Christ.
The Shield of Faith
If we would know how to keep ourselves, so that the wicked one cannot touch us, let us read the account of the temptation of Christ. He did not parley with the tempter, but to every temptation returned the same answer: “It is written.” The word of God was within his heart, and therefore he had an unfailing weapon of defense. Just as in ancient times the warrior would catch the darts of the enemy upon his brazen shield, so that they could not touch him, so the Christian, following the example of Christ, and abiding in him, is to receive the assaults of the enemy upon the shield of faith in the unfailing word of God, and thus they will not touch him. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” says James; but he is to be resisted “steadfast in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8, 9.
The Word Stored in the Heart
From these texts we may learn the importance of having the word of God stored up in our hearts. “These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” Deut. 6: 6. The word is the sword of the Spirit, and if the word abides in our hearts, we may by it, through the Spirit, purify our souls. If we are well instructed in the word, we have an armory from which to draw in time of temptation; the Spirit will bring the special truth to our remembrance, which is applicable to the case in hand; but let us not think that the Spirit can “bring to our remembrance” that which we never knew.
Source of the Mississippi.
Most of our geographers and map-makers now assert, and publish the fact to the world, that Lake Itasca is not the source of the Mississippi, and in proof of their belief have assigned that distinction to another smaller body of water to the south of Itasca, and named Lake Glazier, in honor of Capt. Willard Glazier, the discoverer. This enterprising soldier and popular writer, in July, 1881, organized and led an expedition to the head-waters of the Mississippi, traversing the rough and almost impassable country of the Chippewas to the west of Leech Lake, a wild section of Minnesota, which, it is believed, had never before been trodden by the white man. The members of the expedition were furnished with canoes and commissariat at the expense of the leader, whose ultimate object was the descent of the great river from its source to the Gulf of Mexico. This feat was finally accomplished, but we have now to do only with the important discovery made by the intrepid voyagers after their arrival at Lake Itasca.
This lake, as is well known to every schoolboy, was discovered by Schoolcraft in 1832, and has always been held to be the source of the Mississippi. But Captain Glazier, from much study of the matter, had an inkling that the source lay further to the south, and his Indian guide, Che-no-way-ge-sic, whose hunting-ground is in the immediate vicinity, confirmed this conjecture by emphatically assuring him that another lake did exist to the south of Itasca, and was connected therewith by a respectable stream, which was, in fact, the infant Mississippi falling into that lake. Hence it followed that Itasca could not be the source of the Mississippi.
This confirmation determined Glazier to extend his explorations. He ascended the stream, and, with the assistance of his guides, pushed his canoe through the reeds and rushes and other obstructions, into a beautiful and placid lake nestling among the umbrageous pines, and never, until now, known to exist. This lake he discovered to be the final fountain head of the Father of Waters, and the name of the discoverer was at once fixed upon by his companions as its appropriate designation.
Lake Glazier, now recognized as the true source of the Mississippi, is about two miles in diameter and nearly circular in shape. Its southern shore is rocky and the water as clear as crystal. So lonely is the region around the lake that for fourteen days not even an Indian was seen, with the exception of the guides. The latitude of Lake Glazier was found to be 47° 13′ 25″, and its height above the Atlantic Ocean 1,576 feet. The reason why the precise locality of the fountain head of the river has been so long enveloped in obscurity, may be found in the fact that it is in a remote and unfrequented region of country, and entirely out of the usual route of the fur-traders.
The party, on leaving the newly-discovered lake, descended the river and finally, as before hinted, after a voyage of 3,184 miles—the longest canoe voyage on record—paddled out into the Gulf of Mexico, having occupied 138 days in the journey.—San Francisco Bulletin.
The Russian Peasant.
By Sel.
THE life of the Russian peasant is full of misery and wretchedness. The constant care and hard struggle for his daily existence, the heavy taxes that he is burdened with and which he is bound to pay under any circumstances, all this is sufficient to deprive him of all the enterprise and ambition that are peculiar to the more civilized, and consequently more happy, nations. Total darkness and blind superstition are the main features of his character. The belief in the evil spirit as a mighty power, having a great deal to do with the fate of every individual, has taken deep root in his mind, and no reason seems able to extricate it. Any tale of the supernatural is taken as a matter of fact, and any matter of fact is looked upon rather skeptically.
I can recall facts of shocking superstition that will, to a certain extent, illustrate the character of the peasant. On one dark, rainy autumn night a poverty-stricken old man threw an infant into the river, or, as he said, handed it over to the devil in exchange for a purse of gold that he supposed was hidden in a certain secluded place, and that could not be found unless some innocent human being be sacrificed! In another village, a sick woman was choked to death by her kind neighbors in their desperate efforts to squeeze the devil out of her throat! Furthermore, an old woman, a supposed witch, was beaten to death by the villagers for bringing a pestilence upon the cattle through the aid and influence of the evil one! These are a few of the incidents that occur daily in the peasant's life. The American reader can hardly imagine anything more miserable, more wretched, than the little hut in which a family, averaging six or seven members, is often found living. Imagine a little dark and gloomy cave, half of which is cut off by a large primitive stove, and that will be the “sweet home” of the Russian peasant. Every inch of space is inhabited, so that, as a matter of course, the air is made poisonous and intolerable, and this explains the frequent fatal diseases prevailing among the Russian peasantry.
The daily habits and methods of life are of the simplest character. Five o'clock in the morning, in all seasons, is generally the hour at which a family rises. The woman immediately begins to prepare breakfast, which generally consists of a mixture of sour-krout, beets and potatoes, called “borshtch,” and coarse rye bread. A large trunk, the only piece of furniture to be seen in a peasant's hut, which at the same time serves as a table, is spread with a coarse cover, and after saying prayer the head of the family, followed by the rest of the members, occupies his seat. After the “borshtch” pot is emptied, every one goes out to his work. If it is winter time, the men are engaged in feeding the cattle, and the women in spinning their flax. Every one has his hands full. At 12 o'clock dinner is announced—again “borshtch,” on the trunk table, followed by a potful of boiled potatoes and plenty of coarse rye bread. Supper consists of the remnants of the dinner. On Sundays, however, or days of festival, an epicurean piece of salt pork or mutton and fresh rye bread—of which the peasant, and still more his better half, is very fond—adorn the table. White bread is looked upon as a luxury beyond the reach of the peasantry. It is only on very rare occasions that such a luxury finds place in the peasant's home.
After a day's work is over, the peasant goes out for recreation. The tavern, which is the only place of attraction for him, is generally crowded in the evenings. The most burning topics of the day are discussed there. What strikes a stranger who is present at one of these meetings, is the absolute confusion which characterizes its proceedings. All speak at once, no one listens, and the debates are scenes of wild disorder. But there is no rule without an exception; an orator may sometimes command general attention. In such cases utter silence prevails, and those who interrupt are ordered to ‘shut up.’ As a general thing, however, everybody is arguing at the top of his voice, a wild uproar goes on, which oftentimes ends in a fight.
Balloting is unknown in the Russian village assemblies. Every question, of whatever character, must be settled unanimously. The settlement of a question mostly depends on the proposal of the starosta (village official), or any other important person of the village, whose influence conciliates all interests and wins the suffrage of the entire community. To reach this consummation, however, thorough debates and a good threshing of the subject discussed are indispensable. Every one must freely express his opinion and shout out at the top of his voice his arguments before any concessions are made.—Sel.
The Home Circle.
By M. D.
GATHER THE SUNLIGHT.
Oh, the sunbeam’s magic power!
It brightens all the earth,
Filling all hearts with gladness,
Giving all beauty birth.
Yet the same bright beams are falling
Through the void without our air,
Their golden gleams diffusing
No warmth or brightness there.
And wherefore those outer regions
So dreary and dark alway?
No power to stay the sunbeams
On its shining path have they.
Is it thus we are wrapped in shadow
While the light of a Saviour’s love
Is falling freely, gladly,
Our gloomy path above?
In vain are the rays from Heaven,
The message of holy cheer,
If the soul stay not the sunbeams
That would scatter its doubt and fear.
The grasp of a living faith—
This must the promise claim,
This gather the heavenly radiance
In a risen Saviour’s name.
Away with the doubts we cherish!
Will he not faithful prove
Who hath sealed with his precious life-blood
The message of his love?
Who treasure the beams of blessing,
Great shall be their reward,—
Life’s desert wastes shall blossom,
A garden of the Lord.
M. D.
Pyramid Lake.
By Sel.
Pyramid Lake, Nevada, which has no outlet, is nearly forty miles long by from fifteen to twenty miles in width. It has an elevation of 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is 2,247 feet lower than Lake Tahoe, the principal source of its main feeder. Great Salt Lake, on the eastern side of the Great Basin, is the only larger lake on the whole plateau. It is seventy miles long by about thirty wide. The elevation of the Great Salt Lake is also about 200 feet greater, which shows, as do many other things, that the grand interior plateau has a slight inclination or dip to the westward, and also to the southward toward the Colorado River. Lake Tahoe is smaller than Pyramid Lake. It is only thirty miles long by from eight to fifteen miles in width. Pyramid Lake is larger than the Dead Sea, which, according to the surveys of Lieutenant Lynch, is a trifle over forty miles long, with an average breadth of only eight or nine miles. It is much larger than the Sea of Galilee, which is only sixteen miles long and five or six miles wide.—Sel.
Fate of Monarchs
FATE OF MONARCHS.—Of the 2,550 kings and emperors reported in history, 300 were overthrown, 64 forced to abdicate, 28 committed suicide, 23 became insane or imbecile, 100 were killed in battle, 123 were captured by the enemy, 25 were tortured to death, 151 were assassinated, and 108 executed.
Self-Examination and Charity
He who never changed any of his opinions never corrected any of his mistakes; and he who was never wise enough to find out any mistakes in himself will not be charitable enough to excuse what he reckons mistakes in others.—Sel.
Inflammation in Eggs.
THERE is a condition of the egg, little known, which considerably impairs its sanitary value as an article of food. Soon after it became the practice to transport eggs in large quantities and to long distances by railway trains, it was found on their arrival that adhesion had taken place between the membranes of the yolk and those of the shell, so that the yolk could not be turned out of the shell unbroken. On examination by experienced pathologists, this was found to be the result of true inflammation; the material of the adhesion was found to be precisely the same as that of the plastic exudation in inflammation of the lungs or bowels. It will at first seem absurd to speak of inflammation in such an unformed mass as an egg; but this arises from our forgetting that, structureless and unorganized as it seems, the egg, even when fresh-laid, is a living being, and capable of disease from external causes. The cause of this inflammation is undoubtedly the shaking and friction from the motion of the cars, and it cannot but render the egg more or less unhealthy, as the products of inflammation can never be as salutary in food as those of healthy growth.—Bulletin of the Tennessee Board of Health.
The Seventeen-Year Locust.
By Charles P. Bollman
The seventeen-year locust, so-called, is not a locust at all, and belongs to an entirely different family. Its proper name is the seventeen-year cicada. The first part of the name is given them from the fact that they make their appearance in considerable numbers only once in seventeen years.
The lifetime of the cicada is seventeen years, and all but a few weeks of this is spent in the earth. Its life is thus described in St. Nicholas.
“Just fancy spending the best part of your life prowling about in the darkness underground and then coming up into the sunlight with a gorgeous pair of wings, only to die in a short time! This is what the seventeen-year cicada does. In the first place, it is an egg which its mother deposits in a tiny hole in a twig. In a few weeks it makes its way out of the egg and drops to the ground, into which it burrows, and in which it remains for nearly seventeen years before it is prepared for life above ground. When, at last, it is ready for the bright sunlight, it may be one foot from the surface, or it may be ten feet deep in the ground. In either case it begins to dig upward until it finds its way out, when it climbs up the nearest tree and fastens itself by its sharp claws to a leaf or twig. There it remains until its back splits open, and behold! it immediately crawls out of itself,” so to speak.
“The new insect is a soft, dull fellow at first, but he grows as if he had been storing up energy for seventeen years for just that one purpose. Within an hour two pairs of most beautiful wings have grown, and in a few hours more it becomes hard and active. The female cicada are quiet enough, but the males are as noisy as so many little boys with new drums. Indeed, they do have drums themselves. Just under their wings are drums made of shiny membrane, as beautiful as white silk, and these are kept rattling almost all the time. One cicada can make noise enough; but imagine the din of millions of them all going at the same time. It sounds as if all the frogs in the country had come together to try to drown the noise of a saw-mill.”
The cicada are often very numerous. The writer has seen many thousands of them, and can readily credit another who says: “I have counted over a thousand cast-off shells on one small tree, and on one birch leaf I have seen twelve shells. And the earth in some places is like a sieve from the holes made by the cicada.” But notwithstanding there are so many, in a few weeks from their first appearance they have all died, and no wonder; for so far as any one can see, the cicada never eat anything after they emerge from the ground. Some people think that they suck the juice from the leaves of trees and shrubs; but from careful personal observation, the writer is of the opinion that such is not the case.
The female cicada does, however, injure trees, especially young fruit trees, by stinging the twigs to make the “tiny” holes in which her eggs are deposited. The twigs thus injured soon die, and sometimes the whole tree dies. The female is armed with a very strong “sting,” which is about half an inch in length, and has the appearance of blued steel; and it is with this that she does so much damage to trees.
When these insects first make their appearance they are plump and full, and when opened or crushed present much the same appearance as a grasshopper or a well-fed beetle; but while they remain unchanged outwardly, before they die they are all dried up till they are little more than a mere shell. It is no doubt the exhaustion of the juices stored in his body that is the immediate cause of the death of the cicada who has escaped his natural enemies, birds and chickens, and who finally succumbs to what in the higher orders of animal life is called old age.
C. P. BOLLMAN.
Health and Temperance.
By Editor
Simply Appalling!
The following which we copy from the Oakland Daily Tribune of August 26, is not only suggestive of the downward tendency of the age, but the figures given are simply appalling. And while we help to sound the alarm, we believe that nothing but the coming of the day of the Lord will effectually stay the rapidly-rising tide of iniquity:—
“EDITOR TRIBUNE: The Boston Advertiser is a conservative Republican paper, and its authority is unquestionable. If the following editorial, which I find in a late number, had been in a temperance or prohibition paper, some would have regarded it as of doubtful accuracy. But in the Advertiser it must command the credence of all. And when we consider the awful aggregate of evils that constantly accompany or grow out of what that paper calls ‘our minor vices,’ should we not give heed? . . . If we look at it as only a question of finance, or of political economy, we must clearly see that as a nation we are steadily and rapidly hurrying on to ruin. To prevent it all, patriotic and benevolent citizens should combine their philanthropic efforts. But read the testimony of the Advertiser:—
‘The increase in the amount of whisky distilled and drunk during the year now ended, was 1,600,000 gallons over the amount for 1885, the total consumption of this liquor being 7,700,000 gallons. Estimating the population of the country at 60,000,000, this gives about one gallon and a pint for each one of us, including women and children.’
‘The consumption of beer mounts up to some 264,000,000 gallons, an increase of more than 1,500,000 gallons from the preceding year, which admits of an allowance of eleven gallons to each inhabitant, or counting out the children and one half the adult population as total abstainers, the rest are to be credited with the imbibition of one-half pint daily.’
‘The use of tobacco is also constantly increasing, except in the form of snuff, the falling off in the consumption of that article reaching nearly 20,000 pounds.’
‘In the comparatively novel practice of cigarette-smoking, which has, in fact, come into vogue within less than fifteen years, there has been an increase of 25 per cent., the total number burned being 1,310,000,000, or about 22 apiece all around.’
‘Of manufactured tobacco for smoking and chewing there were 191,000,000 pounds used averaging about 3½ pounds each, and of cigars 3,500,000,000, an increase of 152,000,000 from last year, or about 59 for every inhabitant.’
‘If, now, a calculation is made of what these large aggregates have cost the consumers, supposing them to have made their purchases at retail, we may reach an approximate imagination of the tax which our minor vices lay upon the collective purse of the average man. Taking the lowest prices as 4 cents for a cigar and 10 cents for a gill of whisky, the total will be found to amount to more than $1,200,000,000—not so very much less than our national debt—or $20 each for all who live in our prosperous land.’”
Some Effects of Tobacco.
Q.—How does tobacco injure digestion?
A.—The saliva which is needed to soften the food is either spit out or poisoned with tobacco, and this weakens the action of the stomach.
Q.—What other effect has tobacco upon the stomach?
A.—It relaxes the lining of the stomach and bowels, often causing hemorrhage and other stomach and bowel affections.
Q.—Does tobacco poison the blood?
A.—Yes; and every other portion of the system.
Q.—How do we know it poisons the blood?
A.—Because when leeches are used to suck out an inveterate smoker's blood, they are instantly killed by it.
Q.—What part of the body does tobacco effect the most?
A.—The heart. It weakens its action and makes it irregular, so that it does not send a full supply of blood through the body, and the muscles become weak and flabby.
Q.—Does tobacco cause heart disease?
A.—Medical statistics show that about one out of every four tobacco users has palpitation or some trouble of the heart.
Q.—What effect does it have on the nerves?
A.—Those who use tobacco are more or less afflicted with sleeplessness, irritability of temper, and trembling of hands.
Q.—What effect does tobacco have on the mind?
A.—It enfeebles the memory, paralyzes the will, diseases the imagination, and deadens the moral sensibilities.
Q.—Does tobacco bring on paralysis?
A.—The surgeon of St. Thomas's Hospital says, “Smoking is one of the chief causes of paralysis.” This fact is vouched for by other noted physicians.—Silver Star Catechism.
Alcohol Does Not Maintain Heat
By Sel.
DURING the first flush after drinking wine a sense of warmth is felt, but this is due to the tides of warm blood that are being sent to the surface of the body. There is, however, no fresh heat developed. On the contrary the forcing of the blood to the surface causes it to cool more rapidly and a chilliness is afterwards experienced. In extremely cold climates the inhabitants are enabled to live comfortably by consuming vast quantities of animal food alone. Will alcohol act in a similar way to assist in maintaining heat? Observation and experience say, No.—Sel.
Alcohol Is Not Food
SCIENCE has proved that alcohol is not a food and cannot be converted into blood. It never added anything to the permanent forces of life and never can. It could never have been intended by nature as the food of man. It is never produced spontaneously in nature. The vegetable world yields in abundance the principles that form the flesh and keep up the heat of the body, but the healthy plant never produces alcohol.—Sel.