Saturday, June 21, 2014

For Sale in Baltimore June 21, 1814: Glazier's Diamonds, Claret, Sugar, &c.

Glazier's Diamonds, Claret,
                Sugar, &c.

4 doz Glazier's Diamonds,
20 casks Claret,
60 boxes      do
 6 bhds  Muscovado Sugar,
30 casks  Allum,
 5 pipes Cogniac [sic] Brandy,
            St Domingo Coffee, Sugar of Lead [1], and
            China Vermillion
                        for sale at No. 9 Spear's wharf
            ALEXANDER MITCHELL.
June 21                                               [illegible][2]



Glazier's Diamond - Advertisement Jun 21, 1814
Baltimore Patriot & Evening Advertiser




"Lead acetate, also known as sugar of lead, is a salt that (ironically) has a sweet flavor—a fairly unusual quality in poisons,  which are more likely to taste bitter, signaling to the taster that they are unsafe for consumption. The ancient Romans used the compound—which they called sapa—to sweeten wine, and the aristocratic segments of the population could toss back as much as two liters a day (about three bottles’ worth, although wine was usually diluted with water). There is debate as to whether the wine alone could have produced the traditional physiological effects of lead poisoning, such as organ failure, infertility and dementia—the little things that help facilitate the fall of an empire.


[2] Baltimore Patriot & Evening Advertiser.; Date: 06-21-1814; Volume: 3; Issue: 146; Page: [3].
Transcribed by John Peter  Thompson, 21 June 2014.











[1] 

[2] Baltimore Patriot & Evening Advertiser.; Date: 06-21-1814; Volume: 3; Issue: 146; Page: [3].
Transcribed by John Peter  Thompson, 21 June 2014.

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