{"id":"01KG8AKWJA8KJPFW6NT9XP7PFB","cid":"bafkreiek4acnjxq24c54ylsp75jblalynqcybm7lxwv4jixyerv4cym7tu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3559,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.838Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 4","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":3499,"text":"The apothecary immediately gave him a pint bottle of something he\r\ncalled _“Trafalgar Oil_ for restoring the hair,” _price one dollar;_\r\nand told him that after he had used that bottle, and it did not have\r\nthe desired effect, he must try bottle No. 2, called _“Balm of\r\nParadise, or the Elixir of the Battle of Copenhagen.”_ These\r\nhigh-sounding naval names delighted Blunt, and he had no doubt there\r\nmust be virtue in them.\r\n\r\nI saw both bottles; and on one of them was an engraving, representing a\r\nyoung man, presumed to be gray-headed, standing in his night-dress in\r\nthe middle of his chamber, and with closed eyes applying the Elixir to\r\nhis head, with both hands; while on the bed adjacent stood a large\r\nbottle, conspicuously labeled, _“Balm of Paradise.”_ It seemed from the\r\ntext, that this gray-headed young man was so smitten with his hair-oil,\r\nand was so thoroughly persuaded of its virtues, that he had got out of\r\nbed, even in his sleep; groped into his closet, seized the precious\r\nbottle, applied its contents, and then to bed again, getting up in the\r\nmorning without knowing any thing about it. Which, indeed, was a most\r\nmysterious occurrence; and it was still more mysterious, how the\r\nengraver came to know an event, of which the actor himself was\r\nignorant, and where there were no bystanders.\r\n\r\nThree times in the twenty-four hours, Blunt, while at sea, regularly\r\nrubbed in his liniments; but though the first bottle was soon exhausted\r\nby his copious applications, and the second half gone, he still stuck\r\nto it, that by the time we got to Liverpool, his exertions would be\r\ncrowned with success. And he was not a little delighted, that this\r\ngradual change would be operating while we were at sea; so as not to\r\nexpose him to the invidious observations of people ashore; on the same\r\nprinciple that dandies go into the country when they purpose raising\r\nwhiskers. He would often ask his shipmates, whether they noticed any\r\nchange yet; and if so, how much of a change? And to tell the truth,\r\nthere was a very great change indeed; for the constant soaking of his\r\nhair with oil, operating in conjunction with the neglect of his toilet,\r\nand want of a brush and comb, had matted his locks together like a wild\r\nhorse’s mane, and imparted to it a blackish and extremely glossy hue.\r\nBesides his collection of hair-oils, Blunt had also provided himself\r\nwith several boxes of pills, which he had purchased from a sailor\r\ndoctor in New York, who by placards stuck on the posts along the\r\nwharves, advertised to remain standing at the northeast corner of\r\nCatharine Market, every Monday and Friday, between the hours of ten and\r\ntwelve in the morning, to receive calls from patients, distribute\r\nmedicines, and give advice gratis.\r\n\r\nWhether Blunt thought he had the dyspepsia or not, I can not say; but\r\nat breakfast, he always took three pills with his coffee; something as\r\nthey do in Iowa, when the bilious fever prevails; where, at the\r\nboarding-houses, they put a vial of blue pills into the castor, along\r\nwith the pepper and mustard, and next door to another vial of\r\ntoothpicks. But they are very ill-bred and unpolished in the western\r\ncountry.\r\n\r\nSeveral times, too, Blunt treated himself to a flowing bumper of _horse\r\nsalts_ (Glauber salts); for like many other seamen, he never went to\r\nsea without a good supply of that luxury. He would frequently, also,\r\ntake this medicine in a wet jacket, and then go on deck into a rain\r\nstorm. But this is nothing to other sailors, who at sea will doctor\r\nthemselves with calomel off Cape Horn, and still remain on duty. And in\r\nthis connection, some really frightful stories might be told; but I\r\nforbear.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 4"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ1DADRPA06G38V29X3T","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKWJDNZD8V4V11F61XEDY","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKWJDDTABRJ1A7HB5K1TY","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.018Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.521Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}