[Northkeep] Thanks

[Marc Carlson]

>From: "Mike C. Baker" <kihe at ticnet.com>
>In short:  yes.  (Although the Romans of old are said not to have
>known germ theory, the Roman military did learn a few things about
>water quality in re: the health of the troops over the centuries!)

Just for the record, while Roman civilian medicine was lousey (literally),
Roman military medicine was, I understand, about the best that was seen
until the early 20th century.  they may not have known about "germs", but
they did seem to be able to figure out that if you did one thing, it worked
and your soldier actually made it back to the line; if you did another
thing, your boy died and you lost a valuable resource.  If you do that one
thing often enough, maybe it's a good idea to keep it up.

OTOH, the Roman remedy for heat stroke was acetum and olive oil (?)  I
assume that the oil is there to help the stomach keep the acetum in long
enough to digest it -- And of course, it's also good for sunburns -- and
makes a tastey salad dressing...

>Although for flavor alone, 1:10 may be overpowering to modern
>palates -- I have found that a teaspoon or less of balsamic vinegar
>added to water in a tall drinking glass is very pleasant indeed (if
>one can enjoy vinegar taste at all -- my fiancée had an unfortunate
>incident with straight white vinegar in a clear glass when she was
>about age 3...)

Personally, I can't stand the taste of vinegar, in and of itself. I've
learned to tolerate it when I'm hot and thirsty.

Balsamic vinegar is a different creater, I'm given to understand.   First of
all, what we get here in this country is either REALLY expensive and sweet,
or else isn't "real" balsamic.  I believe that if you have real balsamic
though, the minerals and stuff may still be in there.

Marc/Diarmaid

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