Coffee
In ancient China, Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and recorded them one by one, which enabled future generations to have a systematic understanding of many plants. There is no such person as Shennong in the Western world, and there are no written records left behind. Therefore, there are various legends about the origin of coffee. Among them, the most common and popular is the story of the shepherds. Legend has it that a shepherd accidentally discovered that his sheep were jumping and dancing while shepherding sheep. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the sheep had eaten a red fruit that caused them to behave funny and weirdly. He tried to pick some of these red fruits and boiled them. Unexpectedly, the room was filled with fragrant aroma. After drinking the juice, he was even more energetic and refreshed. From then on, this fruit was used as a refreshing fruit. drinks and are well received.
In ancient times, the Arabs first dried and boiled coffee beans and drank the juice as a stomach medicine, thinking it could help digestion. Later, it was discovered that coffee also has a refreshing effect. At the same time, since Islam strictly prohibits believers from drinking alcohol, coffee is used instead of alcoholic beverages and is often consumed as a refreshing drink. After the fifteenth century, Muslims who made pilgrimages to the holy land of Mecca gradually brought coffee back to their places of residence, causing coffee to gradually spread to Egypt, Syria, Iran, Turkey and other countries. The introduction of coffee to the European continent can be attributed to the Ottoman Empire of Turkey at that time. Because the coffee-drinking Ottoman army conquered the European continent and stationed there for several years, when the army finally withdrew, they left behind everything including coffee beans. With a large amount of supplies, people in Vienna and Paris were able to develop European coffee culture with these coffee beans and the cooking experience gained from the Turks. The war was originally about conquest and destruction, but it unexpectedly brought about cultural exchanges and even integration, which the rulers had never expected.
Tobacco
Most cigarettes contain more than just tobacco. Manufacturers usually add a large number of different additives to cigarettes in order to control the composition and quality of the cut tobacco, preserve it, and change the way the smoke feels to the smoker when it ignites. Some cigarettes are added with cloves, which are intended to cause a small amount of paralysis in the smoker's mouth and lungs, thereby producing a slight pleasure. Some low-priced cigarettes directly add clove extract.
The tobacco of some cigarettes has undergone a lot of special processing. During the initial processing of tobacco leaves, a large amount of dusty crushed tobacco is produced. This tobacco dust is collected and then re-formed into components of cigarettes.
In addition to additives, tobacco, especially rough processing, is obviously harmful to the human body. When tobacco leaves are processed into cigarettes, the tobacco leaves will be separated and the leaves will be chopped into fine pieces. Once tobacco leaves are dried and processed, a lot of smoke and dust are produced. In this process, new raw materials are added to make it into new raw materials (such as processed tobacco flakes).
Tobacco leaves left over from processing are not suitable for making cigarettes due to their high nitrogen content. They are generally discarded or scattered in the fields. The processing process will re-refine the stems. This process Additives will be added. All cigarette manufacturing processes will reduce tobacco raw materials as much as possible.
Some smokers use loose flue-cured paper to wrap their own cigarettes; however, most purchase machine manufacturers provide brands, usually per pack of 10 or 20 cigarettes [US], [UK] or 25 [Canada] . Commercial cigarettes usually contain cellulose acetate or cotton to filter the smoke that smokers inhale from the cigarette.
According to research by archaeologists, there are records of human smoking as early as 1800 to 2000 BC.
“The Chinese became aware of smoking, probably during the Jiajing period of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese settled in Macau, and they have been smoking for a long time. As mentioned before, it is a fact that their habits have not changed since they came to live in Macau. Yin Guang The second volume of "Macau Notes" written by Ren and Zhang Rulin, "Ao Fan Pian" says: "Those who live in Xiangshan Macau... take snuff and eat tobacco. The paper rolls are like pen tubes, and they are smoked and eaten by burning fire. ”
Although the Chinese knew about tobacco at this time, no one had directly introduced it to others, and no one smoked it.
When the trend of smoking started during the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 6 of Ball's "History of Tobacco" says: "In the early seventeenth century, trade between Guangdong and the Philippines, which was occupied by the Spaniards who smoked, was prevalent. Therefore, the trend of smoking was as fast as lightning. After the invasion of China, in the era of Emperor Shenzong, this new trend was far worse than the traditional tea-drinking trend. "Qi Jiwen's annotation of "Yonglu Xianjie" also records the same. "Tobacco comes from overseas, and the Chinese people grow it and control it according to the law. Then they are good at national industry. Tamba came out of Luzon. At the end of Wanli of Ming Dynasty (the reign of Emperor Shenzong), Ma family in Zhangquan started to make tobacco. "From Jiubian" ("A Preliminary Study on the Interpretation of Ancient Books" by Huang Xianfan)
In 1492, two of Columbus's crew members, Jerez and Torres, discovered that Cuban natives lit dry cigarettes and smoked the smoke. , Jerez tried smoking, and he became the first smoker in Europe.
In 1518, Spanish explorers discovered that the Aztecs and Mayans used empty reeds to smoke tobacco. The Spanish also learned to smoke, and the first cigarette was produced.
In 1612, John Rolfe planted the first acre of commercial tobacco in Virginia, USA.
In 1843, French tobacco dealers began to produce Spanish-style cigarettes, which were officially named "cigarettes" in French, from which the English word cigarette came.
In 1881, a cigarette rolling machine with a daily production of 120,000 cigarettes was patented. Before that, cigarettes were all made by hand.
In 1924, the American "Reader's Digest" published an article for the first time to remind people that smoking is harmful to health.
In 1966, a new logo began to appear on American cigarette packages: Beware! Smoking is harmful to health.
The cigarette industry has provided 2.3 million job opportunities for Americans, and these people have brought more job opportunities to the medical, firefighting, laundry, pharmaceutical and other industries.
Archaeologists discovered in Paro City, Arizona, USA, that in the caves where Indians lived in AD 650, there were wide tobacco leaves and pipes side by side, as well as leftover cigarette ashes. These relics, after instrumental analysis, contained nicotine and were inferred to be tobacco leaves.
Archaeologists also discovered a hollow straw with a pipe stuffed in a cave at an altitude of 4,000 feet in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico. Radioactive measurements showed that it was a product 700 years ago. If so, not only is it more than 200 years earlier than Columbus's discovery, but it can also be called the ancestor of modern cigarettes. However, this historical miracle has yet to be further verified by archaeologists.
Tomatoes
According to legend, tomatoes are native to Peru and Mexico, and were originally a wild berry growing in forests. The locals regard it as a poisonous fruit and call it "wolf peach". It is only used for viewing and no one dares to eat it. According to records, at that time there was a British Duke named Russian Dallary who was traveling in Yunnan and America. When he saw tomatoes for the first time, he was deeply attracted by its gorgeous color, so he brought it back to England as a rare treasure. Dedicated to his lover, Queen Elizabeth, as a sign of fidelity to love. Since then, tomatoes have been known as the "love fruit".
It wasn’t until the 18th century that anyone ventured to eat tomatoes and learned of their edible value. According to legend, a French painter saw how tempting tomatoes were and came up with the idea of ??trying what they tasted like. So he braved the risk of being poisoned and ate one. He got dressed and lay on the bed waiting for the "god of death" to come. However, he didn't feel any physical discomfort after a long time, so he simply continued to eat. I only felt a sweet and sour taste, but my body was still fine.
Now it is a delicacy on many people’s tables. Tomatoes are rich in carotene, vitamin C and B vitamins, especially among vegetables with the highest vitamin C content.
Drugs generally refer to drugs that make people addicted. The word drug here is a broad concept, mainly referring to opium, heroin, methamphetamine, etc. that are abused by drug addicts. It also includes natural plants and drugs that are addictive. Tobacco, alcohol, solvents, etc. are different concepts from medical drugs.
Pharmaceutical items refer to items used to manufacture narcotic drugs and psychotropic drugs.
Some drugs can be obtained naturally. For example, opium is a natural product extracted directly from cutting immature poppy fruits, but most drugs can only be obtained through chemical synthesis. These raw materials for medicine and chemical production that are essential for drug processing are what we call drug-making products. Therefore, drug-making articles are not only pharmaceutical or chemical raw materials, but also preparations for making drugs.