It is the name for some unduly stimulating compound.
"The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Exodus"
G. A. Chadwick
This man was a strange compound of science and superstition; he was a poet of no ordinary power, and was courted by many of the eminent men of his day.
"Due North or Glimpses of Scandinavia and Russia"
Maturin M. Ballou
The word "gentleman" is really a compound word, meaning gentle-man, and these words together in their simplicity are the true definition of the word gentleman.
"Dollars and Sense"
Col. Wm. C. Hunter