333 / 374
DRINKS.
333
if
we
could
not
drink,
the
large
bottle,
which
at
one
time
bid
fair
to
be
perennial
;
but
which
has
almost
succumbed
to
its
younger
brother
the
"
Small
"
Soda.
Year
by
year,
through
competition
and
vastly
increased
consumption,
aerated
waters
are
getting
cheaper,
and
consequently
more
used.
The
ordinary
soda water
of
commerce
contains
no
soda,
—
it
is
made
by
the
absorption,
under
pressure,
of
carbonic
acid
gas,
which
is
generally
obtained
frorn
chalk
or
whitening,
and
sulphuric
acid,
which
makes
as
good
a
gas
for
commercial
purposes
as
if
it
were
produced
from
the
purest
Carrara
marble.
The
number
of
chemical
teetotal
drinks
is
legion.
They
are
all
calculated
according
to
their
concocter's
reports,
to
make
the
drinker
healthier
and
wiser
;
nay,
even
to
provide
him
with
extra
brain
power,
as
did
the
vaunted
Zoedone,
which
contained
phosphates
and
iron.
They
have
their
litde
day,
and
another
nostrum
takes
their
place.
It
has,
hitherto,
always
been
so,
and
probably
will
continue,
only
intensified,
to
the
end
qf
time.
J.
A.