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THE AFTERMATH OF REVELRY 203
Other recipes are before me, forJ,"j^drawing
out bones broken in the head," and "for the
falling of the mould of the head " ; but these,
apparently, have no concern v/ith the question
at issue. But to continue the search—eureka!
" To Cure Spleen or Vapours.
Take an ounce of the filings of steel, two
drachms of gentian sliced, half an ounce of
carduns seeds bruised, half a handful of centaury
tops ; infuse all these in a quart of white wine
four days, and drink four spoonfuls of the clear
every morning, fasting two hours after it, and
walking about."
This I take to be a bona fide pick-me-up or
two hundred years ago j and if " carduns"be the
old spelling of " cardamom " 'tis very much the
same mixture that the chemist will place in the
trembling hand of the over-estimator, enquiring
at the same time, "Would you like a lozenge
after it, sir ?" And the omission of sal volatile
or chloric ether in the prescription leads to the
belief that those drugs were joys unknown to
the reveller of the seventeenth century.
The most aggravating part about the after
math of revelry is that it takes, just as it likes,
directly opposite forms. Two sinners may jump
the same stiff course—by this sporting metaphor
is meant imbibe the same amount and description
of alcohol—after dinner, and, whilst A may wake
with a double-breasted headache, a taste of sewage
in the mouth, and a tongue as foul and furry as
a stoat's back, B will commence the day with a