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I' t
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THE FLOWING BOWL
specific to eject a cold fromthe head. Nowadays,
I prefer the cold.
Gin is supposed by students, who do not make
practical test of their learning, to be distilled
from malt, or from unmalted barley, or from
some other grain, and afterwards rectified and
flavoured. And just as it was (according to
Mr. Samuel Weller) the seasoning which did it
in the case of the cheap pies, so is it the rectify
ing, and the flavouring which do it, in the matter
of gin. Occasionally " rectifying" is hardly the
right word to use. That there is such a thing
as wholesome, tolerably-pure gin is more than
probable; but there is also a very undesirable
fluid sold to the poorer classes, and esteemed by
their vitiated palates, known under different pet
names, of which " blue ruin" and " white satin "
are two. This brand of gin is flavoured more or
less with oil of turpentine and common salt.
No wonder thirst stalks abroad next morning !
" In one well- known hostelry," observes a
writer in a daily newspaper, " situatednot a stone's.
throw from the Bank of England, you can, if
you be so minded, ask for and obtain a farthing's
worth of gin. It is served in tiny liqueur-glasses,
and the custom dates from the time when the
purchasing power of the coin in question was
far greater than it is now, and when, conse
quently, a farthing's worth of gin was considered
to be a sufficient quantity for any respectable
citizen. Another public-house, in Bishopsgate
Street, is also compelled, by the terms of its
license, to supply a farthing's worth of either
'gin, rum, or shrub,' to any customer requiring