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THE FLOWING BOWL
one time known. Not that it is principally
manufactured in picturesque Switzerland, where
the watches come from; but " Geneva " is a
corruption of the old French word genevre the
juniper. I used to read, in childhood's days,'that
Juniper berries and barley make gin,
but those ingredients—or the berries, at all
events—would seem to be only regularly used in
Holland, nowadays.
"Dirty" gin, of which we used to hear so
much, was, I believe, as pure as any other
geneva, and not less clean. Plymouth gin is
said to be the healthiest form of the article, but
'tis an acquired taste, and " Old Tom " is cer
tainly more toothsome. In entering as fully
into details as I have above I have no wish to
discourage the consumption of gin proper, especi
ally when blended with ginger-beer (an excellent
summer beverage), or doing duty in a cock-tail
a sling, a punch, or a John Collins. But I arn
not a " gin man " myself. And to my mind a
"nip" less calculated to promote appetite than
any other is a "gin-and-bitters."
"Kosher" rum, i.e. rum treated according to
instructions laid down in the Mosaic Law, is in
high favour with the Jews j and in some of the
taverns which abut on the Israelitish quarters
which are about Aldgate there are recognized
"rum-rooms." There used to be, and probably
is at the present day, a considerable amount of
card-playing {spieling) or throwing of dice for
wagers, carried on in these apartments ; and I
once knew a son ofJudah who was heavily fined