1903 The Flowing Bowl by Edward Spencer

86 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

,

I' t