nce of a
quarter of a mile. His wife was none of the best, being much addicted to
scolding.-(Nichols.)]

No. 35. [STEELE.

From _Tuesday, June 28_, to _Thursday, June 30_, 1709.

* * * * *

Grecian Coffee-house, June 28.

There is a habit or custom which I have put my patience to the utmost
stretch to have suffered so long, because several of my intimate friends
are in the guilt; and that is, the humour of taking snuff, and looking
dirty about the mouth by way of ornament. My method is to dive to the
bottom of a sore before I pretend to apply a remedy. For this reason, I
sat by an eminent story-teller and politician who takes half an ounce in
five seconds, and has mortgaged a pretty tenement near the town, merely
to improve and dung his brains with this prolific powder. I observed
this gentleman the other day in the midst of a story diverted from it by
looking at something at a distance, and I softly hid his box. But he
returns to his tale, and looking for his box, he cries, "And so, sir--"
Then when he should have taken a pinch, "As I was saying," says he--"Has
nobody seen my box?" His friend beseeches him to finish his narration.
Then he proceeds, "And so, sir--Where can my box be?" Then, turning to
me, "Pray, sir, did you see my box?" "Yes, sir," said I, "I took it to
see how long you could live without it." He resumes his tale; and I took
notice, that his dulness was much more regular and fluent than before. A
pinch supplied the place of, "As I was saying," "And so, sir"; and he
went on currently enough in that style which the learned call the
insipid. This observation easily led me into a philosophic reason for
taking snuff, which is done only to supply with sensations the want of
reflection. This I take to be an {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} [Heureka], a nostrum; upon which
I hope to receive the thanks of this board. For as it is natural to lift
a man's hand to a sore, when you fear anything coming at you; so when a
person feels his thoughts are run out, and has no more to say, it is as
natural to supply his weak brain with powder at the nearest place of
access, viz., the nostrils. This is so evident, that nature suggests the
use according to the indigence of the persons who use this medicine,
without being preposs