WHISKY. 735 
the raw product. But grain whisky actually contains less fusel 
oil (a noxious property) than malt whisky. The legal limit of 
alcohol in this spirit is about forty-two per cent, which is the 
strength of ordinary whisky ; so that a glass of whisky contains 
rather less than half a glass of absolute alcohol. Potheen is 
made, in contraband fashion, from molasses, being therefore 
more like rum than whisky. The original name of whisky was 
Usquebaugh, the “water of life.” Irish (pot-still) whisky 
differs from Scotch in being procured from a mixture of malted 
barley with other unmalted grain, and the malt is not dried over 
peat, so that the taste is not smoky. An old Scotch distiller 
of note used to say about his whisky, that the Highland water 
was so pure, and the herbage it came through so fragrant, that 
he could discern in the flavour of the spirit, Birch, Broom, and 
Wild Thyme. Whisky obtained from pure, malted, Scotch barley, 
and well matured, has fine flavours, and a mellow roundness 
which grain spirit altogether lacks. Whisky Smash is a 
beverage containing whisky, with mint bruised, or smashed in 
the liquor, and is usually made tart with the juice of oranges, 
lemons, or other subacid fruit. Cecilia (in Miss Burney’s story) 
tells about a man who talked in such a whisky-jrisky manner 
that nobody could understand him: ‘“‘ Why it’s tantamount to 
not talking at all.” 
For confirmed sleeplessness, Mark Twain tried Alcohol, 
successfully for a time, but in doses which had to be constantly 
increased, until finally they failed, whilst making him worse in 
his general health. ‘‘ I suffered much,” he says, ‘‘ from insomnia 
years ago; it does not trouble me now, though my work is still 
heavy, and becomes more exacting as the years steal on. I 
began the search for a cure by drinking a glass of beer before 
going to bed; this gave a little relief for a short time. Then I 
exchanged my beer for a small prescription of two ounces of 
whisky. This worked the desired cure. It proved the real 
remedy, so much so that I began to like my medicine. The 
two ounces of Scotch grew to five ounces, then the trouble began 
again. It was the old story of taking too much of a good thing. 
The five ounces sent me off all right, and brought about a kind 
of angelic sensation in my head, but in a couple of hours sleep 
would leave me, and the old trouble come back to stay all the 
rest of the night. I then sought another remedy, and found it. 
Yes, sir, an infallible remedy! I got hold of it by accident. 
