268 The Soverane Herbe 



cellars of wine. Lord Petersham left ;^3,ooo worth 

 of snuff in his cabinets when he died. The same 

 snuff that was used in the morning would not do for 

 the evening, any more than the same costume would. 

 There were morning, afternoon, and evening snuffs. 

 George IV. had a dozen different kinds of snuff 

 placed on the dinner-table with the wine, selecting 

 his pinch according to his mood and taste. 



Unless the utmost care was exercised, the habit 

 became slovenly. Snuff-coated clothes and smeared 

 faces were enough to excite disgust and satire. But 

 fashion had decreed its use, and snuff was exalted, 

 while smoking was degraded. Many dandified snuffers 

 carried, attached to their mulls, a dainty silver shovel 

 for carrying the dust to the nose and a hare's-foot for 

 wiping away stray grains from the lips and nostrils. 

 Lord Stanhope declared that a proper application of 

 the time and money spent in taking snuff would 

 ' constitute a fund for the discharge of the national 

 debt.-" 



The extent to which snuff-taking was an affectation^ 

 not an enjoyment, is shown by methods of prepara- 

 tion. Tobacco was soaked in water for ' purification,' 

 and thus weakened was dried, powdered, and its natural 

 flavour replaced by the incorporation of various per- 

 fumes, and an agreeable colour produced by a mixture 

 of red lead or yellow ochre. The true flavour of 

 snuff was destroyed by perfumes of musk, civet, 

 essence of millefleurs, rose-water, cloves, etc., the 

 varieties of snuff being so called. 



In France, where these scented snuffs originated, 

 they were used as instruments of revenge. The 



