256 SNEEZING. 
their traits, but it is clear that within that time snuff had 
become a national stimulant. To the observer of men and 
manners there is something very characteristic in the various 
fashions in which the pinch of snuff is taken. ‘The exer- 
cise of the snuff-box,’ as it was once termed, was an acknowl- 
edged science, but few were the great proficients who could 
mutely express their feelings by its aid. We have not space 
to run through all its exercise, but we may mention the 
‘pinch military,’ which Frederick, and after him, Napoleon 
practiced inhaling snuff copiously, and with much waste, as 
though it were human life they were throwing away; the 
‘pinch malicious, of which Pope was perfect master; the 
‘pinch dictatorial” which burly Jonson established; the 
‘pinch sublimely contemptuous,’ such as Reynolds took 
when some travelling virtuoso hinted at excellence away 
from Leicester-square, and ruffled his complacent vanity ; 
and, above all, the‘ pinch polite,’ which Talleyrand understood 
so well. 
“From snuff to sneezing is but a step, which we purpose 
taking before we bring this cursory article to a close. ‘The 
act of sneezing appears to have been variously regarded at 
various stages of the world’s history, but from the earliest 
times of which we have any authentic record, it has been 
the customs of those around to give vent to a short benedic- 
tion immediately upon its commission. The Robbins con- 
sidering themselves bound to find a reason for this universal ‘ 
custom, and being hard pressed, gave the somewhat incom- 
prehensible explanation that, previous to Jacob, man sneezed 
but once in his lifetime, and then immediately before death ; 
so that those around, warned of his imminent journey, 
hastened to wish it a good termination. How it was that 
Jacob instituted a new order of things we are not told, but 
as a proof of the truth of their assertion they give the fact 
that in all nations of the earth a similar custom will be found 
existing. 
“Strangely enough this assertion was corroborated by the 
first colonists of Ameriea, who found the habit to be in ‘com- 
mon use amongst the aboriginal tribes. The Greeks and 
Romans certainly had a similar habit, but far from attaching 
any ill-omen to the sneeze they regarded it as of good augury. 
Thus Catullus assures us that when Cupid upon a memorahls 
occasion sneezed, all : 
‘The little loves that waited by 
Bowed and blessed the augury. 
