Note 89 — Chapter V
Reading edition
There is a play upon words here. The first "top" is apparently equivalent to "drink up," as in the following: "Its no hainous offence (beleeve me) for a young man ... to toppe of a canne roundly," Terence in English, 1614. The second "top" seems equivalent to "put the finishing touch on."—"Silenus quaffs the barrel, but Tobacco perfects the brain."