Note 285 — Chapter XVII · TOBACCO.

But, if the ladies took snuff, how much more did the men? who were especially addicted to 'the humour of taking Snuff, and looking dirty about the mouth by way of ornament.' They took snuff 'with a very Jantee Air,'[285] as is well exemplified by Steele's humorous puff in Spectator (138): 'The Exercise of the Snuff Box, according to the most fashionable Airs and Motions, in opposition to the Exercise of the Fan, will be taught with the best plain or perfumed Snuff at Charles Lillie's, Perfumer, at the Corner of Beaufort Buildings in the Strand, and Attendance given for the Benefit of the young Merchants about the Exchange for two hours every day at Noon, except Sundays, at a Toy Shop near Garraway's Coffee House. There will likewise be Taught The Ceremony of the Snuff box, or Rules for offering Snuff to a Stranger, a Friend, or a Mistress, according to the Degrees of Familiarity or Distance; with an Explanation of the Careless, the Scornful, the Politick, and the Surly Pinch, and the Gestures proper to each of them.'