Hard Things to Say

1896

Shibboleths to test sobriety, or comparative sobriety, in the case of supposed drunkards have often been heard of, and have generally been looked upon as jokes for the dinner table or the smoking-room, says the London News.

From a case reported at the Westminster Police Court it appears that a doctor, examined as a witness, has invented a test phrase which he regards infallible. This is "The artillery extinguished the conflagration early." This may be very effective, and it was tried successfully on a cabman (the defendant), but the doctor need not have taxed his inventive powers.

There is the "Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper," etc., test, and one or two more not quite so elaborate. "Biblical criticism" and "British Constitution" have long been favorite tests, but the best is probably "Mrs. Smith's fish sauce shop."



Religious Mania

A late official report shows that, contrary to common belief, cases of religious mania are rare in the British Isles. It also discloses the strange fact that more mental aberration is developed among the tribe of peddlers than among any other class, physicians and druggists coming next. Melancholia prevails most in Ireland.