First of all, then, avoid the chemist and his works. I mean no disrespect to my good friend Sainsbury, or his "Number One Pick-me-up," whose corpse-reviving claims are indisputable; but at the same time the habitual swallower of drugs does not lead the happiest life. I once knew a young subaltern who had an account presented to him by the cashier of the firm of Peake and Allen, of the great continent of India, for nearly 300 rupees; and the items in said account were entirely chloric ether, extract of cardamoms--with the other component parts of a high-class restorative, and interest. Saddening! The next thing to avoid, the first thing in the morning, is soda-water, whether diluted with brandy or whisky. The "peg" may be all very well as an occasional potation, but, believe one who has tried most compounds, 'tis a precious poor "livener." On the contrary, although a beaker of the straw-coloured (or occasionally, mahogany-coloured) fluid may seem to steady the nerves for the time being, that effect is by no means lasting. But the same panacea will not do in every case. If the patient be sufficiently convalescent to digest a _Doctor_ (I do _not_ mean a M.R.C.S.) his state must be far from hopeless. A "Doctor" is a mixture of beaten raw egg--not forgetting the white, which is of even more value than the yolk to the invalid--brandy, a little sifted sugar, and new milk. But many devotees of Bacchus could as soon swallow rum-and-oysters, in bed. And do not let us blame Bacchus unduly for the matutinal trouble. The fairy _Ala_ has probably had a lot to do with that trouble. A "Doctor" can be made with sherry or whisky, instead of brandy; and many stockbrokers' clerks, sporting journalists, and other millionaires prefer a _Surgeon-Major_, who appears in the form of a large tumbler containing a couple of eggs beaten, and filled to the brim with the wine of the champagne district. _A Scorcher_ is made with the juice of half a lemon squeezed into a large wine-glass; add a liqueur-glassful of old brandy, or Hollands, and a dust of cayenne. Mix well, and do not allow any lemon-pips to remain in the glass. _Prairie Oyster._