“And while the eggs by two are beating, The wine and water may be heating; But when it comes to boiling heat, The yolks and whites together beat With half a pint of water more, Mixing them well, then gently pour Into the skillet with the wine, And stir it briskly all the time.” Poet again hard pressed. “Then pour it off into a pitcher, Grate nutmeg in to make it richer, Then drink it hot, for he’s a fool Who lets such precious liquor cool.” Of _nectar_ we have no information worth the reader’s acceptance. It appears to be applied indifferently to any dulcet drink. _Negus_ may be made of any sweet wine, but is commonly composed of Port. “It is,” says Jerry Thomas, “a most refreshing and elegant beverage, particularly for those who do not take punch or grog after supper.” _Egg-nogg_, of which other _noggs_ seem to be the lineal descendants, though a beverage of American origin, has “a popularity that is cosmopolitan. In the South of the United States it is almost indispensable at Christmas time, and at the North it is a favourite at all seasons.” In Scotland the beverage is called “_auld man’s milk_.” The presence of the egg constitutes the _differentia_ in this drink. Every well-ordered bar has a tin egg-nogg “_shaker_,” which is a great aid in mixing. The historian will be glad to learn that it was General Harrison’s favourite beverage, and the consumptive and debilitated person that it is full of nourishment. [Illustration: “A CROWN BOWL OF PUNCH.”] _Punch_[98] is remarkable for its variety. It is considered necessary by the adept to rub the sugar on the rind of the citron or lemon, to extract properly what the experienced drinker calls “the ambrosial essence.” The extraction of the ambrosial essence, and the making the mixture sweet and strong, using tea instead of water, and thoroughly amalgamating all the compounds, so that the taste of neither the bitter, the sweet, the spirit, nor the element shall be perceptible one over the other, is the grand secret of making _punch_. And to this, as to other learning, there is no royal road. It must, alas! be laboriously acquired by practice. Many are the mysteries of its concoction. For instance, it is essential in making _hot punch_ that you put in the spirits before the water; in _cold punch_ the other way. The precise portions of spirit and water, or even of the acidity and sweetness, can have no general rule. To attempt offering one would only mislead. A certain inspiration must animate the artist. It has been asserted that no two persons make this drink alike. This remark is admirable, and might probably be applied not only to punch, but to every drink that has yet been composed.