Absinthe
There are two terrible verses in the Revelation of St. John. "And the third angel sounded his trumpet, and there fell a great star from the heavens, burning like a lamp, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star was called Absinthe; and the third part of the waters became Absinthe, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter." Of all the liqueurs, absinthe has the reputation of being the most pernicious. It is harmless enough in a small or occasional dose; but the French army got into the way of drinking it largely and constantly in the Algerian campaigns of 1844-7; from them it spread to the boulevards of Paris, where it became so much a favourite that the five o'clock gossip at the cafés every day came to be named the hour of absinthe ; and Switzerland, which is supposed to make the best sort, imports into France yearly more than 2,000,000 gallons of it. When taken in excess, or when taken regularly, it is found to be so hurtful that it is now forbidden in the French army and navy. The Swiss absinthe, which is so much admired and which is so baneful, is, it may be added, not made entirely from wormwood proper, but from plants related to it-such as southernwood, and another which takes its name from the invulnerable Achilles.
Achilles