A moral and physical thermometer illustrated by the celebrated Docr. Lettsom / [graphic]

"Against the left margin is a thermometer inscribed with degrees upwards and downwards from 0, in the centre. Those above zero are headed Temperance, those below Intemperance. Reading downwards: [70] Water; 60 Milk & Water; 50 Small Beer; 40 Cyder; 30 Wine; 20 Porter; 10 Ale Stou[t] ; 0; 10 Punch; 20 Toddy Crank; 30 Grog and Brandy Water; 40 Flip, Shrub; 50 Bitters infused in Spirits Usquebaugh. Hysteric Waters; 60 Gin Anniseed Brandy Rum and Whisky in the Morning; 70 D° during the day and Night. The rest of the plate is covered with eighteen small realistic designs arranged in three columns; the upper half show the results of Temperance and are headed Benefits. They are: Health. A sportsman tramps up hill with dog and gun. Respect, Esteem, & Reputation. A well-dressed couple walking to church preceded by children are greeted with a bow and a curtsey from a prosperous-looking pair. Cheerfullness. Three men drink, smoke, and sing at a table on which is a decanter. Wealth. Three men count great quantities of coin and notes. Happiness. Parents caress two children while an elder girl plays the piano. Strength. A man in a warehouse lifts up a big weight to the astonishment of another who holds a smaller one. Serenity of mind. A man sits with folded arms on a garden seat facing flowers. Old Age. A lady brings a little girl to an old man who sits with a large book beside him; the child offers him fruit. Nourishment when taken at meals or in moderate quantities. A well-covered dinner-table. Two men drain large tankards, two ladies hold glasses. The designs illustrating the consequences of Intemperance are in columns headed: [1] Vices, [2] Diseases, [3] Punishments. [1] Idleness. Three men, one tipsy, outside a rustic ale-house. Quarrell, Fighting, Swearing, and Obscenity. Two men fight; a tankard of gin lies on the floor. Swindling, perjury, burglary, murder Suicide. Two men in a wood with their dead victim; one rifles his pocket, the other loads his pistol. [2] Sickness, & Tremor in the Morning. A man, half-dressed, sits in a bedroom, leaning his head on his hand. Inflamed eyes, red nose & face sore and swelled legs. A doctor attends to his patient whose leg is supported on a stool. Dropsy, Epilipsy [sic], Melancholy, madness, palsy, appoplexy, Death. Men lift a man who has collapsed in the street; spectators stand round. [3] Poverty and Debt. Scene in a garret. A row of creditors, including a milkwoman, hold out their bills to a dismayed man. Two small children stand behind. Rags, hunger, and, the Poor-house. A man in tatters faces a stout citizen who points with his thumb to the large poor-house behind a wall. Jail, Whiping [sic], the Hulks, Botany-bay the Gallows. Four men, handcuffed in pairs, are led to a ship's boat by an armed man."--British Museum online catalogue