Many persons suppose that "Geneva" was first made in Switzerland and took the name of the town where it was manufactured. In point of fact gin was invented in Holland, by Professor Sylvius according to Emerson.1 Sylvius lived in Leyden. He was born in 1614 and died in 1672. His proper name was Francis de le Boe. He was the father of medical chemistry and was professor in medicine at Leyden. In England the drink was known as Royal Poverty, because when beggars got drunk on gin they imagined themselves kings. It was the idea of Professor Sylvius that the gin which he invented was to be used only as a medicine, and it was first dispensed by apothecaries in Holland, at Leyden.