The former Liverpool captain, renowned for his reputation in the past as a no-nonsense midfield-enforcer, put Thierry Henry firmly in his place on Sunday afternoon after Arsenal's score draw with Tottenham.

‘And isn’t Declan looking very thin?’ Madge said. ‘He’ll never get a wife if he doesn’t fatten up a bit.’

Signe did not hesitate to back up his words with like dissembling, and replied that it was natural that hands which dealt more in wounds than wools, and in battle than in tasks of the house should show the hardness that befitted their service; and that, unenfeebled with the pliable softness of women, they should not feel smooth to the touch of others.

The direct hydrogen ion titration of unliganded hemoglobin was performed under a stream of purified argon; that of the carbon monoxide derivative was carried out in a closed system under an atmosphere of pure CO.