furious at this insult, and vowed to be avenged. At
the end of the concert he proposed to amuse the audience by imitating
the noises of various animals on his violin. After he had reproduced the
mewing of a cat, the barking of a dog, the crowing of a cock, etc., he
advanced to the footlights and called out, "Questo e per quelli che
han fischiato" ("This is for those who hissed"), and imitated in an
unmistakable way the braying of the jackass. At this the pit rose to
a man, and charged through the orchestra, climbed the stage, and would
have killed Paganini, had he not fled incontinently, "standing not on
the order of his going, but going at once." The explanation of this
sensitiveness of the audience is found in the fact that the people of
Ferrara had a general reputation for stupidity, and the appearance of
a Ferrarese outside of the town walls was the signal for a significant
hee-haw. Paganini never gave any more concerts in that town.

As he approached his thirtieth year his delicate and highly strung
organization, already undermined by the excesses of his early
youth, began to give way. He was frequently troubled with internal
inflammation, and he was obliged to regulate his habits in the strictest
fashion as to diet and hours of sleep. Even while comparatively well,
his health always continued to be very frail.

Paganini composed his remarkable variations called "Le Streghe" ("The
Witches") at Milan in 1813. In this composition, the air of which was
taken from a ballet by Sussmayer, called "Il Noce de Benevento," at the
part where the witches appear in the piece as performed on the stage,
the violinist introduced many of his most remarkable effects. He played
this piece for the first time at La Scala theatre, and he was honored
with the most tumultuous enthusiasm, which for a long time prevented the
progress of the programme. Paganini always had a predilection for Milan
afterward, and said he enjoyed giving concerts there more than at any
other city in Europe. He gave no less than thirty-seven concerts here
in 1813. In this city, three years afterward, occurred his interesting
musical duel with Lafont, the well-known French violinist. Paganini
was then at Genoa, and, hearing of Lafont's presence at Milan, at
once hastened to that city to hear him play. "His performance," said
Pagani-ni, "pleased me exceedingly." When the Italian violinist, a week
later, gave a concert at La Scala, Lafont was in the audience, and th