yacht clubs, and the basket pattern,
are the only buttons of Birmingham birth which can be allowed to associate
with the button-holes of a gentleman.

The restrictions on silk buttons are confined chiefly to magnitude. They
must not be so large as an opera ticket, nor so small as a silver penny.

_Of Braids_.--This ornament, when worn in the street, is patronised
exclusively by Polish refugees, theatrical Jews, opera-dancers, and
boarding-house fortune-hunters.

_Of Mustachios_.--The mustachio depends for its effect entirely upon its
adaptation to the expression of the features of the wearer. The small, or
_moustache a la chinoise_, should only appear in conjunction with Tussaud,
or waxwork complexions, and then only provided the teeth are excellent;
for should the dental conformation be of the same tint, the mustachios
would only provoke observation. The German, or full hearth-brush, should
be associated with what Mr. Ducrow would designate a "cream," and
everybody else a drab countenance, and should never be resorted to, except
in conformity with regimental requisitions, or for the capture of an Irish
widow, as they are generally indigenous to Boulogne and the Bench, and are
known amongst tailors and that class of clothier victims as "bad debts,"
or "the insolvency regulation," and operate with them as an insuperable
bar to

[Illustration: PASSING A BILL.]

The perfect, or heart-meshes, are those in which each particular hair has
its particular place, and must be of a silky texture, and not of a bristly
consistency, like a worn-out tooth-brush. Neither must they be of a bright
red, bearing a striking resemblance to two young spring radishes.

The _barbe au bonc_, or _Muntzian fringe_, should only be worn when a
gentleman is desirous of obtaining notoriety, and prefers trusting to his
external embellishments in preference to his intellectual acquirements.

_On Tips_.--Tips are an abomination to which no gentleman can lend his
countenance. They are a shabby and mangy compromise for mustachios, and
are principally sported by the genus of clerks, who, having strong hirsute
predilections, small salaries, and sober-minded masters, hang a tassel on
the chin instead of a vallance on the upper lip.

Our space warns us to conclude, and, as a fortnight's indolence is not the
strongest stimulant to exertion, we willingly drop our pen, and taking the
hint and a cigar, indulge in a voluminous cloud, and a lusty

[Illustra