nd the fact was certified to by Meyerbeer, Auber,
Halevy, Adolphe Adam, and other musicians of eminence.

The only possible explanation of the matter is that Vivier executed a
very rapid arpeggio, so that the four notes which apparently were heard
together were, in fact, heard one after the other. The effect, however,
was not that of an arpeggio, but of a chord of four different notes
played simultaneously on four different instruments.

Both for home and for out-of-doors use the mystifications practised by
Vivier were as numerous as they were varied. In an omnibus, when some
grave old lady had just risen from her seat, Vivier would assume an
expression of the utmost astonishment, and suddenly take from the place
where she had been sitting an egg, which meanwhile he had been
concealing up his sleeve.

Or, asked to pass a coin to the conductor, he would gravely put it into
his pocket. A well-dressed, well-bred gentleman, of charming manners,
could scarcely be suspected of any intention to misappropriate a
two-sous piece. But it interested Vivier to see what, in the
circumstances, the lawful owner of the coin would do. On one occasion
Vivier, in an omnibus, alarmed his fellow passengers by pretending to be
mad. He indulged in the wildest gesticulations, and then, as if in
despair, drew a pistol from his pocket. The conductor was called upon by
acclamation to interfere, and Vivier was on the point of being disarmed
when suddenly he broke the pistol in two, handed half to the conductor
and began to eat the other half himself. It was made of chocolate!

Vivier could not bear to see people in a hurry. According to him, there
was nothing in life worth hurrying for; and living on the Boulevard just
opposite the Rue Vivienne, he was much annoyed at seeing so many persons
hastening, towards six o'clock, to the post office on the Place de la
Bourse. He determined to pay them out, and for that purpose bought a
calf, which he took up to his apartments at night and exhibited the
next afternoon at a few minutes before six o'clock, in the balcony of
his second floor. In spite of their eagerness to catch the post, many
persons could not help stopping to look at the calf. Soon a crowd
collected, and messengers stayed their steps in order to gaze at the
unwonted apparition. Six o'clock struck, and soon after a number of men
who had missed the post returned in an irritated condition, and,
stopping before Vivier's house, shook their fist