racterised by its fossil remains--a great
variety of miscellaneous articles--such as watches, rings, and silk
waistcoats and snuff-boxes being found firmly imbedded in what are
technically termed _avuncular depositories_. The deposition of these
matters has been referred by the curious to various causes; the most
general supposition being, a peremptory demand for rent, or the like, on
some particular occasion, when they were carried either by the owner, his
wife, or daughter, from their original to their present position, and left
amongst an accumulation of "popped" articles from various districts. The
chief evidence on this point is not derived from the fossils themselves,
but from their _duplicates_, which afford the most satisfactory proof of
the period at which they were deposited. Articles which appear originally
to have belonged to the neighbourhood of Belgrave-square have been
frequently found in the depositories of the district between Bethnal-green
and Spitalfields. By what social deluge they could have been conveyed to
such a distance, is a question that has long puzzled the ablest
geologists. Immediately above the "shabby genteel" stratum are found the
people who "keep a shop concern, but no shay;" it is the uppermost layer
of the Metamorphic Class, and, in some instances, may be detected mingling
with the supra-genteel _Clapham Group_. The "shop and no shay" stratum
forms a considerable portion of the London basin. It is characterised by
its coarseness of texture, and a conglomeration of the parts of speech.
Its animal remains usually consist of retired licensed victuallers and
obese tallow-chandlers, who are generally found in beds of soft formation,
separated from superincumbent layers of Marseilles quilts, by interposing
strata of thick double Witneys.

Having proceeded thus far upwards in the social formation, we shall pause
until next week, when we shall commence with the lower portion of the
TRANSITION CLASS--the "shop and shay people"--and, as we hope, convince
our readers of the immense importance of our subject, and the great
advantage of studying the strata of human life

[Illustration: UNDER A GREAT MASTER.]

* * * * *

COVENTRY'S WISE PRECAUTION.

Some person was relating to the Earl of Coventry the strange fact that the
Earl of Devon's harriers last week gave chase, in his demesne, to an
unhappy donkey, whom they tore to pieces before they could be called off