e naturally scattered terror as he
went. The bicyclist and the automobile were not then invented to torment
him in his turn. These two modern innovations have added very greatly to
the danger and inconvenience of the streets of Paris of to-day; there
are already complaints from the owners of private carriages that the
Bois and the principal drives are becoming impossible because of the
latter, and that the city will have to take measures to preserve its
attractions for this class of inhabitants and for the wealthy stranger
whose presence is so much desired within its walls.

Also, as at present, the washwomen were the despair of careful
housekeepers. "There is no city where so much linen is used as at Paris,
and none where it is so badly washed," says our authority. There was a
legend of some _gommeux_ [dandies] from Bordeaux who sent theirs to
Saint-Domingo, naturally, by sailing vessel, to have it whitened. _Homme
a bonne fortune_ and _petit-maitre_ were no longer in favor, _elegant_
was the proper appellation. The Seine water was drunk freely, but it had
already begun to be analyzed and doubted; cremation was advocated and
vivisection denounced; the classic education and Latin were derided,
just as by M. Jules Lemaitre; the evolution of the species was
discussed, and the sorrowfulness of the Carnival lamented,--the police
were even obliged to hire the maskers; the _claque_ was offensively in
evidence at the theatres. The _grippe_ arrived periodically in the month
of November, to the great surprise of every one,--but it was then called
_la coquette_ and not _l'influenza_. The ladies pommaded their faces,
and drank vinegar to preserve their figures; marriages were effected
only in hopes of pecuniary advantages. The honest bourgeoisie complained
bitterly of the display of licentious prints on the walls and the fronts
of the bookstalls; "the young men in the cafes discussed matters which
were beyond their comprehension and which they had never studied." There
was a surprising number of points of resemblance.

Among the minor observances of social life which have come down to the
present day with only some modification of details are the _billets de
deces_ and the _invitations aux funerailles_. It is only since 1760 that
the names of members of the mourning families have appeared on these
invitations. In the matter of _avis de naissance_, in which the birth of
a baby is announced, the moderns have made great improvements,