her
kerchief to her lover, departing in a little skiff, on an intensely blue
sea. Beneath, in patois, is the doggerel:

Beautifully blue is the sea,
But my heart aches in me,
And my heart will never recover
Till returns my peasant lover.

Equally a favorite is the following:

A rifle to shoot,
And a fighting ring to hit,
And a maiden to kiss,
Must a lively boy have.

The rings to which the rhyme refers are of huge size, of silver, with a
sharp-edged square of the same metal. They are heirlooms among the
peasants, and are worn on the middle finger. It is the custom in a
quarrel to hit one's adversary with the _Stozzring_ on the cheek, which
it tears open.

In Germany many of the great breweries have summer gardens in the
suburbs of the cities. In Berlin there are magnificent _Biergaerten_,
where the two most necessary elements of German existence, beer and
music, are united. I need only refer to the Hof Jaeger, with its flowers,
fountains, miniature lake, and open-air theatre, where popular comedies
are performed. Three times per week there is an afternoon concert by
one or two regiment bands. Thither the Germans conduct their families.
In the winter there are concert rooms in the cities, where "music is
married," not "to immortal verse," but to beer; and these classical
concerts are patronized by people of high respectability.

Beer is peculiarly suited to the American temperament, too nervous and
sensitive. It is certain that the human race always has, and probably
always will, resort to beverages more or less stimulating. The preaching
of moralists and the efforts of legislators will not exclude them
permanently from our use. It is not in the use but in the abuse of these
that the difficulty lies. Neither tea nor coffee answers for all
temperaments and all occasions as nervous aliments. The extraordinary
and increasing diffusion of liquors is one of the social ulcers of
modern society, particularly in America. It is unfortunately true that
the use of strong alcoholics is increasing every day, to the great
detriment of public health and morals. Taken merely to kill time, they
often end by killing the individual.

One of the great advantages of beer, too much forgotten even by
physicians, is that it reverses the influence of alcohol, by which it
loses its irritating properties on the mucous membrane of the stomach.
The celebrated Dr. Bock (late professor of pathological anatomy in th