to their families, games, etc.

In the similar quarter of the Salpetriere, similar results are obtained
among the little girls afflicted with epilepsy, hysteria, _gatisme_, and
idiocy; they are taught to sew and to make artificial flowers; they are
easily interested and amused by the concerts, the dramatic
representations which are provided for them, and the ball of the
Mi-Careme, in which they dance in company with the demented and insane
women, is a great event in their lives.

[Illustration: SKETCH BY M. LOEVY ON A WITNESS-SUBPOENA.]

The foundations of the older portions of this immense edifice were laid
by Louis XIII, who began here the construction of an arsenal; the name,
Salpetriere, is derived from a manufactory of saltpetre (_salpetre_)
either in the buildings or in the neighborhood. By a decree of 1648, the
buildings of the Salpetriere or the Petit-Arsenal, situated in the
Faubourg Saint-Victor near the confluence of the Seine and the Bievre,
were assigned as a prison for _filles et femmes debauchees_; and in 1653
this establishment was placed under the direction of the administrators
of the _pauvres enfermez_, under the supervision of Mazarin. In 1656,
the whole establishment was presented by Louis XIV, then in his
minority, to the administration of the Hopital-General; the greater part
of the present buildings date from this period. At this time, says a
contemporary report, the asylum consisted of "two main buildings and of
fifteen grand dormitories of thirty or forty _toises_ each, which are
now occupied by six hundred and twenty-eight poor women of every quality
that human misery could cause to conceive; one hundred and ninety-two
children, from two to seven years of age, legitimate and bastards,
exposed and abandoned to the care of Providence, and which are brought
up by the poor women of the institution and shared among themselves as
adopted, with the same affection as if they were their own, and
twenty-seven officers and mistresses of the aforesaid dormitories, who
are charged to watch over the conduct of the poor.

"Then there is a large new building which has been commenced for the
reception of the married beggars...."

The chapel of the establishment was originally constructed of planks
from demolished river-boats; in 1669, Louis XIV replaced it by a church
more in keeping with the importance of the institution. In 1684, there
was constructed a special quarter for "the debauched women," which wa