ce
obtained from the Commissaire de Police upon application sustained by
two witnesses in good standing.

As in every other important event of his life, the Parisian is obliged
in this--the last--to occupy himself with the official _proces-verbaux_
of his _etat civil_. At his decease, an _acte_ must be drawn up, upon
the declaration of two witnesses, if possible the nearest relatives, or
neighbors, giving his name, Christian name, profession, age, place of
birth, domicile, those of his father and mother, and those of the
attestors, with an indication of their relationship if they are
relations; stating whether the deceased was married or widowed, and, in
either case, the name and Christian name of his spouse. No operation
upon the corpse, such as autopsy, embalming, or taking a cast, can be
performed before the expiration of twenty-four hours after death, and
then only upon the authorization of the Prefecture de Police, and in the
presence of the Commissaire de Police of the quarter. This authorization
is granted only upon the statements of two doctors,--one of the official
Medecins de l'Etat Civil, and another physician, sworn and delegated for
the occasion. The family must preserve and produce upon the demand of
the Medecin de l'Etat Civil all the prescriptions of the doctor who had
attended the deceased in his last illness; they must also give the name
and address of the doctor and of the druggist who prepared the
prescriptions. It is also forbidden to clothe the body or place it in
the coffin, or to cover the face, before the expiration of twenty-four
hours,--a light veil of very thin gauze alone is permitted. It cannot be
denied that these are all very intelligent precautions.

In these funeral processions, the public authority is represented by the
_ordonnateur des Pompes funebres_; "it is he who, from the residence of
the defunct to his last resting-place, never quits him, watching over
him like a faithful friend." His official costume has been modified of
late years,--he now wears a red and blue scarf, a cockade with the two
colors, and his insignia is embroidered on the collar of his coat. The
Napoleonic cocked hats, black garments, and high boots of the drivers of
the hearses are familiar sights in the streets of the capital,
especially in the neighborhood of the cemeteries, driving slowly at the
head of their mournful processions, or, in their moments of relaxation,
descended from the heights of their sable