Grim humour is displayed in the long list of metaphors to describe death, the promoters of the slang expressions having borrowed from the technical vocabulary of their craft. Thus soldiers describe it as “défiler la parade,” for which English military men have the equivalent, “to lose the number of one’s mess;” “passer l’arme à gauche;” “descendre la garde,” after which the soldier will never be called again on sentry duty; “recevoir son décompte,” or deferred pay. People who are habitual sufferers from toothache have no doubt contributed the expression, “n’avoir plus mal aux dents;” sailors, “casser son câble” and “déralinguer;” coachmen, “casser son fouet;” drummers, “avaler ses baguettes,” their sticks being henceforth useless to them; billiard-players are responsible for “dévisser son billard;” servants for “déchirer son tablier.” Then what horrible philosophy in the expression, “mettre la table pour les asticots!” A person of sound mind finds no place in the argot vocabulary; but madness, from the mild state which scarcely goes beyond eccentricity to the confirmed lunatic, has found many definitions, the single expression “to be cracked” being represented by a number of comical synonyms, many of them referring to the presence of some troublesome animal in the brain, such as “un moustique dans la boîte au sel” or “un hanneton dans le plafond.” Courage has but one or two equivalents, but the act of the coward who vanishes, or the thief who seeks to escape the clutches of the police, has received due attention from the promoters of argot. Thus we have the highly picturesque expressions, “faire patatrot,” which gives an impression of the patter of the runaway’s feet; “se faire une paire de mains courantes,” literally to make for oneself a pair of running hands; “se déguiser en cerf,” to imitate that swift animal the deer; “fusilier le plancher,” which reminds one of the quick rat-tat of feet on the boards. To show kindness to one, as far as I have been able to notice, is not represented, but the act of doing bodily injury, or fighting, has furnished the slang vocabulary with a rich contingent, the least forcible of which is certainly not the amiable invitation expressed in the words of the Paris rough, “viens que j’te mange le nez!” or “numérote tes abattis que j’te démolisse!” What ingenuity and precision of simile some of these vagaries of language offer! The man who is annoyed, badgered, is compared to an elephant with a small tormentor in a part of his body by which he can be effectually driven to despair, whilst deprived of all means of retaliation--he is then said to have “un rat dans la trompe!” He who gets drunk carves out for himself a wooden face, and “se sculpter une gueule de bois” certainly evokes the sight of the stolid, stupid features of the “lushington,” with half-open mouth and lack-lustre eyes.