‘Cully’ is the circus man’s equivalent for the mechanic’s ‘mate’ and the soldier’s ‘comrade.’ ‘Prossing’ is a delicate mode of indicating a desire for anything, as when old Ben, the drummer, in _Life in a Circus_, says, in response to the acrobat’s exhortation to his fair companion, to make the best of things,—‘That’s the philosophy to pitch with! Not but what a drop of beer helps it, you know; and I declare my throat’s that dry that it’s as much as I can do to blow the pipes.’ ‘Pro’ is simply an abbreviation of ‘professional,’ and is used by all the amusing classes to designate actors, singers, dancers, clowns, acrobats, &c., to whom the term seems to be restricted among them. Amongst all the amusing classes, the salary received is the ‘screw,’ the ‘ghost walks’ when it is paid, and an _artiste_ is ‘goosed,’ or ‘gets the goose,’ when the spectators or auditors testify by sibillant sounds disapproval or dissatisfaction. As in every other avocation, there are a great many technical terms used, which are not to be confounded with slang. Such is ‘the Plymouth,’ a term applied to one of the movements by which gymnasts return to a sitting position on the horizontal bar, after hanging from it by the hands in an inverted position. ‘Slobber swing’ is applied to a single circle upon the bar, after which a beginner, from not having given himself sufficient impetus, hangs by the hands. The ‘Hindoo punishment’ is what is more often called the ‘muscle grind,’ a rather painful exercise upon the bar, in which the arms are turned backward to embrace the bar, and then brought forward upon the chest, in which position the performer revolves. Having mentioned that Dickens has put some slang words into the mouths of his circus characters, which I have not found in use among circus men of the present day, I cannot refrain from quoting a passage in _Hard Times_, and giving a circus man’s brief, but emphatic, commentary upon it. Speaking of Sleary’s company, the great novelist says:—‘All the fathers could dance upon rolling casks, stand upon bottles, catch knives and balls, twirl hand basins, ride upon anything, jump over everything, and stick at nothing. All the mothers could (and did) dance upon the slack wire and the tight rope, and perform rapid acts on bare-backed steeds.’ The circus man’s criticism of this statement, and of all the circus business introduced into the story, was summed up in the one word—‘Rot!’ Sleary’s people must certainly have been exceptionally clever, so much versatility being very rarely found. There are few clowns and acrobats who can ride, even in the ordinary, and not in the circus acceptation of the word; and of a score of _equestriennes_ who can ride a pad-horse, and fly through hoops and balloons, and over banners and garters, there will not be found more than one or two who can perform rapid acts on the bare back of a horse.