At another part of the fair one might hear inspiriting music being ground out of a wheezy old organ by a one-legged performer, while hard by was a stall where small bundles of out-of-date magazines were offered at a penny or twopence the parcel. Somewhat in the rear of this stall stood a cheapjack who now and again essayed to revive the public curiosity by playing a concertina, banging a tea-tray or smashing a few plates. Further on was a man standing upon an upturned box, who was trying to persuade his small circle of hearers to believe that the only straightforward way of getting to heaven was by following the directions given in a little book,—a few copies of which he had considerately brought with him—for sale. Passing between the lines of sweetmeat, gingerbread and toy stalls, presided over principally by swarthy, black-haired women, a number of trifles, such as one would look for in vain to-day, might be seen; but the item which might now be considered as most distinctly marking a different age, was the small bundles of toy whips selling at one penny each, every whip containing enough real gutta-percha to make a golf ball and having a wooden whistle at the handle end. Next came two women attired as Sisters of Mercy at a tiny stall, selling embroidered work for the benefit of some convent; prominent among their goods were men’s braces of such gorgeous colouring as would make a naked savage yearn for trousers in order that braces of such splendour might be adequately displayed. Hard by was a thimble-rigger and exponent of the purse trick, but he too has been prohibited by law to pursue his unselfish profession, and probably the gentleman who stood at a stall close to him has ere this been obliged by statute to divert to some other channel his labours for the public good. Along the shelf just above the man’s head were arranged glass jars of specimens in spirit. These were labelled in Latin, in order to impress the more the rustics, who were his best customers. The specimens, purporting to be of human origin, were in reality portions of domestic animals, carefully selected with a view to the particular organism simulated, all of which were described as having been extracted from human patients by means of the wonderful medicines offered by the proprietor, whose magnanimity—judging from his own statements—was phenomenal. One of the specimens of which I have a very distinct recollection, was stated to be an extraordinary tapeworm from a client, while it was actually the bleached intestine of a common fowl. Nevertheless this man did a roaring trade, a tribute to his “gift of the gab.”