John Rol, a gentleman in Alcantara, would swoon on hearing the word _lana_, wool, pronounced, although his cloak was woollen. The philosophical Boyle could not conquer a strong aversion to the sound of water running through a pipe. La Mothe le Vayer could not endure the sound of musical instruments, though he experienced a lively pleasure whenever it thundered. The author of the Turkish Spy tells us that he would rather encounter a lion in the deserts of Arabia, provided he had but a sword in his hand, than feel a spider crawling on him in the dark. He observes, that there is no reason to be given for these secret dislikes. He humorously attributes them to the doctrine of the transmigration of the soul; and as regarded himself, he supposed he had been a fly, before he came into his body, and that having been frequently persecuted with spiders, he still retained the dread of his old enemy. LONDON RESORTS A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. In addition to the regular theatres, there were many places of amusement, such as the Vauxhall and Ranelagh Gardens, the site of the latter being now occupied by the houses that hem in Chelsea College; the Rotunda, famous for its music, its gardens, and its piece of water; Bell-size House and Gardens on the Hampstead Road, where tea, coffee, and other refreshments could be had, together with music, from seven in the morning,--with the advantage of having the road to London patrolled during the season by twelve "lusty fellows," and of being able to ride to Hampstead by coach for sixpence a-head; Perrot's inimitable grotto, which could be seen by calling for a pot of beer; Jenny's Whim, at the end of Chelsea Bridge, where "the royal diversion of duck-hunting" could be enjoyed, "together with a decanter of _Dorchester_" for sixpence; Cuper's Gardens, in Lambeth, nearly opposite Somerset House, through which the Waterloo Road was ruthlessly driven; the Marble Hall, at Vauxhall, where an excellent breakfast was offered for one shilling; Sadler's Wells, celebrated both for its aquatic and its wire-dancing attractions; the Floating Coffee-House, on the river Thames, the Folly House at Blackwall, Marybone Gardens, the White Conduit House, and a multitude of others, to enumerate which would be tedious and unprofitable. On Sunday, we are told, the "snobocracy," amused themselves by thrusting their heads into the pillory at Georgia, by being sworn at Highgate, or rolling down Flamstead Hill in Greenwich Park. Some regaled their wives and families with buns at Chelsea and Paddington; others indulged in copious draughts of cyder at the Castle in the pleasant village of Islington; while the undomestic cit, in claret-coloured coat and white satin vest, sipped his beer and smoked his pipe at Mile End, or at the "Adam and Eve" in Pancras, or "Mother Red Cap's" at Camden. QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STATE COACH. [Illustration: [++] Queen Elizabeth's State Coach.]