By way of a change let us turn from people to their images--in fact, to puppets and dolls--for these semblances and caricatures of human forms are generally clothed, and at times may present to us very curious survivals. Let us begin with Punch and Judy, and in this connection we must not forget the dog Toby, for the ruff which he wears round his neck is a reminiscence of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Punch himself, however, is very much older than his clothes, though to find the explanation of the hump in front we must examine the clothes of the time of Henry III of France, when the men's busked doublets came down low to a strap-shaped point, and had a great padded punch-like protuberance.[37] For other peculiarities that we see we may have to go to the times of Henry IV of France, but the character is very many centuries older; and the careful investigations made by a friend of the present writer, Mr. George Heppel,[38] into the history of Punch have shown why his present costume was adopted and what was his prototype. As might be expected, the original Punch was a man--not Pontius Pilate, as has sometimes been suggested owing to the connection of Punch with miracle plays, but a character in the old Italian farces, which go back to the early days of Rome. The town most celebrated for such entertainments was Atella, situated not very far from Naples. The farcical plays were full of buffoonery, and Punch or Pulicinella was one of the stock characters, represented by a live actor, as were also the originals of the Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Scaramouch, among others. It appears that the plays were not written as we understand a play to be written, but as a rule the plot of them was known, and a great deal of the dialogue was left to the actors themselves. From this it will be seen that the art of gagging can hardly be considered to be modern. The Italian, though by no means great as a dramatic author, was, as he is now, exceedingly good as an actor. It is said[39] that for genuine fun no dramatist can beat the Neapolitan, no actor can surpass him. He writes or acts without the least effort; it is born in him, and he cannot help it. The very beggar-boy who hunts one along the street is a consummate actor; his gestures are prolific, easy, and natural; he is a facial artist without knowing it, and he has a power of elocution and expression which are only acquired by experienced performers after many years of study.