On the left side of the “pouf de circonstance,” worn at the accession of Louis XVI., was a tall cypress, wreathed with purple pansies, a twist of crape at the foot represented its roots; on the right was a wheatsheaf lying on a cornucopia, from whence tumbled a profusion of figs, grapes, and melons, made of feathers. In honour of the discovery of inoculation for small-pox, Mdlle. Bertin invented the “pouf à l’inoculation,” viz. a rising sun, and an olive-tree in full fruit; round this was entwined a serpent bearing a club wreathed with flowers. The serpent and the club represented medicine, and the art by which the variolous monster had been vanquished; the rising sun was emblematic of the young king, in whom were centred all the hopes of the monarchists; and the olive-tree symbolized the peace and tranquillity resulting from the operation to which the royal princes had submitted. The “innocence made manifest” caraco was invented in 1786, in honour of Marie Françoise Victor Salmon, who had been tried on a charge of poisoning, and acquitted in the June of that year. The counsel for the defence was one Cauchois. The same caracos were also called “à la Cauchois.” They were of lilac pekin, with collars and facings (parements) of apple-green. They were fastened on one side of the front by four large mother-of-pearl buttons, and similar buttons were placed on the lapels. In the catalogue of extraordinary costumes worn in 1783 and 1784 we must include the “harpy” costume, which owed its existence to the published account of the discovery in Chili of a two-horned monster, with bat’s wings, and human face and hair, which was said to devour daily one ox, or four pigs. A song-writer composed the following lines against the new fashion:— “A la harpie on va tout faire, Rubans, lévites et bonnets; Mesdames, votre goût s’éclaire: Vous quittez les colifichets Pour des habits de caractère.”[48] An anonymous writer gallantly replied:— “La harpie est un mauvais choix; Passons sur ce léger caprice; Mais dans les modes quelquefois Le sexe se rend mieux justice, En suivant de plus dignes lois. Mesdames, j’ai vu sur vos têtes Les attributs de nos guerriers; On peut bien porter des lauriers, Quand on fait comme eux des conquêtes.”[49] The epigram did not modify the “instructed” taste of women, who continued to dress themselves “à la harpie” until the occurrence of some new whim. Our Frenchwomen, for instance, copied the English, who had introduced masculine fashions into their dress. In all our public resorts, ladies were to be seen in coats, with braid and lapels, double capes, and metal buttons. The most elegant women were muffled up in cravats, shirt frills, and waistcoats, and wore two watches with chains, “breloques,” and seals. Some even wore men’s hats, and carried canes.