We now come to the great feature of the Paris system: the inscription of prostitutes in a department of the Prefecture of Police, called the _Bureau des Moeurs_. It seems that some sort of inscription was in use before the Revolution, but no law referring to it, or records of the rolls, can be found. Various systems were employed during the Republic and the Empire. The one now in use was adopted in 1816, and amended by a police regulation of 1828. Prostitutes are inscribed either 1. On their own request; 2. On the requisition of the mistress of a house; or, 3. On the report of the inspector of prostitutes. When a girl appears before the bureau under any of these circumstances, she is asked the following questions, the answers being taken down in writing: 1. Her name, age, birth-place, trade, and residence? 2. Whether she is a widow, wife, or spinster? 3. Whether her father and mother are living, and what their calling was or is? 4. Whether she lives with them, and if not, when and how she left them? 5. Whether she has had children, and where they are? 6. How long she has been at Paris? 7. Whether any one has a right to claim her? 8. Whether she has ever been arrested, and if yes, how often, and for what offenses? 9. Whether she has ever been a prostitute before, and for what period of time? 10. Whether she has, or has had, venereal disease? 11. Whether she has received any education? 12. What her motive is in inscribing herself? The answers to these inquiries suggest others, which are put at the discretion of the officials. Their practice is so great that they are rarely deceived by the women; M. Parent-Duchatelet affirms that they could tell an old prostitute merely by the way she sat down. The interrogatory over, the girl is taken by an inspector to the Dispensary and examined, and the physician on duty reports the result, which is added to the inquiry. Meanwhile, the police registers have been consulted, and if the girl has been an old offender, or is known to the police, she is now identified.