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paved by good intentions. As our public officers always have been on excellent terms with the owner of that place, they easily could obtain the material at a nominal price.

We all know with what facility the material is to be manipulated; it is true it has no great power of resistance and will want frequent repairs, but then there is such an enormous supply of it.

In regard to the classification of fishes: We have an artificial system and a natural system. The artificial system takes up a single character for classification, but the natural system compares carefully all the characters, and judges from the totality in which style the fish ought to be served. Aquatic as their habits may be, all good fishes when cooked are served with white wine, and this is in the animal kingdom the first instance of the better hereafter that awaits us.

According to the artificial system, fishes are divided into those with a bony skeleton

and those with a cartilaginous skeleton. In the first group belongs the eel, which is the only hermaphrodite amongst vertebrates. I know this is very immoral, but it is arranged so by Nature, and I am ashamed of Nature. Not so the eel; he leads a life of permanent matrimonial bliss, interrupted only by an annual marriage trip to the sea coast, where, after having propagated, he leaves his offspring to the benevolent attentions of sharks and other fishes. At a moment's notice he withdraws to places inaccessible to his creditors. Amongst the fishes with a cartilaginous skeleton, the most remarkable is the sturgeon, whose eggs are called caviar, and here comes my spiritual advice. Never! never mistake caviar for blackberry jam!

IT is impossible for me to tell anything new to this enlightened body of Bohemians, because everything that was in me has been brought out on former occasions, and what little brain is left I want for myself. But noticing here the presence of Dr. Swan and Judge Boalt, my old rivals in science, I am afraid they will trespass on the sacred ground of entomology, as they have done before; and so, for the protection of science, I will sacrifice myself, as I have done before, and occupy your valuable time with a lecture on butterflies.

The butterfly lays eggs like the hen, but differs from the hen by laying her eggs but once in her lifetime. From the egg comes a caterpillar, or, as Judge Boalt justly observed, a worm. The whole occupation of

this worm consists in eating. His whole existence is a prolonged dinner-party. Several times he changes his dress by bursting it on his back and throwing it off, a new, well-fitting, unpaid dress being already underneath. When entirely satisfied he goes to sleep, calls himself a chrysalis, and awakes as a butterfly. This new existence begins with making love all around and gaining the mutual admiration of both sexes. Then he takes to morals, matrimony, and a wedding trip; after which he dies, before making the acquaintance of his mother-in-law. In the stage of butterfly he dispenses entirely with solid food and relies altogether on liquid substances, which he calls nectar and we call drink. Now, you see his first stage of existence is a continuous dinnerparty; then comes a period of digestion and rest, after which a system of free love and drink all around; but in no stage work, if he can help it.

In this latter peculiarity the butterfly resembles the oyster, from which, in other re

spects, it is not difficult to distinguish him. The butterfly leads an aerial life; the oyster lives on the bosom of the ocean, in localities inaccessible to his creditors. Most species of the oyster are hermaphroditic-they possess both kinds of sexual organs. Therefore, the oyster enjoys the rapture of the lover and of the beloved, and thus on the bosom of the ocean (which is at the same time the bottom of the ocean) he enjoys a life of uninterrupted matrimonial bliss. But, besides this blessing, the oyster is entitled to the proud distinction of being present at all banquets given by the Bohemian Club; and I am charged by the oyster to express on this occasion his thanks for the honor of his invitation and his wish that such invitation may be extended to him at all further celebrations, and especially our Golden Anniversary, when, twenty-five years hence, he hopes to meet you all again.

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