s of clay. The French pipe is one of the finest
manufactured and is made of a fine red clay especially those made by
Fiolet of St. Omer, one of the best designers of pipes. Many of these
like German pipes are made of porcelain, adorned with portraits and
landscapes. Others are made of rare kinds of wood turned in the lathe
or artistically carved, and lined with clay to resist the action of
fire.

The French also make pipes of agate, amber, crystal, carnelian and
ivory, as well as the various kinds of pure or mixed metals. Many of
the French and German pipes while they are beautiful in design and
made of the most costly materials are often exceedingly grotesque,
representing often the most ludicrous scenes and all possible
attitudes. Many of them have been termed as satirical pipes taking off
some public character _a la_ Nast.

Fairholt says of satirical pipes:

"England has occasioned the production of one satirical pipe
for sale among ourselves. The late Duke of Wellington toward
the close of his life, took a strong dislike to the use of
tobacco in the army, and made some ineffectual attempts to
suppress it. Benda, a wholesale pipe importer in the city
employed Dumeril, of St. Omer, to commemorate the event, and
the result was a pipe head, in which a subaltern, pipe in
hand, quietly 'takes a sight' at the great commander who is
caricatured after a fashion that must have made the work a
real pleasure to a Frenchman."
Many of the French pipes are
exceedingly quaint representing all manner of comical scenes. One is
formed like a steam-engine the smoke passing through the funnel.
Another is fashioned after a potato or a turnip while others often
represent some military subjects. In England and Ireland also pipes of
a whimsical form are common.

[Illustration: French pipes.]

CHAPTER VII.

PIPES AND SMOKERS. (Continued.)

In Russia and Denmark as also in Norway and Sweden the pipes are more
simple and are principally formed of wood sometimes tipped with copper
but usually of inferior material and work when compared with French
and German pipes. The German pipes considered as works of art are
doubtless the finest made. Many are made of meerschaum (sea foam).
This material is found in various parts of Asia Minor. When first
obtained it is capable of forming a lather like soap, and is used by
the Tartars for washing purpose