nd happy would it be for mankind did the love of fame
engender no greater evil than that, if any, which may accrue from the
Herculean labours of this epitaph collector."

"Yet to us, the uninitiated of the country, it would never occur that
there existed even in London a man who disseminated his fortune, and
applied his mental and corporeal energies in gleaning epitaphs."

"Neither perhaps would it occur that there existed even in London a
virtuoso who discovered that fleas were a species of lobster, and who
proceeded to proof by the ordeal of boiling water, on the supposition
that the process would change their hue from black to red, and thus
satisfactorily establish the correctness of his judgment; unfortunately,
however, the boiled fleas still retained their original colour, and the
ingenious hypothesis was reluctantly relinquished."{1}

1 It is told of another virtuoso, that he was waited upon
one morning by a stranger, who announced that he had the
opportunity of procuring an inestimable curiosity--a horned
cock; but that its owner, an avaricious old woman, had her
domicile in the highlands of Scotland, to which remote
region it would be necessary to travel, amply provided with
the pecuniary means of securing this wonderful bird; and
that it would be expedient to set out immediately, lest the
matchless phenomenon should become the prize of a more
fortunate competitor.

"A horned cock! the very acme of frolicsome nature,--a
desideratum in the class of _lusus naturae_, which I would
rather possess than the mines of Peru!--Away, my dear
fellow; speed like lightning to the north,--purchase this
precious bird at any price; and should the old woman
hesitate at separation from her cornuted companion, why then
purchase both, and bring them to town with all possible
celerity!"

In the interval between this important mission and the
achievement of its object, the anxiety of the virtuoso was
inexpressible;--a horned cock! it was the incessant subject
of his cogitations by day, and of his dreams by night. At
last the auspicious moment arrived; in the still noontide of
night the preconcerted rap at the street door announced the
happy result of the momentous expedition. The virtuoso
sprang from his couch with extasy to admit the illustrious
prodigy of nature. His astonishment, delight, and