mimicry displayed by expert ventriloquists are
marvelous; they not only imitate individuals and animals, but do not
hesitate to imitate a conglomeration of familiar sounds and noises in
such a manner as to deceive their listeners into believing that they
hear the discussions of an assemblage of people. The following
description of an imitation of a domestic riot by a Chinese
ventriloquist is given by the author of "The Chinaman at Home" and well
illustrates the extent of their abilities: "The ventriloquist was
seated behind a screen, where there were only a chair, a table, a fan,
and a ruler. With this ruler he rapped on the table to enforce silence,
and when everybody had ceased speaking there was suddenly heard the
barking of a dog. Then we heard the movements of a woman. She had been
waked by the dog and was shaking her husband. We were just expecting to
hear the man and wife talking together when a child began to cry. To
pacify it the mother gave it food; we could hear it drinking and crying
at the same time. The mother spoke to it soothingly and then rose to
change its clothes. Meanwhile another child had wakened and was
beginning to make a noise. The father scolded it, while the baby
continued crying. By-and-by the whole family went back to bed and fell
asleep. The patter of a mouse was heard. It climbed up some vase and
upset it. We heard the clatter of the vase as it fell. The woman
coughed in her sleep. Then cries of "Fire! fire!" were heard. The mouse
had upset the lamp; the bed curtains were on fire. The husband and wife
waked up, shouted, and screamed, the children cried, people came
running and shouting. Children cried, dogs barked, squibs and crackers
exploded. The fire brigade came racing up. Water was pumped up in
torrents and hissed in the flames. The representation was so true to
life that every one rose to his feet and was starting away when a
second blow of the ruler on the table commanded silence. We rushed
behind the screen, but there was nothing there except the
ventriloquist, his table, his chair, and his ruler."

Athletic Feats.--The ancients called athletes those who were noted for
their extraordinary agility, force, and endurance. The history of
athletics is not foreign to that of medicine, but, on the contrary, the
two are in many ways intimately blended. The instances of feats of
agility and endurance are in every sense of the word examples of
physiologic and functional anomalies, and have