From The Pall Mall Gazette.
LIFE IN A PARISIAN STUDIO.

"By the way, would you like to begin work at the atelier this morning? All right! But stop a moment. I must just run up-stairs and get my paint-box and carton. You shall see my room presently." In a moment we are together in the Rue Batignolles; past the mairie, we plunge by a side street into a wilderness of lanes, but soon find breathing-space again in a large avenue; crossing this we enter an impasse (Quartier Montmartre), at the end of which are stables and studios! Here we are; and, pushing a plank door, we are confronted by another plank door, innocent of paint, but decorated with the thumbings of years, and "Entrez" scrawled on it in rude black letters. I am rather late this morning eight o'clockwork has already begun, and as I come in view of the smoke-encircled crowd a shout of "Vous êtes bien en retard ce matin," in a remonstrating tone, stifles my "Bon jour, messieurs." "Un nouveau !" "Un nouveau!" "Entrez, monsieur!" "Entrez donc!" "Entrez!" yells insinuatingly the crowd as my friend is seen coming behind me. I find my easel and prepare for work, while the nouveau gazes somewhat wildly about him. On the throne, unembarrassed by any drapery, is posed a young Italian girl, and in a large semicircle about her are assembled at work some forty or fifty students of all sizes, nations, kindreds, and tongues. Near the model the work ers are almost on the floor, while those at some distance are perched on high stools, higher and harder than those of their relatives in the business world. It is a large room, square, and lighted by a huge side window; the walls are painted a dirty brown, and are covered in large patches with the scrapings from the pallets of the past and present generations. Some drawings and paintings, too - other heritages of the years And just now enormous Egyptian bulls and sphinxes' heads in cardboard appear high up, relics of the fête à l'égyptienne.

fore I have time to explain to the nouveau
that it is his duty to keep the fire up, the
shout grows into a yell, and the yell into
a roar: " Au feu!" The stove, whose
grimy pipe meanders up to the high
rafters, glows afresh under our hands,
and the offended dignity of the multitude
is pacified. We seek our seats and begin
work again, but are interrupted by
"Chan-
tez, nouveau!" "Chantez donc!" on all
sides. This appeal commences in a
kindly, encouraging tone, but remaining
unanswered, the sputtering fire of voices
assumes a hurt tone, then a complaining
one, then, waxing more tumultuous and
indignant, it dies away for a time, only to
recommence in an angrier strain, until
the yells, groans, whistles, and knockings
urge the bashful nouveau to desperation,
and one hears a faint tuneless gasp emerge
from his throat. Heaven only knows
what he is trying to sing! But he is not
to escape thus easily.
66 A la tribune!"
screams the roaring crowd. The poor
mortal is forced to stand up beside the
model on the platform, and in the awful
silence which succeeds the outburst he
begins again his song. Does he know
what he is singing? I don't! And as his
spavined voice dies into a wail, "Assez!"

Assez!" on all sides tells him that this part of his initiation is over. It now only remains for him to pay the punch, un pourboire. This is twenty francs. The student delegated to demand the drinkmoney from the nouveau advances most politely, and in the choicest of words and the most honeyed of accents requests the honor of being allowed to drink his health. On receiving the coin he goes to the platform, then, in a most solemn way, lets the money drop on the floor, that the genuine ring may be heard by all. Punch!" "Absinthe!" A show of hands tells that punch is vote, and two or three blouses rush wildly out to order the drink. A quarter of an hour after they return, smilspot the walls.ing, amid general applause, bringing the drinks with them; that is to say, a couple of stout, becapped barmaids with trays and glasses appear in their wake. The glasses and drinks are deposited on the platform around the model, who does not seem the least concerned, and the mixing of the punch begins under the supervision of one of the anciens, who is evidently well versed in these matters. Shouts now give way to chuckles, smackings of lips, and other demonstrations of joyous anticipation.

The shouts have settled down into the ordinary hum of conversation, broken by snatches of songs at intervals, and the nouveau has found a place and begun a study. He is not, however, long to remain in obscurity. Despite the heat of the room, which oppresses us all, the model shivers. "Mademoiselle a froid," "Au feu! nouveau, au feu!" louder and louder shout the tobacco-smoking, blousebecovered, shaggy pallet-holders; and be

Presently one hears, "C'est l'heure," "C'est l'heure!" This means that it is

time for the model to rest. All rise and crowd of critical faces, but she gets make for the platform, where the punch is blazing. The model keeps her position of vantage, and is very ready to take her share of the drinks, cakes, and cigarettes. She looks a very bacchante as she appears above the encircling crowd of students, glass in hand and cigarette in mouth, clinking glasses and exchanging à votre santé with her friends. Presently there are only the empty punch-bowl and reversed glasses on the liquor-bedabbled throne; the model is sitting again, smil. ing, while the French, the Russians, the Poles, Egyptians, Austrians, Americans, and English sing, smoke, chaff, yell, scream, and work with renewed vigor. We have "God save the Queen," in a prime favorite this; then "Yankee Doodle" and the "Marseillaise." Amid this uproar a knocking is heard at the door. "Entrez donc, cochon - entrez !" and amid a storm of missiles a troop of girl models double round the door. "Entrez, mesdemoiselles," and missiles cease. The models are come to ask for sittings, and they wait in the corner, chatting and nodding to acquaintances. Presently one or two men models come in this is Monday, and the principal day for making engagements. After a while the models go through a number of poses on the platform, the sitting model resigning for the moment. Here is a girl nouvelle, and she only knows one pose; she is a little shy, too, when she faces the

chorus

through very well. Blondes and brunettes, they pose their most telling poses. Some have ugly faces but good ensembles, and often the pretty-faced ones are lacking in other qualities. They have all finished, and now while they are dressing come the men. A huge-limbed nigger takes the pose of Hercules with the ap ples; then a model who has sat for Christ comes. He has posed for the cross, and gives us the position and the look of agony. It is really well acted; he can do the dead Christ too; and he finishes up with the attitude of Christ in Raphael's cartoon of "Feed my Sheep." Now all the models go outside while a vote is taken as to their engagement. A blouse stands up. "Qui est-ce qui veut? Qui est-ce qui ne veut pas?" and so in turns they are voted upon. Those who are votes wait to settle the time of their sittings, while the others depart, often with rather a savage look on their faces. At twelve o'clock all the students go. There is another model in the afternoon, and during the winter still another in the evening (each model sitting a week); but few students, if any, work more than twice a day. At night a large lamp with reflectors throws a stream of light on to the model, the easels being lighted by smaller lamps. At ten o'clock all is quiet, the only sound being that of Père Henri's broom as it sweeps away the relics of the day by the light of a small lantern.

THE ELEPHANT IN CEYLON. - At a meet-phant has sixteen toes, five on each fore-foot, ing of the Leeds Naturalists' Club, the presi- and three on each hind-foot. No Singhalese dent (Mr. B. Holgate, F.G.S.) related some elephant has a fewer number than sixteen toes. curious particulars which had been furnished The mahout, or elephant-driver, rules his eleto him by the Rev. R. Collins, of St. Silas's phant by means of an iron hook, with which Church, Hunslet, who has spent twenty-five he touches a most sensitive part behind the years in India and Ceylon. Mr. Collins states ear, which causes the most unruly elephant to that elephants are not now allowed to be shot become submissive. When Mr. Collins was as they once were, but are permitted to wander in Kandy, an elephant which had killed its at will in the forests belonging to the govern- keeper, and which had been shot in the head ment. They live to the age of about one hun- before it could be captured, had to undergo dred and thirty years, and "come of age" at the operation of having the bullet extracted, forty. There are three sizes of them in the which was performed by the native doctors, the same herds, and when they are young the size elephant lying quietly down while the mahout that they will attain is pretty nearly known by kept his hook on this sensitive part. The elethe number of their toes. Those which grow phant-drivers are a drunken set of men, and to the largest size have eighteen toes, five on sometimes, while drunk, will treat their charge each of the two fore feet, and four on each of unmercifully, and the elephant itself is an anithe hind ones. Those which grow to a medium mal which bears grudges-the result being size have seventeen toes, five on each of the that nearly all elephant-keepers are sooner or fore-feet, as before, and four on one hind-foot, later killed by their elephants. and three on the other. The least size of ele

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From The Contemporary Review.
NEWTON AND DARWIN.

relative insignificance of the earth was demonstrated. The teachings of the telescope showed in turn the insignificance of the solar system. With every increase of light-gathering power the universe of stars grew larger and larger, even when as yet no scale had been obtained whereby to determine the distance separating star from star. With every improvement in the defining qualities and the measuring power of telescopes, the universe of stars grew larger and larger, independently of mere increase in number of stars; for though for a long time no measurement of star distances could be effected, each failure with improved means to measure the distances of even the nearest stars showed that the scale of the stellar universe was larger than had been before imagined.

It is singular that the theory which, of all those advanced since Newton established the law of gravitation, has given to thoughtful minds the grandest conceptions of nature and the laws of nature, should have been, of all theories perhaps ever suggested by man, the most thoroughly misunderstood. There can be no doubt that many who recognize the real significance of the theory of natural development, who know that its influence is by no means limited to biological evolution, but has been felt in the får wider -the infinitely wide-field of cosmical evolution, have been pained by the thought that with the widening of the domain of development, the belief in a power working in and through all things seems to be set on one side in the name of uniLarger and larger grew the universe, versal evolution. It is this thought, this then, as men turned more and more powfear it may be called perhaps, which Ierful, more and more exact instruments propose to consider here. I shall endeav- to the survey of the heavens. When at or to show that those who are perplexed length the distance of the nearest star was by such doubts overlook the parallelism measured, and found to be more than which exists between three lines along which men's thoughts have been carried an ever-increasing distance, until it has become obvious that two of them at least must be infinite, that the fear expressed by those who see with anxiety the progress of evolutionary doctrine implies a hope that one of these lines may be finite while the others are essentially infinite and are accepted as such without fear or trouble.

It was a new thought in the time of Copernicus, that men hitherto underrated the extent of the universe, and had over rated the importance of our earth. The globe which had seemed the one fixed orb for whose benefit the heavenly bodies had ali been made, was found to be but one member of a family of orbs circling round a globe much larger than any of them. Thus the earth lost at once her central position, her quality as the world (the sole abode of life), her fixity, her importance in respect of the supposed superiority of her dimensions. When Newton had finally established the Copernican theory,* the

It is worthy of notice that that theory could not be regarded as demonstrated until the law of attraction

twenty millions of millions of miles (more than three years' light-journey, though in each second light travels a distance exceedingly nearly eight times the entire circuit of the earth), the number of stars was already known to exceed twenty millions. But more powerful telescopes have been made since. With every increase of telescopic power more stars come into view. With such a teleseope as the great reflector of Parsonstown, at least a hundred millions of stars could be seen if every part of the stellar sphere could be scrutinized with that mighty telescopic eye.

But what, after all, is this? Now that we know how minute a creature man is, how insignificant his largest works compared with the globe on which he lives, how this globe is but a point in the solar system, the solar system lost among countless millions of other suns with their attendant planets, how preposterous ap

had been established. This law carries with it the dis

proof of the cycles and epicycies of the Ptolemaic system, because under the law of gravity bodies cannot

move in such curves. Before the law was established, it was more probable that the planets all moved in simple curves, but not certain.