14

nOMESTIC MANNERS OF TUE PRUSSIANS.

moistureless Standard. Ncver before, indeed, were we so con-scious of being made of dust; for we almost began to fear thata good puff of wind would dissipate us in a eloud, likc thepowdery stuff in " tlie devil's snuff-box," and that our frame atthe next gale would assume the airy expansiveness of smoke —after the fashion of that of the Genii of the bottle in the"Arabian Nights."

Moreover, the same work of desiccation goes on among thefnrniture as in one's own body. To stand the baking of aGerman stove, it is necessary that the mahogany of theGerman chairs and tables be more than duly seasoned, orassuredly they will split, like bad gloves, immediately we cometo use them. Often, therefore, while sitting quietly in ourdomestic oven, we were startled with a series of explosions likesmall cannon, arising first from the sudden warping of thebureau, next from the violent cracking of the eard-tables, andthen from the forcible parting of the planks at the back of thechiffonnier. But even the best-seasoned timber becomes, aftera time, so thoroughly parched, that the material grows almostlike touchwood; and thus the backs of the sofas are continuallyyielding to the pressure, and legs of chairs giving way underthe sitter. At the table dliöte at Cologne we saw the lattercalamity befall a respectable British publisher; in the ball-room at Bertrieh we beheld the wife of the Governor thrownfrom her chair suddenly on to the floor; and we ourselveshave taken off as many legs as an army surgeon. Moreover,the very bed has sunk under our weight twice in one winter;so that we have been abruptly roused from our slumbers witha sense of being precipitated headlong through the trap-door ofa theatre.

Then, the overpowering metallic or earthen stench of thestoves themselves is hateful to every civilised nostril; for ifthe retort, wliich in Germany does duty for a fire-place,