66 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CH..III 



German professor, very punctilious and precise. We 

 sat down at table at three o'clock and never moved till 

 ten. We began with tea and biscuits, followed by 

 sponge cake with layers of jam, and went on with 

 several courses and finished up with hot roast venison, 

 the several items being washed down with wine. In 

 those days society in Germany was of a somewhat 

 formal character. Thus at the commencement of the 

 proceedings all the ladies and all the gentlemen were 

 ranged in lines on each side of the salon. An 

 Englishman coming into the room and being presented 

 to the ladies would naturally shake hands. This 

 mode of salutation, however, was considered much too 

 intimate, and in its place he had to institute a stiff bow 

 with the feet placed in the " first position," and this to 

 every lady in turn. The men and the ladies then 

 kept studiously apart until the time for supper arrived. 



