198 WINTER SUNSHINE 



Drink, drink, drink, and, with equal frequency 

 and nearly as much openness, the reverse or diuretic 

 side of the fact. (How our self-consciousness would 

 writhe! We should all turn to stone!) Indeed, 

 the ceaseless deglutition of mankind in this part of 

 the world is only equaled by the answering and 

 enormous activity of the human male kidneys. This 

 latter was too astonishing and too public a fact to 

 go unmentioned. At Dieppe, by the reeking tubs 

 standing about, I suspected some local distemper; 

 but when I got to Paris, and saw how fully and 

 openly the wants of the male citizen in this respect 

 were recognized by the sanitary and municipal regu- 

 lations, and that the urinals were thicker than the 

 lamp-posts, I concluded it must be a national trait, 

 and at once abandoned the theory that had begun to 

 take possession of my mind, namely, that diabetes 

 was no doubt the cause of the decadence of France. 

 Yet I suspect it is no more a peculiarity of French 

 manners than of European manners generally, and 

 in its light I relished immensely the history of a 

 well-known statue which stands in a public square 

 in one of the German cities. The statue commemo- 

 rates the unblushing audacity of a peasant going to 

 market with a goose under each arm, who ignored 

 even the presence of the king, and it is at certain 

 times dressed up and made the centre of holiday 

 festivities. It is a public fountain, and its living 

 streams of water make it one of the most appropri- 

 ate and suggestive monuments in Europe. I would 

 only suggest that they canonize the Little Man, 



