45 



CHAPTER III. 



THE BETTING RING.^ 



'* Dost trifle in the xvTxgT— Old Play. 



HOWEVER strange and interesting may be the 

 "subjects" which delight the eyes of the St. 

 George's student in the Anatomical Museum, the 

 lover of morbid anatomy may find an equally rich 

 field of contemplation if hewillwalk a little farther down 

 the lane at Tattersall's, and scan the alphabet of faces 

 who congregate in and round the Rooms. He will 

 there, amid that hoarse and multifarious miscellany 

 of men, and under exteriors which are at times unpro- 

 mising, find as clear cutting wits as ever nestled in a 

 brain-pan, and he can only regret, as he sits on that 

 strange " bench of the grand-world school," that men 

 who were framed for better things should be so uni- 

 tarian in their devotion to the odds. The room which 

 bears silent witness to these ceaseless flirtations with 

 the goddess Fortune, is 45 by 28 feet, and capable of 

 holding about 400 persons. In the middle of it is a 

 sort of circular counter, round which and at the fire- 

 place the business is principally transacted ; but in 

 summer the room is nearly deserted, and speculation 

 adjourns on to the steps and green, outside, and holds 

 communication with its less favoured votaries through 



* It must be remembered that the period 1 841 -1856 produced won- 

 derful changes in betting. 



