ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  PHARMACY. 
431 
ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  PHARMACY. 
By  Mr.  Ince. 
He  would  be  an  ingenious  man,  indeed,  who  could  point  out 
two  greater  opposites  than  Cheapside,  London,  and  the  Rue 
Royale,  Brussels :  the  one  all  dash,  and  drive,  and  bustle,  the 
other  like  the  Beauty  in  the  wood— a  hundred  years  asleep.  The 
first,  with  a  crowd  of  restless,  jostling,  money-making  spectres  ; 
the  second,  enlivened  by  a  few  Belgian  ladies,  and  an  occasional 
tourist.    Animated  with  a  Columbus  spirit  of  discovery,  I  once 
entered  a  Brussels  Pharmacy — time  twelve  o'clock  mid-day, 
weather  splendid,  London  business  thermometer  at  112°  Fah- 
renheit ;  but  where,  and  oh  where,  was  my  Belgian  Chemist 
gone  ?    There  stood  the  shop,  with  its  great  jars  of  Pate  de 
Reglisse,  Pate  de  Jujube,  and  Pastilles  de  Gruimauve,  useful  but 
not  strong  remedies :  there  stood  the  rows  of  extract  pots,  blue 
Chinaware,  with  bright  gold  labels,  with  the  last  glow  of  the 
Lowther  Arcade  upon  them :  there  stood  glasses  with  rolls  of 
issue-peas  and  saccharated4capsules  :  there  stood  a  miniature  case 
filled  with  Albespeyre's  paper,  camphor  Cigarrettes,  and  Blanc 
de  Perle.    These  were  the  only  things  which  did  stand,  for  in  a 
sort  of  back  parlor  (land  appeared  in  view)  there  sat  the  master 
— sat  and  smoked  complacently.    By  degrees  it  slowly  dawned 
upon  him  that  there  was  a  customer,  and  he  emerged  pipe  in 
hand,  looking  something  between  a  bandit  and  a  Plymouth 
brother.  The  small  retail  order  was  duly  executed,  and  he  went 
back  to  his  resting  place,  while  I  returned  to  mine. 
Let  the  scene  change  to  Paris.  I  have  a  young  friend  an 
assistant  in  a  celebrated  French  establishment ;  while  deep  in 
conversation  with  him,  two  ladies  enter.  Business  must  be  at- 
tended to — my  companion,  therefore,  hastens  to  his  post. 
There  I  sat,  waited,  and  listened  while  the  fair  customers  gave 
a  graphic  summary  of  most  things  under  the  sun,  including  the 
new  opera,  the  last  vaudeville,  the  state  of  the  funds,  and  the 
expected  comet.  The  Lay  of  the  Ancient  Mariner  was  not 
longer  nor  half  so  pleasant.  Having  concluded  these  opening 
observations,  they  glanced  at  the  weather  generally  and  the 
public  health,  which  latter  topic  led  them  to  reflect  that  one  ob- 
ject of  the  morning  visit  was  to  buy  some  physic. 
