Punch (8.1845)

PUNCH, OR THE LOXDON CHARIVARI.

HISTORY, SYMPTOMS, AND PROGRESS, OF Tfc^
POLKAMANIA.

for, go where you will, you are sure to be plagued with it. After
committing the greatest ravages in London itself, it attacked the
suburbs, whence it quickly spread to remote districts, and there is
now not a hamlet in Great Britain which it does not infest more or
less. Its chief victims are the young and giddy; but as yet it
has not been known to prove fatal, although many, ourselves
inclusive, have complained of having been bored to "death by it.
No cure has as yet been proposed for Polkamania ; but per-
haps an antidote, corresponding to vaccination, in the shape of
some new jig or other variety of the caper, may prove effectual:
yet, after all, it may be doubted if the remedy would not be
worse than the disease.

Questions at tfje ^examination of Cantrirjatts for
Emission as Sttornfcs.

Hilary Term, 3845.

As the questions are generally much the same, we subjoin a
selection from the questions at the recent Examination, to'which
we have affixed answers for the guidance of future candidates.

Preliminary.

1. Where and with whom did you serve your clerkship ?
A. With Mr. Grab. Partly iu his office, and partly in Regent

Street, Jullie.n's Concerts, the Cider Cellars, or the Cigar Divan.

2. State the particular branch or branches of the law to which
you have principally applied yourself.

A. The law of short whist and cricket.

3. Mention some of the principal law-books you have read and
Thax obstinate and tormenting disease, the Polkamania, is said to have origi- . studied. ,

nated in Bohemia ; in consequence, we may presume from analogy, of the bite j A.I have read the " Comic Blackstone."
of some rabid insect like the Tarantula Spider, although the Polka Spider has : 4. Have you attended any law lectures ?

not yet been described by entomologists ; but, when discovered, it probably will \ A. I have frequently heard lectures on the law relating to the
be, under-the name of Aranea Polkapoietica. The Polkamania, after raging wrenching off of door-knockers,
fiercely for some time in the principal cities of the Continent, at length made its

appearance in London, having been imported by M. Jullien, who inoculated | Conveyancing.
certain Countesses and others with its specific virus, which he is said to have ;

obtained from a Bohemian nobleman. The form of its eruption was at first j .where a power is executed by will, at what point of time
circular, corresponding to the circles of fashion ; but it has now extended to i es 14 take effect.

the whole body of society, including its lowest members. Its chief symptoms! , A: bo™ Power may fail altogether for want of the will as

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are extraordinary convulsions and wild gesticulations oi the limbs, with fre-
quent stampings on the floor, and rotatory movements of the body, such as
accompany lesions of the cerebellum. That part is said by Gall to be the organ
of amativeness ; and the Polka delirium, in several instances, has terminated in

my polka before six lessons.

in the celebrated case of the " Donkey wot wouldn't go." Here
the power might take effect at the point of time when his master
began to " wallop him."

(3. State the effect of marriage upon the will of a man.

love-madness. This form of mania, in the female subject, displays itself, partly, in j A- H generally has the effect of depriving him of a will of his own.
a passion for fantastic finery ; as fur trimmings, red, green, and yellow boots.'and . A dles f^d of real estate without issue, an intestate leav-

ether strange bedizenments. Articles of dress, indeed, seem capable of propa-
gating the contagion; for there are Polka Pelisses and Polka Tunics; nay, it
was but the other day that we met with some Polka Wafers, so that the Polka-

my polka after six lessons.

mania seems communicable by all sorts of things that put it into people's heads.
In this respect it obviously resembles the Plague ; but not in this respect only :

ing his grandfather and his mother, and a brother and a sister.
Which of these is his heir ?
A. Whichever you please, my pretty dear.

Equity and Practice of the Courts.

8. In what cases does a suit abate so as to render a bill of
revivor necessary \

A. When a suit is worn threadbare its value abates, and it I
may be necessary to have a bill of revivor by running up an \
account for repairs.

9. At what distance of time do deeds prove themselves, and
thereby render their proof unnecessary 1

A. Taking too much wine over-night, is a deed that will prove
itself by a headache the next morning.

Bankruptcy and' Practice of the Courts.

10. State the proceedings now necessary to support a fiat in
Bankruptcy.

A. Outrunning the constable will soon support a fiat, and the
bankrupt may make the fiat support him if he manoeuvres cleverly.

Criminal Law. Proceedings before Justices of the Peace.

11. What is burglary, and state some of the requisites ?
A. The requisites for burglary are generally, a jemmy, some

skeleton keys, and a dark lantern.

12. What is a criminal information, and under what circum-
stances will it be granted ?

A. When you ask a cabman his fare, and he informs you
that it is about twice as much as he has any right to demand from

you. , , i • , .

13. Has there been any, and what recent alteration m the
course of proceeding in the Crown Office ?

A. No, the clerks are as off-hand as they always used tc be.