The names that the better class are fondest of are:—

The lower class do not, as may be supposed, possess so refined a taste as their more elevated sisters. We subjoin some of the most popular to be found in their vocabulary:—

Leaving this subject, let us touch upon another which deserves our attention. Every prostitute has a lover; he is generally selected from among the law students, medical students, or young barristers, for their minds being cultivated and their address easy, the woman is charmed by an intellectual superiority she can never hope to attain to. A great number of prostitutes of course recruit for lovers among the shop-boys and tradesmen of the city. They become so ardently attached to them that they will submit to almost any indignity. The “Paillasson” may be the greatest tyrant in his small way that ever had the power of lording it over another, but no diminution of her regard or passion will result from his ill-treatment. A great number of young men in Paris have no visible means of existence, but a prostitute will, in most instances, not only keep her lover out of the proceeds of her prostitution, but clothe, feed, and even lodge him herself. In fact it is more a madness than a passion. They will put up with anything,—wounds, curses, blows, all are forgiven and forgotten.

Introducing houses, and houses of accommodation are tolerated by the Parisian police, for it is found impossible, and perhaps impolitic, to suppress them. The refuse of the city, both men and women, are confined by the police to the lowest quarters of the city, that they may be under the immediate control of the authorities. So that the vilest and most abandoned women are allowed to mingle with thieves, ruffians, and malefactors of every description in a particular locality, instead of infesting other parts of the city.

SCENE IN THE GARDENS OF “CLOSERIE DES LILAS.” PARIS.

The rank and title of “Dame de Maison,” or keeper of a house of ill-fame, being the highest pinnacle of a prostitute’s career, and the acme of their ambition, of course renders such a position a matter of much envy and anticipation to them. We can divide this class into four distinct divisions—