The _Chorea S. Viti_, or _St. Vitus's Dance_ is another variation,
said to have once prevailed extensively, and to have been cured by a
prayer to this saint! whose martyrdom is commemorated on June 15. It
may not be generally known that a person afflicted with this species
of dancing can _run_, although he cannot walk or stand still. Another
and a more agreeable species is to _lead the dance_, an unjust
usurpation which is practised in a thousand other places beside the
ball-room.

According to the mythologists, (authorities always quotable, and
nobody knows why,) the Curetes or Corybantes, a people of Crete, who
were _produced from rain_, first invented the dance to amuse the
infant Jupiter--with what success he danced we know not, for when a
year old he waged war against the Titans, and then his dancing days
must have terminated.

A history of dancing is, however, not to our purpose; but a few of its
eccentricities. It occurs in the customs of all people, either as a
recreation or as a religious ceremony--held in contempt by some, and
in esteem by others. David danced before the ark; the daughters of
Shiloh danced in a solemn yearly festival; and the Israelites, (good
judges) danced round the golden calf.

The ancients had a peculiar _penchant_ for dancing, whether in person
or by animals; and the feats of the latter distance all the wretched
efforts of the bears, dogs, and horses of our days. The attempts
of Galba to amuse the Roman people throw into the shade all the
peace-rejoicings and illuminations of St. James's and the Green Parks.
Suetonius, Seneca, and Pliny tell us of _elephants_ in their time that
were taught to walk the rope, backwards and forwards, up and down,