several letters may be traced with the naked eye.

This effect is accounted for by the child's mother earnestly looking at
a franc-piece of Napoleon's, which was given to her by her brother
previous to a long absence; and this operating during her pregnancy, has
produced the appearance in question. It was visible at the child's
birth, and has increased with her growth. She has been seen by Sir
Astley Cooper and other leading members of the profession, and probably
before our Number is published, she will have been shown to the King.
She is an interesting little creature, prattles playfully, and will
doubtless receive the caresses of thousands of visitors.

Our contemporaries are, we perceive, somewhat divided as to the
distinctness of the inscription; but we have given our opinion
fairly--and, as the proverb runs, "seeing is believing." One of them
describes the child as "a little _boy_, about two years old." This
reminds us of the man in the _Critic_, "give these fellows a good thing,
and they never know when to have done with it."

* * * * *


PORTUGUESE PRISONS.

(_For the Mirror._)


Most of the Portuguese prisons are horrible in the extreme; and it is
utterly impossible for the most hardy individuals, who have the
misfortune to be long confined within them, to preserve their health