* * * * *

ANECDOTAGE.--_Mr. Punch_ one day was reading aloud from a book of
anecdotes when Mr. WEEDON GROSSMITH was present. "What rot!" observed
the representative of _Lord Arthur Pomeroy_. And _Mr. Punch_ agreed
with him.

* * * * *

PHANTASMA-GORE-IA.

_PICTURING THE VARIOUS MODES OF MELODRAMATIC MURDER. (BY OUR
"OFF-HIS"-HEAD POET.)_

NO. II.--THE POISON MURDER.

[Illustration]

Sit close to your friend, for a frightful end
Is at hand for the miser Jew!
Sit tight to your seat while the pulses beat--
Nestle close to your neighbour, do!
For he'll perish, alas!
From a property glass
Filled with nothing whatever--neat!

He's there by himself, counting piles of pelf
Of a counterfeit gamboge hue.
He's wizened and dried like old _Arthur Gride_,