May 1835

Went down to Hotel Dieu this morning. Sanson's case of operation going on very well. Roux has several cases ofstrumous affections ofthe carpus1-he has also a carcinomatous affection ofthe lower lip under his care-this is an awkward case-he will operate tomorrow morning-the tumor is broad at the inferior as at the superior edge-hence a V shaped incision cannot be practised-the tumor besides is ofconsiderable size & under thejaw is an enlarged gland-R. is evidently himself /63v/ at fault-there must be considerable deformity. This is the grand Fete du Roi-St. Philip's day2-& a day of National rejoicing. In the Champs Elysees were erected theatres, orchestras etc etc for the performance of trifling pieces-for concerts-dancing &c. this commenced at 2 V2 P.M.3 In the morning L. P. held a Levee, as miserable an affair as was ever dignified with such a name in this world. The Champs Elysees exhibited a most extraordinary sight today-covered with crowds of persons, mostly well dressed & well behaved. Sports of all kinds, gratuitous as well as those for which one paid were going forward. In one part one may observe a pair of scales erected to weigh any person who chose to pay a couple of sous, in another a measure to take yr. height4-here a mountebank5 with a very powerful electrical machine,6 amusing the gaping crowd by some of the extraordinary experiments of Electricity-here a man with a lottery for Gingerbread.7 1 Carpus: the wrist. 2The Fete du Roi was the annual celebration of the monarch, Louis Philippe. The original plantation on which the Champs Elysees was developed in 1616 was for the exclusive use of the Queen, Marie de' Medici. At the time of the diarist's stay, it was open to the public and was the most fashionable promenade in Paris where smart, springed carriages drove up and down. It extended along the Seine from which it was separated by the road leading to Versailles. In 1828 a bronze equestrian statue of Louis XV was erected. Several public fetes took place along the Champs Elysees. (Galignani's new Paris guide, pp. 576-80.) 4In the early nineteenth century it would have been a novel experience to be weighed, since weighing scales were not at all widely available. Discovering one's height would also have been interesting and worth a couple of sous. 5Mountebank: not surprisingly, the diarist would have seen such a person, especially if he was …