DWARFS AS PETS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1522, 12 March 1886, Page 3

DWARFS AS PETS.

In the time of the Roman Empire it was the custom for rich people to buy dwarfs and keep them as pets.' Julii, the niece of Caesar Augustas, had a little favourite named Canopas, and a handmaiden, Andromeda, each of whom was only two feet and a hand-breadth high. Augustus himself was very fond of dwarfs, and used to send to all parts of the world for them; but he would not have any excepting those who were well-shaped, handsome, and lively. He and his little pets used to play together in the palace; while listening to their pretty prattlings the great emperor forgot his worldly cares. The Romans had a cruel practice of making dwarfs by keeping young babies in wooden boxes to prevent their growing j and by the time the poor little creatures were a few years old they were worth a great deal of money. In Egypt, Persia, and Turkey, pet dwarfs have been kept from the very earliest times, and from these countries the fashion spread to Europe. In the city of Mantua there is, in the duke'u palace, a suite of six very small rooms, with ceilings so low that a tall man cannot stand up under them. Two tiny staircases lead to these rooms, which are said to have been built for the duke's dwarfs to life in. William, Duke of Normandy had dwarf pages, and it was the fashion among his nobles to have as many of thess little creatures as they could get to wait on them and lead their horses in grand processions.