La CHIROMANCIE, NOUVEAU PASSE TEMPS DES BONS PARISIENS - Adélaïde........ j'ai beau chercher..... je ne me trouve pas la petite ligne qui annonce une longue vie...... mon Dieu!.... dois-je donc mourir à la fleur de l'âge!.....

Trustman, Benjamin A., Trustman, Julia M. · 1860

A husband and wife practice reading their palms while in bed; the husband is worried that he will die soon because he cannot find the line in his palm that represents longevity. DESBAROLLES was a Parisian magician who published a book in 1859 "The art of palm reading". SPIRITISM, FLUIDOMANIE, THE OCCULT. The word „Fluidomanie“ used for this series can hardly be found in a French dictionary... it is a rather spirited invention of one of the Charivari’s journalists and can best be translated as “Ghostly Games”. The so-called fashionable Parisian bourgeoisie had caught on to spiritualism which was already fashionable in the USA and England. Table-turning, chiromancy and necromancy became an entertaining part of an evening invitation. As we can see in Daumier’s prints, some of these activities easily went out of control, creating some beautifully embarrassing situations.