(Le Triboulet, Paris, 1884)
To avoid cholera:
1. Be clean
2. Be sober
3. Don’t walk too much
4. Don’t eat ice cream
5. Smoke in moderation
6. Beware of humidity
(signed) Dr. Koch
Cazot is bound to catch the microbe, since he would rather drown than take a bath.
Temperance being the primary necessity, Jules Ferry, a great swallower of all things Chinese, will be an excellent subject for the scourge. [As Prime Minister, Ferry was the chief culprit in accelerating French colonial entanglements in Indochina.]
The violent exertion that Mr. Cochery is giving himself to quickly send us our despatches and letters will be fatal to him. [Cochery was Minister of Posts and Telegraphs.]
Abusing ice cream is fatal: enamelling is a lost gift. [Punning on the double meaning of “mirror.”]
How can we prevent our respectable people from smoking a lot, since, with their driving permits, they have more than six stations at their disposal?
We can say to Grévy [president of the Republic]: “Don’t lie down on the grass, he won’t want to give up his pelouze.” [Grévy was rumored to be having an affair with the wealthy socialite Marguerite Wilson-Pelouze.]
Sic Transit Pestilentia 