British Poets," his "Essay on English Poetry,' and his Lectures on Poetry, in the "New Monthly Magazine," will assist you in forming a correct taste, and in appreciating the various merits of the different poets.

think its aroma is better preserved by beating in a mortar, but this is tedious. The proportions for making coffee are usually one pint of boiling water to two and a half ounces of coffee. The coffee being put into the water, the coffee-pot should be covered up, and left for two hours surrounded with hot cinders, so as to keep up the temperature, without making the liquor boil. Occasionally stir it, and after two hours' infusion, remove it from the fire, and allow it a quarter of an hour to settle, and when perfectly clear, decant it. Coffee in England is generally over roasted, and to this fault arise all the incon

154-Beds. E. J.-In regard to the kind of beds most suitable for refreshing slumber, there are differences of opinion; some are advocates for soft and some for hard beds. The difference between the two is this-the weight of a body on a soft bed presses on a larger surface than on a hard bed, and consequently more comfort is enjoyed. Children should never be allowed to sleep on hard beds, and parents err who suppose that such beds contribute to health, hardening and developing the constitution of children. Eminent physicians, Dr. Darwin among the number, state that hard beds have frequently proven injurious to the shape of infants. Birds cover their offspring with the softest down or the most velvety moss. The softness of a bed is not evidence of its being unhealthy, and they have but a poor understanding of the laws of nature who think otherwise.

155-True Nature of Love. E. P.-Love, in the heart of a woman, should partake largely of the nature of gratitude; she should love, because she is already loved by one deserving her regard; and if you never allowed yourself to think of gentlemen in the light of lovers or husbands, until you were asked to do so, you would escape much suffering. The credulity of women, on the subject of being loved, is very great; they often mistake a common liking for a particular regard, and on this foundation build up a castle in the air, and fill it with all the treasures of their bright hopes and confiding love; and, when some startling fact destroys the vision, they feel as if the whole creation were a blank to them, and they were the most injured of women. It is safer to be very sceptical on the subject of being loved; but, if you do make the mistake, take all the blame to yourself, and save your dignity by secrecy, if you cannot keep your heart from loving.

156-French Method of making Coffee. C. H. G. The principle points are these:-The coffee, -Turkey or Bourbon,-should be roasted only till it is of a cinnamon colour, and closely covered up during the process of roasting. In France this is done in closed iron cylinders, turned over a fire by a handle, like a grindstone. The coffee should be coarsely ground soon after it is roasted, but not until quite cool; some

but which, in reality, are produced by the imperfect modes of its preparation.

157-Insensibility of the Brain. H.-Sensi bility is, in reality, very different from what is suggested by first experience. Thus, the brain is insensible: that part of the brain which, if disturbed or diseased, takes away consciousness, is as insensible as the leather of our shoe. That the brain may be touched, or a portion of it cut off, without interrupting the patient in the sentence he is uttering, is a surprising circumstance! From this fact physiologists formerly inferred that the surgeon had not reached the more important organ of the brain; but that opinion arose from the notion prevailing that a nerve must necessarily be sensible. Whereas, when we consider that the different parts of the nervous system have totally distinct endowments, and that there are nerves insensible to touch and incapable of giving pain, though exquisitely alive to their proper office, we have no just reason to conclude that the brain should be sensible, or exhibit a property of the nerve of the skin. Reason on it as we may, the fact is so; the brain, through which every impression must be conveyed before it is perceived, is itself insensible. This informs us that sensibility is not a necessary attendant on the delicate texture of a living part, but that it must have an appropriate organ, and that it is an especial provision.

158-Hours of Rest. B.-The mind requires regular rest as well as the body, and does not so soon recover from any excess of exertion. But it is the tendency of the present state of society in England to produce unnatural exertions. Stage-coach horses, and walkers against time, are not the only creatures that are worked to death in this country. Many are the labourers (and it is the most sober and industrious upon whom the evil falls), who, by task-work, or by working what are called days and quarters, prepare for themselves a premature old age: and many are the youths who, while they are studying for University honours, rise early and sit up late, have recourse to art for the purpose of keeping their jaded faculties wakeful, and irretrievably injure their health for ever, if this intemperance of study does not cost them their lives. bishop Williams is said to have slept only three hours in the four-and-twenty; "so that he lived three times as long," says his biographer, "as one that lived no longer." This is a marvellous fact, for Williams was a man who employed all his waking hours, and, moreover, was not of the most tranquil disposition. "But," says Dr. Southey, "I believe that any one who should attempt to follow his example would severely suffer for his imprudence."

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159-Correction of Children. B. The less of physical force or menacing language we use the less, to take an expressive word, we scold our children- the more order and quiet we shall commonly secure. We have seen a family where a single word or a look even would allay a rising storm. The gentle, but firm method, is the best security for domestic peace.

160-Hops. T. B. S.-Hops were first introduced from Flanders in 1525, but it was not until the close of the 17th century that the culture became well established in Kent and Sussex. A duty of one penny per pound was first imposed in 1711, and this was subsequently increased by three five per centages. In 1802 an additional three-farthings per pound was levied, with a further five per cent. in 1810.

161-Nutritious Food. T. G.-The following statement shows the proportion of nutriment contained in various articles of food:-Greens and turnips contain 8lbs. in the 100; carrots 14lbs. in the 100; potatoes 25 lbs. in the 100; butchers' meat, sorted, about 35 lbs. in the 100; wheaten bread, 85 lbs. in the 100; broad-beans 89 lbs. in the 100; peas, 92 lbs. in the 100; lentils, 94 lbs. in the 100; French beans in grain, from 92 to 94 lbs.

162-Benefits of Sensibility. C. R.-It may appear, at first view, that our condition would have been improved had we not been endowed with the sensibility which often renders disease so great an evil; but in the same proportion that our ease would have been consulted, our danger would have been increased. It is by the quick sensibility of our frame that we are warned of a thousand dangers, and enabled to guard against

them.

163-Gall-nuts. B. J. J.-The gall-nuts used in making ink, are produced by the insect which punctures the leaves of a species of oak very common in Asia Minor, where they are collected in considerable quantities by the poorer inhabitants from the different ports of the Levant they are exported to various parts of the world. The galls held in the greatest estimation, are those known in commerce under the name of blue galls. These are the produce of the first gathering before the fly has issued from the gall.

164-Disappointments. P.-We are but poor consolers. You will find the best solace in reason. Look upon these dispensations of Providence as designed for some wise purpose which Remember you will probably hereafter fathom. what Quarles says;

"The world's a hive,
From whence thou canst derive

No good, but what thy soul's vexation brings:
But case thou meet
Some petty-petty sweet,

Each drop is guarded by a thousand stings."

165-Inconsistent Ladies. S.-No doubt. How often do we see a lady who cannot walk, cannot rise in the morning, cannot tie her bonnet strings, faints if she has to lace her boots, never in her life brushed out her beautiful hair, would not, for the world, prick her fingers with plain sewing, but who can work harder than a factory girl upon a lamb's-wool shepherdess, dance like a dervish in a ball-room, and whilst every breath

of air gives her cold in her father's house, and she cannot think how people endure the climate. she can go out to dinner parties in January and February, with an inch of sleeve, and half a quarter of bodice.

166-Sealing-wax and Wafers. M.-Francis Rousseau, a native of Auxerre, who travelled a long time in Persia, Pegu, and other parts of the East Indies, and who, in 1692, resided at St. Domingo, was the inventor of sealing-wax. A lady, of the name of Longueville, made this wax known at court, and caused Louis XIII. to use it; after which it was purchased and used throughout Paris. By this article, Rousseau, before the expiration of a year, gained 50,000 livres. The oldest seal with a red wafer ever yet found, is on a letter written by Dr Krapf, at Spires, in the year 1624, to the government at Bareuth.

167-Rapid Flight of Birds. H. M.-Your remarks are very just. We may also add that a vulture can fly at the rate of 150 miles an hour. Observations made on the coast of Labrador convinced Major Cartwright that wild geese could travel at the rate of 90 miles an hour. The common crow can fly 25 miles, and swallows according to Spallanzi, 92 miles an hour. It is said that a falcon was discovered at Malta twenty-four hours after the departure of Henri IV. from Fontainebleau. If true, this bird must have flown for 24 hours at the rate of 57 miles an hour, not allowing him to rest a moment during the whole time.

168-Duty of Parents. J. C.-If you are dissatisfied with the means you have employed for the education of your child, lose no time in personally inquiring into the conduct of the teacher. Parents do not seem to know that the impressions which their children receive at school may make them happy or miserable, not only in time, but through eternity; consequently, they are not careful to visit the school and observe whether the moral as well as intellectual education of their children is cared for. Parents should visit the school frequently. It is a duty they owe not only to their children, but to their. teacher.

169-Quantity of Sleep. W. B.--A great deal has been said about the necessary quantity of sleep; that is, how long one ought to indulge in sleeping. This question, like many others, cannot be reduced to mathematical precision; for much must depend upon habit, constitution, and the nature and duration of our occupations. A person in good health, whose mental and physical occupations are not particularly laborious, will find seven or eight hours' sleep quite sufficient to refresh his frame. Those whose constitutions are debilitated, or whose occupations are studious or laborious, require rather more; but the best rule in all cases is to sleep till you are refreshed, and then get up.

170-Early Hours. C. R.-We must refer you to repeated injunctions on this subject. Cobbett in one of his works, says of himself: "Now is there a man on earth who sits at a table, on an average, so many hours in the day as I do? I do not believe that there is; and I say it, not with pride, but with gratitude, that I do not believe that the whole world contains a man who is more constantly blessed with health than I am. In

winter I go to bed at nine, and I rise, if I do not oversleep myself, at four, or between four and five. I have always a clear head; I am ready to take the pen, or begin dictating, the moment I have lighted the fire, or it has been lighted for me, and, generally speaking, I am seldom more than five minutes in bed before I am asleep."

171-Doctors' Fees. F.-Medical fees are not established by law. You should consider well the character of an individual before entering into an engagement with him. With regard to fees in general, the Chinese appear to have a shrewd idea of a physician's worth.-Kien Sing, emperor of China, asked Sir George Staunton how physicians were paid in England.' When Sir George explained the matter to him, the Emperor exclaimed, "Can any man in England afford to be sick?-now I will inform you how I deal with my physicians.-I have four, to whom the care of my health is committed, and a certain weekly salary is allowed them; but the moment I am ill, the salary is stopped till I am well again. I need not inform you that my illness is never of long duration."

172-Dinner Parties. A. Z.-You are perfectly right; expensive dinner parties should be avoided. Some of the most delightful dinners in memory have been the simplest all wit, fun, and good sense, with merely "flashes of silence." "Cheerful looks make every dish a feast."

The very essence of a dinner is absence of ceremony. Half the dinners that one goes to, offer but dry leaves instead of flowers: they are but mockeries of enjoyments, waste of hours, through fear of tyrant Custom and desire to be thought "genteel." Mr. Walker, of "The Original," truly says, "Any body can dine, but very few know how to dine so as to insure the greatest amount of health and enjoyment." Those who will help society to this knowledge, strangle foolish forms, and substitute for wasteful expenditure good taste, good sense, and good humour, should be regarded as its benefactors.

173-Sensibility of Infants. M.-A notion prevails that the young of animals are directed by instinct, but that there is an exception in regard to the human offspring; that in the child we have to trace the gradual dawn and progressive improvement of reason. This is not quite true; we doubt whether the body would ever be exercised under the influence of reason alone, and if it were not first directed by sensibilities which are innate or instinctive. The sensibilities and motions of the lips and tongues are perfect from the beginning; and the dread of falling is shown in the young infant long before it can have had experience of violence of any kind. The lips and tongue are first exercised; the next motion is to put the hand to the mouth in order to suck it; and no sooner are the fingers capable of grasping, than whatever they hold is carried to the mouth. So that the sensibility to touch in the lips and tongue, and their motions, are the first inlets to knowledge; and the use of the hand is a later acquirement.

to in-door occupations, and have but little time allotted them for taking the air, and that little time is generally sadly encroached upon by the ceremony of dressing to go out. It may appear a simple suggestion, but experience only will show how much time might be redeemed by habits of regularity; such as putting the shawls, cloaks, gloves, shoes, &c. &c., or whatever is intended to be worn, in readiness, instead of having to search one drawer, then another, for possibly a glove or collar-wait for shoes being cleaned, &c., and this when (probably) the out-going persons have to return to their employment at a given time. Whereas, if all were in readiness, the preparations might be accomplished in a few minutes,-the walk not being curtailed by unnecessary delays.

175-Indolent Habits. W. S. H.-A writer on health very justly condemns the habit of lounging, which a large number of persons indulge, as injurious to health. He says:-"An erect bodily attitude is of vastly more importance to health, than people generally imagine. Crooked bodily positions maintained for any length of time, are always injurious whether in the sitting, standing, or lying posture, whether sleeping or waking. To sit with the body leaning forward on the stomach, or to one side, with the heels elevated to a level with the head, is not only in bad taste, but exceedingly detrimental to health. It cramps the stomach, presses the vital organs, interrupts the free motions of the chest, and enfeebles the functions of the abdominal and thoracic organs, and, in fact, unbalances the whole muscular system. Many children become slightly humpbacked, or severely round-shouldered, by sleeping with the head raised on a high pillow. When any person finds it easier to sit or stand, or walk or sleep in a crooked position than a straight one, such person may be sure his muscular system is badly deranged, and the more careful he is to preserve a straight and upright position, and get back to nature again, the better."

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176-Cheerfulness. J.J.-Marry by all means, as your circumstances appear to favour such a choice, and you will then probably have the comfortable home you desire. A thrifty, cheerful helpmate, is the sunshine of home. noticed," said Franklin, "a mechanic, among a number of others, at work on a house erected but a little way from my office, who always appeared to be in a merry humour, who had a kind word and cheerful smile for every one he met. Let the day be ever so cold, or sunless, a happy smile danced like a sunbeam on his cheerful countenance. Meeting him one morning, I asked him to tell me the secret of his constant happy flow of spirits. No secret, doctor,' he replied; I have got one of the best of wives, and when I go to work she always has a kind word of encouragement for me, and when I go home she meets me with a smile and a kiss, and she is sure to be ready; and she has done many things during the day to please me, that I cannot find in my heart to speak unkind to anybody.' What an influence, then, woman has over the heart of man, to soften it, and make it the foun

ance to the human frame, yet how many are in a manner deprived of it by their own want of management of their time! Females with slender means are for the most part destined

gently, then; a happy smile and a kind word of greeting, after the toils of the day are over, cost nothing, and go far toward making a home happy and peaceful.

177-Conversation. G. C.-The art of conversation consists in the exercise of two fine qualities. You must originate, and you must sympathize; you must possess at the same time the habit of communicating and listening. The union is rare, but irresistible.

178-Punctuality. J. B.-Make it your own rule not only to be punctual, but a little beforehand. Such a habit secures a composure which is essential to happiness; for want of it many people live in a constant fever, and put all about them in a fever too.

179-Fair Division of Duties. M. B. R.Undoubtedly you are correct in applying your energies to proficiency in music, but do not let the keys of the pianoforte make you forget the keys of the store-room, or the enlightenment of your understanding prevent you from inquiring the price of candles.

180-Cheerfulness of Religion. C. R.-Do not entertain the absurd prejudice that religious people are melancholy. It is altogether the reverse. The true spirit of religion cheers as well as composes the mind; it banishes indeed ali levity of behaviour, and dissolute mirth; but fills the mind with perpetual serenity, uninterrupted cheerfulness, and an habitual inclination to please others, and be pleased ourselves.

181-Eminence. S. S.-Do not trouble yourself about "rising to eminence.' If, in consequence of your writings or your deeds, you should become eminent, very well; but to do anything for the sake of "rising to eminence," is unworthy of a man. Very comfortable and very noble lives are led in obscurity. Moreover, true eminence is not attainable by any man who places it before him as his chief object, because that indicates an inherent weakness of character.

182-Charity for Others. F. J.-You are undoubtedly correct in your arguments, and your friend is at fault. But do not assume a victory where reason and scriptural facts have gained you the advantage. You must make many allowances for others. We are too apt, in religious matters, to call the man who goes beyond us in belief a fanatic, and he who comes short of our creed an infidel; not reflecting, that He who is the light and the truth, sees not with our eyes, and judges not with our judgment.

183-Cage-birds. H. C. C.-Some birds accustomed to their prisons, live for many years and die from age only. In confinement the goldfinch has often been known to live sixteen or eighteen years. Gesner saw one at Mentz which had attained to twenty-three; but the people of the house were obliged once a week to scrape its nails and bill, that it might eat, drink, and sit on its bar. It had subsisted principally on poppy seeds; it was incapable of flying, and all its feathers had become white.

184-Beaver Hats. A. C.-The entire hat is now rarely made of so costly a material as beaver fur, which is only used to cover the outside. This fur is almost entirely brought from North America. It is gradually becoming scarce and dearer, being now obtainable only in inconsiderable quantities from the most northerly and inaccessible, districts. The fur of the middleaged or young animal, called cub-beaver, is most esteemed, it being the finest, most glossy, and taking the best dye. There are also used for

hatting, the furs of the musquash or musk-rat, otter, neutria, hare, and rabbit.

185-Musical and Unmusical Voices. D.-Too little attention is paid in this country to the modulation of the voice. Even shop-keepers and shop-tenders would find their account in sonorous and musical voices. Tape and needles cannot be sold so rapidly by men or women with harsh and squeaking voices, as every one who has had much experience in shopping, must acknowledge. - Sensitive people, at any rate, are not apt to go a second time to a shop where they have encountered a croaking voice. It is a fact, that the voices of the people of England are much more musical than are those of most other people.

186-Choice of Spectacles. W. J. J.-The ova. spectacles now made are very superior to the larger sized ones formerly employed, which indeed, were constructed upon an erroneous principle. For, when the eyes are not directed near the centre of the spectacle glasses, the object appears confused, more of the glass being employed at one view than a portion equal to the size of the pupil of the eye; this on an average is the eighth of an inch in diameter; but, as it would be tedious always to look through a small aperture, the glasses are of a sufficient size to admit of a moderate degree of motion; and, as we require a greater latitude horizontally than vertically, their figure is of an oval form.

187-Artificial Flowers. W. L.-Artificial flowers are the most beautiful things among the works of art. In making them, Nature should be carefully studied, so that all the parts and appendages may be rightly placed; for they are beautiful only as they approach the perfection of nature. Some may say that artificial flowers are of no use; they are only a gratification of vanity. But, whatever tends to promote happiness must be useful; and beauty, of whatever kind, wherever it may be found, is a source of happiness; and God designed that we should enjoy it, or He would not have filled the world so full of it, and given us such exquisite sensibilities to appreciate its worth.

188-Clothing of Children. G. R.-Children are in many cases most insufficiently protected from the weather; numbers are without a single article of woollen under-clothing, either in consequence of carelessness, or from the erroneous idea of rendering them hardy; a system which may answer in the offspring of hardy parents, whose children are hardy in every other respect, but which can only be productive of injury to health in those who spend most of their time in warm, perhaps too warm, rooms and nurseries. The surface of a child, from the neck downwards, ought to be kept warm by clothing; exposed chests, bare legs, and thin insufficient coverings, are synonymous with croup, inflammation of the lungs, and scrofula.

189-Eau de Cologne. J. S.-Every dealer in this delightfully perfumed water, will tell you that his article is veritable Farina; but it is essential to know that at Cologne there are no fewer than three Farinas, one only of whom is the genuine descendant of the inventor and proprietor of the secret. Dr. Granville, from inquiries made at Cologne, estimated the whole quantity of Cologne water, actually sold in that town for exportation, to amount to 38,090 bett

annually. It is manifest, therefore, that a large quantity of Eau de Cologne must be spurious; for a much larger quantity than the one just mentioned is consumed in Europe. The facility with which this perfume may be imitated, has probably led to the manufacture of it in most of the large Dutch towns.

190-Passing for More than One is Worth. J. J.-Undoubtedly you are right to cultivate a laudable ambition, but do not exaggerate your capacity. The world will not give you credit for half what you esteem yourself. Some men think it so much gained to pass for more than they are worth; but in most cases the deception will be discovered, sooner or later, and the rebound will be greater than the gain. We may therefore set it down as a truth, that it is a damage to a man to have credit for greater powers than he possesses. "The conceit that a cat has nine lives," says Pope, has cost at least nine lives in ten of the whole race of them; scarce a boy in the streets but has in this point outdone Hercules himself, who was famous for killing a monster that had but three lives."

191-Ebony. E. D. H.-This wood, which is extremely hard, and susceptible of a very fine polish, is much used in mosaic, inlaying, and other ornamental works. Its colour is red, black or green. The black is most esteemed, and is imported principally from Madagascar and the Isle of France. Red ebony, so called, though its colour is brown, striped with black, is less compact, and is also brought from Madagascar. The green is softer than either of the preceding, yields a fine green tincture, which is employed in dyeing, and is brought from the West Indies, particularly from Tobago, as well as from the above-mentioned islands. The best is jet black, and free from knots or reddish veins. Ebony is imitated by subjecting the pear-tree to a hot decoction of galls, and, when this is dry, applying ink with a stiff brush.

192-Servants. M.-We cannot give you any advice on the subject, beyond that of treating your domestics with liberality and discretion. Dr. Kitchener's economy of keeping servants is highly humorous: "Provide each of your servants with a large pair of spectacles, of the highest magnifying power, and never permit them to sit down to any meal without wearing them; they are as necessary and useful in a kitchen as pots and kettles; they will make a ark look as large as a fowl, a goose as big as a swan, a leg of mutton as large as a hind-quarter of beef; a twopenny loaf as large as a quartern; and as philosophers assure you that even pain is only imaginary, we may justly believe the same of hunger; and if a servant who eats no more than one pound of food imagines, by the aid of these glasses, that he has eaten three pounds, his hunger will be as fully satisfied. The addition to your optician's account will soon be overpaid by the subtraction from your butcher's and baker's!"

193-Mealy and Waxy Potatoes. E. G.-An examination of the potato with a microscope, has proved the relative worth of the mealy and waxy kinds of this useful vegetable. On examining a thin slice, it is seen to be almost entirely composed of cells, which are sometimes filled with, and sometimes contain clusters of, beautiful little oval grains. These grains remain un

changed in cold water; but when it is warmed they dissolve in it, and the whole becomes a jelly, and occupies a larger space than it did in the form of grains. When a potato is boiled, then each of these cells of which it is com posed becomes a little vessel full of jelly; and, if there be not a great quantity of starch in the cells, it may be gelatinized without bursting them. But, if the number of grains or their size be very great, the cells of the potato are broken on all sides by the expansion of the little masses of jelly, and the appearance of mealiness is produced. Hence we see that mealy potatoes are the most valuable, and waxiness denotes a deficiency of starch or nourishing matter.

194-The Bottle Trick Explained. C. W. T.Although the subject is somewhat opposed to the rules we have adopted for answering our correspondents, still we are desirous of obliging our young friend, and will endeavour to solve his question. In this well-known trick there are two puzzling points: first, how can fifty or a hundred wine-glasses be filled from one quart bottle? and, secondly, how can six or eight different liquids be poured from the same bottle? The first wonder is explained thus:-The glasses are so small, and have such thick bottoms, that a full quart bottle will hold enough to fill eighty of them. The second marvel is managed in the following manner :-The glasses are arranged on a tray in a particular manner by the conjurer, before the entertainment begins. The bottle is filled with a weak mixture of spirits of wine, water, and sugar. At the bottom of each glass is a drop or two of some flavouring essence, as noyeau, essence of brandy, port wine, sherry, etc.; and the operator is thus enabled to concoct a tolerable resemblance of any fluid that is likely to be called for, and to supply a hundred persons or more with half a sip of their favourite beverage, from the "inexhaustible bottle."

3,

195-Comparative Light of Wax and Tallow. R. B.-Many erroneous notions are entertained of the relative economy of Wax and Tallow Candles, which may be corrected by the following experiment from a French journal. The candles burnt were of the same length and weight, and composed of these substances:-1, The wax of Japan; 2, White or bleached bees' wax: Tallow; 4, A composition of two-thirds wax of Japan, and one-third tallow; 5, A composition of three-fourths of the same wax, and one-fourth of bees' wax. It was found, on extinguishing these candles, when reduced to about one-fourth of their length, that the remains of those made of wax of Japan, of tallow, and of the compositions of wax and tallow, were of the same length; that the bees' wax candle was diminished twoninths less than those before mentioned; and that the candle, in the formation of which two waxes were united, was of intermediate length. By careful experiment, it has been proved that the flame of a tallow candle is far more brilliant than that of wax lights; composition candles are equal in vividness of light, excepting always that into the composition of which there enters a portion of tallow, which is next, though at a wide interval, to the tallow candle. Dr. Ure has ascertained that a mould candle will burn half an hour longer than a dipped candle of the same size.