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NATURE'S REPOSITORY.

ANIMALS OF AFRICA.

THE RHINOCEROS.

THE high plains and terraces of Southern Africa are remarkable for their extraordinary change of aspect in the succession of the seasons. During the summer heats they are perfect deserts, answering to the term applied to them, Karroos, from the Hottentot language, signifying dry or arid. But the sandy soil being pervaded with the roots and fibres of various plants, it is spontaneously clothed with the richest verdure after the rains, and becomes transformed for a time into a vast garden of gorgeous flowers, yielding the most fragrant odours. Adapted thus to the support of gramnivorous animals, the Karroos are the resort of antelopes, zebras, quaggas, and gnus, in countless herds, and of the carnivorous beasts that prey upon them, the lion, the hyena, the leopard, and the cheetah. These quadrupeds, however, with the elephant and the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffe, buffalo, and ostrich have been largely banished from their old haunts by the advanced footsteps of civilized man, and are now only to be found in the more secluded districts.

No where but in such a country as Africa, where vegetation is so rank and prolific, could such stupendous animals as the Rhinoceros find an existence, they consume such enormous quantities of food. The skin of this animal seems as if it was laid on in plates, and is in many parts impervious to a musket-ball. From its nose rises a large and strong horn; which, as a means of offence as well as an assistance in enabling it to tear up the roots of trees is almost indispensable to its existence. This instrument however, does not arrive at perfect development for some years. The recent work of Mr. Gordon Cumming, the Lion Slayer, gives us many interesting anecdotes regarding the habits and appearance of the Rhinoceros, as he found him while pursuing his adventures amid the wilds of Africa.

COURAGE OF THE HAWK.-A hawk lately chased a full-grown cat into the cottage of one of the herdsmen of R. Burdon, Esq., of Castle Eden. The hawk was most ferocious, and only after it had bitten the herdsman rather severely was it captured.

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restive I could hardly manage him. I gave him his head, when he sprang into a canter, and in about a mile I had the welcome sight of water."

ARCTIC HARES.-They are very beautiful, as white as swan's down, with a crescent of black marking the ear-tips. They feed on the bark and catkins of the willow, and affect the stony sides of the worn-down rocks, where they find protection from the wind and snow-drifts. They do not burrow like our hares at home, but squat in crevices or under large stones. Their average weight is about nine pounds. Parry found the hare at Melville Island in latitude 75°; but we have traced it from Littleton Island as far north as 79° 08', and its range probably extends still farther north toward the Pole. Its structure and habits enable it to penetrate the snow-crusts, and obtain food where the reindeer and the musk-ox perish in consequence of the glazed covering of their feeding-grounds.

WINTER FLOWERS.-The winter aconite blossoms about this

time; it should be avoided by children, who are very apt to apply flowers to their mouths, it being a deadly poison.

Vincent Bourne's poem, on this companion of the fireside :-
THE CRICKET.-The following is Cowper's translation of

Little inmate, full of mirth,
Chirping on my kitchen-hearth,
Wheresoe'er be thine abode,
Always harbinger of good.
Thus thy praise shall be express'd,
Inoffensive welcome guest;
Though in voice and shape they be
Formed as if akin to thee,
Thou surpassest, happier far,
Happiest grasshoppers that are.
Theirs is but a summer song,
Thine endures the winter long,
Unimpair'd, and shrill, and clear,
Melody throughout the year.
Neither night nor dawn of day
Puts a period to thy play.
Sing then, and extend thy span
Far beyond the date of man.
Wretched man, whose years are spent
In repining discontent,
Lives not, aged though he be,
Half a span compared with thee.

THE FAMILY MIRROR.

DOMESTIC UTILITIES.

CARE OF LINEN.

One of the most important departments in the management of a household is that which embraces the care of the linen. Accordingly when this is well dried and put away in the wardrobe, the next part of our duty is to secure it from the effects of damp and the inroads of insects. These intruders are often destructive, but they may be prevented from doing injury by a judicious mixture of aromatic shrubs and flowers, cut up and sown in silken bags, and the drawers and shelves interspersed with them. Rosemary, lavender, thyme, cedar shavings, roses, powdered sassafras, cassia, lignea, mixed with a few drops of otto of roses or other strong perfume, may be agreeably adopted for this purpose. In all cases, it will be found that the linen, as well as all other washable articles, will be economised by being examined, and where necessary, carefully repaired previous to their admission to the laundry. The articles ought also to be numbered and arranged after washing, so as to have their regular turn in domestic use. Another saving will be found in purchasing soap in large quantities, cutting it in pieces of about a pound weight each, and keeping it in a place of moderate temperature. sometimes scorched in the getting up, without actually being burned through, the effect may be removed by the following

means.

TO REMOVE SCORCHING FROM LINEN.

As linen is

Add to a quart of vinegar the juice of half a dozen large onions, about an ounce of soap rasped down, a quarter of a pound of fuller's earth, one ounce of lime, and one ounce of pearlash, or any other strong alkali. Boil the whole until it is pretty thick, and lay some of it on the scorched part, suffering it to dry. It will be found that on repeating the process for one or two washings, the mark will be completely removed without any additional damage to the linen; provided its texture is not absolutely injured as well as discoloured.

SUBSTITUTES FOR SOAP.

As an article of domestic economy, fuller's earth might be employed in the cleansing and scouring of anything woollen, being an excellent substitute for soap, of which great quantities are consumed, that might be saved in house cleaning. The sawdust of fir and pine trees contains a very large proportion of resinous and saponaceous matter; so that it has been usually employed by the country people of Norway and Sweden instead of soap, in washing coarse linen.

TO PREPARE AN IMPROVED BLEACHING LIQUOR.

This is effected by a dissolution in water of the oxygenated muriates of calcareous earth, barytes, strontites, or magnesia. The earth should be prepared in the dry way, by bringing them in a solid form, in powder or in paste, in contact with the oxygenated muriatic acid gas. and apply them to the substance as required to be bleached. By So prepared, dissolve them in water, this mode, colours may be removed from linen, cotton, and vegetable and animal substances.

THE CABINET.

LIFE.-Life is a journey, and it is generally our own fault if we do not make a pleasant excursion of it.

ADVICE.-Advice should always be given in the smoothest and most polished medium-as you will see nurses administering medicine to children in a silver spoon.

DON'T TRUST TO APPEARANCES.-Do not mistake a man for a fool because he looks simple. If you do, you may find yourself the fool at the end.

FOREBODINGS.-Evils in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm the traveller upon the road; they both appear great at a distance, but when we approach them we find that they are far less insurmountable than we had imagined.

TIME AND TALENT. Our time is a universal talent, that every man that lives to discretion hath. Every man hath not a talent of learning, or of wealth, or of honour, of subtilty of wit, to account for; but every man that lives to the age of discretion, hath time to account for.

EXAMPLE.-None knows how much good he may do by his own quiet and unobtruding example. By improving ourselves we should be sure and silent benefactors to all with whom we commingle and associate. No one acts rightly without acting

beneficially in so doing. He scatters the seed of a sweet flower, that will spring up again in some other bosom and be sure to multiply itself in the same way for ever.

fault, in private, if possible, and sometime after the offence, HOW TO FIND FAULT.-Find fault, when you must find rather than at the time. The blamed are less inclined to resist and the accused party is struck with the forbearance of the when they are blamed without witnesses; both parties are calmer, proper time for mentioning it. accuser who has seen the fault, and watched for a private and

neglect and contumely. Humour his passions, and he despises A WORLDLY YET TRUTHFUL MAXIM.-Show a man that you court his society, and it is a signal for him to treat you with you as a sycophant. Pay implicit deference to his opinion, and he laughs at you for your folly. In all, he views you with contempt, as the creature of his will and the slave of his caprice. Whatever thou mayest do, solicit not friendship.

Upham if man, or woman either wishes to realise the full power BEAUTY. I have come to the conclusion, says Professor purposes-by having something to do, and something to live for, of personal beauty, it must be by cherishing noble hopes and pacities of the soul, gives expansion and symmetry to the body which is worthy of humanity-and which, by expanding the cawhich contains it.

Would

A WORD TO THE MARRIED.-"I compared notes with one of my friends who expects everything of the universe," says Emerson, "and is disappointed when anything is less than the best; and I found that I begin at the other extreme, expecting nothing, and I am always full of thanks for moderate goods.' philosophic spirit. But they will not. Hope is too sweet for that all young persons could learn to enter wedlock with this them. They will not stoop till they stumble. Lofty expectations hover over the precipice of disappointment, towards which so many of our married friends have been lured, until too late to save themselves from tumbling down.

generally known that, when once a woman has accepted an offer HINT TO ENGAGED YOUNG LADIES.-It is probably not the property of the man thus accepted as a husband; and no gift of marriage, all she has, or expects to have, becomes virtually marriage is held to be valid; for, were she permitted to give away or deed executed by her between the period of acceptance and the or otherwise settle her property, he might be disappointed of the wealth he looked to in making the offer.

ADMIRATION AND ASPIRATION.-It is a good thing to believe, it is a good thing to admire. By continually looking upwards, dulging in habits of scorn and contempt for others is sure to our minds will themselves grow upwards, and, as a man, by indescend to the level of what he despises, so the opposite habits of everything else, humanity is the surest path to exaltation. admiration and enthusiastic reverence for excellence, impart to ourselves a portion of the qualities we admire. Here, as in

ONE GREAT SOURCE OF VEXATION.-One great source of vexation proceeds from our indulging too sanguine hopes of enjoyment from the blessings we expect, and too much indifference for those we possess. We scorn a thousand sources of satisfacfor some imagined pleasure at a distance, which we may, perhaps, tion we might have had in the interim, and permit our comfort to be disturbed and our time to pass unenjoyed, from impatience never obtain, or which, when obtained, may change its nature, and be no longer pleasure.

TRUTH.-There is something so irresistible in truth, that it at heart. In vain does the hypocrite attempt to imitate this amiable once convinces the understanding, and forces a passage to the virtue, or endeavour to impose upon the credulous by the fabrications of deceit; for he is generally caught in the intricate trammels of invention, and it is not easy to say whether he is most condemned or despised. Moreover, truth is always consistent with itself, and needs nothing to help it out. always near at hand, and fits upon our lips, and is ready to speak out before we are aware; whereas, a lie is troublesome, and sets a man's invention upon the rack; and one trick needs a great many more to make it good.

It is

SUPPORT IN DANGER.-A military officer being at sea in a storm, his lady, who was waiting near him, and filled with alarm for the safety of the vessel, was so surprised at his composure and serenity that she cried out, "My dear, are you not by a pillar of the bed-place, he drew his sword, and pointing it to afraid? How is it possible you can be so calm in such a storm?" He rose from a chair lashed to the deck, and, supporting himself

the breast of his wife, he exclaimed, “Are you not afraid?" She instantly replied, "No, certainly not." "Why?" said the officer. "Because," rejoined the lady, "I know the sword is in the hand of my husband, and he loves me too well to hurt me." "Then," said he, "remember, I know in whom I have believed, and that He holds the winds in his fist, and the waters in the hollow of his hand."

PLAIN WOMEN.-Every one knows how many simple letters from simple-minded women have been kissed, cherished, and wept over by men of lofty intellect. So it will always be to the end of time. It is a lesson worth learning by those young creatures, who seek to allure by their accomplishments, or dazzle by their genius, that though he may admire, no man ever loves a woman for these things. He loves her for what is essentially distinct from, though not incompatible with them-her woman's nature and her woman's heart. This is why we so often see a man of high genius or intellectual power, pass by the De Staels and Corinnes, to take into his bosom some wayside flower, who has nothing on earth to make her worthy of him, except that she is what so few "female celebrities are-a true woman.

HOME.-Mixed companions tend to vitiate the mind, and indispose it for better pursuits. We need much retirement to keep us in close communion with God. Home, after all, is the scene where all ought especially to shine. Home is the place which should always be dear to a woman, whether married or single. When we are always panting for the excitement of society, it is an evidence that all is not right within. A Christian must not ever live in a crowd. "When thou wast under the fig-tree," far from human observation, "I saw thee," was the language of Divine approbation addressed to Nathaniel. How beautifully does the poet sing of retirement !

'There, if thy Spirit touch the soul,
And grace her mean abode,

Oh! with what joy, and peace, and love,
She communes with her God.

There like the nightingale she pours

Her solitary lays,

Nor asks a witness of her song,

Nor seeks for human praise!"

MINT OF HUMOUR.

The remains of the bachelor who "burst into tears" on reading a description of married life, have been found. What is that which has form without substance, and size without weight?-A shadow.

Why is a gunsmith's shop like a chicken pie ?-Because it contains fowl-in-pieces (fowling-pieces.)

An obscure physician quarrelling with his neighbour, cried in a rage that some time or other he would be the death of him. "No, doctor," replied the other, "for I shall never send for you."

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When Milton was blind, he married a shrew. Duke of Buckingham called her a rose. "I am no judge of flowers," replied Milton, "but it may be so, for I feel the thorns daily."

An American writer suggests a new kind of telegraph, viz., to place a line of women at a distance of about fifty paces apart, and then communicate to the first woman the news to be transmitted as a "profound secret.'

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A foppish fellow advised a friend not to marry a poor girl, as he would find matrimony with poverty "up-hill work." "Good," said his friend, "I would rather go up-hill than downhill any time."

"Come under my umbrella and save a ducking," said an impudent fellow to a pretty Miss, in the street, on a rainy day. There is one calf's head under it already, and that's as many as it will conveniently cover," replied the damsel.

Lord Evelyn, son of the Earl of Bute and an officer in the Guards, wore long moustachios, and appeared thus in the House of Commons, of which he was a member. One day Mr. Cy thus addressed him, "My Lord, now the war is over wont you put your moustachios on the peace establishment?" "I do not exactly know whether I shall do that," replied his lordship, "but I would advise you to put your tongue in the civil list."

An old lady combated the idea of the moon being inhabited by remarking with emphasis that the idea was incredible to believe" For," said she, "what becomes of the people of the new moon when there is nothing left of it but a little streak?"

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There was great comfort to a desponding man in the answer he got from a friend to whom he was confiding his gloomy apprehensions of the future. "I don't see," said Mr. Blues to Mr. Bright, "how I shall ever get through the world." "Did you ever hear," asked Mr. Bright, "of one who got stuck by the way?"

When Dr. Zimmerman was at the court of Berlin, Frederick II. asked him one day in conversation, if he could ascertain how many he had killed in the course of his practice. "That is an arduous task," replied the doctor, "but I think I may venture to say, not half so many as your majesty."

A gentleman inquired of a carpenter's boy:-"My lad, when will this job your master has now on hand be completed?" "I can't tell, sir," said the honest boy, artlessly: "It's a day job, and it will depend upon how soon the old man has another order."

A tailor sent his bill to a lawyer for money, the lawyer bid the boy tell his master that he was not running away, but very busy at that time. The boy comes again, and tells him he must needs have the money. "Did you tell your master," said the lawyer, "that I was not running away?" "Yes, sir," answered the boy, "but he bade me tell you that he was.'

A crazy woman, living near Rydal, was asked if she ever saw Wordsworth, and what sort of man he was. "Oh, indeed," said she, "he is canny enough at times; and though he goes booing his pottery [repeating his poetry] through the woods, he will now and then say, "How d'ye do, Nanny," as sensible

as you or me!"

A boy having been remarked for his quickness of retort, a gentleman, on looking at him, observed that "when children are so keen in their youth, they generally become stupid as they advance in years." What a remarkably sharp boy you must have been yourself, sir!" retorted the youngster. The gentleman remembered an appointment which required his immediate attention.

When Dr. Johnson courted Mrs. Potter, whom he afterwards married, he told her that he was of mean extraction; that he had no money; and that he had had an uncle hanged. The lady, by way of reducing herself to an equality with the that though she had not had a relation hanged, she had fifty doctor, replied, that she had no more money than himself, and who deserved hanging. And thus was accomplished this very curious affair.

A stranger passing along a road in the south of Scotland was surprised at the perfect solitude in which he found himself, there being actually no one to be seen upon the whole road as far as he had gone, nor could he see any one for miles before him. Coming up to a poor man who was breaking stones by the wayside, and glad of any companionship in such a desert, he asked him, by way of drawing on conversation, if this road was well frequented?"Ou, ay," said the man, "it's no that ill; a cadger gaed by yesterday, and there's yoursel the day."

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There is a good story told in connection with the Aberdeen harbour. When the trade to the West Indies was first opened up, it is said that the Magistrates of Aberdeen were tempted to try their fortune in what promised to be such a lucrative business, and sent a vessel out there on speculation. The many anxious gazers from the Castle Hill for the arrival of the "shippie" were at length rewarded, and when safely moored in the harborie," the civic dignitaries paid it a visit. After having exhausted the accidental wonders which had been brought home, the Provost and Bailies retired to the cabin to partake of the skipper's good cheer. While thus engaged, a monkey, which was part of the importations, amused with the tie of the Provost's wig, honoured it with an occasional pull, much to the good old man's annoyance. "Odd, laddie," he would say aside, "ye'd better be quiet." "What's the matter with you, Provost?" said the captain, overhearing one of the Chief Magistrate's remonstrances. "It's that laddie o' yours," was the reply. "What laddie, Provost ?" "That ane there, wi' the rough foul face, an' the sair e'en." "That's nae a laddie, Provost; it's a monkey." "Is't, is't?" said the worthy dignitary, "fat better kent I. I thocht it was some o' your sugar-makers' sons come o'er to our university to get's eddication.'

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The amount to be sent in stamps, to the Office, 9, Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London.

ANNETTE.-Brandy is of no value as a remedy for sea sickness. Dr. Landerer, a medical man at Athens, announces that he has discovered a sovereign specific against it. His remedy is to give from ten to twelve drops of chloroform in water. Should the sickness return, a fresh dose to be taken. It was tried on twenty passengers on a very rough voyage from Zea to Athens, and all but two were cured by one dose.

G. F. F. (Shoreditch).-The cultivators of figs simply gather the ripe fruit, scatter it round the trees, and allow it to dry in the sun. When dry, it is collected into large packs, and sent into Smyrna on camels. The roads and principal streets are thronged all day with long strings of these animals. The fig market is an animated scene. Hundreds of bags of figs are arranged in a sort of square, where the arrival and unloading of camels, the tasting of buyers and the bargaining with sellers, are perpetual. When a purchase has been made, the bags are conveyed to the packers, and after being sorted into baskets are squeezed into shape by dirty women and children, and then packed into the drums or boxes by men. This process is a very disgusting one to look at, and it is said that no one who has seen it ever eats a fig again. The residents buy a yearly stock, and have them packed at home by their own servants.

R. GRAHAM.--We do not believe in dreams foreshadowing future events. But there is a singular instance in connection with the late Mr. Hugh Miller, if true. His father, shortly before Mr. Miller's birth, and when looking forward to it with deep interest, had a dream, to the effect that he should have a red-haired son, who should rise to great distinction in the world, and then die by his own hand. All these anticipations, formed in the visions of the night, have been remarkably fulfilled in the person of the late Mr. Miller-equally so in his life and in his death. It is a no less curious fact that this dream of his father's was not only well known in the family, but that more or less importance was attached to it by its members.

LADY JANE.-According to the Annales du Commerce Exterieur, Leghorn sends every year about thirty small crafts to the coral fishery. Formerly the Tuscan boats, as well as those of Naples, which are their only competitors, stationed themselves by preference on the coast of the regency of Tunis, of Algeria, and of Corsica; but at the present time they give the preference to the coast of Sardinia, where they find the coral in great abundance. The coral is brought by the boats to Leghorn, where it is sold for working purposes, or for exportation in a rough state. There are at present at Leghorn, without speaking of secondary establishments, four large manufactories for working the coral, each of which employs from 250 to 390 work women. The coral when worked and transformed into ornaments and head-dresses, is chiefly exported to the East Indies via Marseilles. The quantity exported to European states is very trifling, if we except Russia where the article is much sought after. A great number of necklaces of common quality are also sent to Germany, where they are used as ornaments for the dead. The price of coral since 1850 has varied but little at Leghorn, and it is governed entirely by quality.

A SOLDIER.-We have heard that it is the intention of the authorities to discharge those men belonging to the corps of Royal Engineers at Chatham, who are of bad character, and with this view a return has been ordered of the names of all those men belonging to that corps whose character is of such a description, in order that they may receive their discharge forthwith.

THE FAMILY MIRROR.

BASTIME

39.

My 1, 2, 10, 7, is a small estate. My 12, 11, 2, 3, is to wander. My 5, 8, 5, 6, is a flower. My 1, 11, 4, 5, is to defeat. My 9, 2, 8, 5, is a fence. My 5, 2, 4, 10, is the abode of a wild beast. My 5, 8, 2, 12, is a wicked person. My 9, 11, 11, 1, is part of a house. My 9, 8, 5, is the edge of any thing, and my whole 2 words, 12 letters, is a publication of great worth which everybody ought to read. KING PIPPIN.

40.

My first is a requisite portion of dress,
Worn by ladies and gentlemen too;
My second in very plain terms will express
A nick-name for boys; and if you
Add both these together correctly you'll see
My whole, which is used every day
For taking my first off. 'Tis made from a tree
In a very particular way.

41.

My first is a fish,
That's no meagre dish;

A fish is my second too.

G. M. F. G.

When these fishes are joined,

I think you'll find, That a fruit will appear to view.

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44.

I'm a strange contradiction, I'm new and I'm old,

I'm often in tatters, and oft decked with gold; Though I never could read, yet lettered I'm found.

Though blind I enlighten, though loose I am bound.

I'm always in black, and I'm always in white, I'm grave and I'm gay, I am heavy and light. In form too, I differ; I'm thick and I'm thin; I've no flesh and no bone, yet I'm covered with skin.

I've more points than the compass, more stops than the flute,

I sing without voice, without speaking confute. I'm English, I'm German, I'm French, and I'm Dutch;

Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much.

I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages,
And no monarch alive has so many pages.
H. MORE.
Solutions to the above will be given in our next.

Answers to the Pastime of our last number, page 176.

35. Sum-Mary. 37. Clay.

36. Mile-Stone. 39. Water.

J. S. (Chelsea).-We cannot advise in the matter, but we do not think your neighbours will find their proximity to their dwellings very agreeable. It must be remembered that cocks are the time-keepers of the natural world. Their crowing commences at stated periods, and the sound is heard and responded to from roost to roost, and from time to time, all over the kingdom. No sooner is the crow announced, than, like an echo, it is repeated. These natural arrangements awake other birds, beasts, and millions of bipeds and quadrupeds, which live upon the earth. All is motion. Night has fallen in the lap of daybreak. Morning is in ecstasy. The day is spread: The ancients set a proper value on cock crowing, which we moderns do not pretend to imitate.

D. BROWN (Battersea).-The clubs of London would make a curious chapter in the social history of the people of England. They are thoroughly characteristic of us. people and have a horror of indiscriminate assoWe are a proud ciation; hence their exclusiveness. We are an economical people, and love to obtain the greatest possible amount of luxury at the least possible expense; hence, at our clubs we dine at prime cost, and drink the finest wines at a price which we should have to pay for slow poison at a third-rate inn. We are a domestic people, and hence our clubs afford us all the comforts of home, when we are away from home, or when we have none. Finally, we are a quarrelsome people, and the clubs are eminently adapted for the indulgence of that amiable taste. London clubs are certainly the abodes of earthly The bliss, yet the ladies wont think so.

JAMES FERGUSON (Coylton).-We regret that we cannot insert your answers to the questions of J. Bury, (Hurst) as we would not only have to get a diagram cut, but the space they would occupy in our page would leave us little room for our other numerous correspondents.

B. KIRKE (Coleshill).-At the top of this page you will see the scale of charges for The Family Mirror; but as it is to be had of all booksellers in the kingdom, we would suggest your ordering it through one in your town.

G. A.-We cannot advise you how to administer your meditated punishment in such a case, but we have heard of a good minister who prayed fervently for those of his congregation who were too proud to kneel and too lazy to stand.

J. S. Give him up or you will find that there is one evil that quacks in length of time do effec tually cure us of-and that is, the faith we place in their nostrums.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE Family Mirror.-Sir, Having noticed several deaths by putrid sore throat, I send for publication in your excellent miscellany, the following recipe, knowing it to be almost infallible:

J. B., M.D.

Chloride of Soda (Liquor of Labarraque) one ounce; water (distilled if obtainable) twelve ounces; mix and gargle four or five times a day.

P. D. We do not know it from experiment ourselves, but M. Pepin, "Chef de Cultures" at the Jardin des Plantes of Paris,has made some curious observations on the change of colour which culture produces in plants. He has found that cultivated annuals experience a change of tint more promptly than perennial plants, for each year they are renowed through the seeds. change is, however, sometimes produced in Such a biennials and perennials, and rarely ever in ligneous species. The annual plants of Chili, Texas, and California have a strong tendency to produce varieties with white flowers, especially when their flowers produce either of primary colours-red, yellow, or blue. the same is true of many other species introduced The into France; the varieties with white colour are first produced, and afterwards the variegated.

We cannot return rejected manuscripts. All our literary arrangements are complete.

Published at the Office of the "FAMILY MIRROR," No. 9, Johnson's Court, Fleet St., where all communications are to be addressed.

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AS

DORRINGTON AINSLIE.

BY JOHN SHERER.

CHAPTER XXV.-THE COTTAGE BY THE CLIFF.

Sa ray of sunshine is suddenly obscured by the intervention of a passing cloud, so was the gleam of sense which Fanny had just shown, by a relapse into utter unconsciousness. A paler hue passed over her countenance, a livid blue painted her lips, her eyes closed, and not a motion evinced the presence of life in her clasically modelled figure, as Dorrington laid her down among the rocks, partially overcome himself with the exertion he had made, and the shock which his own feelings had sustained. His first impulse was to return and rescue the other sufferer in whom

VOL. I.

Fanny seemed to have such an interest, but as he had taken the precaution to withdraw him several yards from the encroaching sea, and to leave him for a little, as safe as the nature of the circumstances would admit, and as he had not discovered in him any signs of life, he thought it better to endeavour to restore the being before him, and save one life rather than by trying to save two, lose both. Remembering that he beheld a little cottage cast, as it were, by chance amongst the dreary solitudes, which, in these parts, stretch for a con siderable way inward from the cliffs, he determined to hasten thither with all the speed he could command. Accordingly, having just assured himself that Fanny still lived, and having placed her in as easy a position as the accommodation of rocks, sand, and garments saturated with sea-water, would allow, he set out for the cottage with the energy of

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