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Things.

66

TO BE SEEN.

UR BOYS" before the performers become superannuated!

The Children's Pantomime at the Adelphi. Miss Ada Cavendish as Lady Teazle at St. James's Theatre.

Professor Gardner doing Conjuring Tricks at the Polytechnic.

TO BE KNOWN.

Any one can for a few pence make a very serviceable electric telephone that will carry a considerable distance. Take a small round wooden box, such as a tooth-powder box, and slightly hollow out its under surface and the upper surface of the lid. Bore a hole of equal size through the centre of each, and fasten them together, first placing between them a thin plate of iron cut out of an ordinary tin. Fix a reel on to the middle of the inside of the lid, and wind round it a length of insulated wire, leaving both ends free. Invest a penny in a toy magnet, or magnetise a short piece of iron rod, and pass it through the reel till it almost touches the iron plate. Make a duplicate of this apparatus, which acts as both receiving and transmitting instrument, and connect the two coils by a telegraph wire.

That when the eyes get fatigued with reading at night, or in the bright sunlight, yellow spectacles are invaluable. That opera glasses tinged with yellow are most comfortable.

That light is useful as a curative agent.

That blue light makes grapes grow.

TO BE READ.

The Christians Under the Crescent in Asia. By the Rev. E. L. Cutts. (S.P.C.K.) The official character

of the author's visit gave him exceptional opportunities of making himself acquainted with the condition of the people. It would seem that the Nestorians are not so badly off as they would make out. We may note the singular coincidence that Dr. Cutts' vicarage is but a few yards from that of the late Rev. J. P. Fletcher, who was selected to take part in a similar mission in 1842. In both cases eminent personal qualifications justified the appointments.

Erema, or my Father's Sin. By R. D. Blackmore. (Smith, Elder.) An interesting novel running out of the stereotyped grooves. The scene opens and closes in the great Californian desert. The old sawyer is a very naturally drawn character.

Castle Blair. By Flora L. Shaw. (Kegan, Paul.) Describes the sayings and doings of a family of children left very much to themselves on an Irish estate. They are real children, natural and life-like, and their different dispositions are well brought out.

The Life of H.R.H. the Prince Consort. By Theodore Martin. Vol. III. (Smith, Elder.) This has been reviewed at such length in the daily press, that we need not dwell on it. It comes most opportunely at the present moment, being almost entirely occupied with the Eastern Question. It shows the thorough attention the Queen gives to public business, and the remarkably correct views the Prince took of the political situation from time to time. He, alone, seems to have seen what were the reforms needed in the administration of the army, some of which have only lately been carried out.

Five Years' Penal Servitude. By One Who has Endured It. (Bentley.) We have been quite unable to find any one on our staff who will admit any special qualifications for reviewing this work. Speaking as outsiders, we think there is a good deal in it, of both facts and opinions, which deserves the careful consideration of those whom it concerns.

London in the Jacobite Times. By Dr. Doran.

2 vols. (Bentley.) One of the sort we know so well from this pen, crammed with facts readably strung together. But whence the title? It deals with other than Jacobite times, and the scene is not confined to London. Dr. Doran, of all men, we thought knew how to choose a title.

Mycena. By Dr. Henry Schliemann. (Murray.) The author's unparalleled discoveries are a very practical comment on the growing spirit of disbelief in everything ancient, which the inevitable rythm of history has brought about in our day. Even those who cannot agree with his interpretation of the treasure of Hissarlik may find themselves almost forced to believe that within the Agora at Mycenae he has found the veritable tombs of Agamemnon, and his fellow-victims. In any case, the light thrown on the Homeric poems by these excavations in regard to manners, customs, dress, weapons, and the like, is simply invaluable. Mr. Gladstone prefaces the work with an able summary of the evidence afforded, and the directions in which it seems to point.

The Voyage of the Challenger-The Atlantic. By Sir C. Wyville Thomson. 2 vols. (Macmillan.) It seems ungracious to say we are disappointed with a work of so great interest, but it is the fact. After waiting so long, we had hoped for a tolerably complete account of the most important scientific results of the expedition. Instead, we find that a large proportion of these two volumes consists of matter which appeared while the voyage was in progress, and the whole is a curious mixture of light magazine sketches and deep science. For instance, most readers of the description of Lisbon and its neighborhood will hardly appreciate the diagnosis of a new "cheilostomatous Bryozoon" in the same chapter. Some of the "General Conclusions," especially with respect to oceanic circulation, may be expected to raise brisk controversies among scientific men. The illustrations are beautifully executed.

W

Growls.

BY OUR DISCONTENTED FRIENDS.

HY are certain frequenters of reading-rooms never satisfied with one periodical at a time? They may be observed reading one, with their arms on a little pile of the latest, reserved for future consumption. A much-occupied, much-worried business man or hard-working student runs in for ten minutes, anxious to obtain certain news, or inform himself as to some recent discovery. He wanders helplessly about the room, vainly searching for the desired print. At last he departs, concluding it cannot be in the room, and bestowing what we will hope are blessings on the staff of the establishment for not seeing to its regular supply. Then one of those omnivorous individuals, having done with the paper in hand, produces the missing one, and proceeds to leisurely devour it.AN INDIGNANT READER.

Please, Mr. T, T-, What's-your-name, may I growl a little? It is at those young gentlemen who think it becoming to arrive at a ladies' door redolent of tobacco, and appreciate their society only to the point of mentally estimating the earliest moment at which they may discreetly withdraw from it to light up again. I don't mind gentlemen smoking sometimes. My Edwin smokes (such beautiful cigars), but not on the way to a party.-ANGELINA.

Why does the South-Eastern Railway Company provide only one second-class carriage, and that apparently a superannuated, but uncleansed, cattle-truck on certain of their trains? Perhaps they think it compensated for by the privilege of paying exorbitant fares, and having a long ride (in point of time) for the money. This growl is of as old standing as the dirt in the carriages, which is saying much.-Sou'-EASTER.

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