ruling in Fairyland, at the opening of the story; | by the powder, Mule-head had tumbled down but the King departing for the wars, Titania is with a crack in his skull, and Would-if-he-could left at home with her attendants Puck, Peas- had his arm broken. The first is sent, by the blossom, &c., and that favourite Indian boy Queen, to an asylum for the blind; Mule-head, who had been in her service since the days of whose skull proved too thick to be mended, to a Bottom the weaver. There is a Duke Feather hospital for incurables; and Would-if-heof Light-a nobleman of a very active disposi- could, has ever since carried his arm in a sling. tion, and with a great many duties on hand- Unfortunately, a party of fairies were pic-nicking "He had to ripen the wheat, beard the barley, and at the Land's-End when it was broken off, and, sweeten the grapes, swell the apples, and soften the as all of them had left their wands behind them, peaches, and harden the nuts, and redden the roses, they were just as helpless as mortals would have and whiten the lilies, and polish the blades of grass, been, and the Sea-sprites, who had always been and paint all the flowers without ever making two envious of Land-fairies, were quite glad to see the trouble they were in. The party on the island consisted of a young Fay, named Topaz, into a considerable fortune, which he inherited a nephew of Mule's-head, who had just come alike." But there were also certain members of the Slumberling Family and others, who regarded the one. "The three cousins had a slight smattering of know ledge, but it was of all things on the earth and under the earth; and from their constant habit of looking downward, their necks got so bent that they could hardly turn their heads up to look at the sky. They knew nothing of things above them, for they were so heavy themselves that they could not slide on moonbeams, or even float on thistledown." They were, however, very conceited and selfsufficient, and being discontented with many things in Fairyland, ended by stirring up jealousies and party-feelings, and eventually proposed, after the fashion of their ancestors the Gnomes, to build an underground city-an idea which the Court fairies ridiculed, but the meaner sort rather approved. Matter-of-fact made a speech, in which he reminded poor people that they could not "eat roses, and that Nightingales" had not a feather fit for anybody's use. In this way he managed to arouse dissension in the realm, and the Queen Regent had rather a troublesome time of it. Eventually a piece of ground was given up to the malcontents, who immediately set to work at their excavations. The part given up to them was a narrow neck of ground, which joined a straggling promontory to the mainland, and in delving for the required site the workmen came suddenly on the outworks of the Gnomes, who, in spite of their relationship to the leaders of the party, had no idea of allowing their territories to be infringed, and accordingly a great fight ensued, in which the unarmed workmen had no chance; but one of them, thinking to do a brave deed, threw a lighted torch into one of the Gnome powdermagazines, and the explosion taking place just in a narrow isthmus, it separated for ever the Land's-end from the continent of Fairyland, which sailed off, in independent state, a beautiful little island. Menwhile the workmen were all tumbled into the sea: Matter-of-fact was blinded from a Gnome relation; named the Lady Clove-Pink; the Dowagera charming fairy, friend of Clove-Pink's; a young Fay, named Duchess Japonica; Lilybud, a particular Starbright, who had already distinguished himself at the Court of Titania; and about twenty Topaz, who, as promoter of the pic-nic, ought other young fays and fairies of lesser note. to have set an example of spirit, courage, and generosity to his friends and guests in misfortune, proved the greatest coward imaginable, and thought only of himself; while the ladies of the party showed wonderful calmness and selfpossession, Clove-Pink especially: but some one presently remembered that she was a seventeenth cousin to Queen Titania-a fact which seemed to account for her good sense and courage, qualities which always adorn royalty in Fairyland. When, therefore, Topaz took to wringing his hands and crying, the Dowager-Duchess Japonica, in right of seniority, called a sort of council, and reminding every one of Clove-Pink's relationship to the Queen, recommended them to vow allegiance to her, and be guided by her commands; and though there were some dissentients, upon young Starbright coming forward to do her homage, the rest promised fealty, not excepting even Topaz, who left off crying, and was cunning enough to think it would be a good thing to stand well in Clove-Pink's favour. At a council of the Fairies, Topaz proposes getting back to the mainland by the aid of the Seamonsters, while Starbright appeals to their patriotism, and calls upon them not to desert the strip of fairy-earth, but to retain possession of the island in the name of Oberon and Queen Titania. His eloquence is effective: he crowns the golden hair of Clove-Pink with a wreath of cerulean blossoms, and, at the suggestion of the Dowager, is chosen Prime Minister. And now, while Clove-Pink and Starbright govern, the Dowager Japonica enjoys the quiet and repose due to wisdom and age, and Lilybud, who has art-gifts, sings songs, and dips her fin gers in a sunbeam and with its separated colours paints pictures of Fairy-land. The general population had their proper duties; and, as for Topaz, he had the hardest work of all, being fit for nothing else; he, however, proves as troublesome to Clove-Pink as his relatives had been to Titania; and, as there are always persons to join in any scheme that offers change, he soon had his confederates, who were weary of Lilybud's music and pictures, and who had heard other distant singing, which they liked better, and were resolved to go in search of. So they built a boat, and though Clove-Pink and Starbright assured them that the singing they heard was that of the cruel syrens, nothing could dissuade them from setting off from the island, and accordingly they launched their boat, hoisted their sails, and, with Topaz at the helm, sped away from the island, leaving Clove-Pink with only half her subjects. How it fared with them, how Clove-Pink mourned for them and wearied herself with thinking how they might be saved from misery and brought back to the island I must leave my young readers to discover; suffice it to say, that Clove-Pink has a wonderful dream, which takes her back to the Court of Titania, where she finds that mischievous fairy, commonly called Queen Mah, but whom our author discrowns, and will not allow to have been any other than a spiteful, ill-natured, shrewish old fairy, whom Titania would have severely punished for rotting apples, turning milk sour, killing little pigs, &c.; also for giving mortals bad dreams, but that she promises to divulge a precious secret to one of the Queen's subjects, and indirectly lets her Majesty know that Clove-Pink is living. How the disaffected passengers in the boat, taught by suffering, learn humility, and long to be restored again to the island, how the island is eventually brought back to the mainland by the aid of Ariel and Neptune, and all ends happily, our readers must learn by reference to this pretty, scarletcoated herald of juvenile Christmas GiftBooks. THE LIFE BOAT: a Journal of The National Life Boat Institution.-The October part of this journal, with its unadorned histories of storm and peril, of disaster and heroic enterprise, lies before us; bearing witness that if the seas and shores of our island are beset with cruel dangers, far exeeding the giant and dragon horrors of old romance, there is a breed of men upon her coasts, who-like knights of yore, but with far higher purposes, and a more worthy devotion-rush dauntless into the terrible conflict, and snatch their victories from the hand of Death himself. One cannot read of Life-boat services without a beating heart, and an exulting feeling that we breathe the same air and are of the same people as these men. Nor is the Celt behind the Saxon in his brave endurance and intrepid bravery where the lives of his fellowmen are in jeopardy: whether the site of the action be on the Irish coast, or in the English Channel, the conduct of the Life Boat's crews is everywhere beyond praise, and above remuneration. Let us look down the list at the scenes it presents to us. Now it is the picturesque coast of Wexford, with a N.E. gale blowing, and a helpless vessel running despairingly, with ensign half-mast high, for Wexford harbour. At its very entrance she misses stays, and, to prevent her going on the dangerous shoal known as the Dogger-bank, the anchor is let go, but the chain snaps like a thread, and she drifts on to it. There she lies, with the sea making a clean breach over her, and her few men clinging desperately for life to shrouds and stanchions. In this emergency the Rosslare life-boat is launched; and after remaining by the wreck an hour, at last finds an opportunity to board her and bring her crew to land. The survivors of two other wrecks on this coast were saved by the same life-boat during March and April of this year. It is dark night on our own east coast, and the St. Nicholas light-ship is seconding the light shown by a vessel on the Scroby sands as a signal of distress, by throwing up rockets. Immediately the Yarmouth lifeboat sets forth on her mission of mercy, and rescues from the ship (unmanageable from the loss of rudder) twelve sailors and a pilot, bringing on shore at the same time the crew of one of the beachmen's yawls that had gone off to assist the wrecked vessel, and had received so much damage to their boat that they were glad to return to land in the life-boat. There were of them twenty souls in all-a good night's work for the Yarmouth life-boat crew. At Holyhead on the 14th of January, a schooner is observed in a dangerous position between the Clipera Rocks and Penrhyn Point, Anglesey; the Holyhead life-boat is despatched to her assistance; the heavy gale increases to a hurricane, and in her return voyage, having left four of her hands on board the schooner (who had taken her to a place of safety), the mast of the life-boat goes by the board, the boat is capsized, but immediately self-righting, six of her men get into her, the remaining four being carried away by the sea: three of them are rescued at great risk by a steam-tug, but the other perished from exhaustion. It was afterwards found that he was suffering from painful illness at the time, and ought not to have been allowed to go off; but this is the spirit in which these brave men do their work. Always under the same conditions, strong gales, and heavy seas, and at the hazard of their own lives, yet without fear or hesitation, the brave life-boat's crews persevere in their noble, but dangerous calling, and in the grey dawn of a wintry morning, or at black midnight as in the day, ever ready to distinguish signals of distress, and at all risks to attempt the rescue af the perishing ships'-crews. Such a service, and such men, are amongst the proudest boasts of our nation; and their maintenance one of those self-instituted cares which Englishmen and Englishwomen delight in undertaking. As, however, every season enlarges the scope of the Institution's usefulness, and extends the radius of its work, it is essential that its funds should increase in the same proportion. Donations, subscriptions, or bequests will be received, on behalf of the National Life-boat Institution, by all bankers in town or country, and gratefully acknowledged by the Secretary, Richard Lewis, Esq., 14, John-street, Adelphi. C. A. W. THE INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED FOR THE FEMALE MEDICAL SOCIETY.* We, who gave our good word to the scheme of medical colleges for women at a period when the idea was scouted and abused, may very naturally exult in the fact of this address, and that the second session has opened for the pupils. We are the more pleased because from Dr. Edmonds' address we gather that the principal object of these lady-students is the study and practice of midwifery-a practice which nature and tradition point to as belonging to women, and which remained in their hands till comparatively modern times. In America the number of medical colleges for women have been constantly increasing, and the practice of midwifery has been gradually transferred from men to women practitioners. In France it is well known that the principal practice of obstetrics is in the hands of women, and it is proved by the evidence of the Royal Maternity We give the heading as it stands in the report regretting that the society should have chosen the merely sexual appellation female, instead of the God-given generic name Women. Medical Society of Women would, we think, have been the nobler name. -ED. Charity that, as a rule, women are safer in the hands of their own sex than in those of professional accoucheurs. If this is found to be the case where uneducated midwives are in question, how much more desirable is it that properlytrained practitioners, with intellect and skill equal to their tenderness and sympathy, should be encouraged to devote themselves to this most With every prospect of being eventually selfessentially and naturally feminine profession! supporting, the Society at present needs funds. ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION. on the Polarization of Light, which he describes, Mr. Pepper continues his agreeable lectures defines, and exemplifies with his usual lucidity. The ghosts at the Polytechnic have ever been and play every part but their legitimate one. popular rather than spiritual manifestations, There is nothing ghostly about them but the name, and yet, with the assistance of this same scientific ghost, a sensational entertainment of great power might be produced. Music forms a pleasing element in each evening's programme, and appears to be much enjoyed by the audience generally. HISTORY AND HABITS OF CATS. "Thrice the brindled cat hath mewed."-SHAKSPEARE. Although the domestic "cat" is nowhere mentioned in the canonical books of the Bible, yet it could not have been unknown to the Hebrews; for their ancestors, while in captivity, had witnessed the Egyptians treating it as a divinity. This silence probably results from the animal being considered unclean, and thereby excluded by the Jews from domestic familiarity. In the apocryphal book of Baruch it is noticed only as frequenting Pagan temples, where, no doubt, the fragments of sacrificed animals attracted vermin, and rendered the presence of Babistis-the city sacred to the moon-of which divinity the cat was considered a symbol. In modern Egypt the cat, although more docile and companionable than its European sister, has much degenerated; but still, on account of its utility in destroying scorpions and other reptiles, it is treated with considerationsuffered to eat out of the same dish with the children-to join with them in their sports, and to be their constant companion and daily friend. A modern Egyptian would look upon it as an outrage even to maltreat a cat; and we are told by Sir J. G. Wilkinson that benevolent individuals have bequeathed funds by which a certain number of these animals are fed at Cairo, at the Cadi's court and the bazaar of the Khan Khaleel. Here we must recollect that a tender regard for the lower animals is a prevailing characteristic of the Oriental races, and is inculcated as a duty in their various forms of religion. With the exception of a doubtful passage in Martial's "Epigrams," we have been unable to find the slightest allusion to the domestic cat in the ancient classics; indeed, the Greeks and Romans do not appear to have kept them. 66 The scarcity of cats in Europe, in its earlier ages, is well known; and "our ancestors," says Pennant, seem to have had a high opinion of their utility." In the tenth century, that excellent Prince, Howell the Good, did not think it beneath him, among the laws of Wales relating to the prices of animals, to include the cat, and to describe its qualities. The high value set on them (if we consider the "price of gold" at that remote period) is ample proof of their being but little known. The cat is frequently mentioned by the elder British poets and dramatists, and the word occurs no less than forty-three times in the works of Shakspeare. Writing in the seventeenth century, Burton, in his "Anatomy of Melancholy," remarks that the "Turkish women are perpetual captives, having little else to do but play with children and to dally with cats." Singular anecdotes have been related of the intense repugnance persons have been found to entertain to these, at worst, harmless creatures. Not long after the battle of Wagram, an aidede-camp of Napoleon was proceeding to bed at an unusually late late hour, when, on passing the Emperor's bed-room, he was surprised by repeated calls from him for assistance. Opening the door hastily, a singular spectacle presented itself-the great soldier of the age, half undressed, and fearfully agitated, in his hand his victorious sword, with which he was making frequent and convulsive lunges at some invisible enemy through the tapestry that lined the walls. On examination, a cat was found secreted in this place, but Napoleon held the animal not so much in abhorrence as in terror. Vandenhoff, the well-known tragedian, had the same antipathy to cats, and if one entered the room in which he happened to be, would leap on a chair, and scream till it was removed. | "A feather," says the poet, "daunts the brave;" and a greater poet, through the mouth of Shylock, remarks that "there are some who are mad if they behold a cat." Count Bertram would seem to have shared in this unaccountable aversion. When Parolles, the gallant militarist, was convicted of cowardice, Bertram exclaimed: "I could endure anything before this, but a cat; now he is a cat to me." The force of censure could no further go. If Napoleon held cats in positive fear, there have been others, and some of them illustrious captains, that have regarded them with very different feelings. Marshal Turenne could amuse himself for hours in playing with his kitten; and the great General, Lord Heathfield, would often appear on the walls of Gibraltar (during the famous siege) attended by his favourite cat. Cardinal Richelieu was also very partial to them; and when we have recorded the names of Sir Isaac Newton, of Doctor Johnson, Horace Walpole, the poets Cowper and Gray, and the meditative Montaigne, the list is far from complete of those who have bestowed on the feline race some portion of their affections. About a dozen years since the newspapers chronicled, as a fact provocative of especial wonder, the enterprise of a New York merchant who had exported a cargo of one hundred cats to New Grenada, where, it would appear, the race had become extinct, owing, probably, to the uninterruptedly disturbed state of that wretched republic. In 1850, the rats were plentiful and so destructive, and cats were so very scarce in California, that twenty-five dollars was the ordinary price paid for one. Sales of this kind have frequently taken place in San Francisco. The delight a cat takes in tormenting a mouse before killing it is often noticed. It is an interesting fact, however, that when the prey is a bird, instead of a mouse, the cat immediately inflicts a mortal wound, as if conscious of its greater chances of escape. Of all domestic animals the cat is the least servile, and is incapable of restraint, and consequently of being educated to any extent. Although instances of personal attachment are not wanting, its affection is rather to the house than to its owner, and the stories told of cats finding their way back from long distances to their former homes are really wonderful. Cats are attracted by peculiar odours, and exhibit a violent fondness for catmint and valerian, rubbing their noses and rolling themselves in the latter with signs of great and uncontrollable excitement. The cat is also remarkably nervous, and when the fur is rubbed contrary to its direction, it gives out the electric spark, and, when under the influence of fear, the same effect is produced on the long hairs of the tail, as if a stream of electricity was transmitted through it. Cats are particularly fond of fish, and, in a few instance, have been known to catch them from shallow streams, notwithstanding their great repugnance to water. They will, at times, pursue and feed upon cockroaches, crickets, and the larger insects. Such as have lost their young have been known to transfer their maternal affection to young rabbits, squirrels, leverets, and even to rats and puppeys. The fur of the cat is very free from any oily substance, so as to be readily injured by water. In Holland the animal is bred for its fur, for which purpose it is fed on fish. The eye of the cat is narrow and contracted in daytime, but at night the pupil is round and wide, so that it can see in a very feeble light, and it is thus adapted for those nocturnal raids to which, even in domestication, it shows so strong and natural a tendency. There is, probably, no animal that so soon loses its cultivation and returns to a state completely wild. Want of proper food and attention will impel them to depend upon their own resources, and the tasting of wild or living meat wiil tempt them to abandon their civilized homes. THE LADIES' PAGE. [N.B.-The number of cotton in our number for November shonld be 3, not 13.] WAVED CROCHET TRIMMING. MATERIALS.-Waved crochet braid No. 2; Boar's Head crochet cotton of Messrs. Evans and Co., Derby, No. 18 and No. 4. For finer trimmings use crochet braid No. 1 and cotton No. 20. Measure off as many yards of the braid as the trimming is required to be. Keep this to the left, as it is for the straight line, and the braid to the right is for the 2nd line. Commence by putting the needle into the centre of one of the waves of the braid and bringing the thread through in a loop, 1 chain, join to the next wave to the right, thus-take the needle out of the loop, put it into the braid, and bring the loop through—* 3 chain, 1 treble crochet stitch on the next wave of the 1st line, 3 chain join to the next wave of the 2nd line. Repeat from 3 times more, in all 4 treble on the same wave. Then 3 chain, 1 plain on the next wave of the 1st line, 3 chain, join to the 2nd line, 2 chain, 1 plain on the 1st line, 4 chain, 1 plain on the next wave, 2 chain, join to the next wave of the 2nd line, 3 chain, 1 plain on the 1st line, 3 chain, join to the 2nd line. Commence again at * and repeat. Keep the straight line at the top, and commence in the 1st wave of it, work 3 chain, take a 3rd line of braid and join to the 1st wave of it, 3 chain, 1 plain on the next wave of the 1st line. Repeat to the corner wave at the end. Then, for the side-3 chain and join to a wave twice-3 chain, 1 plain on the same wave as the last plain; † (3 chain, join to a wave, 3 chain, 1 plain on the next wavé, twice); 3 chain, join to a wave, 3 chain, 1 plain on the same wave as before, 3 chain, join to a wave, 3 chain, 1 plain on the next wave, 3 chain, join to a wave, 3 chain, 1 plain on the same wave as before (3 chain, join to a wave, 3 chain, 1 plain on the next wave, twice); then 2 chain and 1 plain on the next waves, twice. Repeat from † to the end. WINTER SOCK. MATERIALS.-Six ounces of lambswool; 4 pins, No. 18. Cast on 38 loops on each of three pins. Knit two plain, one pearl in every row. Knit till the work measures nine inches, narrowing five times in that space by knitting two stitches together on each side of the back seam; divide the loops in half, and form the heel thus: Place one half of the loops on one pin for the heel, the remainder on the two pins for the instep. Knit the loops on one pin for four inches, narrowing twice; knit to the back seam, divide the loops and cast off. Pick up the loops at each side of the heel, knit these with those for the instep In the first round make a sitch after every third on the two side pins; in the next round, narrow by knitting the last on the side pin and the first on the instep in one; repeat at the other side of instep. Next round, plain. Repeat these two rounds fourteen times; then knit about eighty rounds; after which, narrow for the toe. Narrow three times at each side of the pins in every other round, till the whole are narrowed off the sole of the foot, and the last sixty rounds must be plain knitting. |