CORRESPONDENCE.

Fleurs-de-Lis CAROLINE H. The fleurs-de-lis of France were removed from our national escutcheon in 1801. Life Boats.

T. WILLIAMS.-The first life-boat used in England was invented by Henry Greathead, boat-builder, of South Shields, in 1789.

Botany. S. WARTON," Hooker's British Flora," or "Witheringcal Arrangement," will greatly assist studies.

Green-flies on Roses. S. B.An excellent remedy for this annoyance is effected by moistening the plant, and then dusting it over with equal portions of sulphur and tobacco dust.

Honiton Lace M. LEE. The district in which Honiton lace is made extends about thirty miles. along the coast of Devonshire, and about twelve miles inland. Between 7000 to 8000 persons are now employed in producing it.

Brass Pans in Cooking. M.-No danger can result from the use of brass pans in the preparation of confectionary, provided they are kept perfectly clean and bright; but the syrup, or other preparation, ought never to be allowed to cool in them.

Esthetic. J. PALMER.-This word is derived from the Greek, and denotes an acquaintance with, or power of conveying ideas of the beautiful. It is likewise used to designate those properties of matter which are adapted to interest the feelings, and operate upon taste.

Calculating Machines. 8.Besides the Calculating Machine of Babbage, there is one invented by a Russian, Staffel, which performs accurately and the calculations of the first four rules of arithmetic, as well as the extraction of the square root, though less readily. Little inferior to this is one by a Frenchman, Thomas de Colmar. These were in the Great Exhibition. Studying after Meals. CHARLES HELMORE,-It is a great error to study immediately after eating. The almost inevitable result is dyspepsia; and it will be found, that those who are in the habit of strongly employing the mental faculties, shortly after taking food, are more or less subjected to this affection.

Climbing Roses. H. JOHNSON.-A pyramid of climbing roses is a beautiful object in a garden. Irons or wooden stakes, twelve feet in height, gradually approaching each other till they meet at the top, with climbing roses trained up their sides, is a pleasing and easily constructed ornament. Fancy and taste may range at will in inventing forms to ornament the parterre with roses. Beds of roses, raised pyramidally, have a splendid effect. When the flowers die away in the autumn, the mass may be clipped into form, with the garden shears, as you would clip a laurel hedge.

Food of Macaws, JANET.-These birds will eat all kinds of fruit, but it is best to feed them upon rolls steeped in milk. Biscuit also is not hurtful; but meat, and all kinds of pastry and sweetmeats, render them unhealthy, and even if they survive upon this for several years, they become sickly, and their plumage gets disordered. They drink but little, being always supplied with succulent food.

The Flores-tristes, or Melancholy Flowers of Linnæus. E. G.-This was a term applied by the great Swedish naturalist to plants which grow both in the garden and hothouse, the natives of other climates, though growing in England, which are scentless during the day, but breathe their sweetness on the dews of night. They are likewise generally of a brown and dismal colour.

Albert Durer. STUDIOSUS. The original wood blocks of the Passio Christi, cut by Albert Durer in 1510, are in the British Museum. Casts of these curious productions were taken in 1844. The term engraving is misapplied as to the works of Durer and his contemporaries, for it was not the graver, but the knife, that was used to produce the blocks from which impressions were then taken, after the manner of block cutting for calico printers of the present day.

Rules for Eating. T. S. C.-Appetite, while in health, is a guide for the quantity, and taste for the quality and variety of food required by the system. There is no need of rising from the table until satisfied, though care must be taken not to satiate. A writer wittily remarked, that the natural language of satisfied is enough," and of satiated "too much." Cheerful conversation while at meals promotes digestion, by removing all care and restraint from the mind, and causing the body to assume an easy, comfortable position.

Strawberry Wine. SARAH J. The following receipt has been sent to us from a friend, and will perhaps satisfy your inquiry:-Bruise the fruit and press out the juice; then pour over several gallons of water, infuse for twelve hours, and press out the liquor; add this liquor to the juice, and mix with some gallons of cider; dissolve in the mixture sufficient sugar, and three ounces powdered red tartar, and then set it to ferment în the usual way; pare the rinds of two lemons and two oranges, and, together with the juice, throw them into the fermenting tub, and take out the rinds when the fermentation is over, some brandy may be added.

Classes of Flowers, ANNE T.-Flowers are commonly classed as bulbs, tubers, herbaceous perennials, biennials, and annuals. The first are chiefly, as well as a few of the tubers, spring flowers, and of course require to to be planted in prepared beds, boxes, or pots, in the autumn, sooner or later, according to the place or purpose for which the flowers are wanted. Tulips, hyacinths, polyanthus-narcissus, are the principal

TALES OF THE AFFECTIONS. BY THE COUNTESS D'ARDOUVILLE.

DOCTOR.

THE VILLAGE "GRACIOUS! who have we got here?" exclaimed at the same time a number of persons, standing together at the windows of the dining-room of the Chateau de Barcy.

The Countess de Moncan had just inherited, by the death of a relative very far removed, and very little regretted, an old chateau, of which she had no knowledge, though distant scarcely fifteen leagues from the estate where she habitually passed the summer season. Madam de Moncan, one of the most elegant, and almost one of the prettiest women in Paris, had no great affection for the country. She would leave Paris at the end of June, and return at the commencement of October, taking with

VOL. XI. NO. CXXIX.

her in her train to Moncan a party of the companions of her winter gaieties, with some of the young gentlemen who had been her most attentive admirers in the dance. The hushand of Madam de Moncan was much older than herself, and did not always gratify her with his presence. Without too greatly abusing this great freedom from restraint, she amused herself with a graceful coquetry, an elegant manner, and sought her happiness in some trifle, a compliment, an amiable speech, the triumph of an hour. She liked a ball for the pleasure of looking pretty, and enjoyed the love she inspired, with the same feeling that she would like to see a flower picked up that had dropped from her bouquet; and when certain grandmothers and grandfathers offered any of their wise remonstrances, she would answer them with "Ah, let me laugh and take life gaily! Surely it is less dangerous

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than to be in solitude, and have one's heart always beating. As far as I can tell, I hardly know if I have a heart!" The fact is, that the Countess de Moncan was by no means certain in this respect; and as it was important for her that this point should remain doubtful all her life, she thought it prudent not to give herself too much time for reflection upon it.

One bright morning, then, on a fine September day, she and her guests, started for this unknown chateau, with the intention of passing the day there. A cross-road, reported passable, was to reduce their journey to twelve leagues. The cross-road was terrible; they lost themselves in the wood; one of the carriages broke down; and it ended in the arrival of the travellers towards the middle of the day, fatigued, and by no means enraptured with the picturesque beauties of their route, at the Chateau de Barcy, the view of which went very little way towards consoling them for the wearisomeness of the journey to it.

It was a great mass of building, with dingy walls. In front of the main entrance, a kitchen garden, at that time out of cultivation, went down terrace by terrace, for the chateau had been built up on the sides of a wooded hill, and had not a flat space near it; the mountains that hemmed it in on all sides were rocky, and the sombre verdure of the trees that sprang up amongst them gave an air of sadness to the scene. Neglect had exaggerated its natural wildness into savageness, and Madam de Moncan stood, disconcerted, on the threshold of the old chateau.

Well, this hardly resembles a party of pleasure," said she;" and I am almost inclined to cry at the lugubrious aspect of the place. However, here are fine trees, grand walks, and a resounding torrent. No doubt there is a certain kind of beauty here, but it is of too grave a cast for my taste," she observed with a smile. "Let us enter, and view the interior."

"Yes," rejoined the hungry guests, "let us see whether the cook, who started yesterday as our advanced guard, has made a more fortunate arrival than we have,'

They soon attained the pleasurable certainty that an abundant déjeuner would be rapidly served, and occupied themselves meanwhile in running through the chateau. The ancient furniture, covered with old

damask-the arm-chairs with three legs only-the rickety tables-the discordant sounds uttered by a piano forgotten for twenty years, furnished a thousand subjects for observation. All were again gay; and in place of making an evil of the inconvenience of this uncomfortable day, they determined to laugh at everything. Besides, to these young and idle fashionables, a day like this was an event, almost a perilous campaign, and the novelty began to appeal to their imaginations. A fire was lighted in the huge chimney of the salon ; but the puffs of smoke that were emitted on all sides drove them into the garden. Here the aspect was strange; the stone benches were covered with moss; the walls of the terraces had in many places bulged out, and made way for the growth of numerous wild shrubs between their disfigured stones, some rising up straight and tall, others falling towards the ground with all the flexibility of creeping plants; the walks had disappeared under the green sward; the parterres reserved for cultivated flowers were invaded by others of a wilder race, such as spring up on every spot that heaven permits a drop of water or a ray of sunshine to fall upon; the white bearbine twined round and choked the "rose of the four seasons;" the rude blackberry intermingled with the red fruit of the curranttrees; the fern, the perfumed mint, the thistles, with their heads bristling with darts, grew side by side with the unnoticed lilies. Besides, when the travellers entered the enclosure, numbers of small animals. alarmed at the unaccustomed sounds, took to flight along the grass, and the birds left their nests, fluttering from branch to branch. Silence, that had reigned for years in this tranquil spot, gave place to the sound of voices and the joyous bursts of laughter. None of them could comprehend this solitude; none retired within themselves at it. They disturbed, they irreverently profaned it. They talked over numberless episodes of their pleasant parties in the winter, chatting as they went, with a mixture of amiable allusions, expressive looks, covert compliments, and such numerous nothings as make up the conversation of those whose chief aim it is to please, inasmuch as they have not the right to be serious.

The maitre d' hotel, after vainly wander