usual allowance was two glasses, took, without hesitation, as much as half a bottle-that those who were in the habit of taking half a bottle, took a bottle and a half, and that, in short, he had been compelled twice to send hackney-coaches for additional supplies during dinner, though he had provided a larger supply than usual, considering the circumstances under which the members met. Minute inquiries afterwards assured me, that no headache nor other injurious consequences had followed this meeting, nor was any of the members aware, at the moment, they had partaken more heartily than usual, till Mr. Barry showed them what had taken place. The meeting included individuals of all ages, and of extreme variety of occupations, among whom there were judges and members of Parliament, medical men and members of the bar, naval and military officers, whose different ages varied as much as their very various professional occupations.

The Fire. The least thing which a fire does for a room is to warm it. It is the resuscitation of the exhausted air which constitutes its chief value. The air of a chamber, in which all is stagnation, is soon rendered unfit for human respiration, unless the season of the year will permit the admission of the external air. Hence, most elderly persons, without becoming natural philosophers, learn from experience the advantage of a fire, not (as is generally supposed) because they are chilly from a defect of circulation, but because their feelings are not at ease in breathing an impure atmosphere which has lost its oxygen and elasticity. Mr. Clark, Chamberlain of London, was never without a fire when the day was too damp for the admission of the outer air; while the excellent modern contrivance of a few perforated holes, placed over the door, secured ample ventilation at all times: he lived to the age of ninety-two.

Remedy for Sea-sickness. —Anti-putrescent substances have the most powerful influence over this malady, and a little creosote made into a pill is much recommended. In ordinary cases, however, a basin of soup made very hot with cayenne pepper will be found to be effectual.

Colour of the Eyes.-A writer in the Quarterly Review, in a paper on Physiognomy, gives the following interpretation of the colour of the eyes :"Dark blue eyes are most common in persons of delicate, refined, or effeminate nature; light blue, and much more, grey eyes, in the hardy and active. Greenish eyes have generally the same meaning as the grey. Hazel eyes are the more usual indications of a mind masculine, vigorous, and profound." As a commentary on the reviewer's text, we may add that Shakspeare had hazel eyes, Swift blue eyes (azure as the heavens), Milton, Scott, Chalmers, and Byron, grey eyes.

Russian Remedy for Short Sight.—In Russia the person having short sight is seated in a chair for several hours daily, with the head placed in a natural position for reading, but prevented from pressing forward. The page is at first placed at the short distance at which the eyes have been accustomed to observe; but this distance is gradually extended, until the humours of the eyes, constantly exercised in endeavouring to accommodate their powers to the gently increased demand upon them, at length acquire the capability of observing at the usual distance. It is undoubtedly the fact that this character of sight, may be acquired; many instances could be adduced of watchmakers and others, whose employments are of a sedentary or studious character, becoming short-sighted; and young gentlemen and ladies addicted

to novel reading are especially subject to this infirmity.-Cox's Spectacle Secrets.

How to go to Bed.-Dr. Hall, in his Journal of Health, recommends :— "In freezing winter time do it in a hurry, if there is no fire in the room, and there ought not to be unless you are an invalid. But if a person is not in good health, it is best to undress by a good fire, warm and dry the feet well, draw on the stockings again, run into the room without a fire, jump into bed, bundle up, with head and ears under cover for a minute or more, until you feel a little warmth: then uncover your head, next draw off your stockings, straighten out, turn over on your right side and go to sleep. If a sense of chilliness comes over you on getting into bed, it will always do you an injury; and its repetition increases the ill effects without having any tendency to harden' you. Nature ever abhors violence. We are never shocked into good health. Hard usage makes no garments last longer." Construction and Position of Bedsteads.—A French surgeon states that by fitting bedsteads with glass feet, and isolating them about eighteen inches from the wall of the apartment, he has cured the patients sleeping on them of many nervous affections. Suspicions are beginning to arise, too, that our well-being may be affected by sleeping parallel to, or at right angles with, the line of the terrestrial magnetic current. The house in which we live has a considerable influence on our sensations sometimes little suspected.

Colonel Shaw's Hints to Pedestrians.—The great difficulty in walking is to keep the feet in good order. This can be done if a little attention be paid at the first. For some days before starting, dip your feet in hot water as often as possible for a few moments; then rub them quite dry. Let this be done morning and evening, till you find the feet quite free from a damp feeling. Provide yourself with a good-sized tin box, full of the best yellow, or, as it is called in some places, soft soap. It has something the appearance of honey in the comb. Before starting in the morning, rub the soles of the feet, especially about the heels and toes, well with the soap, until it has the appearance of a good lather for shaving; and then put your woollen stockings on. Let this be done every morning before starting, and you will find, even in the hottest or wettest weather, you will be able to do a great deal of work, and at the end of the day find your feet cool and free from blisters. Instead of washing the feet at the end of a journey, rub them first with a damp cloth, and then dry them completely. In some places on the Continent it is not possible to get this soap; but in almost every apothecary's shop you can purchase stag fat, which does very well: if you cannot get stag fat, buy goose fat or hog's lard. With these fats I first rubbed the feet with spirits, which is an improvement; but nothing will stand comparison with yellow soap. Have your stockings washed as often as possible; and if they have not time to dry during the night, they can be easily buckled on the outside of the knapsack. By attending to these directions, and by instantly rubbing yourself dry, and putting on fresh flannels and linen at the end of your day's work, and eating as much animal food as possible, yet drinking no more than is necessary, both body and feet will get into the highest possible condition. -Memoirs of Peninsular Campaigns.

Dr. Kitchiner, whose useful information is mixed up with much oddity, directs the traveller to take with him the following articles, as indispensable. These are; a sword-cane, and iron stick with a hook and spike, a portable

case of instruments for drawing, a sketch and note-book, paper, ink, pins, needles, thread, a ruby pen, pencils, a one-foot rule, a hunting-watch, a warning-watch, a mariner's compass, a thermometer, a barometer, a one-foot achromatic telescope, an opera-glass, a tinder-box, a traveller's knife, containing a large and small blade, a saw, a hook for taking a stone out of a horse's shoe, turnscrew, gun-picker, tweezers and a corkscrew, your own knife, fork, and spoon, a Welsh wig, a medicine-chest, a lancet, a pocketbottle, biscuits, portable soup, corkscrew door-fastenings, an eider-down quilt, two dressed hart-skins, a patent folding bedstead, a wash-leather sheet, &c., besides the traveller's trunks and packages.

Points of Danger in Thunder-storms.-If out of doors, trees should be avoided, and if, from the rapidity with which the explosion follows the flash, it should be evident that the electric clouds are near at hand, a recumbent posture on the ground is the most secure. It is seldom dangerous to take shelter under sheds, carts, or low buildings, or under the arch of a bridge; the distance of twenty or thirty feet from tall trees or houses is rather an eligible situation; for should a discharge take place, these elevated bodies are most likely to receive it, and less prominent bodies in the neighbourhood are those likely to escape. It is right also to avoid water, for it is a good conductor, and the height of a human being near the stream is not unlikely to determine the direction of a discharge. Within doors we are tolerably safe in the middle of a carpeted room, or when standing on a double hearthrug. The chimney should be avoided, on account of the conducting power of the carbon deposited in it; on the same principle gilt mouldings, bell-wires, &c., are in danger of being struck. In bed we are tolerably safe, blankets and feathers being bad conductors, and we are consequently, to a certain extent, insulated. It is injudicious to take refuge in a cellar, because the discharge is often from the earth to a cloud, and buildings frequently sustain the greatest injury in the basement stories.-Noad's Lectures on Electricity.

Ladies' Shoes.-If shoes were constructed of the shape of the human foot, neither too large nor too small, and making an equal pressure everywhere, corns and bunions of the feet would never exist. But, unfortunately, shoes are seldom made after this fashion; and in ladies' shoes especially, there are generally two signal defects-first, the extremity of the shoe is much too narrow for that part of the foot (namely, the toes) which it is to contain and, secondly, for displaying as much of the foot as possible, the whole of the tarsus and metatarsus is left uncovered, and the pressure of the shoe in front is thrown entirely upon the toes. The toes are thus first squeezed against each other, and then pushed out of their natural position; and all the projecting points, chiefly where the joints are situated, are pinched and tormented, either by the neighbouring toes or by the leather of the shoe; and thus it is that corns on the feet are generated.—Sir Benjamin Brodie.

INDEX.