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The Monthly Prize for February was awarded to Charles A. Seaver, Taunton, Mass. Elwin G. Davis, Mason, Me., is entitled to the March prize. We received very good lists of answers from J. H., and M. A. G.; F. M. Miles; Annie E.; Waldo E. Bassett; Emma F. Bryant; Emma M. Champlin, and Anna Kirk. For the next six months no prizes will be given, but we hope to continue to receive answers and original contributions from all our young friends.

1.-Transposition.

My whole is always going to sea, but never sails; Is always reflecting, but never thinks, though it sometimes casts reflections upon the acts of others. Transpose it, and it becomes your superior; again, and wild beasts acknowledge their power. Remove the third letter, and it becomes more powerful than before. Remove the first and third letters, and you lessen its strength. Remove the first, third and sixth letters, and it becomes either strong or weak, but good either way. What is the whole? "BEAU K."

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CURIOUS MATTERS.

INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.-The principles involved in the circulation of the waters of the sea were beautifully shown before the Royal Geographical Society by a simple experiment. A trough with plateglass sides, about six feet long and a foot deep, but not more than an inch wide, was filled with water. At one end a piece of ice was wedged in between the sides, to represent the polar cold; while the tropic heat was represented at the other end by a bar of metal laid across the surface of the water, the projecting end of which was heated by a spirit lamp. Red coloring matter was then put in at the warm end, and blue at the cold end, so that the currents could be traced. The blue water, chilled by contact with the ice, immediately fell down to the bottom, crept slowly along and gradually rose toward the surface at the equatorial end, after which it gradually returned along the surface to the startingpoint. The red water crept first along the surface to the polar end, then fell to the bottom just as the blue had done, and formed another stratum, creeping back again along the bottom and coming to the surface. Each color made a distinct circulation during the half hour in which the audience viewed the experiment.

COUNTING A BILLION.-What is a billion? The reply is very simple-a million times a million. This is quickly written, and quicker still pronounced. But no man is able to count it. You count 160 or 170 a minute; but let us even suppose that you go as far as 200, then an hour would produce 12,000; a day 288,000; a year, or 365 days, 105,120,000. Let us suppose, now, that Adam, at the beginning of his existence, had begun to count, had continued to do so, and was counting still, he would not even now, according to the usually supposed age of our globe, have counted near enough. For to count a billion he would require 9512 years, 342 days, 5 hours, and 20 minutes, according to the above rule. Supposing we were to allow the poor counter 12 hours daily for rest, eating, and sleeping, he would need 19,025 years, 319 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes!

POWER OF ELECTRICITY.-Recent studies have done much to determine what the action of electricity really is in the excitation of muscular irritability in dead bodies. The continuous current seems to act on muscular fibre after the manner of heat. If dead muscle be exposed to cold, the current restores contraction for a limited period, but finally destroys it by inducing persistent contraction. If, on the other hand, the dead muscle is left at its normal temperature, the current merely shortens the periods of irritability by quickening contraction. Experiments lately made with the Leyden jar demonstrate that, with a sufficient current, small animals and birds can be made absolutely rigid for the moment in the position in which they stand; and so suddenly is the work done, so completely is the posture of life preserved, that nothing but actual examination with the hand can impress on the mind the fact that the creature has passed from the living.

WEAR OF GOLD COIN.-It appears from experiments in St. Petersburg that, contrary to the opinion generally entertained, gold coin wears away faster than that of silver. Twenty pounds of gold half imperials, and as much of silver copecks-coins of about the same size-were put into new barrels, mounted like churns, which were kept turning for four hours continuously. It was then found, on weighing the coins, the gold ones had lost sixty-four grammes -the silver ones only thirty-four; but as the number of gold pieces was twentyeight per cent less than those of silver, the proportion is, of course, greater to that amount in favor of the latter. The silver also contained more alloy than the gold.

CURIOUS EXPERIMENT.-Take two wine, ale, or porter glasses, and set them on a table at a distance of about one foot apart; take a piece of dry wood, about thirteen inches long, and as thick as your finger; place one end of the stick so as to rest on the edge of one glass, the other end of the wood to rest on the edge of the other glass; then with a poker strike the stick with all your force in the centre, it will fly into two parts, leaving the glasses unbroken.

THE HOUSEKEEPER.

ARROWROOT GRUEL.-Mix a dessert spoonful of arrowroot with a little cold water, and pour over it one pint of boiling water; boil until it looks transparent. Add a little salt. If the patient can take milk, substitute boiling milk for water, and flavor with grated lemon peel or vanilla.

TAPIOCA JELLY.-Wash a teacupful of tapioca-soak it for three hours in cold water-turn off the water and pour over it one quart of boiling water. Add the grated peel of one lemon; sweeten to taste, and boil for one hour.

How To SAVE STALE BREAD.-Stale bread may be made as nice as freshly baked by dipping the loaf into clean cold water and warming through in a bakeoven. Much bread might be saved that is thrown away if this were more generally practised than it is.

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milk is hot, stir in the eggs; keep stirring till it thickens, and send it to the table immediately. Try it; it is delicious.

TO CLEANSE TAPESTRY CARPETS.Beat and sweep them thoroughly, remove all grease spots with ox-gall mixed with water, put on with a scrubbing brush; then wipe the whole carpet with a weak solution of ox-gall in warm water. This removes the dust and brightens all the colors.

PLUM PUDDING.-Two eggs; six crackers; three pints of sweet milk; a piece of butter the size of an egg; one cup of raisins; a little salt and nutmeg.

PICKLED EGGS.-Boil the required number until they are quite hard. After carefully removing the shells, place in a widemouthed jar, and pour over them scalding vinegar, well seasoned with whole pepper, allspice, a few cloves or garlic, and a race of ginger if liked. When cold cover closely, and they will soon be fit for the table.

ALMOND TABLETS.-Dissolve in the oven one ounce of white wax in a small jelly jar, with half an ounce of almond oil and six drops of essence of almonds. When, melted, pour into lids of pomade pots, or the pot itself, having oiled them for turning out when cold. This whitens and smoothes the hands, when used on them, greatly.

POTATO BREAD. Take six good-sized potatoes; boil and mash fine; add three pints of boiling water, and put through a colander; then stir flour in till it makes a stiff batter. When lukewarm add a teacup of yeast and set in a warm place. In the morning add a teacup of hot water, a teaspoonful of salt, and knead in flour until quite stiff. Let it stand until light, and then make into loaves that will half fill the baking pans, and when they have risen to nearly the top bake one hour in a moderately hot oven.

LOAF CAKE.-Three eggs; one cup of sugar, half a cup of butter,one cup of cream, one teaspoonful of soda, one cup of raisins, one cup of currants, flour and nutmeg.

FACTS AND FANCIES.

6

This is the way an old sport pictured the story of the "Prodigal Son:" "Why, you see, the prodigal was a young fellow as lived along with the old man, a long time ago, and the old man staked him pretty liberal, and he was happy. But by-and-by he thought he'd go abroad. So he packed up his best clothes, and gettin' the old gent to 'ante up' for him, he started out trayellin'. Well, he did firstrate for a time, till the 'cappers' got a hold of him and run him in to a bank.' He wasn't up to the banking 'bis,' and you see the boys played him for a Granger. He got whip-sawed.' Every time he 'coppered 'the' ace' to win, an' played the 'king' upon it, he warn't thar. The bank bust' him flat; and then he went to work a 'shovin' up' his clothes. An' every time he raised a little 'stake' he'd come and leave it in the 'bank,' until by-and-by he didn't have enough to get a square meal with, an' had to look around for a job. He couldn't strike nothin' but a hog-ranche, though, an' he went to work on it for his board and clothes. But it was mighty thin living. The boss kind o' played off on him, and made him 'hash' with the hogs. So by-and-by he sickened on the hog-ranche, and made up his mind he'd go home and see if the old man wouldn't take him again. And he went. The old man was powerful glad to see him He give him a new rig, an' a gold ring, an' set him on his feet again. An' he got lots of wealth, an' started on the banks,' playin' full limits every bet. That's what's the Prodigal Son.'"

"I tell you," said Hiram, turning slight ly to the doctor, "these horses are just as near human as is good for 'em. A good horse has sense just as much as a man has; and he's proud, too, and he loves to be praised, and he knows when you treat him with respect. A good horse has the best pints of a man, without his failin's."

"What do you think becomes of horses, Hiram, when they die ?" said Rose.

"Wal, Miss Rose, it's my opinion that there's use for horses hereafter, and that you'll find there's a horse heaven. There's Scripture for that too."

"Ah!" said Rose, a little surprised at these confident assertions. "What Scripture do you mean?"

In

"Why in the book of Revelations. Don't it give an account of a white horse and black horse, and gray horse. I've allers s'posed that when it said Death rode on a pale horse, it must have been gray, 'cause it had mentioned a white one already. the ninth chapter, too, it says, there was an army of 200,000 horsemen. Now, I should like to know where they get so many horses in heaven if none of 'em that die off here go there! It's my opinion that a good horse's a darned sight likelier to go to heaven than a bad man."

An amusing incident of childish humor used to be narrated by a Mr. Campbell, of Jura, the subject of it being his own son. It seems the boy was much spoiled by indulgence; in fact, the parents were scarcely able to refuse him anything he demanded. He was in the drawing-room on one occasion when dinner was announced, and, on being ordered up stairs to the nursery, he insisted on going down to dinner with the company. His mother at first refused, but the child persevered and kept saying: "If ye dinna let me, I'll tell you."

His father then, for the sake of peace, allowed him to go into the dining room. He sat at the table beside his mother, and when he found every one getting soup and himself omitted, he demanded soup and repeated:

"If I dinna get some, I'll tell you."

Well, soup was given, and various other things yielded to his importunities, to which he always added the usual threat of " telling you." At last, when it came to wine, his mother stood firm, and positively refused to let him have some. He then became more vociferous than ever about "telling you," and as he was still refused, he declared:

"Now I'll tell you," and at last roared out, to the great amusement of all present, "My new breeks (trousers) were made out o' the auld curtains?'

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