96 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ner, and enter by any door that happens to be left ajar. In this way 

 a fine black rat once got into my study and remained there for several 

 days. I heard him distinctly behind certain heavy pieces of furniture, 

 but could not get at him. He did a great deal of damage, though 

 happily not to anything of much value, and he ended his career in a 

 trap. Had I been away from home, the devastation caused by that 

 one animal might have been serious. But his visit taught me a lesson, 

 as he especially attacked portfolios, while the shallow tin boxes on 

 shelves which I have adopted of late years entirely escaped his atten- 

 tions. It is astonishing by what a narrow orifice a mouse will find her 

 way into any place that she desires to visit. Drawers are sometimes 

 so constructed that, although they fit well in front (for the sake of 

 appearances), they are loose in the chest behind, and the consequence 

 is that, if a mouse can get into the chest anywhere, she has all the 

 drawers at her disposal. The first use she will make of any precious 

 papers will probably be to tear them into little pieces and establish a 

 comfortable nest in a corner. 



In my article on " The Poor Collector" I touched briefly upon the 

 question of frames. We have already noticed the curious fact that 

 people who are strict about cleanliness in common household matters 

 will tolerate dirty pictures. Very dirty frames are also tolerated in 

 some public and private collections ; in fact, I have seen collections 

 where the notion that frames and pictures would be the better for be- 

 ing clean does not appear to have dawned upon the owner's mind. 

 Surely, however, it is with these things as with all other things, clean- 

 liness is pleasing in itself and an addition to the charm of beauty. One 

 likes to see a pretty child with a clean face and an unspotted frock, 

 though it might still be recognized as a pretty child if it lived in filth 

 and squalor. In the case of pictures and their belongings, dirt is es- 

 pecially incongruous, because there can not be any poverty to excuse 

 it. Pictures and their frames are superfluities in any case, and why 

 tolerate a dirty superfluity ? * 



A word, in conclusion, may be said about the art of exhibiting 

 things to advantage in private rooms. It is astonishing how few peo- 

 ple understand the simple principle that some works of art may be 

 injurious to others when shown by the side of them. For example, 

 engravings are always killed by paintings, and the white margins of 



* The one reason for dirty frames is the partial burnishing of the gilding. Oil-gild- 

 ing can not be burnished ; water-gilding, which takes burnish, can not be washed with 

 water, and nothing but water will clean a fly-spotted, dirty frame effectually. Conse- 

 quently a frame that has burnish upon it can only be dusted, and when it becomes really 

 dirty it must be sent to the gilder ; but, as regilding is expensive, it is postponed as long 

 as possible sometimes for a lifetime, and even for more than one generation. "With oil- 

 gilding only and one thin coat of varnish over the gilding (the varnish is nearly imper- 

 ceptible if properly applied), a frame may be washed from time to time. This has been 

 said already in the paper on " The Poor Collector," but is repeated here in a note for 

 readers who have not that paper to refer to. 



