P OP ULAR MIS CELL ANY. 



!39 



ure3 or grazings, on payment of a small rent, 

 or on condition that they served under their 

 chief in case of war. That this was the an- 

 cient custom is not questioned. The disre- 

 gard of it now shown by the landlords, with 

 the connivance of the authorities, is excused 

 by saying that a security of tenure, founded 

 in the old usage of the country, can not now 

 be seriously entertained, as the clan system 

 no longer exists, and the property has in 

 many cases changed hands. At the same 

 time, the Royal Commissioners appointed to 

 inquire into the matter admit that the pres- 

 ent crofters are the descendants and heirs 

 of the holders who acquired these rights, 

 and have done nothing to forfeit them. The 

 landlords, however, have disregarded this 

 tenure, have evicted the tenants, and have 

 converted their farms into sheep-walks and 

 immense deer ranges enforcing their pre- 

 tensions with many instances of cruelty and 

 fiendish hardship ; and Parliament has done 

 nothing' effectually to remedy the evil which 

 has been allowed to grow up. 



Italian \Yitc!i-Storics. A practice, hy- 

 brid of the legitimate healing art and of 

 the old witchcraft, is still current in parts 

 of Italy. Its professors are fairly trust- 

 worthy respecting what comes under their 

 own eyes, and prescribe judiciously for the 

 ordinary ailments of animals, but can also 

 tell some marvelous fables about minerals, 

 plants, and beasts ; and it sometimes re- 

 quires discrimination to distinguish whether 

 they are talking from knowledge or are 

 repeating some old fancy. According to 

 one of their stories, if one takes the eggs 

 from a raven's nest, boils them, and puts 

 them back, the parent bird will bring a 

 stone of the same shape and size which will 

 have the power of restoring life to them. 

 The stone, remaining in the nest after the 

 birds have flown, becomes half transparent 

 and like an egg in everything except weight 

 and hardness. When placed near poisoned 

 food, the yolk will give warning of the fact 

 by becoming violently disturbed. If a stone 

 the size of a pea, which the lapwing is said 

 always to deposit in its nest, is put under 

 the pillow of a sleeping person, the sleeper 

 will answer truthfully any reasonable ques- 

 tion in the language in which it is asked. A 

 particular serpent, reputed venomous at all 



times, is said to be especially so in May ; 

 and the first person it bites in that month 

 will die himself, and also cause the death of 

 any one who may stand beside him or come 

 to his help. The fondness of snakes for 

 milk gives the basis for the story of a 

 coachman into whose open mouth a snake 

 crawled while he was sleeping by the road- 

 side. The doctors having failed to help 

 him, he consulted the professors of the 

 University of Naples ; they hung him up by 

 his feet and set a bowl of milk under his 

 head. The snake was attracted by the 

 smell of the milk, and crept partly out to 

 get it, when it was pulled the rest of the 

 way out. Of course, the coachman recov- 

 ered. 



Outdoor Tastes of the Anstralians. 



The climate of Australia disposes to out- 

 door life ; hence the most is made of holi- 

 days and of excuses for appointing them, 

 and outdoor sports flourish as in no other 

 country. Thought is quick, and speech 

 nimble and marked by a reckless energy of 

 diction as when a young woman of great 

 skill at lawn tennis is complimented by being 

 described as " a terror." Mr. Ernest Moon 

 finds a more serious result of the outdoor 

 habit in the fact that there is little time or 

 inclination left for reading. In very few 

 homes, indeed, are there any indications of 

 literary tastes. "Books or periodicals are 

 conspicuous by their absence from most 

 drawing-room tables. The periodicals at 

 the club may remain for days uncut. Nor 

 are the books at the club libraries numerous 

 or in much request. . . . There arc scien- 

 tific institutions, and musical and art socie- 

 ties, but I have been assured on very good 

 authority that there is no literary club or 

 society of any kind. There are, of course, 

 other reasons for the absence of literary life 

 besides the allurements of the harbor, the 

 garden, or the veranda. One of them is 

 that there is not a class of literary people." 



Classes of Men. Recognizing the ine- 

 quality among men, M. de Lapouge main- 

 tains that a man is what his birth made 

 him, and that education can do no more for 

 him than develop the pre-existing germs 

 derived from his progenitors in accordance 

 with the laws of heredity. This reasoning 



