with what God has so kindly given him. Do I 

 not echo your own sentiments, my dear Mr. 

 Editor? — N ANNETTE. 



[Dear Nannette! How more than happy do we 

 feel, that we shall die in your debt ! We would 

 not cancel one of our existing obligations for the 

 Universe. Yes, you do echo our sentiments, — 

 for a merry heart and a grateful heart are the 

 very pride of our life. We look towards you 

 for more Christmas comforts.] 



Thought-reading , and Book-reading ; from the 

 Brain. — I was present, Mr. Editor, a few even- 

 ings since, when Mr. Gerald Massey gave " a 

 Lecture" on the above subjects; illustrated by 

 experiments in which Mrs. Gerald Massey was 

 the performer. What I saw was indeed won- 

 derful, inasmuch as there could be no deception 

 practised. The room was well- filled, and every 

 facility given for fairly testing every experiment 

 made. Can you explain how a person can read, 

 blindfold; and tell, from the top of the head, 

 the contents of a massive volume, and read 

 glibly off, line by line? I confess I am puzzled.—- 

 Sarah H. 



[We were present at the sceance you speak of, 

 and were equally surprised as yourself at the 

 phenomena exhibited on the occasion. We only 

 know that this power does exist in some people, 

 and in Mrs. Massey to a most wonderful extent. 

 Mrs. M. is the same lady, of whom we spoke in 

 a former number, and who so ably and faithfully 

 delineated, by passing her hand over our head, the 

 natural characteristics of our disposition. She is 

 very young; amiable ; and gifted with much good 

 sense. An article from her pen on the " Education 

 of Children,"(see page 396 ,vol. I.), witnesses that 

 she is an accurate observer of daily occurrences; 

 and that her philosophy is of the right kind.] 



The Hollyhock. Additional Notes. — Although 

 the Hollyhock is a gross feeder, and requires 

 considerable root room, it is perhaps not more 

 gross than some other plants which are grown 

 for exhibition purposes, as for illustration Clero- 

 dendrons; and if we observe the same rule with 

 the Hollyhock, and give it rich compost and 

 manure-water; in fact if instead of allowing a 

 cubic yard of soil we concentrate the nutriment 

 of that mass in a ninth part of its compass— I 

 have no doubt that the Hollyhock may be grown 

 to great perfection; yes, to greater perfection 

 than Avhen unrestricted in the open ground, in- 

 asmuch as undue grossness may be controlled, 

 and so equalised, that instead of having a few 

 flowers, at the apex, the plant may be propor- 

 tioned to the flowers, and the flowers to the plant. 

 That is, a well grown and properly bloomed plant 

 may be produced. Of course, for exhibition 

 purposes, a proportionate and regularly bloomed 

 plant would be preferable to a large one with 

 a few remarkably line flowers, and yet the bloom 

 buds might be so thinned out and protected as 

 to bring them to great perfection, both in size, 

 color, and quantity. I have had some ; plants 

 in the open ground, scarcely more than four feet 

 in height, and beautifully branched, which I con- 

 sider would be splendid pot subjects; and a 

 dozen or score of them, nicely bloomed and 

 contrasted, would form a group scarcely less 



remarkable and gorgeous than a bank of Azaleas 

 in May. But it is not so much as objects of 

 interest at exhibitions as for general gardening 

 purposes that I would advocate the growth of 

 Hollyhocks in pots; for, nicely managed, the 

 purposes to which they might be applied in a 

 decorative point of view are almost endless. 

 Grouped together in well-contrasted masses 

 upon laAvns, the pots plunged in the ' grass, or 

 even as single specimens, mixed with gardenesque 

 examples of shrubs or dwarf trees — arranged in 

 lines along straight walks, or upon terraces, 

 placed in niches, or indeed arranged anywhere 

 where a very conspicuous object is required ; they 

 would be found exceedingly effective and alike 

 useful for the decoration of the cottage ornee, or 

 one of the palatial houses of England. We 

 have no plant so effective as a single specimen, 

 or which in its symmetrical proportions accords 

 so well with straight lines and architectural pro- 

 portions of a first-rate residence, as the plant 

 under notice. Again, the season of the Holly- 

 hock may be much extended ; for, by bringing 

 the first lot in pots forward in a warm situation, 

 and retarding a late lot in a north aspect, we 

 might have plants in perfection from June un- 

 til October. In fact, in no one point of view 

 could the Hollyhock be out of place. — W. P. 

 Ayres, Blackheath, 



Wine — a Gay Deceit. — It 

 " there is no deceit in Wine." 



has been said, 

 This is a vulgar 



error; — 



Hath Wine an oblivious power? 



Can it pluck out the Sting from the brain? 

 No ! the draught may beguile for an hour, 



But it doubly increaseth the pain. 



A Prodigal. 



The Hyacinth grown in Glasses. — Some of my 

 Hyacinths, grown in glasses, have made roots 

 four inches long, but these latter are covered at 

 their extremities with a sort of mouldy, slime- 

 like substance. The water they were grown in 

 is rain-water. Can any of your readers tell 

 me what this appearance proceeds from? — 

 Eedelta. 



Early Rising, — Extraordinary Inducements 

 for.— Yon have given us admirable reasons, dear 

 Mr. Editor, why we should rise early, and shown 

 us how much we lose by not doing so ; but your 

 reasons, I fear, are not half so cogent as those 

 which appear in the Church of England Quarterly 

 Review I Hear what a writer says, — and sjiys 

 it gravely too, in that most luminous record. 

 " Captain Nutting, being an early riser, was in 

 the habit of taking long walks [accompanied, we 

 imagine, by a long-bow] before breakfast. On 

 one of these occasions, while on the high road 

 to Dover, over Shooter's Hill [preparing for the 

 "long range?"], his attention was drawn to a 

 crumpled piece of white paper on the ground. 

 Opening it, he found [of course] a bank-note 

 for £1000. Extending his search [he was a cove- 

 tous as well as a long-sighted man], he found 

 another of the same value. Afterwards, — four 

 more!" — This, Mr. Editor, is a clear elucidation 

 of what is vulgarly called — '"throwing the 

 hatchet." — However, I think your reasons for 



