mcnt of my fingers. I could scarcely help laugh- 

 ing at his cool impudence, and suppose I had been 

 too mueli absorbed by thought, or employment, 

 to notice his approach. I gradually laid down my 

 work, and slipping quietly out of the room, as if 

 I had not perceived him, called the servants. It 

 was supposed that there were nests of rats in the 

 chimney ; for the Government House had been 

 wisely provided with the possibility of having 

 fires in the rooms during the rainy season ; and 

 the hunt began. I jumped on to the bed, not 

 only to be out of the way, but to keep the rats 

 from the place where my child was. Two of 

 the men, furnished with sticks, routed the enemy 

 from their hiding-places, and four others squatted 

 at the corners of the room, holding a cloth spread 

 between their hands. They said it was most 

 likely the rats would run round the walls, and 

 they should therefore catch them in the open 

 cloth. The event proved them to be right; the 

 frightened animals rushed to them, were imme- 

 diately enclosed, and their necks were wrung in 

 a moment. After the hunt was ended, they were 

 thrown over the verandah into the garden, to the 

 number of at least fifty. In the morning, how- 

 ever, they were all gone, but the foot-marks of 

 the Genet cats told how they had been removed." 



Verily, as saitli Hamlet, " There are more 

 tilings in Heaven and earth than are dreamt 

 of in our philosophy ! " 



The Country House — The Poultry Yard. — 

 Charles Knight. 



In Mr. Charles Knight we have an excel- 

 lent ally. No sooner are we in the field to 

 try and open a cheap weekly communication 

 with the public on the various domestic con- 

 veniences and elegancies of every day life, 

 than we find material fitted to our hand, 

 ready at command ; and at so cheap a rate 

 too ! 



This little brochure is one of a series of 

 12 ; which, when completed, will form three 

 handsome volumes. They will comprise, 

 The Dictionary of the Farm, the Dairy, the 

 Piggery, the Stable, the Sheepfold, Kitchen 

 Garden, Flower Garden, &c. &c. 



We never remember to have met with a 

 better work on poultry than this ; nor with 

 one so correctly illustrated. The wood-cuts 

 are admirable ; the arrangement of the 

 matter is excellent : all breeds of Poultry are 

 enumerated and commented upon, and very 

 sensible remarks made about their proper 

 care and management ; also, ample directions 

 are given for their cure when ill. Then we 

 have, inter alia, an interesting discussion on 

 the whole race of doves and pigeons ; and as 

 much practical information afforded on each 

 subject as is usually confined to large volumes. 

 Such books as these must become popular. 

 In justice to the author, we select a specimen 

 of his descriptive and attractive style. 

 Speaking of the exodus of a newly-hatched 

 chick from the shell, he says : — 



"Let us now suppose that the chick has 

 opened the door of its egg. Feeble trembler, on. 

 the verge of an unknown state of existence ! what 

 are its sensations? Had it but reason, how ap- 

 plicable to it would be Buffon's eloquent descrip- 

 tion of man, springing up at the bidding of his 

 Creator into life and light, at once enraptured, 

 perplexed, and bewildered. But the chick is 

 guided by instinct, and by instinct alone; it has 

 nothing to learn, no ideas to be conceived through 

 the medium of the senses, and yet it is interesting 

 to watch it at this juncture. It is free; the first 

 thing it does, while yet on the threshold of the 

 egg, is to draw its head from under its wing, and 

 to direct it forwards, the neck trembling beneath 

 the weight which it has now for the first time to 

 sustain. With its neck stretched forwards, and 

 scarcely able to raise itself on its legs, it rests for 

 a few minutes, till its strength be recruited ; the 

 fresh air revives it, it raises itself up, it lifts its 

 head, it turns its neck from side to side, and 

 begins to feel its innate powers. Its downy 

 plumage, the precursor of feathers, being wet 

 with the fluid of the egg, lies close to the skin, 

 in stripes down the body and on the wings; be- 

 sides, it is not yet fairly free from the sheath in 

 which every plumelet is inclosed. As it dries, 

 every tuft expands, or opens, like a feathery 

 flower; the little membranous sheaths split, and 

 fall off; and the chick rises in its nest, clothed 

 with a downy garment of exquisite delicacy." 



Home Influence; A Tale for Mothers and 

 Daughters. By Grace Aguilar. 4th edi- 

 tion. 12mo. 



The Mother's Recompense; A Sequel to the 

 Above. By the same author. Second 

 edition. 12mo. — Groombridge and Sons. 



Grace Aguilar, now no more, was, while 

 she lived, a wonder amongst women. Before 

 she attained the age of 19, we are told, she 

 had completed the structure of these two 

 admirable volumes. We say admirable, 

 because their conception and execution are 

 alike happy. They are written with a 

 fervour of feeling, eloquence of expression, 

 and power of argument, quite irresistible. 

 Full of love for mankind, and anxious by her 

 pen to consult their best interests, we have, 

 wrought up in these two volumes, all that 

 we can conceive of human excellence con- 

 veyed by both precept and example. 



" Home Influence " is a tale possessed 

 not only of a charming moral, showing how 

 impossible it is to be truly happy without 

 continuing in the paths of rectitude and 

 uprightness ; but it is written with a ner- 

 vous energy, and in graceful language, 

 which are quite captivating. Happy they, 

 who have a kind and affectionate parent so 

 to direct them in the " Battle of Life ! " 



" The Mother's Recompense " is another 

 book equally well written, and by the same 

 pen, and forms a suitable companion to its 

 predecessor, " LTome Influence." Happy 

 parent, again say we, to live to see the fruit 



