FIRESIDE FUN.
During the long winter evenings, when families are assembled together for the Christmas vacations, pleasant and profitable hours may be spent quietly sitting round the fire and indulging in such mental games and pastimes as will be explained in this section. The English language is composed of words of various construction, and it is our intention in the few following pages to describe some of the many ways in which combined amusement and information may be obtained by exercises in word and letter puzzles; to speak of the different kinds of acrostics, enigmas, charades, rebuses, and the like, and how they are made; to give a few examples of each; and generally to do what we can to help wile away pleasantly some of those hours which, it is feared, in some circles may hang heavily for want of that specific instruction which it will be our object to impart. Moreover, we will treat here of authors, cities, rivers, countries, mountains, and other matters, so that fair opportunity is offered to our young friends to turn to account such knowledge as they possess; and it is hoped that they may be encouraged to seek further information on the subjects that these various subjects give rise to.