MISCELLANEOUS.

Dombey.—We have not made the experiment ourselves, but we have heard that you may restore a faded photograph by placing it in a saturated solution of bichloride of mercury, leaving it in the bath for a few minutes, and then washing and drying it; of course it must be unmounted. There is another method; but whatever experiment you make should be first tried on one which is of no value to you. For our part, we should prefer to leave the photo in the experienced hands of a professional artist, and we cannot take any responsibility in giving the foregoing recipe.

Marta.—There is no cruelty attached to the trade in ostrich feathers. The birds are not killed, excepting only at Buenos Ayres, to provide the market with them; nor are they made to suffer from plucking like the poor geese, to supply quill pens. Each plume is cut with a sharp knife close to the skin, and this gives no pain any more than the cutting of our hair. The stumps wither and fall out; or after ten days may be removed. The greatest supply comes from the Cape; but they are also produced in Tripoli, Egypt, and Morocco. But the trade prices for birds has much gone down.

A. B.—The name "Collect," as applied to the short prayer employed before the Epistle and Gospel, simply expressed the fact that it has reference to the main subjects of the latter extracts collected together. The term "Bible" only meant "a book" in the time of Chaucer. It has been restricted in its application to the Divinely-inspired collection of writings, and the article "the" was super-added. And so the term "Scriptures" is employed with the definite article, to show that these writings are separate from all others; sometimes the word "holy" being further employed to mark them as standing alone, and in a rank superior to that of any others, however distinguished and authoritative.

Edith.—Should anyone step on your foot, or accidentally push against you, and apologise, say "Not at all, don't mention it." Do not say "All right," and certainly not the vulgar reply, "Granted," from which an inference could naturally be drawn that you considered an apology was due, which would not be complimentary.

L. E. Bird.—The initial letters placed on an invitation card—"R. S. V. P."—are those of the French words, Répondez, s'il vous plait, which, translated into English, means, "Answer, if you please." Your handwriting is scarcely formed, but very legible, and promises well for a running hand, with practice.

Beatrice.—You had better transact the business through the Exchange and Mart. Get one of the papers to see their terms (70, Strand, W.C., Office of the Bazaar. E. & M.).

Florence A. Jeffery.—A halfpenny of William and Mary, with plain edge, and the date under Britannia, "1694" (in copper) is worth from 1s. to 5s.; but some examples have sold for much more. Three halfpennies, one Irish, have been sold for £1 12s., but they were very fine specimens. Another of 1694, of bold work, extremely fine, realised £7 10s. A halfpenny of George II. is worth from 6d. to a 1s. The head of the date you name, "1754," is an old one.

H. Maxwell.—We must refer you to the 1st volume of The Oracle Encyclopædia (Geo. Newnes, Ltd.), page 619, where you will read—"In the old Church of St. Martin, built in the 12th or 13th c., Roman bricks and Norman sculpture have been worked-up in the walls!"

M. D.—We recommend you to dispose of the medical books through the Exchange and Mart (70, Strand, W.C.).

Silkworm might offer her silk for disposal through the medium of the above-named paper.

Lizzie.—The French obtained the soubriquet of "frogs" not because of their using these creatures as food, because we find that the southern Germans, Austrians, and Italians esteem the green ones in the same way, as delicacies of the table, but the name was derived from the original heraldic device of their kings, who bore on their escutcheons "three toads (or frogs) erect, saltent." In the year 1791, "What will the frogs say?" was a common phrase of the Court at Versailles, applied to the citizens of Paris. The site of this city was once a quagmire, or swamp, like that of London, and was called Lutétia, or "mud land," its inhabitants living like the frogs, in the mud. September 20th, 1885, fell on a Sunday.

C. W. N.—We like your "Reverie." It shows much poetical feeling; but a little flaw at the commencement might be corrected. The nave cannot be said to be "pierced" by the aisle, an arch, nor even by the column. They do not go through the roof. We do not say this satirically, but because the full and correct meaning of words must be remembered and strictly employed in their true sense.

May.—Hermanszoon van Rhyn Rembrandt was a Dutch painter and engraver; born in 1608, and died in 1669. If your picture be signed, it is valuable. Search the corners carefully for any initials, date, or mark. You do not name the subject.

Transcriber's note—the following changes have been made to this text: