S. C. A.—There is a shilling manual on common British ferns to be obtained quite easily.
Lily.—To make a rice cake, take six eggs, and their weight (in the shell) in sugar, and the same in butter; half their weight in rice flour, and half of wheat flour; whisk the eggs, throw in the rice after the flour, and add the butter in the usual way. Flavour according to preference, and bake for an hour and ten minutes. The ingredients should be severally added during the whisking. To prepare “pressed beef,” procure a piece of the brisket, remove the bones, and put it in salt (in the usual way), adding a little extra sal prunella to the brine and some spice, leaving it in pickle for rather more than a week. Roll and tie up in a cloth, and simmer gently in plenty of water for about seven hours (if the thin end, four hours); then remove the string, tie cloth at each end, put the beef between two plates, and press under a hundredweight, and leave till quite cold; then remove the cloth, trim and glaze, and garnish with parsley.
Daffodil.—You would have no difficulty in obtaining a good riding-habit in your own city, where there must be plenty of good tailors. It would be impossible for us to give an estimate for one, and we can only say that they may be of any price from £4 4s. to £10 10s. You had better get a Directory, look out for tailors and ladies’ tailors, and go and inquire personally.
M. M.—The “V.R.” on the upper corners made all the difference, and marked the first issue of the penny stamps in 1840. The stamp you send us was issued in 1864, and is of no value at all except as a specimen of the date, if you were collecting stamps of every known issue.
Pale Face.—Red would of course suit you, as well as all shades of it. Yellow sometimes suits pale faces very well, and so does grey relieved with pink. Violet and blue will make you look paler.
E. F. Boultbee.—We have pleasure in announcing your change of address, and congratulate you on your success in the oral system of teaching deaf mutes, and the remedy of defective speech. Address, Miss Boultbee, Members’ Mansions, Victoria Street, S.W.
Mahdi.—We thank you sincerely for so kind a letter respecting our magazine. Your writing is excellent. Peel a banana from the end downwards to the stem, and then use a knife and fork; or if at home, in private, you can dispense with them.
P. F. M.—We do not know whom you mean by “supers,” for one of whom you want a home. If some person that has been employed on the stage—one class being known as “supers”—there is a charitable society called the Church and Stage Guild, of which the Hon. Secretary is the Rev. Stewart Headlam, Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C., which looks after these people, and perhaps he might give you some information on the subject.
Light Wanted.—There is not the slightest reason why the event should not take place; indeed there is every reason why it should, provided that both desire it.
Clare Verney.—You might obtain the information you require by reference to Agnes Strickland’s Queens of England, or other history of hers.