Enquire Within
Upon Everything

the great Victorian-era domestic standby

with hyperlinked index

"Whether You Wish to Model a Flower in Wax;
to Study the Rules of Etiquette;
to Serve a Relish for Breakfast or Supper;
to Plan a Dinner for a Large Party or a Small One;
to Cure a Headache;
to Make a Will;
to Get Married;
to Bury a Relative;
Whatever You May Wish to Do, Make, or to Enjoy,
Provided Your Desire has Relation to the Necessities of Domestic Life,
I Hope You will not Fail to 'Enquire Within.'"—Editor.

1894

Table of Contents

• [Companion Works to Enquire Within]
• [By the Same Editor]
• [Editor's Preface]
• [Publisher's Preface]

• [Adulterations of Food, Tests for]
• [Beverages, Preparation of, and Receipts for]
• [Bird-Keeping, Bee-Keeping, and Poultry-Keeping]
• [Carving, Arrangements of the Dinner-Table, etc.]
• [Children, Rearing and Management of]
• [Choice of Food, Marketing, etc.]
• [Confectionery: Cakes, Jellies, Sweetmeats]
• [Commercial and Monetary Hints, Maxims]
• [Correct Speaking, Hints on Writing]
• [Decoration, Painting, Staining, Gilding etc.]
• [Destruction of Vermin, Noxious Animals]
• [Dress, Choice, Arrangement, and Care of]
• [Dyeing, Scouring, Cleaning, Laundry Operations]
• [Emergencies and Accidents, Drowning, Fire, etc.]
• [Etiquette, Forms and Ceremonies of]
• [Food of Various Kinds, When in Season]
• [Fancy Needlework]
• [Fuel, Lighting, etc., Economy and Management of]
• [Furniture, Selection and Arrangement of]
• [Gardening Operations Throughout the Year]
• [Household Carpentry, Mending, Repairing]
• [Indoor Games and Amusements]
• [Ladies' Employments: Leather-Work, Diaphanie etc.]
• [Legal Information and Advice]
• [Medical and Surgical Advice]
• [Minor Complaints, Cough, Cramp etc.]
• [Miscellaneous Preparations: Ink, Gum, Cement, etc.]
• [Outdoor Sports and Pastimes, Lawn Tennis]
• [Poisoning, Treatment in Cases of]
• [Preparation of Food, Cooking Operations]
• [Preserving and Pickling, Hints on]
• [Modelling, Preparing Botanical Specimens, etc.]
• [Rules of Conduct: Counsels, Hints, Advice]
• [Sanitary Precautions and Regulations]
• [Sauces, Relishes, Zests, How to Prepare]
• [Tables of Percentages, Interest, Marketing, Wages]
• [Toilet Requisites, Receipts for, etc.]

• [Index]

[Companion Works to Enquire Within]

[By the Same Editor]

[Editor's Preface]

If there be any among my Readers who, having turned over the pages of "Enquire Within," have hastily pronounced them to be confused and ill-arranged, let them at once refer to [The Index], at page 389, and for ever hold their peace.

The [Index] is, to the vast congregation of useful hints and receipts that fill the pages of this volume, what the Directory is to the great aggregation of houses and people in London.

No one, being a stranger to London, would run about asking for "Mr. Smith." But, remembering the Christian name and the profession of the individual wanted, he would turn to the Directory, and trace him out.

Like a house, every paragraph in "Enquire Within" has its number,—and the [Index] is the Directory which will explain what Facts, Hints, and Instructions inhabit that number.

For, if it be not a misnomer, we are prompted to say that "Enquire Within" is peopled with hundreds of ladies and gentlemen, who have approved of the plan of the work, and contributed something to its store of useful information. There they are, waiting to be questioned, and ready to reply. Within each page some one lives to answer for the correctness of the information imparted, just as certainly as where, in the window of a dwelling, you see a paper directing you to "Enquire Within," some one is there to answer you.

Housekeepers of experience live at Nos. [1], [30], [438], [1251] and [2091]; old Dr. Kitchiner lives at [44]; Captain Crawley is to be found at [46] and [2568]; the well-known Mrs. Warren lives at [1809]; Miss Acton at [1310]; Dr. Franklin at [1398]; Mrs. Hitching at [215]; Mr. Banting at [1768]; Dr. Wilson Philip at [1762]; Mr. Withering at [2338]; Mr. Mechi at [997]; Dr. Stenhouse at [1776]; Dr. Erasmus Wilson at [1700]; Dr. Southwood Smith at [1743]; Dr. Blair at [2180]; M. Soyer at [1130]; Dr. Babington at [2407]; Miss Gifford at [2337]; and Dr. Clark at [2384]. In addition to these and many more, a Doctor lives at [475]; a Gardener at [249]; a Schoolmaster at [161]; a Butcher at [27]; a Dancing-Master at [139]; an Artist at [2548]; a Naturalist at [2330]; a Dyer at [2682]; a Modeller at [2346]; a Professed Cook at [1032]; a Philanthropist at [1368]; a Lawyer at [1440]; a Surgeon at [796]; a Chess Player at [71]; a Whist Player, almost next door, at [73]; a Chemist at [650]; a Brewer at [2267]; a Lawn Tennis Player at [2765]; a homœopathic Practitioner at [925]; a Wood-stainer at [1413]; two Confectioners at [1628] and [2024]; a Poultry-Keeper at [1642]; a Meteorologist at [962]; Philosophers at [973] and [1783]; a Practical Economist at [985]; a Baker at [1002]; a Master of the Ceremonies at [1924] and [2613]; a Bird Fancier at [2155]: a Washerwoman at [2729]; an Analytical Chemist at [2747]; an Accountant at [2769]; and so on.

Well! there they live—always at home. Knock at their doors—Enquire Within. No Fees to Pay!!

Much care has been taken in selecting the information that is given, and, as is amply shown by the above list, so many kind and competent friends have lent a hand in the production of this volume that is impossible to turn to any page without at once being reminded of the Generous Friend who abides there.

To some extent, though in a far less degree, assistance has been rendered by the authors of many useful and popular works, for which due acknowledgment must be made. Chief among these works are Dr. Kitchiner's "Cooks' Oracle"; "The Cook," in Houlston and Sons' Industrial Library; "The Shopkeeper's Guide;" "The Wife's Own Cookery," "The Practical Housewife," and many of the volumes of the "Reason Why" series.

Lastly, as in everyday life it is found necessary at times to make a thorough inspection of house and home, and to carry out requisite repairs, alterations, and additions, this has been done in the recent editions of "Enquire Within," to which some hundreds of paragraphs have been added, while others have been remodelled and revised in accordance with the progress of the times in which we live. Care, however, has been taken to alter nothing that needed no alteration, so that, practically, this Popular Favourite is still the old "Enquire Within;" improved, it is true, but in no way so changed as to place it beyond the recognition of those to whom it has been a Book Of Constant Reference since its first appearance.

[Publisher's Preface]

to the Seventy-Fifth Edition

The unparalleled success achieved by "

Enquire Within Upon Everything

" demands special mention from its Publishers at the present moment. Its prominent characteristics—varied usefulness and cheapness—have won for it universal esteem. There is scarcely a spot reached by English civilization to which this book has not found its way, receiving everywhere the most cordial welcome and winning the warmest praise. Proof of this world-wide popularity is clearly shown by the record of the number of copies sold, now amounting to the wonderful total of

One Million Copies

—a sale which the Publishers believe to be

absolutely without precedent

among similar books of reference. This result has been mainly brought about by the kindly interest shown in the book by many friends, to whom the Publishers' most hearty thanks are tendered for their generous support and recommendations.

The work of revision has been carried on from year to year with watchfulness and care, and many Additions have been made, both modern and interesting, including Homœopathy, Lawn Tennis, &c Enquirers on the laws of Landlord and Tenant, Husband and Wife, Debtor and Creditor, are supplied with the latest information. Diseases and their Remedies, and Medicines, their Uses and Doses, have received special attention. The Index has been considerably extended, and with the aid of this, and the Summary of Contents, it is hoped that no Enquirer will fail to receive complete and satisfactory replies.

The "Enquire Within" and "Reason Why" Series

now comprises Twenty-seven Volumes, containing upwards of

Seven Thousand

pages of closely printed matter. They are entirely original in plan, and executed with the most conscientious care. The Indexes have been prepared with great labour, and alone occupy about 500 pages. A vast Fund of valuable Information, embracing every Subject of Interest or Utility, is thus attainable, and at a merely nominal Cost.

These Works are in such general demand, that the Sale has already reached considerably upwards of

One-and-a-Half Million Volumes

.

The attention of all parties interested in the dissemination of sound Theoretical Instruction and Practical Knowledge is particularly directed to the Twenty-seven Volumes in this Series of Popular and Valuable Books.

1. Choice of Articles of Food

Nothing is more important in the affairs of housekeeping than the choice of wholesome food. Apropos to this is an amusing conundrum which is as follows:—"A man went to market and bought

two

fish. When he reached home he found they were the same as when he had bought them; yet there were

three!

How was this?" The answer is—"He bought two mackerel, and one

smelt!

" Those who envy him his bargain need not care about the following rules; but to others they will be valuable:

2. Mackerel

must be perfectly fresh, or it is a very indifferent fish; it will neither bear carriage, nor being kept many hours out of the water. The firmness of the flesh and the clearness of the eyes must be the criteria of fresh mackerel, as they are of all other fish.

3. Turbot, and all flat white fish

are rigid and firm when fresh; the under side should be of a rich cream colour. When out of season, or too long kept, this becomes a bluish white, and the flesh soft and flaccid. A clear bright eye in any fish is also a mark of its being fresh and good.

4. Cod

is known to be fresh by the rigidity of the muscles (or flesh), the redness of the gills, and clearness of the eyes. Crimping much improves this fish.

5. Salmon

The flavour and excellence of this fish depend upon its freshness and the shortness of time since it was caught; for no method can completely preserve the delicate flavour that salmon has when just taken out of the water. A great deal of what is brought to London has been packed in ice, and comes from the Scotch and Irish rivers, and, though perfectly fresh, is not quite equal to salmon from English streams.

6. Herrings

should be eaten when very fresh; and, like mackerel, will not remain good many hours after they are caught. But they are excellent, especially for breakfast relishes, either salted, split, dried, and peppered, or pickled. Mackerel are very good when prepared in either of these ways.

7. Fresh-Water Fish

The remarks as to firmness and clear fresh eyes apply to this variety of fish, of which there are carp, tench, pike, perch, &c

8. Lobsters

recently caught, have always some remains of muscular action in the claws, which may be excited by pressing the eyes with the finger; when this cannot be produced, the lobster must have been too long kept. When boiled, the tail preserves its elasticity if fresh, but loses it as soon as it becomes stale. The heaviest lobsters are the best; when light they are watery and poor. Hen lobsters may generally be known by the spawn, or by the breadth of the "flap."

9. Crab and Crayfish

must be chosen by observations similar to those given above in the choice of lobsters. Crabs have an agreeable smell when fresh.

10. Prawns and Shrimps

when fresh, are firm and crisp.

11. Oysters

If fresh, the shell is firmly closed; when the shells of oysters are open, they are dead, and unfit for food. The small-shelled oysters, the Byfleet, Colchester, and Milford, are the finest in flavour. Larger kinds, as the Torbay oysters, are generally considered only fit for stewing and sauces, and as an addition to rump-steak puddings and pies, though some persons prefer them to the smaller oysters, even when not cooked. Of late years English oysters have become scarce and dear; and in consequence the American Blue Point oysters find a ready market.

12. Beef

The grain of ox beef, when good, is loose, the meat red, and the fat inclining to yellow. Cow beef, on the contrary, has a closer grain and whiter fat, but the meat is scarcely as red as that of ox beef. Inferior beef, which is meat obtained from ill-fed animals, or from those which had become too old for food, may be known by a hard, skinny fat, a dark red lean, and, in old animals, a line of horny texture running through the meat of the ribs. When meat rises up quickly, after being pressed by the finger, it may be considered as being the flesh of an animal which was in its prime; but when the dent made by pressure returns slowly, or remains visible, the animal had probably passed its prime, and the meat consequently must be of inferior quality.

13. Veal

should be delicately white, though it is often juicy and well-flavoured when rather dark in colour. Butchers, it is said, bleed calves purposely before killing them, with a view to make the flesh white, but this also makes it dry and flavourless. On examining the loin, if the fat enveloping the kidney be white and firm-looking, the meat will probably be prime and recently killed. Veal will not keep so long as an older meat, especially in hot or damp weather: when going, the fat becomes soft and moist, the meat flabby and spotted, and somewhat porous like sponge. Large, overgrown veal is inferior to small, delicate, yet fat veal. The fillet of a cow-calf is known by the udder attached to it, and by the softness of the skin; it is preferable to the veal of a bull-calf.

14. Mutton

The meat should be firm and close in grain, and red in colour, the fat white and firm. Mutton is in its prime when the sheep is about five years old, though it is often killed much younger. If too young, the flesh feels tender when pinched; if too old, on being pinched it wrinkles up, and so remains. In young mutton, the fat readily separates; in old, it is held together by strings of skin. In sheep diseased of the rot, the flesh is very pale-coloured, the fat inclining to yellow; the meat appears loose from the bone, and, if squeezed, drops of water ooze out from the grains; after cooking, the meat drops clean away from the bones. Wether mutton is preferred to that of the ewe; it may be known by the lump of fat on the inside of the thigh.

15. Lamb

This meat will not keep long after it is killed. The large vein in the neck is bluish in colour when the fore quarter is fresh, green when it is becoming stale. In the hind quarter, if not recently killed, the fat of the kidney will have a slight smell, and the knuckle will have lost its firmness.

16. Pork

When good, the rind is thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; when changing, from being too long killed, it becomes flaccid and clammy. Enlarged glands, called kernels, in the fat, are marks of an ill-fed or diseased pig.

17. Bacon

should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm, and tinged red by the curing; the flesh should be of a clear red, without intermixture of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To judge the state of a

ham

, plunge a knife into it to the bone; on drawing it back, if particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is disagreeable, the curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; it should, in such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, a short thick one is to be preferred to one long and thin. Of English hams, Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Hampshire are most esteemed; of foreign, the Westphalian. The bacon and "sugar cured" hams now imported in large quantities from Canada and the United States are both cheap and good.

18. Venison

When good, the fat is clear, bright, and of considerable thickness. To know when it is necessary to cook it, a knife must be plunged into the haunch; and from the smell the cook must determine whether to dress it at once, or to keep it a little longer.

19. Turkey

In choosing poultry, the age of the bird is the chief point to be attended to. An old turkey has rough and reddish legs; a young one smooth and black. Fresh killed, the eyes are full and clear, and the feet moist. When it has been kept too long, the parts about the vent have a greenish appearance.

20. Common Domestic Fowls

when young, have the legs and combs smooth; when old these parts are rough, and on the breast long hairs are found when the feathers axe plucked off: these hairs must be removed by singeing. Fowls and chickens should be plump on the breast, fat on the back, and white-legged.

21. Geese

The bills and feet are red when old, yellow when young. Fresh killed, the feet are pliable, but they get stiff when the birds are kept too long. Geese are called green when they are only two or three months old.

22. Ducks

Choose them with supple feet and hard plump breasts. Tame ducks have yellow feet, wild ones red.

23. Pigeons

are very indifferent food when they are kept too long. Suppleness of the feet shows them to be young; the flesh is flaccid when they are getting bad from keeping. Tame pigeons are larger than wild pigeons, but not so large as the wood pigeon.

24. Hares and Rabbits

when old, have the haunches thick, the ears dry and tough, and the claws blunt and ragged. A young hare has claws smooth and sharp, ears that easily tear, and a narrow cleft in the lip. A leveret is distinguished from a hare by a knob or small bone near the foot.

25. Partridges

when young, have yellowish legs and dark-coloured bills. Old partridges are very indifferent eating.

26. Woodcocks and Snipes

when old, have the feet thick and hard; when these are soft and tender, they are both young and fresh killed. When their bills become moist, and their throats muddy, they have been too long killed.

(See

[Food in Season]

, Pars.

[30]

—

[42]

.)

27. Names and Situations of the Various Joints

28. Meats

In different parts of the kingdom the method of cutting up carcases varies. That which we describe below is the most general, and is known as the English method.

Beef is in season all the year; best in winter.

The Miser Fasts with Greedy Mind to Spare.

Mutton is best in winter, spring, and autumn.

'Grass lamb' is in season from Easter to Michaelmas;
'House lamb' from Christmas to Lady-day.

Pork is in season nearly all the year round, but is better relished in winter than in summer.

Veal is always in season, but dear in winter and spring.

Doe venison is best in January, October, November, and December, and buck venison in June, July, August, and September.

vii. Scottish mode of division.

According to the English method the carcase of beef is disposed of more economically than upon the Scotch plan. The English plan affords better steaks, and better joints for roasting; but the Scotch plan gives a greater variety of pieces for boiling. The names of pieces in the Scotch plan, not found in the English, are:

The Scotch also cut mutton differently.

viii. Ox-tail

is much esteemed for purposes of soup; so also is the Cheek. The Tongue is highly esteemed. The Heart, stuffed with veal stuffing, roasted, and served hot, with red currant jelly as an accompaniment, is a palatable dish. When prepared in this manner it is sometimes called

Smithfield Hare

, on account of its flavour being something like that of roast hare.

ix. Calves' Heads

are very useful for various dishes; so also are their Knuckles, Feet, Heart, &c

29. Relative Economy of the Joints

i. The Round

is, in large families, one of the most profitable parts owing to its comparative freedom from bone: it is usually boiled, and is generally sold at the same price as the sirloin, and ribs. It is sometimes divided downwards, close to the bone; one side being known as the

top side

, and the other as the

silver side

. Either of these parts is as good roasted as boiled.

ii. The Brisket

is always less in price than the roasting parts. It is not so economical a part as the round, having more bone with it, and more fat. Where there are children, very fat joints are not desirable, being often disagreeable to them, and sometimes prejudicial, especially if they have a dislike to fat. This joint also requires more cooking than many others; that is to say, it requires a double allowance of time to be given for simmering it; it will, when served, be hard and scarcely digestible if no more time be allowed to simmer it than that which is sufficient for other joints and meats. Joints cooked in a boiler or saucepan, should always be

simmered

, that is to say, boiled as slowly as possible. Meat boiled fast, or "at a gallop," as the phrase goes, is always tough and tasteless. The brisket is excellent when stewed; and when cooked fresh (i.e., unsalted) an excellent stock for soup may be extracted from it, and yet the meat will serve as well for dinner.

iii. The Edge-bone, or Aitch-bone

is not considered to be a very economical joint, the bone being large in proportion to the meat; but the greater part of it, at least, is as good as that of any prime part. On account of the quantity of bone in it, it is sold at a cheaper rate than the best joints. It may be roasted or boiled.

iv. The Rump

is the part of which the butcher makes great profit, by selling it in the form of steaks, but the whole of it may be purchased as a joint, and at the price of other prime parts. It may be turned to good account in producing many excellent dishes. If salted, it is simply boiled; if used unsalted, it is generally stewed.

v. The Veiny Piece

is sold at a moderate price per pound; but, if hung for a day or two, it is very good and very profitable. Where there are a number of servants and children to have an early dinner, this part of beef will be found desirable.

vi. The Leg and Shin

afford excellent stock for soup; and, if not reduced too much, the meat taken from the bones may be served as a stew with vegetables; or it may be seasoned, pounded with butter, and potted; or, chopped very fine, and seasoned with herbs, and bound together by egg and bread crumbs, it may be fried in balls, or in the form of large eggs, and served with a gravy made with a few spoonfuls of the soup.

vii. Ox-cheek

makes excellent soup. The meat, when taken from the bones, may be served as a stew.

viii. The Sirloin and the Ribs

are the roasting parts of beef, and these bear in all places the highest price. The more profitable of these two joints at a family table is the ribs. The bones, if removed from the beef before it is roasted, are useful in making stock for soup. When boned, the meat of the ribs is often rolled up on the shape of a small round or fillet, tied with string, and roasted; and this is the best way of using it, as it enables the carver to distribute equally the upper part of the meat with the fatter parts, at the lower end of the bones.

30. Food in Season

There is an old maxim, "A place for everything, and everything in its place," To which may be added another, "A season for everything, and everything in season."

[Fish, Poultry, &c, whose names are distinguished by

Italics

in each month's "Food in Season," are to be had in the highest perfection during the month.]

31. In Season in January

i. Fish:

Barbel, brill, carp, cod, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, eels, flounders, haddocks, herrings, lampreys, ling, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon-trout, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sprats, sturgeon, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.

ii. Meat:

Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, and doe venison.

iii. Poultry and Game:

Capons, chickens, ducks, wild-ducks, fowls, geese, grouse, hares, larks, moor-game, partridges, pheasants, pigeons (tame), pullets, rabbits, snipes, turkeys (hen), widgeons, woodcocks.

iv. Vegetables:

Beet, broccoli (white and purple), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, colewort, cresses, endive, garlic, herbs (dry), Jerusalem artichokes, kale (Scotch), leeks, lettuces, mint (dry), mustard, onions, parsley, parsnips, potatoes, rape, rosemary, sage, salsify, Savoy cabbages, scorzonera, shalots, skirrets, sorrel, spinach (winter), tarragon, thyme, turnips.

v. Forced Vegetables:

Asparagus, cucumbers, mushrooms, sea-kale.

vi. Fruit:

Almonds. Apples: Golden pippin, golden russet, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, winter pearmain. Pears: Bergamot d'Hollande, Bon Chrétien, Chaumontel, Colmar, winter beurré. Grapes: English and foreign. Chestnuts, medlars, oranges, walnuts, filbert nuts.

The Hypocrite Will Fast Seem More Holy.

32. In Season in February

i. Fish

Barbel, brill, carp, cockles, cod, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, eels, flounders, haddocks, herrings, lampreys, ling, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

iii. Poultry and Game

Capons, chickens, ducklings, geese, hares, partridges, pheasants, pigeons (tame and wild), rabbits (tame), snipes, turkeys, turkey poults, wild-ducks, woodcocks.

iv. Vegetables

Beet, broccoli (white and purple), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, colewort, cresses, endive, garlic, herbs (dry), Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, lettuces, mint (dry), mushrooms, onions, parsnips, parsley, potatoes, radish, rape, rosemary, sage, salsify, Savoys, scorzonera, shalots, skirrets, sorrel, spinach, sprouts, tarragon, thyme, turnips, winter savoury.

v. Forced Vegetables

Asparagus, cucumbers, mushrooms, sea-kale, &c

vi. Fruit

Apples: Golden pippin, golden russet, Holland pippin, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, Wheeler's russet, winter pearmain. Chestnuts, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, winter Bon Chrétien, winter Russelet.

33. In Season in March

i. Fish

Brill, carp, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crabs, dabs, dory, eels, flounders, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullets, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, salmon-trout, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, turbot, tench, and whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

iii. Poultry and Game

Capons, chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, grouse, leverets, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, turkeys, woodcocks.

iv. Vegetables

Artichokes (Jerusalem), beet, broccoli (white and purple), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, colewort, cresses, endive, garlic, herbs (dry), kale (sea and Scotch), lettuces, mint, mushrooms, mustard, onions, parsley, parsnips, potatoes, rape, rosemary, sage, Savoys, shalots, sorrel, spinach, tarragon, thyme, turnips, turnip-tops.

v. Forced Vegetables

Asparagus, French beans, cucumbers, and rhubarb.

vi. Fruit

Apples: Golden russet, Holland pippin, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, Norfolk beefing, Wheeler's russet. Chestnuts, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, Chaumontel, winter Bon Chrétien. Forced: Strawberries.

34. In Season in April

i. Fish

Brill, carp, chub, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crabs, dabs, dory, eels, floandeis, halibut, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullets, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, prawns, plaice, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, leverets, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, turkey poults, wood-pigeons.

iv. Vegetables

Asparagus, broccoli, chervil, colewort, cucumbers, endive, fennel, herbs of all sorts, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, radishes, sea-kale, sorrel, spinach, small salad, tarragon, turnip-radishes, turnip-tops, and rhubarb.

vi. Fruit

Apples: Golden russet, nonpareil, Wheeler's russet. Nuts, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, Bon Chrétien, Carmelite. Forced: Apricots, cherries, strawberries.

35. In Season in May

i. Fish

Brill, carp, chub, cod, conger-eels, crab, cray-fish, dabs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddock, halibut, herring, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, leverets, pigeons, pullets, rabbits; wood-pigeons.

iv. Vegetables

Angelica, artichokes, asparagus, balm, kidney-beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, chervil, cucumbers, fennel, herbs of all sorts, lettuce, mint, onions, parsley, peas, new potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, salad of all sorts, sea-kale, sorrel, spinach, turnips.

vi. Fruit

Apples: Golden russet, winter russet. May-duke cherries; currants; gooseberries; melons. Pears: L'amozette, winter-green. Forced: Apricots, peaches, strawberries.

36. In Season in June

i. Fish

Carp, cod, conger-eels, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, salmon-trout, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whitebait, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, buck venison.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, leverets, pigeons, plovers, pullets, rabbits, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wood-pigeons.

iv. Vegetables

Angelica, artichokes, asparagus, beans (French, kidney, and Windsor), white beet, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, chervil, cucumbers, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad of all sorts, spinach, turnips, vegetable marrow.

v. For Drying

Burnet, mint, tarragon, lemon thyme.

vi. Fruit

Apples: Quarrenden, stone pippin, golden russet. Apricots. Cherries: May-duke, bigaroon, white-heart. Currants; gooseberries; melons. Pears: Winter-green. Strawberries. Forced: Grapes, nectarines, peaches, pines.

37. In Season in July

i. Fish

Barbel, brill, carp, cod, conger-eels, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, skate, soles, tench, thornback, trout.

ii. Meat

Beef, grass-lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, ducks, fowls, green geese, leverets, pigeons, plovers, rabbits, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wild pigeons, wild rabbits.

iv. Vegetables

Artichokes, asparagus, balm, beans (French, kidney, scarlet, and Windsor), carrots, cauliflowers, celery, chervil, cucumbers, endive, herbs of all sorts, lettuces, mushrooms, peas, potatoes, radishes, salads of all sorts, salsify, scorzonera, sorrel, spinach, turnips.

v. For Drying

Knotted marjoram, mushrooms, winter savoury.

vi. For Pickling

French beans, red cabbage, cauliflowers, garlic, gherkins, nasturtiums, onions.

vii. Fruit

Apples: Codlin, jennetting, Margaret, summer pearmain, summer pippin, quarrenden. Apricots, cherries (black-heart), currants, plums, greengages, gooseberries, melons, nectarines, peaches. Pears: Catherine, green-chisel, jargonelle. Pineapples, raspberries, strawberries.

38. In Season in August

i. Fish

Barbel, brill, carp, cod, conger-eels, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, herrings, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, skate, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, grass-lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, ducks, fowls, green geese, grouse (from 12th), leverets, pigeons, plovers, rabbits, turkeys, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wild ducks, wild pigeons, wild rabbits.

iv. Vegetables

Artichokes, beans (French, kidney, scarlet and Windsor), white beet, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, cucumbers, endive, pot-herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, mushrooms, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad of all sorts, salsify, scorzonera, shalots, spinach, turnips.

v. For Drying

Basil, sage, thyme.

vi. For Pickling

Red cabbage, capsicums, chilies, tomatoes, walnuts.

vii. Fruit

Apples: Codlin, summer pearmain, summer pippin. Cherries, currants, figs, filberts, gooseberries, grapes, melons, mulberries, nectarines, peaches. Pears: Jargonelle, summer, Bon Chrétien, Windsor. Plums, greengages, raspberries, Alpine strawberries.

Without Economy None can be Rich.

39. In Season in September

i. Fish

Barbel, brill, carp, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crab, dace, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, hake, herrings, lobsters, mullet, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, shrimps, soles, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, mutton, pork, veal, buck venison.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, ducks, fowls, green geese, grouse, hares, larks, leverets, partridges, pigeons, plovers, rabbits, teal, turkeys, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wild ducks, wild pigeons, wild rabbits.

iv. Vegetables

Artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, beans (French and scarlet), cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, cucumbers, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad of all sorts, shalots, turnips.

v. Fruit

Apples: Golden nob, pearmain, golden rennet. Cherries (Morella), damsons, figs, filberts. Grapes: Muscadine, Frontignac, red and black Hamburgh, Malmsey. Hazel nuts, walnuts, medlars, peaches. Pears: Bergamot, brown beurré. Pineapples, plums, quinces, strawberries, walnuts.

40. In Season in October

i. Fish

Barbel, brill, turbot, carp, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crabs, dace, dory, eels, gudgeon, haddocks, hake, halibut, herrings, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, prawns, salmon-trout, shrimps, smelts, soles, tench, thornback, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, mutton, pork, veal, doe venison.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, dotterel, ducks, fowls, green geese, grouse, hares, larks, moor-game, partridges, pheasants, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, teal, turkey, wheat-ears, widgeon, wild ducks, wild pigeons, wild rabbits, woodcocks.

iv. Vegetables

Artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, coleworts, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, onions, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad, Savoys, scorzonera, skirrets, shalots, spinach (winter), tomatoes, truffles, turnips.

v. Fruit

Apples: Pearmain, golden pippin, golden rennet, royal russet. Black and white bullace, damsons, late figs, almonds, filberts, hazel nuts, walnuts, filberts. Grapes, medlars. Peaches: Old Newington, October. Pears: Bergamot, beurré, Chaumontel, Bon Chrétien, swan's-egg. Quinces, services, walnuts.

41. In Season in November

i. Fish

Barbel, brill, turbot, carp, cockles, cod, crabs, dace, dory, eels, gudgeons, gurnets, haddocks, hake, halibut, herrings, ling, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sprats, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.

ii. Meat

Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, doe venison.

iii. Poultry and Game

Chickens, dotterel, ducks, fowls, geese, grouse, hares, larks, partridges, pheasants, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, teal, turkey, wheat-ears, widgeon, wild ducks, wood-cocks.

iv. Vegetables

Jerusalem artichokes, beet root, borecole, broccoli, cabbages, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, coleworts, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, onions, parsnips, potatoes, salad, Savoys, scorzonera, skirrets, shalots, spinach, tomatoes, turnips.

vi. Fruit

Almonds. Apples: Holland pippin, golden pippin, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, winter pearmain, Wheeler's russets. Bullace, chestnuts, hazel nuts, walnuts, filberts, grapes, medlars. Pears: Bergamot, Chaumontel, Bon Chrétien.

With Economy, Few Need be Poor.

42. In Season in December

i. Fish

Barbel, brill, turbot, carp, cockles, cod, crabs, dab, dory, eels, gudgeon, gurnets, haddocks, bake, halibut, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, ruffe, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sprats, sturgeon, tench, whitings.

ii. Meat

Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, doe venison.

iii. Poultry and Game

Capons, chickens, ducks, fowls, geese, grouse, guinea-fowl, hares, larks, partridges, pea-fowl, pheasants, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, teal, turkeys, wheat-ears, widgeon, wild ducks, woodcocks.

iv. Vegetables

Jerusalem artichokes, beet root, borecole, white and purple broccoli, cabbages, cardoons, carrots, celery, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, onions, parsnips, potatoes, salad, Savoys, scorzonera, skirrets, shalots, spinach, truffles, turnips, forced asparagus.

v. Fruit

Almonds. Apples: Golden pippin, nonpareil, winter pearmain, golden russet. Chestnuts, hazel nuts, walnuts, filberts, Almeria grapes, medlars, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, beurré d'hiver.

43. Drying Herbs

Fresh herbs are preferable to dried ones, but as they cannot always be obtained, it is most important to dry herbs at the proper seasons:

These herbs always at hand will be a great aid to the cook. Herbs should be gathered on a dry day; they should be immediately well cleansed, and dried by the heat of a stove or Dutch oven. The leaves should then be picked off, pounded and sifted, put into stoppered bottles, labelled, and put away for use. Those who are unable or may not care to take the trouble to dry herbs, can obtain them prepared for use in bottles at the green-grocer's.

Do Good to your Enemy, that he may become Your Friend.

44. Dr. Kitchiner's Rules for Marketing

The best rule for marketing is to pay ready money for everything,

and to deal with the most respectable tradesmen

in your neighbourhood. If you leave it to their integrity to supply you with a good article at the fair market price, you will be supplied with better provisions, and at as reasonable a rate as those bargain-hunters who trot "

around, around, around about

" a market till they are trapped to buy some

unchewable

old poultry,

tough

tup-mutton,

stringy

cow-beef, or

stale

fish, at a very little less than the price of prime and proper food. With

savings

like these they toddle home in triumph, cackling all the way, like a goose that has got ankle-deep into good luck. All the skill of the most accomplished cook will avail nothing unless she is furnished with prime provisions. The best way to procure these is to deal with shops of established character: you may appear to pay, perhaps, ten

per cent.

more than you would were you to deal with those who pretend to sell cheap, but you would be much more than in that proportion better served.

Every trade has its tricks and deceptions; those who follow them can deceive you if they please, and they are too apt to do so if you provoke the exercise of their over-reaching talent. Challenge them to a game at "

Catch who can

," by entirely relying on your own judgment, and you will soon find nothing but very long experience can make you equal to the combat of marketing to the utmost advantage. If you think a tradesman has imposed upon you, never use a second word, if the first will not do, nor drop the least hint of an imposition; the only method to induce him to make an abatement is the hope of future favours; pay the demand, and deal with the gentleman no more; but do not let him see that you are displeased, or as soon as you are out of sight your reputation will suffer as much as your pocket has. Before you go to market, look over your larder, and consider well what things are wanting—especially on a Saturday. No well-regulated family can suffer a disorderly caterer to be jumping in and out to make purchases on a Sunday morning. You will be enabled to manage much better if you will make out a bill of fare for the week on the Saturday before; for example, for a family of half a dozen:

It is an excellent plan to have certain things on certain days. When your butcher or poulterer knows what you will want, he has a better chance of doing his best for you; and never think of ordering beef for roasting except for Sunday. When you order meat, poultry, or fish, tell the tradesman when you intend to dress it: he will then have it in his power to serve you with provision that will do him credit, which the finest meat, &c, in the world will never do, unless it has been kept a proper time to be ripe and tender.

(

Kitchiner's Cook's Oracle 56th Thousand. 5s. Houlston & Sons.

)

45. The Family Circle

Under this title a group of acquaintances in London once instituted and carried out a series of friendly parties. The following form of invitation, and the rules of the "Family Circle," will be found interesting, probably useful:

Will you do me the favour of meeting here, as a guest, on —— next, at seven precisely, a few friends who have kindly joined in an attempt to commence occasional pleasant and social parties, of which the spirit and intent will be better understood by the perusal of the few annexed remarks and rules from
Yours sincerely, ——

---

"They manage it better in France," is a remark to be often applied with reference to social life in England, and the writer fancies that the prevalence here of a few bad customs, easily changed, causes the disadvantageous difference between ourselves and our more courteous and agreeable neighbours.

1. Worldly appearance; the phantom leading many to suppose that wealth is the standard of worth—in the minds of friends, a notion equally degrading to both parties.

1. Overdress; causing unnecessary expense and waste of time.

1. Expensive entertainments, as regards refreshments.

1. Late hours.

The following brief rules are suggested, in a hope to show the way to a more constant, easy, and friendly intercourse amongst friends, the writer feeling convinced that society is equally beneficial and requisite—in fact, that mankind in seclusion, like the sword in the scabbard, often loses polish, and gradually rusts.

1. That meetings be held in rotation at each member's house, for the enjoyment of conversation; music, grave and gay; dancing, gay only; and card-playing at limited stakes.

1. That such meetings commence at seven and end about or after twelve, and that members and guests be requested to remember that punctuality has been called the politeness of kings.

1. That as gentlemen are allowed for the whole season to appear, like the raven, in one suit, ladies are to have the like privilege; and that no lady be allowed to quiz or notice the habits of another lady; and that demi-toilette in dress be considered the better taste in the family circle; not that the writer wishes to raise or lower the proper standard of ladies' dress, which ought to be neither too high nor too low, but at a happy medium.

1. That any lady infringing the last rule be liable to reproof by the oldest lady present at the meeting, if the oldest lady, like the oldest inhabitant, can be discovered.

1. That every member or guest, be requested to bring with them their own vocal, instrumental, or dance music, and take it away with them, if possible, to avoid loss and confusion.

1. That no member or guest, able to sing, play, or dance, refuse, unless excused by medical certificate; and that no cold or sore throat be allowed to last more than a week.

1. That as every member or guest known to be able to sing, play, or dance, is bound to do so if requested, the performer (especially if timid) is to be kindly criticized and encouraged; it being a fact well known, that the greatest masters of an art are always the most lenient critics, from their deep knowledge of the feeling, intelligence, and perseverance required to at all approach perfection.

1. That gentlemen present do pay every attention to ladies, especially visitors; but such attention is to be general, and not particular—for instance, no gentleman is to dance more than three times with one lady during the evening, except in the case of lovers, privileged to do odd things during their temporary lunacy, and also married couples, who are expected to dance together at least once during the evening, and oftener if they please.

1. That to avoid unnecessary expense, the refreshments be limited to cold meat, sandwiches, bread, cheese, butter, vegetables, fruits, tea, coffee, negus, punch, malt liquors, &c, &c

1. That all personal or face-to-face laudatory speeches (commonly called toasts, or, as may be, roasts) be for the future forbidden, without permission or inquiry, for reasons following:—That as the family circle includes bachelors and spinsters, and he, she, or they may be secretly engaged, it will be therefore cruel to excite hopes that may be disappointed; and that as some well-informed Benedick of long experience may after supper advise the bachelor to find the way to woman's heart—vice versa, some deep-feeling wife or widow, by "pity moven," may, perhaps, after supper advise the spinster the other way, which, in public, is an impropriety manifestly to be avoided.

1. (suggested by a lady). That any lady, after supper, may (if she please) ask any gentleman apparently diffident, or requiring encouragement, to dance with her, and that no gentleman can of course refuse so kind a request.

1. That no gentleman be expected to escort any lady home on foot beyond a distance of three miles, unless the gentleman be positive and the lady agreeable.

Rule the Last: That as the foregoing remarks and rules are intended, in perfect good faith and spirit, to be considered general and not personal, no umbrage is to be taken, and the reader is to bear in mind the common and homely saying,—

"Always at trifles scorn to take offence,
It shows great pride and very little sense."

P.S.—To save trouble to both parties, this invitation be deemed accepted, without the necessity to reply, unless refused within twenty-four hours.

1. Worldly appearance; the phantom leading many to suppose that wealth is the standard of worth—in the minds of friends, a notion equally degrading to both parties.

1. Overdress; causing unnecessary expense and waste of time.

1. Expensive entertainments, as regards refreshments.

1. Late hours.

1. That meetings be held in rotation at each member's house, for the enjoyment of conversation; music, grave and gay; dancing, gay only; and card-playing at limited stakes.

1. That such meetings commence at seven and end about or after twelve, and that members and guests be requested to remember that punctuality has been called the politeness of kings.

1. That as gentlemen are allowed for the whole season to appear, like the raven, in one suit, ladies are to have the like privilege; and that no lady be allowed to quiz or notice the habits of another lady; and that demi-toilette in dress be considered the better taste in the family circle; not that the writer wishes to raise or lower the proper standard of ladies' dress, which ought to be neither too high nor too low, but at a happy medium.

1. That any lady infringing the last rule be liable to reproof by the oldest lady present at the meeting, if the oldest lady, like the oldest inhabitant, can be discovered.

1. That every member or guest, be requested to bring with them their own vocal, instrumental, or dance music, and take it away with them, if possible, to avoid loss and confusion.

1. That no member or guest, able to sing, play, or dance, refuse, unless excused by medical certificate; and that no cold or sore throat be allowed to last more than a week.

1. That as every member or guest known to be able to sing, play, or dance, is bound to do so if requested, the performer (especially if timid) is to be kindly criticized and encouraged; it being a fact well known, that the greatest masters of an art are always the most lenient critics, from their deep knowledge of the feeling, intelligence, and perseverance required to at all approach perfection.

1. That gentlemen present do pay every attention to ladies, especially visitors; but such attention is to be general, and not particular—for instance, no gentleman is to dance more than three times with one lady during the evening, except in the case of lovers, privileged to do odd things during their temporary lunacy, and also married couples, who are expected to dance together at least once during the evening, and oftener if they please.

1. That to avoid unnecessary expense, the refreshments be limited to cold meat, sandwiches, bread, cheese, butter, vegetables, fruits, tea, coffee, negus, punch, malt liquors, &c, &c

1. That all personal or face-to-face laudatory speeches (commonly called toasts, or, as may be, roasts) be for the future forbidden, without permission or inquiry, for reasons following:—That as the family circle includes bachelors and spinsters, and he, she, or they may be secretly engaged, it will be therefore cruel to excite hopes that may be disappointed; and that as some well-informed Benedick of long experience may after supper advise the bachelor to find the way to woman's heart—vice versa, some deep-feeling wife or widow, by "pity moven," may, perhaps, after supper advise the spinster the other way, which, in public, is an impropriety manifestly to be avoided.

1. (suggested by a lady). That any lady, after supper, may (if she please) ask any gentleman apparently diffident, or requiring encouragement, to dance with her, and that no gentleman can of course refuse so kind a request.

1. That no gentleman be expected to escort any lady home on foot beyond a distance of three miles, unless the gentleman be positive and the lady agreeable.

"Always at trifles scorn to take offence,
It shows great pride and very little sense."

As a Man Lives, so shall he Die.

46. Evening Pastimes

Among the innocent recreations of the fireside, there are few more commendable and practicable than those afforded by what are severally termed Anagrams, Arithmorems, Single and Double Acrostics, Buried Cities, &c, Charades, Conundrums, Cryptographs, Enigmas, Logogriphs, Puzzles, Rebuses, Riddles, Transpositions, &c Of these there are such a variety, that they are suited to every capacity; and they present this additional attraction, that ingenuity may be exercised in the

invention

of them, as well as in their solution. Many persons who have become noted for their literary compositions may date the origin of their success to the time when they attempted the composition of a trifling enigma or charade.

47. Acrostics

The acrostic is a short poem in which the first letters of each line, read collectively, form a name, word, or sentence. The word comes from the Greek

akros

, extreme, and

stichos

, order or line. The acrostic was formerly in vogue for valentine and love verses. When employed as a riddle it is called a

Rebus

, which

[see]

.

48. Acrostics (Double)

This very fashionable riddle is a double Rebus, the initial and final letters of a word or words selected making two names or two words. The usual plan is to first suggest the foundation words, and then to describe the separate words, whose initials and finals furnish the answer to the question. Thus:

A Party to charm the young and erratic—
But likely to frighten the old and rheumatic.

1. The carriage in which the fair visitants came:
2. A very old tribe with a very old name;
3. A brave Prince of Wales free from scandal or shame.

The answer is Picnic.

1.	P	Phaeton	N
2.	I	Iceni	I
3.	C	Caradoc	C

1. The carriage in which the fair visitants came:
2. A very old tribe with a very old name;
3. A brave Prince of Wales free from scandal or shame.

Sometimes the Double Acrostic is in prose, as in this brief example:

A Briton supports his wig, his grand-mother, his comfort, and his country-women.
The answer is, Beef—Beer:
Bob, Eve, Ease, Fair.

49. Acrostics (Triple)

are formed on the same plan, three names being indicated by the initial, central, and final letters of the selected words.

50. Anagrams

are formed by the transposition of the letters of words or sentences, or names of persons, so as to produce a word, sentence, or verse, of pertinent or of widely different meaning. They are very difficult to discover, but are exceedingly striking when good. The following are some of the most remarkable:

51. Arithmorems

This class of riddle is of recent introduction. The Arithmorem is made by substituting figures in a part of the word indicated, for Roman numerals. The nature of the riddle—from the Greek

arithmos

, number, and the Latin

remanere

, back again—will be easily seen from the following example, which is a double Arithmorem:

The answer is

Havanna—Tobacco

.

H

alibu

t

,

A

llegr

o

,

V

er

b

,

A

ndalusi

a

,

N

arcoti

c

,

N

itri

c

,

A

capulc

o

.

52. Charades

are compositions, poetical or otherwise, founded upon words, each syllable of which constitutes a

noun

, the whole of each word constituting another noun of a somewhat different meaning from those supplied by its separate syllables. Words which fully answer these conditions are the best for the purposes of charades; though many other words are employed. In writing, the first syllable is termed "

My first

," the second syllable "

My second

," and the complete word "

My whole

." The following is an example of a Poetical Charade:

The breath of the morning is sweet;
The earth is bespangled with flowers,
And buds in a countless array
Have ope'd at the touch of the showers.
The birds, whose glad voices are ever
A music delightful to hear,
Seem to welcome the joy of the morning,
As the hour of the bridal draws near.
What is that which now steals on my first,
Like a sound from the dreamland of love,
And seems wand'ring the valleys among,
That they may the nuptials approve?
'Tis a sound which my second explains,
And it comes from a sacred abode,
And it merrily trills as the villagers throng
To greet the fair bride on her road.
How meek is her dress, how befitting a bride
So beautiful, spotless, and pure!
When she weareth my second, oh, long may it be
Ere her heart shall a sorrow endure.
See the glittering gem that shines forth from her hair—
'Tis my whole, which a good father gave;
Twas worn by her mother with honour before—
But she sleeps in peace in her grave.
Twas her earnest request, as she bade them adieu,
That when her dear daughter the altar drew near,
She should wear the same gem that her mother had worn
When she as a bride full of promise stood there.

The answer is

Ear-ring

. The bells

ring

, the sound steals upon the

ear

, and the bride wears an

ear ring

. Charades may be sentimental or humorous, in poetry or prose; they may also be

acted

, in which manner they afford considerable amusement.

53. Charades (Acted)

A drawing room with folded doors is the best for the purpose. Various household appliances are employed to fit up something like a stage, and to supply the fitting scenes. Characters dressed in costumes made up of handkerchiefs, coats, shawls, table-covers, &c, come on and perform an extempore play, founded upon the parts of a word, and its

whole

, as indicated already. For instance, the events explained in the poem given might be

acted

—glasses might be rung for bells—something might be said in the course of the dialogues about the sound of the bells being delightful to the

ear

; there might be a dance of the villagers, in which a

ring

might be formed; a wedding might be performed, and so on: but for

acting charades

there are many better words, because

Ear-ring

could with difficulty be

represented

without at once betraying the meaning.

[There]

is a little work entitled "Philosophy and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," and another work, "Our Charades; and How we Played Them,"

[¹]

by Jean Francis, which supply a large number of these Charades. But the following is the most extensive list of words ever published upon which Charades may be founded:

[Footnote 1:]

"Philosophy and Mirth, united by Pen and Pencil," One Shilling.

"Our Charades; and How we played Them," by Jean Francis, One Shilling.

Both published by Houlston and Sons, Paternoster Square, London, EC.

[return]

A Fool's Bolt Is Soon Shot.

54. Words which may be converted into Acting or Written Charades

A Liar Should Have a Good Memory.

55. Chronograms or Chrono-graphs

are riddles in which the letters of the Roman notation in a sentence or series of words are so arranged as to make up a date. The following is a good example:

My Day Closed Is In Immortality.

The initials MDCIII. give 1603, the year of Queen Elizabeth's death. Sometimes the Chronogram is employed to express a date on coins or medals; but oftener it is simply used as a riddle:

A poet who in blindness wrote; another lived in Charles's reign; a third called the father of English verse; a Spanish dramatist; the scolding wife of Socrates; and the Prince of Latin poets,—their initials give the year of the Great Plague—MDCLXV.—1665: Milton, Dryden, Chaucer, Lope-de-Vega, Xantippe, Virgil.

The word comes from

Chronos

, time, and

gramma

, a letter.

Begin Well and End Better.

56. Conundrums

These are simple catches, in which the sense is playfully cheated, and are generally founded upon words capable of double meaning. The following are examples:

Where did Charles the First's executioner dine, and what did he
take?
He took a chop at the King's Head.
When is a plant to be dreaded more than a mad dog?
When it's madder.
What is majesty stripped of its externals?
It is a jest.
[The m and the y, externals, are taken away.]
Why is hot bread like a caterpillar?
Because it's the grub that makes the butter fly.
Why did the accession of Victoria throw a greater damp over England than the death of King William?
Because the King was missed (mist) while the Queen was
reigning (raining).
Why should a gouty man make his will?
To have his legatees (leg at ease).
Why are bankrupts more to be pitied than idiots?
Because bankrupts are broken, while idiots are only cracked.
Why is the treadmill like a true convert?
Because it's turning is the result of conviction.
When may a nobleman's property be said to be all feathers?
When his estates are all entails (hen-tails).

Every Man Knows Where His Own Shoe Pinches.

57. Cryptography, or secret writing

from the Greek

cryptos

, a secret, and

graphein

, to write—has been largely employed in state despatches, commercial correspondence, love epistles, and riddles. The telegraphic codes employed in the transmission of news by electric wire, partakes somewhat of the cryptographic character, the writer employing certain words or figures, the key to which is in the possession of his correspondent. The single-word despatch sent by Napier to the Government of India, was a sort of cryptographic conundrum—

Peccavi

, I have sinned (Scinde); and in the agony column of the

Times

there commonly appear paragraphs which look puzzling enough until we discover the key-letter or figure. Various and singular have been the devices adopted—as, for instance, the writing in the perforations of a card especially prepared, so as only to allow the real words of the message to be separated from the mass of writing by means of a duplicate card with similar perforations; the old Greek mode of writing on the edges of a strip of paper wound round a stick in a certain direction, and the substitution of figures or signs for letters or words. Where one letter is always made to stand for another, the secret of a cryptograph is soon discovered, but when, as in the following example, the same letter does not invariably correspond to the letter for which it is a substitute, the difficulty of deciphering the cryptograph is manifestly increased:

Ohs ya h sych, oayarsa rr loucys syms
Osrh srore rrhmu h smsmsmah emshyr snms.

The translation of this can be made only by the possessor of the key.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
h u s h m o n e y b y c h a r l e s h r o s s e s q

"Hush Money, by Charles H. Ross, Esq."—twenty-six letters which, when applied to the cryptograph, will give a couplet from Parnell's "Hermit":

"Far in a wild, unknown to public view,
From youth to age a reverend hermit grew."

The employment of figures and signs for letters is the most usual form of the cryptograph. From the following jumble we get a portion of Hamlet's address to the Ghost:

it is easy to write and not very hard to read the entire speech. The whole theory of the cryptogram is that each correspondent possesses the key to the secret. To confound an outside inquirer the key is often varied. A good plan is to take a line from any ordinary book and substitute the first twenty-six of its letters for those of the alphabet. In your next cryptogram you take the letters from another page or another book. It is not necessary to give an example. Enough will be seen from what we have written to instruct an intelligent inquirer.

58. Decapitations and Curtailments

are riddles somewhat of the nature of the Logogriph, which

[see]

. In the first, the omission of the successive initials produces new words, as—Prelate, Relate, Elate, Late, Ate. In the curtailment the last letter of the word is taken away with a similar result, as—Patent, Paten, Pate, Pat, Pa. Of like kind are the riddles known as variations, mutilations, reverses, and counterchanges. A good example of the last-named is this:

Charge, Chester, Charge: on, Stanley, on!
Were the last words of Marmion.
Had I but been in Stanley's place,
When Marmion urged him to the chase,
A tear might come on every face."

The answer is onion—On, I, on.

Mock Not a Cobbler for His Black Thumb.

59. Enigmas

are compositions of a different character, based upon

ideas

, rather than upon words, and frequently constructed so as to mislead, and to surprise when the solution is made known. Enigmas may be founded upon simple catches, like Conundrums, in which form they are usually called

Riddles

, such as:

"Though you set me on foot,
I shall be on my head."

The answer is,

A nail in a shoe

. The celebrated Enigma on the letter H, by Miss Catherine Fanshawe, but usually attributed to Lord Byron, commencing:

"'Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;"

and given elsewhere in this volume (See

[par. 215]

, page 77), is an admirable specimen of what may be rendered in the form of an Enigma.

60. Hidden Words.

A riddle in which names of towns, persons, rivers, &c, are hidden or arranged, without transposition, in the midst of sentences which convey no suggestion of their presence. In the following sentence, for instance, there are hidden six Christian names:—Here is hid a name the people of Pisa acknowledge: work at each word, for there are worse things than to give the last shilling for bottled wine.—The names are Ida, Isaac, Kate, Seth, Ethel, Edwin. Great varieties of riddles, known as Buried Cities, Hidden Towns, &c, are formed on this principle, the words being sometimes placed so as to read backwards, or from right to left. The example given will, however, sufficiently explain the mode of operation.

61. Lipogram

from

leipein

, to leave out, and

gramma

, a letter—is a riddle in which a name or sentence is written without its vowels, as:

Thprffthpddngsthtng,
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Whnhnorslst ts—rlftd,
Dths bt—sr rtrt fm nfmy.
"When honour's lost 'tis a relief to die,
Death's but a sure retreat from infamy."

This riddle sometimes appears as a proverb.

"Fear's the white feather all cowards wear."
——s' th wht fthr ll cwrds——

62. Logogriph

This is a riddle (

logos

, a word, and

griphos

, a riddle) in which a word is made to undergo several changes. These changes are brought about by the addition, subtraction, omission, or substitution of a letter or letters. The following, by the late Lord Macaulay, is an excellent example:

"Cut off my head, how singular I act:
Cut off my tail, and plural I appear.
Cut off my head and tail—most curious fact,
Although my middle's left, there's nothing there!
What is my head cut off?—a sounding sea!
What is my tail cut off?—a flowing river!
Amid their mingling deaths I fearless play
Parent of softest sounds, though mute for ever!

The answer is

cod

. Cut off its head and it is

od

(odd, singular); its tail, and it is Co., plural, for company; head and tail, and it is o, nothing. Its head is a sounding C (sea), its tail a flowing D (river Dee), and amid their depths the cod may fearless play, parent of softest

sounds

yet mute for ever.

63. Metagram

a riddle in which the change of the initial letter produces a series of words of different meanings; from

meta

, implying change, and

gramma

, a letter. Thus:

I cover your head; change my head, and I set you to sleep; change it again and again, and with every change comes a new idea.—Cap, Nap, Gap, Sap, Hap, Map, Lap, Pap, Rap, Tap. This kind of riddle is also known as word-capping.

Gunpowder Made By a Monk at Cologne A.D.1330.

64. Palindrome

from the Greek

palin-dromos

, running back again. This is a word, sentence, or verse that reads the same both forwards and backwards—as, madam, level, reviver; live on no evil; love your treasure and treasure your love; you provoked Harry before Harry provoked you; servants respect masters when masters respect servants. Numerous examples of Palindrome or reciprocal word-twisting exist in Latin and French; but in English it is difficult to get a sentence which will be exactly the same when read either way. The best example is the sentence which, referring to the first banishment of the Great Napoleon, makes him say, as to his power to conquer Europe:

"Able was I ere I saw Elba."

65. Puzzles

vary much. One of the simplest that we know is this:

Take away half of thirteen and let eight remain.
Write XIII on a slate, or on a piece of paper—rub out the lower half of the figures, and VIII will remain.

Upon the principle of the square-words, riddlers form Diagonals, Diamonds, Pyramids, Crosses, Stars, &c These specimens will show their peculiarities:

66. Oblique Puzzle.

Malice, eight, a polemical meeting, a Scottish river, what I write with, a decided negative, the capital of Ireland. The initials downward name a celebrated musician.

(solution in

[ p.67]

below.)

67. Diagonal Puzzle

A direction, a singer, a little bird, a lady's ring, a sharp shaver.
Read from left to right and right to left, the centrals show two famous novelists.

The following are answers to these two puzzles, and afford good examples of their construction to any one who wishes to try his hand at their manufacture.

68. Diamond Puzzle

The head of a mouse, what the mouse lives in, the county of calves, the city of porcelain, a German town, a Transatlantic stream, a royal county, a Yorkshire borough, Eve's temptation, our poor relation, myself. Centrals down and across, show a wide, wide, long river.

The construction of the Diamond Puzzle is exhibited in the following diagram, which is, at the same time, the answer to it.

69. Rebuses

are a class of Enigma generally formed by the first, sometimes the first and last, letters of words, or of transpositions of letters, or additions to words. Dr. Johnson, however, represents Rebus to be a word represented by a picture. And putting the Doctor's definition and our own explanation together, the reader may glean a good conception of the nature of the Rebus of which the following is an example:

The father of the Grecian Jove;
A little boy who's blind;
The foremost land in all the world;
The mother of mankind;
A poet whose love-sonnets are
Still very much admired;—
The initial letters will declare
A blessing to the tired.

Answer—

S

aturn;

L

ove;

E

ngland;

E

ve;

P

lutarch. The initials form

sleep.

The excellent little work mentioned in

[para. 53]

, entitled "Philosophy and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," has this novelty, that many of the Enigmas are accompanied by enigmatical pictures, so that the eye is puzzled as well as the ear.

Glass First Brought to England A.D. 668.

70. Square Words

A comparatively modern sort of riddle, in which the letters of each word selected reads both across and down. With four letters the making of the riddle is easy, but with five or six the difficulty increases. We give an example of each.

1. Inside, a thought, a liquid gem, a timid creature.
2. To run out, odour, to boil, to loosen, unseen essence.
3. Compensations, a court favourite, to assist, to bite slightly, Spanish money, sarcasms.

With seven or eight letters the riddle becomes exceedingly difficult, especially if the selected words are of like character and syllables.

71. Chess, Laws of.

The rules given below are those which are now universally accepted by English players.

1. The board is to be so placed as to leave a white square at the right hand of the player.

1. Any mistake in placing the board or the men may be rectified before the fourth move is completed, but not after.

1. The players draw lots for the first move, and take the move alternately.

[When odds are given, the player giving them moves first. White generally moves first; therefore, if black win the move, the board is turned. It is usual to play with the white and black men alternately.]

1. The piece touched must be moved. When the fingers of the player have once left the man, it cannot be again removed from the square it occupies.

[Except the move be illegal, when the opponent can insist on the piece being moved in the proper manner, or for the opposing King to be moved.]

1. In touching a piece simply to adjust it, the player must notify to his adversary that such is his intention.

[It is usual, in such a case, to say J'adoube (I adjust); but he may not touch a piece with the intention of moving it, and then, when he discover his mistake, say, J'adoube. The phrase is simply intended to be used when a piece is displaced or overturned by accident.]

1. If a player take one of his own men by mistake, or touch a wrong man, or one of his opponent's men, or make an illegal move, his adversary may compel him to take the man, make the right move, move his King, or replace the piece, and make a legal move.

1. A pawn may be played either one or two squares at a time when first moved.

[In the latter case it is liable to be taken en passant, with a pawn that could have taken it had it been played only one square.]

1. A player cannot castle under any of the following circumstances:
2. 1. If he has moved either King or Rook.
   2. If the King be in check.
   3. If there be any piece between the King and the Rook.
   4. If the King, in moving, pass over any square commanded by any one of his adversary's forces.

[You cannot castle to get out of check.]

1. If a player give a check without crying "check," the adversary need not take notice of the check. But if two moves only are made before the discovery of the mistake, the pieces may be replaced, and the game properly played.

1. If a player say check without actually attacking the King, and his adversary move his King or take the piece, the latter may elect either to let the move stand or have the pieces replaced and another move made.

1. If, at the end of a game, the players remain, one with a superior to an inferior force, or even if they have equal forces, the defending player may call upon his adversary to mate in fifty moves on each side, or draw the game.

[If one player persist in giving perpetual check, or repeating the same move, his opponent may count the moves for the draw; in which case touching a piece if reckoned a move.]

1. Stalemate, or perpetual check is a drawn game.

1. Directly a pawn reaches its eighth square it must be exchanged for a piece.

[It is usual to change the pawn for a Queen, but it may be replaced by a Rook, Bishop, or Knight, without reference to the pieces already on the board. In practice it would be changed for a Queen or a Knight, seeing that the Queen's moves include those of the Rook and Bishop. Thus you may have two or more Queens, three or more Rooks, Bishops, or Knights on the board at the end of the game.]

1. Should any dispute arise, the question must be submitted to a bystander, whose decision is to be considered final.

For information as to the best modes of play, the Openings and Endings of Games, &c, read

The Book of Chess

, by G.H. Selkirk, published by Messrs. Houlston and Sons.

72. Draughts, Rules of the Game.

The accepted laws for regulating the game are as follows:

1. The board is to be so placed as to have the white or black double corners at the right hand of the player.

1. The first move is taken by chance or agreement, and in all the subsequent games of the same sitting, the first move is taken alternately. Black generally moves first.

1. Any action which prevents your adversary from having a full view of the board is not allowed, and if persisted in, loses the game to the offending player.

1. The man touched must be moved, but the men may be properly adjusted during any part of the game. After they are so placed, if either player, when it is his turn to play, touch a man, he must move it. If a man be so moved as to be visible on the angle separating the squares, the player so touching the man must move it to the square indicated.

[By this it is meant that a player may not move first to one square and then to another. Once moved on to a square, the man must remain there.]

1. It is optional with the player either to allow his opponent to stand the huff, or to compel him to take the offered piece.

["Standing the huff" is when a player refuses to take an offered piece, but either intentionally or accidentally makes another move. His adversary then removes the man that should have taken the piece, and makes his own move—huff and move, as it is called.]

1. Ten minutes is the longest time allowed to consider a move, which if not made within that time, forfeits the game.

1. It is compulsory upon the player to take all the pieces he can legally take by the same series of moves. On making a King, however, the latter remains on his square till a move has been made on the other side.

1. All disputes are to be decided by the majority of the bystanders present, or by an umpire.

1. No player may leave the room without the consent of his adversary, or he forfeits the game.

1. A false move must be remedied as soon as it is discovered, or the maker of such move loses the game.

1. When only a small number of men remain toward the end of the game, the possessor of the lesser number may call on his opponent to win in at least fifty moves, or declare the game drawn. With two Kings to one, the game must be won in at most twenty moves on each side.

1. The player who refuses to abide by the rules loses the game. In the losing game a player must take all the men he can by his move.

73. Whist

Great silence and attention should be observed by the players. Four persons cut for partners; the two highest are against the two lowest. The partners sit opposite to each other, and he who cuts the lowest card is entitled to the deal. The ace is the lowest in cutting.

1. Shuffling—-Each person has a right to shuffle the cards before the deal; but it is usual for the elder hand only; and the dealer after.

1. Cutting.—The pack is then cut by the right hand adversary; and the dealer distributes the cards, one by one, to each of the players, beginning with the player on his left, until he comes to the last card, which he turns up for trump, and leaves on the table till the first trick be played.

1. First Play.—The elder hand, the player on the left of the dealer, plays first. The winner of the trick plays again; and so on, till all the cards are played out.

1. Mistakes.—No intimations, or signs are permitted between the partners. The mistake of one party is the profit of the adversary.

1. Collecting Tricks.—The tricks belonging to each player should be turned and collected by one of the partners only. All above six tricks reckon towards game.

1. Honours.—The ace, king, queen, and knave of trumps are called honours; and when either of the partners hold three separately, or between them, they count two points towards the game; and in case they have four honours, they count four points.

1. Game.—Long Whist game consists of ten points, Short Whist of five points.

74. Terms used in Whist.

1. Finessing, is the attempt to gain an advantage; thus:—If you have the best and third best card of the suit led you put on the third best, and run the risk of your adversary having the second best; if he has it not, which is two to one against him, you are then certain of gaining a trick.

1. Forcing, is playing the suit of which your partner or adversary has not any, and which in order to win he must trump.

1. Long Trump, the one or more trumps in your hand when all the rest are out.

1. Loose Card, a card of no value, and the most proper to throw away.

1. Points,—Ten make the game; as many as are gained by tricks or honours, so many points are set up to the score of the game.

1. Quarte, four successive cards in suit.

1. Quarte Major, a sequence of ace, king, queen, and knave.

1. Quinte, five successive cards in suit.

1. Quinte Major, is a sequence of ace, king, queen, knave, and ten.

1. See-saw, is when each partner trumps a suit, and when they play those suits to each other for that purpose.

1. Score, is the number of points set up. The following is a good method of scoring with coins or counters:

For Short Whist there are regular markers.

1. Slam, is when either side win every trick.

1. Tenance, is possessing the first last and third best cards, and being the player; you consequently catch the adversary when that suit is played: as, for instance, in case you have ace and queen of any suit, and your adversary leads that suit, you must win two tricks, by having the best and third best of the suit played, and being the last player.

1. Tierce, three successive cards in suit.

1. xv. Tierce Major, a sequence of ace, king, and queen.

Children and Chickens Must Always be Picking.

75. Maxims for Whist.

1. Lead from your strong suit, be cautious how you change suits, and keep a commanding card to bring it in again.

1. Lead through the strong suit and up to the weak; but not in trumps; unless very strong in them.

1. Lead the highest of a sequence; but if you have a quarte or cinque to a king, lead the lowest.

1. Lead through an honour, particularly if the game is against you.

1. Lead your best trump, if the adversaries be eight, and you have no honour; but not if you have four trumps, unless you have a sequence.

1. Lead a trump if you have four or five, or a strong hand; but not if weak.

1. Having ace, king, and two or three small cards, lead ace and king if weak in trumps, but a small one if strong in them.

1. If you have the last trump, with some winning cards, and one losing card only, lead the losing card.

1. Return your partner's lead, not the adversaries'; and if you hold only three originally, play the best; but you need not return it immediately, when you win with a king, queen, or knave, and have only small ones, or when you hold a good sequence, a strong suit, or five trumps.

1. Do not lead from ace queen, or ace knave.

1. Do not—as a rule—lead an ace, unless you have a king.

1. Do not lead a thirteenth card, unless trumps be out.

1. Do not trump a thirteenth card, unless you be last player, or want the lead.

1. Keep a small card to return your partner's lead.

1. Be cautious in trumping a card when strong in trumps, particularly if you have a strong suit.

1. Having only a few small trumps, make them when you can.

1. If your partner refuse to trump a suit, of which he knows you have not the best, lead your best trump.

1. When you hold all the remaining trumps, play one, and then try to put the lead in your partner's hand.

1. Remember how many of each suit are out, and what is the best card left in each hand.

1. Never force your partner if you are weak in trumps, unless you have a renounce, or want the odd trick.

1. When playing for the odd trick, be cautious of trumping out, especially if your partner be likely to trump a suit. Make all the tricks you can early, and avoid finessing.

1. If you take a trick, and have a sequence, win it with the lowest.

There are None So Wicked as Represented.

76. Laws of Whist

as accepted at the best Clubs.

1. The deal is determined by cutting-in. Cutting-in and cutting-out must be by pairs.

[Less than three cards, above or below, is not a cut. Ace is lowest. Ties cut again. Lowest deals. Each player may shuffle, the dealer last. The right-hand adversary cuts to dealer.]

1. iIf a card be exposed, a fresh deal may be demanded.

1. Dealer must not look at bottom card; and the trump-card must be left, face upwards, on the table till the first trick be turned, or opponents may call a fresh deal.

1. Too many or too few cards is a misdeal—an exposed or face card. In either case, a fresh deal may be demanded.

[In cases of a misdeal, the deal passes to the next player.]

1. After the first round has been played, no fresh deal can be called.

[If the first player hold fewer than thirteen cards, the other hands being right, the deal stands.]

1. If two cards be dealt to the same player, the dealer may rectify his error before dealing another card.

[The dealer must not touch the cards after they have left his hands; but he may count those remaining in the pack if he suspect a misdeal, or he may ask the players to count their cards. One partner may not deal for another without the consent of opponents.]

1. If the trump-card be not taken into the dealer's hand at the expiration of the first round, it may be treated as an exposed card, and called.

[After this, no one has a right to ask what was the trump-card, but he may ask "What are Trumps?">[

1. If the third hand play before the second, the fourth has a right to play before his partner; or if the fourth hand play before the second or third, the cards so played must stand, and the second be compelled to win the trick if he can.

1. If a player lead out of his turn, or otherwise expose a card, that card may be called, if the playing of it does not cause a revoke.

[Calling a card is the insisting of its being played when the suit comes round, or when it may be played.]

1. If a player trump by mistake, he may recall his card, and play to the suit, if the card be not covered; but he may be compelled to play the highest or lowest of the suit led, and to play the exposed trump when it is called by his adversaries.

1. If, before a trick be turned, a player discover that he has not followed suit, he may recall his card; but the card played in error can be called when the suit is played.

1. Before a trick is turned, the player who made it may see the preceding trick.

[Only one trick is to be shown; not more, as is sometimes erroneously believed.]

1. Before he plays, a player may require his partner to "draw his card," or he may have each card in the trick claimed before the trick be turned.

1. When a player does not follow suit his partner is allowed to ask him whether he has any card of the suit led.

1. The penalty for a revoke—either by wrongfully trumping the suit led, or by playing a card of another suit—is the loss of three tricks; but no revoke can be claimed till the cards are abandoned, and the trick turned.

[Revokes forfeit three tricks from the hand or score: or opponents may add three to their score; partner may ask and correct a trick if not turned; the revoking side cannot score out in that deal.]

1. No revoke can be claimed after the tricks are gathered up, or after the cards are cut for the next deal.

[The wilful mixing up of the cards in such case loses the game.]

1. The proof of a revoke lies with the claimants, who may examine each trick on the completion of the round.

1. If a revoke occur on both sides, there must be a new deal.

1. Honours cannot be counted unless they are claimed previous to the next deal.

[No omission to score honours can be rectified after the cards are packed; but an overscore, if proved, must be deducted.]

1. Honours can only be called at eight points (in Long Whist), and at nine they do not count.

[In some Clubs, eight, with the deal, cannot call against nine.]

77. Short Whist

is the above game cut in half. Honours are not

called

at any part of the game; but, as in Long Whist, they are counted by their holders and scored—except at the score of four. All the maxims and Rules belonging to the parent game apply to Short Whist.

78. Points at Short Whist.

The Game consists of Five Points. One for a Single—5 to 3 or 4; Two for a Double—5 to 1 or 2; Three for a Triple—5 to love. A Rubber—two Games successively won, or the two best Games out of three—counts for Two Points. Thus, if the first Game be won by 5 to 4, the Points are 1 to love; the second Game won by the opposite side by 5 to 1, the Points are then 1 to 2; the third Game won by the side which won the first, by 5 to love. The Points are then 6 to 2—a balance of 4. This is arrived at thus: the Single in the first Game, 1; the Triple in the third Game, 3; the Rubber (two Games of three), 2; together, 6. From this deduct 2, for the Double gained by the opponents in the second Game, which leaves 4, as above. Short Whist is usually played for points—say, a shilling, or a penny, for each point; two for the Game, and two for the Rubber.

None are so Good as they Should Be.

79. Advice to all Players.

1. Count, and arrange your cards into suits; but do not always place your trumps in one particular part of your hand, or your opponents will discover how many you have.

1. Attend to the game, and play as though your hand consisted of twenty-six instead of thirteen cards.

1. In the second round of a suit, win the trick when you can, and lead out for your partner's high cards as soon as possible.

1. Touch only the card you intend to play.

1. Retain a high trump as long as you can, to bring back your strong suit.

1. With a weak hand, always try to secure the seventh or odd trick to save the game.

1. Attend to the score, and play as if the whole fortune of the game depended on yourself.

1. Remember the number of trumps out at every stage of the game. Note, also, the fall of every court-card in the other suits, so that you are never in doubt as to the card that will win the trick.

1. Hold the turn-up as long as you can, as by that means you keep your adversaries from knowing your strength in trumps.

1. Do not force your partner unnecessarily, as by that means you sometimes become his adversary instead of his friend.

1. When in doubt, play a trump. Play the game in its integrity, and recollect that Whist is full of inferences as well as facts.

80. Cribbage

The game of Cribbage differs from all other games by its immense variety of chances. It is played with the full pack of cards, often by four persons, but it is a better game for two. There are also different modes of playing—with five, six, or eight cards; but the best games use those with five or six cards.

Night is not Dark to the Good.

81. Terms Used in Cribbage

1. Crib.—The crib is composed of the cards thrown out by each player, and the dealer is entitled to score whatever points are made by them.

1. Pairs are two similar cards, as two aces or two kings. Whether in hand or play they reckon for two points.

1. Pairs-Royal are three similar cards, and reckon for six points, whether in hand or play.

1. Double Pairs-Royal are four similar cards and reckon for twelve points, whether in hand or play. The points gained by pairs, pairs-royal, and double pairs-royal, in playing, are thus effected:—Your adversary having played a seven and you another, constitutes a pair, and entitles you to score two points; your antagonist then playing a third seven, makes a pair-royal, and he marks six; and your playing a fourth is a double pair-royal, and entitles you to twelve points.

1. Fifteens.—Every fifteen reckons for two points, whether in hand or play. In hand they are formed either by two cards—as a five and any tenth card, a six and a nine, a seven and an eight, or by three cards, as a two, a five, and an eight, two sixes and a three. If in play, such cards as together make fifteen are played, the player whose card completes that number, scores two points.

1. Sequences are three or four more successive cards, and reckon for an equal number of points, either in hand or play. In playing a sequence, it is of no consequence which card is thrown down first; as thus:—your adversary playing an ace, you a five, he a three, you a two, then he a four—he counts five for the sequence.

1. Flush.—When, the cards are all of one suit, they reckon for as many points as there are cards. For a flush in the crib, the turned-up card must be of the same suit as those put out.

1. Nob.—The knave of the suit turned up reckons for one point; if a knave be turned up, the dealer marks two.

1. End Hole.—The point scored by the last player, if he make under thirty-one; if he make thirty-one exactly, he marks two.

1. Last.—Three points taken at the commencement of the game of five-card cribbage by the non-dealer.

Nor is Day Bright to the Wicked.

82. The Accepted Laws of Cribbage.

1. The players cut for deal. The ace is lowest in cutting. In case of a tie, they cut again. The holder of the lowest card deals.

1. Not fewer than four cards is a cut; nor must the non-dealer touch the pack after he has cut it.

1. Too many or too few cards dealt constitutes a misdeal, the penalty for which is the taking of two points by the non-dealer.

1. A faced card, or a card exposed during the act of dealing necessitates a new deal, without penalty.

1. The dealer shuffles the cards and the non-dealer cuts them for the "start."

1. If the non-dealer touch the cards (except to cut them for the turn-up) after they have been cut for the start, he forfeits two points.

1. In cutting for the start, not fewer than three cards must be lifted from the pack or left on the table.

1. The non-dealer throws out for the crib before the dealer. A card once laid out cannot be recalled, nor must either party touch the crib till the hand is played out. Either player confusing the crib cards with his hand, is liable to a penalty of three points.

[In three and four-hand cribbage the left-hand player throws out first for the crib, then the next; the dealer last. The usual and best way is for the non-dealer to throw his crib over to the dealer's side of the board; on these two cards the dealer places his own, and hands the pack over to be cut. The pack is then at the right side of the board for the next deal.]

1. The player who takes more points than those to which he is entitled, either in play or in reckoning hand or crib, is liable to be "pegged;" that is, to be put back as many points as he has over-scored, and have the points added to his opponent's side.

[In pegging you must not remove your opponent's front peg till you have given him another. In order "to take him down,'' you remove your own back peg and place it where his front peg ought to be, you then take his wrongly placed peg and put it in front of your own front, as many holes as he has forfeited by wrongly scoring.]

1. No penalty attaches to the taking of too few points in play, hand, or crib.

1. When a player has once taken his hand or crib, he cannot amend his score.

1. When a knave is turned up, "two for his heels" must be scored before the dealer's own card be played, or they cannot be taken.

1. A player cannot demand the assistance of his adversary in reckoning hand and crib.

1. A player may not, except to "peg him," touch his adversary's pegs, under a penalty of two points. If the foremost peg has been displaced by accident, it must be placed in the hole behind the peg standing on the board.

1. The peg once holed cannot be removed by either player till another point or points be gained.

1. The player who scores a game as won when, in fact, it is not won, loses it.

1. A lurch—scoring the whole sixty-one before your adversary has scored thirty-one—is equivalent to a double game, if agreed to previous to the commencement of the game.

1. A card that may be legally played cannot be withdrawn after it has been once thrown face upwards on the table.

1. If a player neglect to score his hand, crib, or any point or points of the game, he cannot score them after the cards are packed or the next card played.

1. The player who throws up his cards and refuses to score, forfeits the game.

1. If a player neglect to play when he can play a card within the prescribed thirty-one, he forfeits two holes.

1. Each player's hand and crib must be plainly thrown down on the table and not mixed with the pack, under penalty of the forfeiture of the game.

The player who refuses to abide by the rules, loses the game. Bystanders must not interfere unless requested to decide any disputed point.

83. Five-Card Cribbage.

In this the sixty-one points or holes on the cribbage-board mark the game. The player cutting the lowest card deals; after which, each player lays out two of the five cards for the crib, which belongs to the dealer. The adversary cuts the remainder of the pack, and the dealer turns up and lays upon the crib the uppermost card, the turn-up. If it be a knave, he marks two points. The card turned up is reckoned by both in counting their hands or crib. After laying out, the eldest hand plays a card, which the other should endeavour to pair, or find one, the pips of which, reckoned with the first, will make fifteen; then the non-dealer plays another card, and so on alternately, until the pips on the cards played make thirty-one, or the nearest possible number under that.

84. Counting for Game in Cribbage.

When he whose turn it is to play cannot produce a card that makes thirty-one, or comes under that number, he says, "Go," and his antagonist scores one, or plays any card or cards he may have that will make thirty-one, or under. If he can make exactly thirty-one, he takes two points; if not, one. Such cards as remain after this are not played, but each player then counts and scores his hand, the non-dealer first. The dealer then marks the points for his hand, and also for his crib, each reckoning the cards every way they can possibly be varied, and always including the turned-up card.

85. Examples of Hands in Cribbage

The highest number that can be counted from five cards is 29—made from four fives and a knave; that is, three fives and a knave of the suit turned up, and a five on the pack—for the combinations of the four fives, 16; for the double pair-royal, 12; his nob, 1-29.

Rustle is not Industry.

86. Maxims for laying out the Crib Cards.

In laying out cards for the crib, the player should consider not only his own hand, but also to whom the crib belongs, as well as the state of the game; for what might be right in one situation would be wrong in another. Possessing a pair-royal, it is generally advisable to lay out the other cards for crib, unless it belongs to the adversary. Avoid giving him two fives, a deuce and a trois, five and six, seven and eight, five and any other tenth card. When he does not thereby materially injure his hand, the player should for his own crib lay out close cards, in hope of making a sequence; or two of a suit, in expectation of a flush; or cards that of themselves reckoned with others will count fifteen. When the antagonist be nearly up, and it may be expedient to keep such cards as may prevent him from gaining at play. The rule is to baulk your adversary's crib by laying out cards not likely to prove of advantage to him, and to lay out favourably for your own crib. This applies to a stage of the game when it may be of consequence to keep in hand cards likely to tell in play, or when the non-dealer would be either out by his hand, or has reason for thinking the crib of little moment. A king and a nine is the best baulk, as none can form a sequence beyond it; king or queen, with an ace, six, seven, eight, or nine, are good ones to put out. Low cards are generally the most likely to gain at play; the flushes and sequences, particularly if the latter be also flushes, are eligible hands, as thereby the player will often be enabled either to assist his own crib, or baulk that of the opponent; a knave should never be put out for his crib, if it can be retained in hand.

87. Three or Four-Hand Cribbage

differs little from the preceding. They put out but one card each to the crib, and when thirty-one, or the nearest to that has been made, the next eldest hand leads, and the players go on again in rotation, with the remaining cards, till all are played out, before they proceed to show hands and crib. For three-handed cribbage triangular boards are used.

88. Three-Hand Cribbage

is sometimes played, wherein one person sits out, not each game, but each deal in rotation. In this the first dealer generally wins.

89. Six-Card Cribbage

The two players commence on an equality, without scoring any points for the last, retain four cards in hand, and throw out two for crib. At this game it is of advantage to the last player to keep as close as possible, in hope of coming in for fifteen, a sequence, or pair, besides the end hole, or thirty-one. The first dealer is thought to have some trifling advantage, and each player may, on the average, expect to make twenty-five points in every two deals. The first non-dealer is considered to have the preference, when he gains ten or more the first hand, the dealer not making more than his average number.

90. Eight-Card Cribbage

is sometimes played. Six are retained in hand, and the game is conducted on the same plan as before.

91. All Fours

is usually played by two persons; not unfrequently by four. Its name is derived from the four chances, called

high, low, Jack, game

, each making a point. It is played with a complete pack of cards, six of which are to be dealt to each player, three at a time; and the next card, the thirteenth, is turned up for the trump by the dealer, who, if it prove a knave, scores one point. The highest card cut deals first. The cards rank the same as at whist—the first to score ten points, wins.

92. Laws of All-Fours

1. A new deal can be demanded for an exposed card, too few or too many cards dealt; in the latter case, a new deal is optional, provided it be done before a card has been played, but not after, to draw from the opposing hand the extra card.

1. iNo person can beg more than once in each hand, except by mutual agreement.

1. Each player must trump or follow suit on penalty of the adversary scoring one point.

1. If either player score wrongly it must be taken down, and the adversary either scores four points or one, as may have previously been agreed.

1. When a trump is played, it is allowable to ask your adversary if it be either high or low.

1. One card may count all-fours; for example, the eldest hand holds the knave and stands his game, the dealer has neither trump, ten, ace, nor court-card; it will follow that the knave will be both high, low, Jack, and game, as explained by:

93. Terms used in All-Fours

1. High.—For the highest trump out, the holder scores one point.

1. Low.—For the lowest trump out, the original holder scores one point, even if it be taken by the adversary.

1. Jack.—For the knave of trumps the holder scores one. If it be won by the adversary, the winner scores the point.

1. Game.—The greatest number that, in the tricks gained, are shown by either player, reckoning:

The other cards do not count: thus it may happen that a deal may be played without having any to reckon for game.

1. Begging is when the eldest hand, disliking his cards, uses his privilege, and says, "I beg;" in which case the dealer either suffers his adversary to score one point, saying, "Take one," or gives each player three cards more from the pack, and then turns up the next card, the seventh for trumps. If, however, the trump turned up to be of the same suit as the first, the dealer must go on, giving each three cards more, and turning up the seventh, until a change of suit for trumps shall take place.

94. Maxims for All-Fours

1. Make your knave as soon as you can.

1. Secure your tens by playing any small cards, by which you may throw the lead into you adversary's hand.

1. Win your adversary's best cards when you can, either by trumping or with superior cards.

1. If, being eldest hand, you hold either ace, king, or queen of trumps, without the knave or ten, play them immediately, as, by this means, you may chance to win the knave or ten.

95. Loo

This game is played both Limited and Unlimited Loo; it is played two ways, both with five and three cards. Several may play, but five or seven make the better game.

96. Three-Card Loo

1. This game is played by any number of persons, from three, but five or seven make the best game.

1. The cards are cut for deal, the holder of the lowest card being dealer; after which the deal goes round, from left to right. In case of a tie, the players cut again. Ace is lowest, and the court-cards and tens are reckoned of the same value,—namely, ten.