Various

“ They had to walk the whole length of the ward to take away the body of a patient who had died the night before in the screened bed. As the bearers walked past, it was painful indeed to see the strained gaze fixed by the patients on their sad burden. Even the children seemed to feel the possibility of their being the next to be so carried. It seems strange that this practice of not immediately removing the dead (to be coffined apart from the wards) should be continued, especially at this particular hospital, where the comfort and cheerfulness of the inmates are so constantly kept in view. ”

“ Then when news does come of this or that boat's safety, watch the brightening faces of those to whom it is good news; their long-drawn thankful sigh of relief, and their again saddening look as they think of others around them who have got no news yet. Quietly they pull their shawls over their heads and slip out, only to make room for others who have been standing outside in the rain waiting their turn. ”

“ That evening Juliet was tired, and sat quietly working; but Dorothy read aloud and talked and went through the little home duties with the iron entering her soul. O true words! None others so fitly express the cold hard pressure of a hopeless pain. But such brave hearts do not go through the conflict unaided; and often a passing shelter is provided, into which they may creep till the worst is over. ”

“ Though the morning may look settled, and the prospects of a good 'take' induce the boats to venture forth far out to sea, the afternoon may prove so boisterous that all hands are glad to beat a retreat, and leaving lines or nets to look after themselves, make for some harbour of refuge. Sometimes, as was prominently the case last year, the weather may come on so suddenly violent that the best appointed boats, handled by experienced men, run dreadful risks, and reach the sheltering haven only by a hair's-breadth. ”

“ In the joy of the sisters' meeting, Dorothy was scarcely conscious of the presence of a stranger, until she heard the Squire's voice addressing her father: 'Our newly found nephew, Stafford Melton; we want him to come and be at home among us; and as the Rectory and the Hall have always been such old friends, we trust he will follow suit.' The two gentlemen shook hands cordially; and then Dorothy in turn found herself face to face with the new guest: 'Another young friend—Miss Dorothy Olive Linley.' (The Squire, like the Vicar of Wakefield, loved a full sounding name.) ”

“ Dorothy Linley and Stafford Melton lived, in their respective walks down the pathway of life, to see the ripening century roll its wealth of marvels at the feet of another generation, and rejoiced in the development of many of the theories of their youth ”

“ The cold gray dawn comes at last, only to shew us a widespread army of fighting waves dashing wildly on to the shore, and making a clean breach over the protection breakwater of the little harbour; plainly shewing the impossibility of any of the boats taking that harbour, even should they make shoreward. The safety of the boats inside the very harbour even has to be looked after, for when the tide makes, the run will be likely to snap everything. ”

“ An hour's ride brought me to the gates of the institution, which is in the very heart of busy London, and yet, as far as noise goes, might be miles away from all its life and bustle. A little world by itself it stands, having its own laws and customs, its chiefs and subordinates, and certainly its own joys and sorrows. ”

“ Out of bed at once, and into clothes and oilskins, then out into the night. Dark? Yes; black! Wind like to tear you off your legs, and rain blinding; but worst of all, that raging sea outside.
I struggle down to the harbour; and there, under the lee of an old boat, I find two or three fishermen, and am greeted with the words I commenced with. I could merely make out the indistinct forms of the men, but I knew the voice of the one who spoke. He was an old man now, past going to sea ”

“ It is unfortunate that many of the harbours on the Firth of Forth are dry or nearly so at low-water, so that a boat at sea must wait outside before the crew can venture in; for thus are doubtless lost many boats and their hapless crews that otherwise might 'make the run' and be out of danger. Unable to make harbour from want of water, there is no alternative but to lie off under close-reefed sail till the tide makes, or be dashed to splinters on a lee-shore. ”

“ Several of the patients were well enough to be about. Whenever this is the case, they take what share they can in waiting on those too ill to help themselves. One or two are so ill that they cannot put a foot to the ground, need to be lifted in and out of bed and waited on like children. The Sister of this ward is most admirably suited to her post. She has the gift of governing, and nurses, as well as patients, are completely under her control. One of her duties is to go round the ward administering medicine to each patient (the medicine is kept on a shelf over the bed) ”

“ A pretty mistress she will make; though,' added Lydia, gradually awakening to the possibility of certain consequences accruing to herself, 'I shan't be here long to see it. I've let her see what I think of her, a good deal too plain for that; and for the matter of that, so has every one of us, though she's only got herself to thank for it.'
I had had my suspicions that Marian was not liked amongst the servants; indeed Becky had more than once given me a hint that the former was just as much disliked in the house as Lilian was beloved. ”

“ It has been calculated that, from the number of times they breed, the number of their progeny, and the early age at which the young begin to reproduce their species, a pair of rabbits will multiply to the amount of a million and a quarter in the space of four years! When the exceptional advantages which they meet with in New Zealand are considered, in the absence of enemies, the sparse population of the country, and the abundance of food which they can obtain, it is not surprising that they have increased enormously. ”

“ As the morning advances and no boats heave in sight, the question arises, Where will they be? Some say they will make this or that harbour farther north; while others say they will be riding out the storm at sea, 'hanging by' [1] their nets. Already, by break of day, between twenty and thirty dripping half-clad women have started to walk along the coast to the next fishing-ports. They cannot wait here till the telegraph opens; and when it does open it finds plenty of work without them. ”

“ Tasmania and Victoria and South Australia have been made the victims of a misplaced confidence in the virtues of the rabbit. The chief inspector of sheep in Tasmania, writing in 1875, stated that at that time the rabbits were consuming sufficient food to support two hundred and fifty thousand sheep, and thus causing a direct annual loss to the colony of sixty-two thousand pounds, without taking into account the money expended in keeping them down. ”

“ One poor woman, very ill in the next bed, said to me: 'I do love little children, and I have a baby of my own, so I don't mind some crying; but it was dreadful to hear that child cry day and night, and no sleep for any of us.'
There seems to be no special ward set apart for children; but cots are sprinkled about in the female wards for those under the age of seven. As a rule, the patients like this, and the little ones get a good deal of notice and petting ”

“ Each bed too has a chain suspended from the top, with a handle attached; by which simple contrivance patients are enabled to raise and in some measure help themselves much sooner than would otherwise be possible. Some of the worst 'cases' are too ill to notice us as we go round; but from the greater number we get something of a smile.
Our next step was to mount the stairs on the other side of the hall. We now came to a large male surgical ward, holding about fifty beds arranged as before described. ”

“ But there are cases in which, as we have said, an uneducated man has succeeded in deceiving a geologist in his own special line of study. The well-known jaw of Moulin Quignon is a case in point. Every one has heard of M. Boucher de Perthes' careful exploration of the gravels of the Somme Valley, which resulted in the discovery of thousands of flint implements, the handiwork of primitive man in Western Europe. But up to 1863 M. Boucher de Perthes had found no human remains in the gravel, though it had been predicted that such would be found; and he was naturally anxious to make the discovery. ”

“ We were about leaving the hospital, when my friend exclaimed: 'You must see this ward.' So saying, she led me to a small building by itself in the garden, where the patients take exercise when convalescent. Certainly it was a pleasant spot. The sun shining in, made it seem the brightest of the wards. It is divided into two rooms, one for male, the other for female patients. The cases are chiefly bronchitis and similar acute diseases. It is presided over by a sweet-looking Sister. She has her little establishment all to herself including a separate room for any desperate case. ”

“ But having set Becky's fears at rest, I was a great deal too anxious about Lilian's future to think much about my own.
FOSSIL MEN.
Men of science in their eagerness to support a theory are apt to fall into mistakes. They reason honestly enough, but from too narrow a basis of facts. For example, the skeleton of a man is found imbedded in limestone. That man must have lived in the geological period, long before the commencement of human record. This theory looks well, but is not satisfactory. ”

“ After speaking to several of the patients, our attention was drawn to a woman, who looked so much a picture of health, that it needed quite an effort of faith to believe her when she said that, two or three weeks before, she had been so dangerously ill that she scarcely expected to leave the hospital alive ”

“ Some enterprising individuals have put into practice the old motto that 'Out of evil cometh good,' by buying up the slaughtered hosts of rabbits, cooking their bodies, and preserving them in tins as an article of food, and preparing their skins for the market. Nearly half a million rabbit-skins were exported from Hobart-Town in 1874, valued at three thousand seven hundred and twenty-five pounds.
What has been done in Australia and Tasmania ought primâ facie to be as easily accomplished in New Zealand. ”

“ Peace was turning men's thoughts homewards, and there were even spirits daring enough to suggest that the very constitution of England itself needed patching up, or perhaps entirely renovating; scientific men were talking of the wonderful power of steam; but meantime ordinary mortals were content with the road, and were very proud of their 'High-flyers.' People were not so used to novelties then as we are now, and 'newfangled' was frequently the verdict on them, given with severity and even distrust. ”

“ The land is charged with too large a proportion of chlorine salts; it has a tendency to remain damp; and there is a formation of ferrous sulphate, which, as is known, exerts a very prejudicial influence on plant-growth. Land when brought into this condition by an inflow of the sea, should be drained as quickly as possible, and sown with grass or clover and allowed to rest. Experience shews that it recovers its fertility sooner if treated in this way, than when cultivated all the year round as arable land. ”

“ Sister too presides over the distribution of the smaller articles of food, kept in little movable cupboards, of which there is one to each bed. The bread is baked in small tempting loaves, and brought into the ward in what looks likes a clothes-basket. Two patients carry this up the middle, whilst Sister asks each in turn how much they feel equal to. The amount they then receive lasts them till the following morning. A stated allowance of butter is given in the same way. A bill of fare hangs over each bed ”

“ In the next ward (female) we had a few words with a motherly night-nurse. She goes to bed after dinner (about 1 P.M.) , and comes on duty again at nine in the evening; but turning night{196} into day seems to agree capitally with her. Seeing several cots with tiny inmates, we ask her whether they give her much trouble: her prompt answer is: 'Not a bit; not half so much as some of the grown-ups.'
'And the medicine; have you difficulty with that?'
'Never; however nasty it is, they drink it up without a word.'
One case of a poor woman is both medical and surgical—a terrible string of maladies ”

“ The Birmingham Corporation sewage-works comprise a farm of two hundred and sixty-six acres in the valley of the Tame. The outflow of the two main sewers is treated with lime, which throws down the solid matters; and after the sewage has crossed a few tanks, the liquid portion flows into the Tame in a condition much less impure than the water of the river itself. The deposited sludge amounts to nearly four hundred tons a day. Great part of this is utilised by 'double-digging' of it into the land, three years being required to dig the whole farm. ”

“ A MORNING IN A LONDON HOSPITAL.
THE LAST OF THE HADDONS.
FOSSIL MEN.
SUCH OLD FRIENDS.
RABBITS IN NEW ZEALAND.
THE MONTH: SCIENCE AND ARTS.
'LIVES O' MEN.'
The stranger who sails for the first time up the Firth of Forth must be struck with the numerous villages that stud its picturesque shores. These for the most part are fishing-villages, inhabited by a race of hardy men, who at times run fearful risks at sea. ”