HOUSEHOLD HINTS.Hot Sweet Mango Chutney.—One hundred green mangoes; syrup of four pounds of brown sugar; three quarts of vinegar; four pounds of tamarind, stoned and strained; eight or ten bay-leaves; one pound of ground chillies; two pounds sliced ginger; one pound of raisins; and two pounds of salt.Peel and cut the mangoes into fine slices, and steep them in salt for twenty-four hours, remove the mangoes from the salt water, and boil in syrup and three quarts of vinegar. When quite cool lay in a preserving pan, sprinkle over the remaining salt, add all the condiments, tamarind, raisins, etc., and allow the whole to simmer for half-an-hour, stirring all the time. The ingredients should not be washed in water. When quite cold, put into bottles.Hungarian Tea Loaf.—As this is intended for slicing as bread and butter it should be at least a day old before being cut; if kept in an airtight tin it will remain moist for several days.Of Hungarian flour take a pound and mix with it two ounces of castor sugar and a pinch of salt. Dissolve two ounces of fresh butter and add it to half a pint of warmed milk, then a whole egg well beaten and two tablespoonfuls of brewers’ barm, or an ounce of creamed German yeast. Make a dough with the flour and these ingredients and leave it to rise for an hour or two in a warm place. Place in a well buttered tin, which the dough should only half fill, and put this into a brisk oven; when well risen brush the top over with the white of an egg and sugar, shield with paper to keep from burning and finish baking in a slower heat. Let it cool on a sieve.Seed Bread, made from bread dough into which two ounces of dissolved butter, as much sugar and a tablespoonful of crushed caraways to every pound of dough are kneaded together, then baked in small loaves, cut thinly and spread with butter, makes a welcome variety among plain cakes.
Hot Sweet Mango Chutney.—One hundred green mangoes; syrup of four pounds of brown sugar; three quarts of vinegar; four pounds of tamarind, stoned and strained; eight or ten bay-leaves; one pound of ground chillies; two pounds sliced ginger; one pound of raisins; and two pounds of salt.
Peel and cut the mangoes into fine slices, and steep them in salt for twenty-four hours, remove the mangoes from the salt water, and boil in syrup and three quarts of vinegar. When quite cool lay in a preserving pan, sprinkle over the remaining salt, add all the condiments, tamarind, raisins, etc., and allow the whole to simmer for half-an-hour, stirring all the time. The ingredients should not be washed in water. When quite cold, put into bottles.
Hungarian Tea Loaf.—As this is intended for slicing as bread and butter it should be at least a day old before being cut; if kept in an airtight tin it will remain moist for several days.
Of Hungarian flour take a pound and mix with it two ounces of castor sugar and a pinch of salt. Dissolve two ounces of fresh butter and add it to half a pint of warmed milk, then a whole egg well beaten and two tablespoonfuls of brewers’ barm, or an ounce of creamed German yeast. Make a dough with the flour and these ingredients and leave it to rise for an hour or two in a warm place. Place in a well buttered tin, which the dough should only half fill, and put this into a brisk oven; when well risen brush the top over with the white of an egg and sugar, shield with paper to keep from burning and finish baking in a slower heat. Let it cool on a sieve.
Seed Bread, made from bread dough into which two ounces of dissolved butter, as much sugar and a tablespoonful of crushed caraways to every pound of dough are kneaded together, then baked in small loaves, cut thinly and spread with butter, makes a welcome variety among plain cakes.
FROCKS FOR TO-MORROW.By“THE LADY DRESSMAKER.”Theprincipal thing that strikes one in the dressing of to-day is the great stress laid upon the ornamentation of the front portion of both the dress and the jacket, mantle or cape. In fact, here is centred the whole of the smart effect of the costume. The use of real lace seems very great, and I have noticed in the daily press a statement that the Queens of the various kingdoms have bonded themselves together, on the invitation of the Queen of Portugal, to wear nothing but real lace, and to encourage this industry to the utmost of their powers, as it seems its very existence is threatened by the machine-made laces, which have reached a great point of perfection within the last few years. It is even said that none but an expert would know the difference between some of the imitations and the real thing. Of course, we know that great efforts have been made to help the real lace industry already, but it is evident that it is not a thing that everyone could afford, so that the machine laces must be used; but it is quite befitting that the Queens of the many States interested should help by wearing it exclusively. Our own Queen has always been a great patron of the English-made laces, especially Honiton, and one cannot imagine her Majesty wearing anything but real laces, of which it is said she has an immense store.I saw the other day a priceless cape or scarf of real French lace, worn over a sable cape; and the collars of capes are frequently lined with lace, which finishes in a bow and ruffles in the front. Entire lace fronts are worn both to dresses and coats. In fact, those who possess antique lace to-day are quite in luck, while those who do not, wear the machine-made, which looks (save to the eye of the initiated) quite as good, and in a great deal better state of repair, perhaps. Many old-fashioned women will not have their lace cleaned, but prefer to wear it yellow, and what the outside world might call dirty; and real lace, even when cleaned, never should look as if it were clean, as the cleaner should know how to bestow a yellow cast upon it, which a machine-made lace could not equal.All old laces seem to be fashionable, but the old French lace more than all. I have seen a good deal of Venetian point as well.THREE NEW COATS.Our first large illustration shows three of the newest jacket shapes, or rather coats, of the present season. Two of them follow the fashion closely in being rounded at the front corners, with a wide effect at the shoulders, which comes to a point at the waist, thus giving that effect of length and thinness to the figure which is so much sought after. One really wonders sometimes where all the short-waisted people have gone. It is quite wonderful what changes Dame Fashion can work even in the human frame. Only think of the sloping shoulders in vogue fifty or sixty years ago, and then look at the square shoulders of to-day. Even in the matter of our foreheads we follow the orders of the reigning mode, and that decrees “that foreheads low and wide are to be worn,” and even these are veiled to the eyebrows with frizzled hair. But there is one fashion which mankind follows rather too closely, and that is bald-headedness. It is really dreadful to note the numbers of bald heads, and surely when we women have improved so much in the care and preservation of our locks, our hair doctors might do something for men. It is quite a common thing to see really fine heads of grey and white hair, and the wearing of caps has nearly ceased to be a fashion, for women wear the head covering with which nature provided them. Of course, there are probably a few added locks, but still the head shows no signs of baldness, and even the days of those terrible thin partings seem over. There is a great saving in this emancipation from caps, for they were a serious expense to the poor lady, which was only lightened when a woman was clever enough to make them for herself.COSTUME OF GREY CLOTH WITH BLACK VELVET AND STEEL ORNAMENTS.But my chat about the illustrations has diverged from its course, though I am very glad to record here the disappearance of certain prejudices that used to be rampant amongst us. False teeth and false hair were things that one never dared to own up to having. Now we know that if we wish to retain our health and strength we must replace the teeth we have lost, and we have also learnt that a pleasant and taking appearance lends us favour and influence for good, and that it is our duty to attend to this matter as much as to any other, from higher reasons than from those of mere vanity.IN THE HOUSE AND OUT.In “Three New Coats,” the centre figure wears a blackVelours du Nord, or velvet coat, which is cut quite without fulness at the back, and has a chinchilla collar and wide revers. The skirt is of grey, and it is also trimmed with narrow bands of chinchilla, put on in a pointed shape in the front, and going round the edge of the skirt at the back. The hat is of black velvet and white feathers, with paste buckles. The jacket of the next figure sitting down is made of light brown cloth, trimmed with bands of lighter brown braid. The collar and revers are made of a darker shade of brown velvet and edged with beaver. The skirt is of the same cloth, but made in quite a plain fashion. The standing figure has a coat made with one of the new capes fitted to the shoulders and neck. The dress itself is of rifle green cloth, made without trimming, and the coat is short. The front is a plastron edged with dark beaver fur, and trimmed across with cords to match the green of the dress. The hat is green, with white feathers.A great number of white fox boas and muffs are to be seen this winter, and the figure in the illustration we have called “In the Houseand out” wears one of them. They are very becoming and pretty, and look well with everything. In this case the toque is made to match the boa and the gown, which is of violet velveteen. The new boas of this winter are made flat, not round, and they are lined with either satin or a pretty fancy silk, so they protect the shoulders in a slight degree. There is also white Tibet lamb, which is now dyed to resemble the blue fox. The second figure, dressed for indoors, wears a dress of the new red. The collar and revers of the short Eton coat are trimmed with black satin ribbon. A silk vest underneath the coat is made of a red silk broché with a black pattern on it. The skirt is trimmed with a black ribbon, and has a rounded front, which is brought up as far as the waist at the side. There is a lace necktie and some trimming inside the high collar. The leading colour in Paris just now is red, and the trimmings for it are generally bands of black velvet or satin. For the red hats to be used with these dresses Parma violets are the favourite trimming.The shade of red worn may be best described as a hunting pink, in fact, a real scarlet, and as it must always be trimmed with black, astrachan is in great favour for its decoration. So is black velvet, and thus toned down, it cannot be called ugly. It is, moreover, very becoming to people with good complexions and fair skins. The small red jackets are seen very frequently worn with a skirt of another colour, which really ought to be black, and which harmonises with them best of all. These little jackets are worn by the best-dressed people, and are especially nice and bright for young girls, not in their teens, but in their twenties, perhaps.Never has velvet been so popular as this winter, and, of course, in naming velvet I include velveteen, which is often of so good a quality that it looks like the real thing. I have always found a good velveteen an excellent investment, and if treated with care, and used as the “going-out-of-doors” dress which it really ought to be, it is very valuable. Every tone and shade of colour can be obtained in it, and as velvet blouses are still in fashion, we can select with ease either for day or evening wear.Our third illustration shows a single figure wearing a costume of grey cloth, which is cut into what is called by some of our writers an eel-skin skirt. But I observe that in France it is merely called a fitted skirt, which really means that the dressmaker must bestow just as much trouble upon it as she does on the bodice, and that you must distrust everyone who wishes you to believe otherwise. I notice that paddings for the back and hips are already for sale, and much advertised, but this tightly-fitted skirt is not for the short and stout, nor for the tall and very thin. On neither of them can it be esteemed a success. The dress in our illustration is in grey cloth, with black velvet trimmings and bands, and steel ornaments, a delightful combination of colour. The back of this dress is really princess, while the front has the style of a short double-breasted jacket, very short. This combination is one of the new cuts of the season. The shaped flounce is headed by rows of black velvet, and the sleeves are made with square cuffs, not the much-worn “flare” cuff. The toque is of grey velvet, white silk and feathers, and grey tips, with steel ornaments.One can scarcely see any real change in the dressing of the hair. All that one can say is that there is a decided tendency for it to go lower on the head, and the present hats and bonnets really answer better when the hair is rather high. There are plenty of small ornaments for the hair to be seen in the shops, but the most popular of all for the evening is, I think, the black velvet bow.The favourite perfume is still violet, andViolette de Parmeseems to be the correct kind. I note that the pretty blackmoiréribbons with slides have now been applied to the muff, and have taken the place of muff chains with many people.One of the odd fashions of the day is a single eyeglass, and many women have taken to it. This hitherto has not been a woman’s fashion, but a man’s, and has even been thought rather an affected one; but I hear that these single eyeglasses are prescribed by doctors, as so many people require help in one eye and not in the other. Just now, however, they look odd, as we have not been used to them, and it is certain that both eyes should be worked alike, the strain being too much for one. Besides, the eye that may need extra help may be the left one. So an oculist should decide the question as to which eye should wear the glass.
By“THE LADY DRESSMAKER.”
Theprincipal thing that strikes one in the dressing of to-day is the great stress laid upon the ornamentation of the front portion of both the dress and the jacket, mantle or cape. In fact, here is centred the whole of the smart effect of the costume. The use of real lace seems very great, and I have noticed in the daily press a statement that the Queens of the various kingdoms have bonded themselves together, on the invitation of the Queen of Portugal, to wear nothing but real lace, and to encourage this industry to the utmost of their powers, as it seems its very existence is threatened by the machine-made laces, which have reached a great point of perfection within the last few years. It is even said that none but an expert would know the difference between some of the imitations and the real thing. Of course, we know that great efforts have been made to help the real lace industry already, but it is evident that it is not a thing that everyone could afford, so that the machine laces must be used; but it is quite befitting that the Queens of the many States interested should help by wearing it exclusively. Our own Queen has always been a great patron of the English-made laces, especially Honiton, and one cannot imagine her Majesty wearing anything but real laces, of which it is said she has an immense store.
I saw the other day a priceless cape or scarf of real French lace, worn over a sable cape; and the collars of capes are frequently lined with lace, which finishes in a bow and ruffles in the front. Entire lace fronts are worn both to dresses and coats. In fact, those who possess antique lace to-day are quite in luck, while those who do not, wear the machine-made, which looks (save to the eye of the initiated) quite as good, and in a great deal better state of repair, perhaps. Many old-fashioned women will not have their lace cleaned, but prefer to wear it yellow, and what the outside world might call dirty; and real lace, even when cleaned, never should look as if it were clean, as the cleaner should know how to bestow a yellow cast upon it, which a machine-made lace could not equal.All old laces seem to be fashionable, but the old French lace more than all. I have seen a good deal of Venetian point as well.
THREE NEW COATS.
THREE NEW COATS.
THREE NEW COATS.
Our first large illustration shows three of the newest jacket shapes, or rather coats, of the present season. Two of them follow the fashion closely in being rounded at the front corners, with a wide effect at the shoulders, which comes to a point at the waist, thus giving that effect of length and thinness to the figure which is so much sought after. One really wonders sometimes where all the short-waisted people have gone. It is quite wonderful what changes Dame Fashion can work even in the human frame. Only think of the sloping shoulders in vogue fifty or sixty years ago, and then look at the square shoulders of to-day. Even in the matter of our foreheads we follow the orders of the reigning mode, and that decrees “that foreheads low and wide are to be worn,” and even these are veiled to the eyebrows with frizzled hair. But there is one fashion which mankind follows rather too closely, and that is bald-headedness. It is really dreadful to note the numbers of bald heads, and surely when we women have improved so much in the care and preservation of our locks, our hair doctors might do something for men. It is quite a common thing to see really fine heads of grey and white hair, and the wearing of caps has nearly ceased to be a fashion, for women wear the head covering with which nature provided them. Of course, there are probably a few added locks, but still the head shows no signs of baldness, and even the days of those terrible thin partings seem over. There is a great saving in this emancipation from caps, for they were a serious expense to the poor lady, which was only lightened when a woman was clever enough to make them for herself.
COSTUME OF GREY CLOTH WITH BLACK VELVET AND STEEL ORNAMENTS.
COSTUME OF GREY CLOTH WITH BLACK VELVET AND STEEL ORNAMENTS.
COSTUME OF GREY CLOTH WITH BLACK VELVET AND STEEL ORNAMENTS.
But my chat about the illustrations has diverged from its course, though I am very glad to record here the disappearance of certain prejudices that used to be rampant amongst us. False teeth and false hair were things that one never dared to own up to having. Now we know that if we wish to retain our health and strength we must replace the teeth we have lost, and we have also learnt that a pleasant and taking appearance lends us favour and influence for good, and that it is our duty to attend to this matter as much as to any other, from higher reasons than from those of mere vanity.
IN THE HOUSE AND OUT.
IN THE HOUSE AND OUT.
IN THE HOUSE AND OUT.
In “Three New Coats,” the centre figure wears a blackVelours du Nord, or velvet coat, which is cut quite without fulness at the back, and has a chinchilla collar and wide revers. The skirt is of grey, and it is also trimmed with narrow bands of chinchilla, put on in a pointed shape in the front, and going round the edge of the skirt at the back. The hat is of black velvet and white feathers, with paste buckles. The jacket of the next figure sitting down is made of light brown cloth, trimmed with bands of lighter brown braid. The collar and revers are made of a darker shade of brown velvet and edged with beaver. The skirt is of the same cloth, but made in quite a plain fashion. The standing figure has a coat made with one of the new capes fitted to the shoulders and neck. The dress itself is of rifle green cloth, made without trimming, and the coat is short. The front is a plastron edged with dark beaver fur, and trimmed across with cords to match the green of the dress. The hat is green, with white feathers.
A great number of white fox boas and muffs are to be seen this winter, and the figure in the illustration we have called “In the Houseand out” wears one of them. They are very becoming and pretty, and look well with everything. In this case the toque is made to match the boa and the gown, which is of violet velveteen. The new boas of this winter are made flat, not round, and they are lined with either satin or a pretty fancy silk, so they protect the shoulders in a slight degree. There is also white Tibet lamb, which is now dyed to resemble the blue fox. The second figure, dressed for indoors, wears a dress of the new red. The collar and revers of the short Eton coat are trimmed with black satin ribbon. A silk vest underneath the coat is made of a red silk broché with a black pattern on it. The skirt is trimmed with a black ribbon, and has a rounded front, which is brought up as far as the waist at the side. There is a lace necktie and some trimming inside the high collar. The leading colour in Paris just now is red, and the trimmings for it are generally bands of black velvet or satin. For the red hats to be used with these dresses Parma violets are the favourite trimming.
The shade of red worn may be best described as a hunting pink, in fact, a real scarlet, and as it must always be trimmed with black, astrachan is in great favour for its decoration. So is black velvet, and thus toned down, it cannot be called ugly. It is, moreover, very becoming to people with good complexions and fair skins. The small red jackets are seen very frequently worn with a skirt of another colour, which really ought to be black, and which harmonises with them best of all. These little jackets are worn by the best-dressed people, and are especially nice and bright for young girls, not in their teens, but in their twenties, perhaps.
Never has velvet been so popular as this winter, and, of course, in naming velvet I include velveteen, which is often of so good a quality that it looks like the real thing. I have always found a good velveteen an excellent investment, and if treated with care, and used as the “going-out-of-doors” dress which it really ought to be, it is very valuable. Every tone and shade of colour can be obtained in it, and as velvet blouses are still in fashion, we can select with ease either for day or evening wear.
Our third illustration shows a single figure wearing a costume of grey cloth, which is cut into what is called by some of our writers an eel-skin skirt. But I observe that in France it is merely called a fitted skirt, which really means that the dressmaker must bestow just as much trouble upon it as she does on the bodice, and that you must distrust everyone who wishes you to believe otherwise. I notice that paddings for the back and hips are already for sale, and much advertised, but this tightly-fitted skirt is not for the short and stout, nor for the tall and very thin. On neither of them can it be esteemed a success. The dress in our illustration is in grey cloth, with black velvet trimmings and bands, and steel ornaments, a delightful combination of colour. The back of this dress is really princess, while the front has the style of a short double-breasted jacket, very short. This combination is one of the new cuts of the season. The shaped flounce is headed by rows of black velvet, and the sleeves are made with square cuffs, not the much-worn “flare” cuff. The toque is of grey velvet, white silk and feathers, and grey tips, with steel ornaments.
One can scarcely see any real change in the dressing of the hair. All that one can say is that there is a decided tendency for it to go lower on the head, and the present hats and bonnets really answer better when the hair is rather high. There are plenty of small ornaments for the hair to be seen in the shops, but the most popular of all for the evening is, I think, the black velvet bow.
The favourite perfume is still violet, andViolette de Parmeseems to be the correct kind. I note that the pretty blackmoiréribbons with slides have now been applied to the muff, and have taken the place of muff chains with many people.
One of the odd fashions of the day is a single eyeglass, and many women have taken to it. This hitherto has not been a woman’s fashion, but a man’s, and has even been thought rather an affected one; but I hear that these single eyeglasses are prescribed by doctors, as so many people require help in one eye and not in the other. Just now, however, they look odd, as we have not been used to them, and it is certain that both eyes should be worked alike, the strain being too much for one. Besides, the eye that may need extra help may be the left one. So an oculist should decide the question as to which eye should wear the glass.
GIRLS AS I HAVE KNOWN THEM.ByELSA D’ESTERRE-KEELING, Author of “Old Maids and Young.”PART IV.THE MOODY GIRL.Asthere are few things more certain than that girls are given for what stars are given—to give light upon the earth—the moody girl fails lamentably to fulfil her vocation.ALAS(S)Some are of the opinion that this girl is a nineteenth century product, but so far is that from being the case, that she figures in a play of a hundred years ago. Says Miss Biddy in Garrick’s comedy “Miss In Her Teens”—“When I say ‘Heigho,’ it means ‘Yes.’”Yes could hardly be said in a mournfuller way, and the case of Miss In Her Teens to-day is only by so much more mournful than that of her prototype of Garrick’s day that when she says “Heigho” it as often as not means “No.”Her cause of grief is what the moody girl is rarely able to state. There are people whom this surprises; yet there is nothing surprising in it. The lives of most pessimists, looked at closely, show these persons to have lived under fair advantages, and not, as they would make out, under unfair disadvantages. Many of them follow a process uncommonly like that followed by certain “sturdy beggars,” who, if rumour concerning them be true, rubbed their skins with blistering plants—wild ranunculus and the like—to cause sores which should excite sympathy. The moody girl is she who picks from life’s full garden wild ranunculus only, and puts it to a wicked use devised by “sturdy beggars.”Has she no aspirations? In truth, she has no fewer than Ovid had, and, like Ovid, she might say, “I see and approve the better things; I follow the worse”—in Ovid’s language,Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor.What is she like to look at? Lean as a rake? Not necessarily. Watts’ famous picture named “Aspirations” is the presentment of a fat-faced, woolly-haired boy. A moody girl known to me has nothing bodeful in her face, and has a little, plump, white hand—Napoleon’s hand. Her wail, too, is Napoleon’s: “Nothing is left to do!” Another has a round, troubleful little face withpoco fatto—“little done”—written all over it. One moody girl only known to me looks the part she elects to play. This girl has a thin, pallid face, with thick, straight, black, moist, heavy hair. She says dreamily, and says often, “I know I’m disagreeable.” She says little more than that.What she was hoping forThe moody girl has rarely a wide range of conversation. She is apt to end her most voluble narrative with a portentous “But however.” There is a moody girl now living who goes by the name of “But However.” Of another moody girl now living a tradition has it that she never speaks, except to ask, “Is there a letter for me?” Howbeit sometimes a moody girl can string twenty and odd words together, and there is on record a very notable statement in the form of a paradox once made by such a girl; to wit, this—“When married I shall never know happiness until I have shown my husband that I am master, and then I shall be miserable because I shall despise him.”Well-a-day!This is the place perhaps in which to tell of the slaty-blue girl.Figure to yourself a damsel in a slaty-blue dress and slaty-blue hat, wearing slaty-blue gloves, and having slaty-blue eyes and slaty-blue lips, and figure her to yourself as “footing slow,” to borrow a phase from Milton, and as doing this as one of a party of us making a rush for a train “already in.” And figure us seated in a third-class compartment, a little child in which is drawing his finger down the window-pane. To whom the slaty-blue girl says (as we phase it, “dyingly”) from the end of the seat—“Don’t, please. That gets on my nerves.”The moody girl is hyper-nervous.smelling to agony a genuine caseHere is another story of her. She was my visitor, and I led her to a seat and spoke of this and that. She listened absently, then said, as she glanced at a penny bunch of sweet violets distant from her by the length of a large room—“Would you mind that bouquet’s being taken away? I smell to agony.”Rather unamiable that, but not intentionally unamiable. Now there are moody girls who are intentionally unamiable—Baubles, for instance. We call her by that name, because she has the word “baubles” much on her lips, and in sound itis not very remote from Barbara, which is her baptismal name.Baubles is always in deadly earnest; that one may be in lively earnest she does not dream. Another thing; she knows that there is such a thing as “a foolish face of praise.” She has still to learn that there is such a thing as a foolish face of blame. Bauble’s face is her misfortune. In the following I give a conversation which I once had with another girl regarding her.“She loves you,” said this other girl.“Does she?” I asked, pleased, but surprised. “She looks at me as if I were especially abhorrent to her.”“She always,” was the answer, “looks like that at people whom she loves.”A girl like that is scarcely in the possession of her full reason, and what shall be said of a girl like this? She met a woman of her friends some little time since in the street, and responded to her greeting by a stare of blank non-recognition. The following day brought an apology, coupled with the intimation that she had moments when she could not bow.The Anatomy of Melancholy: The vertebral columnA case like that becomes interesting in connection with the anatomy of melancholy. The girl who has moments when she cannot bow is suffering from a form of the disease known in mental pathology as “impulsive insanity.” The victims to this disease lapse into states of defective control.What shall one say to the moody girl? Shall one not tell her to face life cheerily? There has never been known a year of nights on every one of which the stars shone, but no more has there ever been known a year of nights on not one of which the stars shone. The moody girl takes life as if all her years of days had been years of nights, and as if on not one of these nights the stars had shone. She has much to learn, this chiefly, that there are compensations for almost everything.“Look at my teeth,” so said a moody girl to a German philosopher, “look at my teeth, and I am a singer.”Good sound teethHer teeth were large and protruding.“Those teeth are good for a singer,” said the German philosopher.Envy—this thing may not be said aloud, but it may be said in a whisper to the moody girl—is at the bottom of much self-made misery. The cry of Shakespeare’s Helena is the cry of many Helenas.“How happy some o’er other some can be!”This, too, is true of the moody girl. She is pre-eminently a faultfinder. In this she is the more to blame that they who find fault are they who seek fault. She is lavish of her censure and is chary of her praise. She should be told what a Frenchwoman has said—“’Tis in a sort to participate in good deeds to praise them.” In the Frenchwoman’s language, “C’est en quelque sorte se donner aux belles actions que de les louer.”The suppositions of a moody girl are sometimes singular. “I suppose,” says one Sybil, “any of us could remember six unpleasant circumstances in our lives more easily than six pleasant.”This Sybil it was who cited to her father the famous line regarding “the loud laugh,” and who learnt from him that the loud groan shows every whit as much “the vacant mind.”What makes for moodiness? A life of ease according to the poet to whom belongs the phrase “stretched on the rack of a too-easy chair.” The rich girl who wishes she was poor is full as common as the poor girl who wishes she was rich.Her brother does not spare the moody girl. Sometimes his gibes are stupid; once in a while they are fairly clever. As boy’s satire, what follows appears to me rather good.“Any baby can put its finger in its eye and cry.”As girl’s satire, what next follows—being the speech of a girl not moody on the subject of a moody girl—is excellent.“She is one of those people who always bring up miserable subjects and—sympathise.”A HINT TThe pathetic onion as a studio propertyA rather common type of moody person is that composed of girls who not only themselves wear habitually a dolorous expression, but who admire this expression on the faces of others. I sat to such a girl once for my portrait. She surprised me by her variant of the photographer’s familiar request. “Will you,” she said mellifluously, “please try to think of something—unpleasant?”I tried my hardest and succeeded, within the limitations set to Irishwomen.It has been said here that no fixed type of face belongs to a moody girl. Everyone therefore, who could paint such a girl would paint a different face. The one that I would paint would be that of one Maud Mary. It is a wonderful face, even without the smile. Something can be told of it, but all could never be told. The colouring of it is rich brown and red, the lips are the line of scarlet praised by the Psalmist, the eyes are pitch-black in shadow and golden-brown in light, the eye-brows and lashes are black, like the hair, and a black frown is much on the face, this with the result that a smile coming to it is like the flashing of light out of darkness. Maud Mary asked me once for a motto. I gave her one which is from Pythagoras, and has been praised by Bacon: “Cor ne edito,” “Eat not the heart.”Maud Mary asked for another motto, a motto in rhyme, and in English. I gave her one from Shakespeare—“Jog on, jog on, the footpath way,And merrily hent the stile-a;A merry heart goes all the way,Your sad tires in a mile-a!”(To be continued.)
ByELSA D’ESTERRE-KEELING, Author of “Old Maids and Young.”
THE MOODY GIRL.
Asthere are few things more certain than that girls are given for what stars are given—to give light upon the earth—the moody girl fails lamentably to fulfil her vocation.
ALAS(S)
Some are of the opinion that this girl is a nineteenth century product, but so far is that from being the case, that she figures in a play of a hundred years ago. Says Miss Biddy in Garrick’s comedy “Miss In Her Teens”—
“When I say ‘Heigho,’ it means ‘Yes.’”
Yes could hardly be said in a mournfuller way, and the case of Miss In Her Teens to-day is only by so much more mournful than that of her prototype of Garrick’s day that when she says “Heigho” it as often as not means “No.”
Her cause of grief is what the moody girl is rarely able to state. There are people whom this surprises; yet there is nothing surprising in it. The lives of most pessimists, looked at closely, show these persons to have lived under fair advantages, and not, as they would make out, under unfair disadvantages. Many of them follow a process uncommonly like that followed by certain “sturdy beggars,” who, if rumour concerning them be true, rubbed their skins with blistering plants—wild ranunculus and the like—to cause sores which should excite sympathy. The moody girl is she who picks from life’s full garden wild ranunculus only, and puts it to a wicked use devised by “sturdy beggars.”
Has she no aspirations? In truth, she has no fewer than Ovid had, and, like Ovid, she might say, “I see and approve the better things; I follow the worse”—in Ovid’s language,Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor.
What is she like to look at? Lean as a rake? Not necessarily. Watts’ famous picture named “Aspirations” is the presentment of a fat-faced, woolly-haired boy. A moody girl known to me has nothing bodeful in her face, and has a little, plump, white hand—Napoleon’s hand. Her wail, too, is Napoleon’s: “Nothing is left to do!” Another has a round, troubleful little face withpoco fatto—“little done”—written all over it. One moody girl only known to me looks the part she elects to play. This girl has a thin, pallid face, with thick, straight, black, moist, heavy hair. She says dreamily, and says often, “I know I’m disagreeable.” She says little more than that.
What she was hoping for
The moody girl has rarely a wide range of conversation. She is apt to end her most voluble narrative with a portentous “But however.” There is a moody girl now living who goes by the name of “But However.” Of another moody girl now living a tradition has it that she never speaks, except to ask, “Is there a letter for me?” Howbeit sometimes a moody girl can string twenty and odd words together, and there is on record a very notable statement in the form of a paradox once made by such a girl; to wit, this—
“When married I shall never know happiness until I have shown my husband that I am master, and then I shall be miserable because I shall despise him.”
Well-a-day!
This is the place perhaps in which to tell of the slaty-blue girl.
Figure to yourself a damsel in a slaty-blue dress and slaty-blue hat, wearing slaty-blue gloves, and having slaty-blue eyes and slaty-blue lips, and figure her to yourself as “footing slow,” to borrow a phase from Milton, and as doing this as one of a party of us making a rush for a train “already in.” And figure us seated in a third-class compartment, a little child in which is drawing his finger down the window-pane. To whom the slaty-blue girl says (as we phase it, “dyingly”) from the end of the seat—
“Don’t, please. That gets on my nerves.”
The moody girl is hyper-nervous.
smelling to agony a genuine case
Here is another story of her. She was my visitor, and I led her to a seat and spoke of this and that. She listened absently, then said, as she glanced at a penny bunch of sweet violets distant from her by the length of a large room—
“Would you mind that bouquet’s being taken away? I smell to agony.”
Rather unamiable that, but not intentionally unamiable. Now there are moody girls who are intentionally unamiable—Baubles, for instance. We call her by that name, because she has the word “baubles” much on her lips, and in sound itis not very remote from Barbara, which is her baptismal name.
Baubles is always in deadly earnest; that one may be in lively earnest she does not dream. Another thing; she knows that there is such a thing as “a foolish face of praise.” She has still to learn that there is such a thing as a foolish face of blame. Bauble’s face is her misfortune. In the following I give a conversation which I once had with another girl regarding her.
“She loves you,” said this other girl.
“Does she?” I asked, pleased, but surprised. “She looks at me as if I were especially abhorrent to her.”
“She always,” was the answer, “looks like that at people whom she loves.”
A girl like that is scarcely in the possession of her full reason, and what shall be said of a girl like this? She met a woman of her friends some little time since in the street, and responded to her greeting by a stare of blank non-recognition. The following day brought an apology, coupled with the intimation that she had moments when she could not bow.
The Anatomy of Melancholy: The vertebral column
A case like that becomes interesting in connection with the anatomy of melancholy. The girl who has moments when she cannot bow is suffering from a form of the disease known in mental pathology as “impulsive insanity.” The victims to this disease lapse into states of defective control.
What shall one say to the moody girl? Shall one not tell her to face life cheerily? There has never been known a year of nights on every one of which the stars shone, but no more has there ever been known a year of nights on not one of which the stars shone. The moody girl takes life as if all her years of days had been years of nights, and as if on not one of these nights the stars had shone. She has much to learn, this chiefly, that there are compensations for almost everything.
“Look at my teeth,” so said a moody girl to a German philosopher, “look at my teeth, and I am a singer.”
Good sound teeth
Her teeth were large and protruding.
“Those teeth are good for a singer,” said the German philosopher.
Envy—this thing may not be said aloud, but it may be said in a whisper to the moody girl—is at the bottom of much self-made misery. The cry of Shakespeare’s Helena is the cry of many Helenas.
“How happy some o’er other some can be!”
This, too, is true of the moody girl. She is pre-eminently a faultfinder. In this she is the more to blame that they who find fault are they who seek fault. She is lavish of her censure and is chary of her praise. She should be told what a Frenchwoman has said—
“’Tis in a sort to participate in good deeds to praise them.” In the Frenchwoman’s language, “C’est en quelque sorte se donner aux belles actions que de les louer.”
The suppositions of a moody girl are sometimes singular. “I suppose,” says one Sybil, “any of us could remember six unpleasant circumstances in our lives more easily than six pleasant.”
This Sybil it was who cited to her father the famous line regarding “the loud laugh,” and who learnt from him that the loud groan shows every whit as much “the vacant mind.”
What makes for moodiness? A life of ease according to the poet to whom belongs the phrase “stretched on the rack of a too-easy chair.” The rich girl who wishes she was poor is full as common as the poor girl who wishes she was rich.
Her brother does not spare the moody girl. Sometimes his gibes are stupid; once in a while they are fairly clever. As boy’s satire, what follows appears to me rather good.
“Any baby can put its finger in its eye and cry.”
As girl’s satire, what next follows—being the speech of a girl not moody on the subject of a moody girl—is excellent.
“She is one of those people who always bring up miserable subjects and—sympathise.”
A HINT TThe pathetic onion as a studio property
A rather common type of moody person is that composed of girls who not only themselves wear habitually a dolorous expression, but who admire this expression on the faces of others. I sat to such a girl once for my portrait. She surprised me by her variant of the photographer’s familiar request. “Will you,” she said mellifluously, “please try to think of something—unpleasant?”
I tried my hardest and succeeded, within the limitations set to Irishwomen.
It has been said here that no fixed type of face belongs to a moody girl. Everyone therefore, who could paint such a girl would paint a different face. The one that I would paint would be that of one Maud Mary. It is a wonderful face, even without the smile. Something can be told of it, but all could never be told. The colouring of it is rich brown and red, the lips are the line of scarlet praised by the Psalmist, the eyes are pitch-black in shadow and golden-brown in light, the eye-brows and lashes are black, like the hair, and a black frown is much on the face, this with the result that a smile coming to it is like the flashing of light out of darkness. Maud Mary asked me once for a motto. I gave her one which is from Pythagoras, and has been praised by Bacon: “Cor ne edito,” “Eat not the heart.”
Maud Mary asked for another motto, a motto in rhyme, and in English. I gave her one from Shakespeare—
“Jog on, jog on, the footpath way,And merrily hent the stile-a;A merry heart goes all the way,Your sad tires in a mile-a!”
“Jog on, jog on, the footpath way,And merrily hent the stile-a;A merry heart goes all the way,Your sad tires in a mile-a!”
“Jog on, jog on, the footpath way,And merrily hent the stile-a;A merry heart goes all the way,Your sad tires in a mile-a!”
“Jog on, jog on, the footpath way,
And merrily hent the stile-a;
A merry heart goes all the way,
Your sad tires in a mile-a!”
(To be continued.)
VARIETIES.Foretelling the Weather.One morning a countryman knocked at the door of the celebrated astronomer, Sir Frederick William Herschell, and requested the favour of a few words with him.When Sir William entered the hall the countryman said—“I ask pardon, Doctor, for disturbing you, but I am in a quandary, so I have made bold to call and ask your advice. You must know that my meadows are a great deal too long for cutting, but before I begin I should like to hear whether you think the weather will soon break up?”“First look round,” said the astronomer, “and tell me what you see.”“See,” said the countryman; “why hay that is not worth saving. What dunderhead owns it that lives so near you and cuts it without asking your advice?”“I am the dunderhead,” said Sir William, “and had it cut the very day before the rain came on.”Work for all.—No girl is born into this world whose work is not born with her; there is always work and tools to work withal for those who will.Returning Good for Evil.An old man of the name of Guyot lived and died in the city of Marseilles. He amassed a large fortune by the most laborious industry and the severest habits of abstinence and privation. What appeared his miserly ways made him anything but popular, and the populace pursued him with hootings and execration whenever he appeared.In course of time he died, and when his will was opened the following words were found: “Having observed from my childhood that the poor of Marseilles are ill-supplied with water, which can only be procured at a great price, I have cheerfully laboured the whole of my life to procure for them this great blessing, and I direct that the whole of my property be laid out in building an aqueduct for their use.”Let the Flowers Live.—“I like to see flowers growing,” writes Charlotte Brontë, “but when they are gathered they cease to please. I look upon them as rootless and perishable; their likeness then to life makes me sad. I never offer flowers to those I love; I never wish to receive them from hands dear to me.”Railways were Novelties then.When railway travelling was in its infancy an old Scotch woman was about to make her first railway journey. While waiting at the station she began to ask the passengers, one after the other, “Are you gaun to Perth?”On receiving from each one an answer in the negative she exclaimed in amazement, “Guidness me! Will the railway folk send a train a’ the road to Perth juist wi’ a’ puir auld wife like me?”The Secret of his Simple Style.When Charles Dickens was editingHousehold Words, he one day wrote to a contributor asking him to call.The contributor came with an uneasy feeling that he was going to get a scolding about something, but it turned out that his chief wished to compliment him.“I am constantly struck,” said Dickens, “by your admirable simple style. How did you attain it?”“Well, you see, Mr. Dickens,” said the contributor, “there are so many words I don’t understand, and so many words I can’t spell, that I have to use a very simple sort of language.”
Foretelling the Weather.
One morning a countryman knocked at the door of the celebrated astronomer, Sir Frederick William Herschell, and requested the favour of a few words with him.
When Sir William entered the hall the countryman said—
“I ask pardon, Doctor, for disturbing you, but I am in a quandary, so I have made bold to call and ask your advice. You must know that my meadows are a great deal too long for cutting, but before I begin I should like to hear whether you think the weather will soon break up?”
“First look round,” said the astronomer, “and tell me what you see.”
“See,” said the countryman; “why hay that is not worth saving. What dunderhead owns it that lives so near you and cuts it without asking your advice?”
“I am the dunderhead,” said Sir William, “and had it cut the very day before the rain came on.”
Work for all.—No girl is born into this world whose work is not born with her; there is always work and tools to work withal for those who will.
Returning Good for Evil.
An old man of the name of Guyot lived and died in the city of Marseilles. He amassed a large fortune by the most laborious industry and the severest habits of abstinence and privation. What appeared his miserly ways made him anything but popular, and the populace pursued him with hootings and execration whenever he appeared.
In course of time he died, and when his will was opened the following words were found: “Having observed from my childhood that the poor of Marseilles are ill-supplied with water, which can only be procured at a great price, I have cheerfully laboured the whole of my life to procure for them this great blessing, and I direct that the whole of my property be laid out in building an aqueduct for their use.”
Let the Flowers Live.—“I like to see flowers growing,” writes Charlotte Brontë, “but when they are gathered they cease to please. I look upon them as rootless and perishable; their likeness then to life makes me sad. I never offer flowers to those I love; I never wish to receive them from hands dear to me.”
Railways were Novelties then.
When railway travelling was in its infancy an old Scotch woman was about to make her first railway journey. While waiting at the station she began to ask the passengers, one after the other, “Are you gaun to Perth?”
On receiving from each one an answer in the negative she exclaimed in amazement, “Guidness me! Will the railway folk send a train a’ the road to Perth juist wi’ a’ puir auld wife like me?”
The Secret of his Simple Style.
When Charles Dickens was editingHousehold Words, he one day wrote to a contributor asking him to call.
The contributor came with an uneasy feeling that he was going to get a scolding about something, but it turned out that his chief wished to compliment him.
“I am constantly struck,” said Dickens, “by your admirable simple style. How did you attain it?”
“Well, you see, Mr. Dickens,” said the contributor, “there are so many words I don’t understand, and so many words I can’t spell, that I have to use a very simple sort of language.”
OUR LILY GARDEN.PRACTICAL AIDS TO THE CULTURE OF LILIES.ByCHARLES PETERS.Lilium Candidum.Thegenusliliumis a large one, containing as it does over fifty species. The species themselves are very distinct and differ remarkably from each other in their forms and habits. It has therefore been thought advisable to sub-divide the genus into certain groups or sections which are distinguished chiefly by the shape of the flower.There have been many divisions of the genus, and, as in every other classification of natural objects, all are very imperfect. It is extraordinary the contempt that nature has for human classifications and statistics! However you may divide any set of objects, you will find that there are many of them which will stick on the wall and refuse to be included in any one of your orders. And so it is in the present instance. The most approved division is given below; but you will see that there are grave objections to it. Personally we cannot see the scientific reason for the division of the genus at all. This is our excuse for not following the generally received classification. The arrangement of lilies which we are going to adopt does not pretend to be scientific. It is merely adopted in order that we can group together species which are more or less like each other. It is a classification for the flower grower and not for the botanist.One of the latest, best, and most generally accepted classifications is the following division of the genus into six groups thus—Section I.—Cardiocrinum.Perianth[3]funnel-shaped, with oblanceolate[4]segments, falcate[5]only at the apex. Leaves heart-shaped, ovate, and stalked, 1.Cordifolium.2.Giganteum.Section II.—Eulirion.Perianth same asCardiocrinum. Leaves linear or lanceolate, not stalked.(a) Tube scarcely widened from base to middle. 3.Philippinense.4.Wallichianum.5.Longiflorum.6.Neilgherrense.(b) Tube widened from neck to base, (α) Leaves scattered. 7.Japonicum Odorum.8.Brownii.9.Krameri.10.Nepaulense.11.Candidum.12.Belladonna.(β) Leaves in whorls. 13.Washingtonianum.14.Parryi.Section III.—Archelirion.Perianth open and funnel-shaped. Segments deeply spreading and broadest about the middle. Stamens diverging from the style, which is curved.(a) Leaves sessile. 15.Tigrinum.16.Oxypetalum.(b) Leaves stalked. 17.Speciosum.18.Auratum.Section IV.—Isolirion.Perianth erect. Segments falcate, but not revolute. Stamens diverging on all sides.(a) Leaves in whorls. 19.Philadelphicum.20.Medeoloides.(b) Leaves scattered, (α) Style shorter than ovary. 21.Concolor.(β) Style longer than ovary. 22.Bulbiferum.23.Croceum.24.Davuricum.25.Elegans.26.Catesbaei.Section V.—Martagons.Perianth cernuous with the segments very revolute. Stamens diverging on all sides.(a) Leaves in whorls. (α) American species; bulbs annual bearing rhizomes. 27.Canadense.28.Pardalinum.29.Superbum.30.Lucidum.31.Roezlii.32.Columbianum.33.Humboldti.(β) Old world species. 34.Martagon.35.Avenaceum.36.Hansoni.(b) Leaves scattered, (α) Leaves lanceolate. Many-nerved. (i.) Perianth falcate above middle. 37.Monadelphum.(ii.) Perianth revolute to below middle. 38.Polyphyllum.39.Ponticum.40.Carniolicum.(β) Leaves narrow. With one or few nerves. (i.) Segments of the perianth from six to twelve lines broad in the middle. 41.Testaceum.42.Leichtlini.43.Batmanniae.44.Pseudo-Tigrinum.45.Wallacei.(ii.) Segments of the perianth from three to six lines broad in the middle. 46.Pomponium.47.Chalcedonicum.48.Callosum.49.Tenuifolium.Section VI.—Notholirion.50.Hookeri.51.Roseum.We said that in all divisions of natural objects there were “aberrant” types whichrefused to be located in any one group and remained sitting on the wall between several of the divisions. And in this group there are likewise some which stick upon the wall. The chief reasons we have for not using this classification will be apparent from the following criticism of it.The first section,Cardiocrinum, forms a very natural group.L. CordifoliumandL. Giganteum, though distinct species, are yet very near akin and are totally different from any other lilies.Of theEulirionsection, the first orLongiflorumgroup, containingL. Longiflorum,L. Wallichianum,L. Philippinense,L. Neilgherrense, and the newL. Formosanum, forms as natural a division as isCardiocrinum. But the other members of theEuliriongroup are by no means so easy to classify.L. Japonicum OdorumandL. Browniiare very nearly allied.L. Krameri, with the newL. Rubellum, more nearly resemble theArchelirionthan the present group.In certain charactersL. Nepaulensenearly resemblesL. Monadelphum, a member of theMartagongroup.L. Candidumbears but little resemblance to the otherEulirions. Its flowers are short and numerous, and the bulb sends up an autumn crop of leaves. In the last characteristic it differs very markedly from every known lily.L. Belladonnais unknown to us.L. Washingtonianumand its varieties resembleL. Candidumin bearing numerous small short flowers. Its bulb is very similar to that ofL. Humboldtiin being an oblique, almost rhizomatose, structure.L. ParryiresemblesL. Nepaulensein some particulars, andL. Washingtonianumin others. Its bulb, however, is more like that ofL. Pardalinumthan that of any other species.Of theArchelirionsection,L. AuratumandL. Speciosumhave much in common. ButL. Tigrinumhas but little relation to the former two lilies; its drooping flowers strongly suggest that this lily should be placed with theMartagons.L. LeichtliniandPseudo-Tigrinumare placed among theMartagons; yet these two lilies bear a very strong resemblance toL. Tigrinum.L. Oxypetalumdiffers from all other lilies in many respects. It resembles the fritillaries in most points and was formerly included with those plants.As regards theIsoliriongroup, in which the flowers are erect, we would placeL. Medeoloideswith theMartagons, next toL. Hansoni—the plant which it most resembles.L. Umbellatum.(Showing abnormal development of aerial bulblets.)L. Concolorand its varieties should form a group of themselves.L. Batmanniae[6]andL. Wallaceishould certainly be included with theIsolirions, and not with theMartagons.LILY LEAVES.(From a photograph. Quarter diameter.)1. Leaf from upper part of stem,L. Giganteum.2. Basal leaf ofL. Cordifolium.3. Leaf ofL. Auratum.4. Leaf ofL. Auratum Platyphyllum.5. Leaf ofL. Pyrenaicum.6. Leaves ofL. Longiflorum, showing injury done by green fly.7. Leaves ofL. Brownii, showing commencement of disease.8. Deformed leaf,L. Longiflorum.9. Leaves and bulblets ofL. Tigrinum.TheMartagonsfall naturally into several groups. The first group, which we might call the swamp lilies,[7]includesL. Superbum,L. Canadense,L. Pardalinum,L. Roezlii, and one or two new species. All these lilies have but slightly recurved flowers and rhizomatose bulbs. They are all natives of North America.Another group which we might call the trueMartagonswould includeL. Martagon,L. Pomponium,L. Pyrenaicum,L. Avenaceum,L. Tenuifolium,L. Callosum,L. Chalcedonicum, andL. Hansoni, etc.L. Humboldtiis different from any other lily in many points. Its bulb somewhat resembles that ofL. Washingtonianum.L. PolyphyllumandL. Monadelphummuch resemble each other in the form of their flowers.L. Testaceumis a hybrid.L. Ponticumis a variety ofL. Monadelphum.L. Lucidumis unknown to us.We are not going to adhere to this division. The one we are about to tabulate seems to us to be more useful. It is tentative, and is subject maybe to grave objections; but on the whole we think that it will be more generally useful to the lily grower. Obviously it is founded on the former classification, and we have used the names of the groups which are generally accepted.We append no description to each group, for, though we could do so if we were pressed, we wish it to be clearly understood that the division is purely experimental, as what classification is not?Group I.—Cardiocrinum.1.Giganteum.2.Cordifolium.Group II.—Eulirion.LongiflorumSection: 3.Longiflorum.4.Formosanum.5.Philippinense.6.Wallichianum.7.Neilgherrense.JaponicumSection: 8.Japonicum Odorum.9.Brownii.CandidumSection: 10.Candidum.WashingtonianumSection: 11.Washingtonianum.12.Parryi.13.Nepaulense.14.Lowi.Group III.—Archelirion.AuratumSection: 15.Auratum.16.Speciosum.KrameriSection: 17.Krameri.18.Rubellum.TigrinumSection: 19.Tigrinum.20.Leichtlini.21.Maximowiczi.22.Henryi.Group IV.—Isolirion.23.Bulbiferum.24.Catesbaei.25.Batmanniae.26.Wallacei.27.Philadelphicum.28.Elegans.29.Croceum.30.Davuricum.Group V.—Martagon.TrueMartagonSection: 31.Martagon.32.Pomponium.33.Pyrenaicum.34.Hansoni.35.Medeoloides.36.Avenaceum.37.Callosum.38.Tenuifolium.39.Carniolicum.40.Chalcedonicum.Swamp-lily Section: 41.Columbianum.42.Humboldti.43.Canadense.44.Parvum.45.Maritimum.46.Superbum.47.Roezlii.48.Pardalinum.49.Californicum.50.Grayi.MonadelphumSection: 51.Monadelphum.52.Polyphyllum.Group VI.53.Concolor.54.Davidii.Group VII.55.Oxypetalum.56.Roseum.57.Hookeri.There are therefore fifty-seven distinct species of lilies; but of these there are over one hundred and twenty varieties. Besides these there are four double-flowered varieties, and four definite hybrids.In our next number we will proceed with the description of these various species and varieties. But before we attempt to describe the individual species, let us glance at some of the chief characteristics of the various parts of lilies.The lily has two sets of roots. One set develops beneath the bulb, the other is given off by the flower shoot above the bulb. Each set serves a definite purpose, and both are absolutely necessary to the welfare of the plant. The lower roots are concerned chiefly with the development of the bulb; the upper roots, or those given off by the flower-shoot, are the main source of supply to the stem and flowers. Unless these roots develop and are well covered with earth, the plant will not flower.If the flower stem is removed from the bulb and the upper roots are not disturbed, it will continue to grow unchecked. Or, again, if the bulb be destroyed by disease, or its lower roots do not develop, the lily may still flower; but if the stem roots are destroyed, the shoot dies, even though the bulb and lower roots are quite perfect.All the lilies possess bulbs. These bulbs are exceedingly characteristic, and differ greatly from those of any other plant. The bulbs of all lilies are imbricate—that is, consist of a number of scales united at their bases.A typical bulb, such as that ofLilium Longiflorum, consists of numerous scales, closely packed together, united to a firm, fleshy part—the base of the bulb. It is from the base that the lower roots spring. In a perfectly sound fresh bulb the outer scales are approximated to the next layer, but in dry bulbs the outer scales wither and are but loosely applied to the inner ones.The bulb is narrow at the base, whence it rapidly increases towards the middle, being thickest about one third of the way up from the base. From the middle it rapidly dwindles towards the crown, which usually ends in a point. In the centre of the bulb is the flower spike, which is the densest part of the bulb.Lily bulbs vary in size, in colour, in shape, and in structure, according to the species. The bulb ofLilium Giganteumis from four to five inches in diameter, whereas that ofL. Wallaceiis barely half an inch across. As a rule, the larger the plant the larger is its bulb; but this is by no means always the case. The bulb ofL. Tigrinum var. Fortunei Giganteumis no larger than that ofL. Longiflorum, whereas the former plant is quite three times the size of the latter.When freshly dug up, most lily bulbs are nearly white in colour; but after exposure to the air for a short time, they get tinted with various shades, which differ remarkably in the different species.The bulbs ofL. Elegans,L. Bulbiferum,L. Croceum, andL. Umbellatum, and others usually remain pure white.L. Longiflorumand a great many others become of a yellowish tint.L. SpeciosumandL. Auratumusually become a dark brown or purplish colour. The bulb ofL. Giganteumis usually a deep russet colour.Lily bulbs vary greatly in shape and structure. The typical bulb is ovate or pyramidal in shape, with small regular scales. There are many variations from this. Some are more or less rounded, others, notably that ofL. Polyphyllum, are very long and narrow. Some have large flat scales, whilst in others the scales are small and rounded. Some bulbs, such as those ofL. Superbum,L. Canadense, and many others, are borne upon a perennial rhizome, the bulbs themselves being annual.The bulbs ofL. HumboldtiandL. Washingtonianumare curiously unlike those of any other lilies, being flat and oblique. Some bulbs possess a large number of minute scales, others have but a few large scales.The bulbs ofL. RoseumandL. Hookeriare invested with a dense membranous sheath like the bulbs of the tulip. No other lily bulb possesses this sheath. These are some of the varieties of lily bulbs; an accurate description of most will be found in connection with the accounts of the various species.The stem of the lily is usually straight and unbranched. Very rarely the stem is branched. It varies in diameter and toughness in the various species. In some species it is covered with down.The leaves are subject to even greater variety than is the bulb. They may be few or many, arranged in whorls or scattered, and of various colours and shapes.L. Chalcedonicumhas many hundred leaves, whilstL. Auratumrarely has more than thirty. In some lilies, such asL. Washingtonianum,L. Humboldti,L. Martagon, etc., the leaves are arranged in whorls, but in most kinds the leaves are irregularly scattered.In colour the leaves of the lilies present much variety. Usually the leaves are deep glossy green. InL. Longiflorum Foliis Albo-Marginatisthe leaves are pale green bordered with white. In one variety ofL. Candidumthey are edged with yellow.Lily leaves are usually linear or lanceolate; but they vary in shape from the thin pine-needle-like leaf ofL. Pyrenaicum, to the broad heart-shape leaf ofL. Cordifolium.Usually but one kind of leaf is present, but inL. Giganteumat least three distinct forms of leaves are developed. And inLilium Candidumthe autumn or base leaves are totally distinct from the linear leaves borne on the stem.The leaves ofL. BulbiferumandL. Tigrinumbear bulblets in their axils. Other lilies occasionally bear bulblets in the axils of their leaves, especially if the plant fails to flower. A bulb is only a modified bud, so that it is not surprising it should occasionally develop above ground.L. UmbellatumandL. Longiflorumare the commonest lilies to bear these aerial bulblets, except of courseL. TigrinumandL. Bulbiferum, in both of which lilies they are always present.The flowers of the lilies vary immensely in most particulars. There are always three sepals, three petals, and six stamens. The flowers are either solitary, or there may be two or three or many borne in a pyramidal inflorescence. The flowers are borne terminally on the stalk. It is upon the characters of the flowers that the classification of the genus is based.The fruit is a six-sided capsule, and the seeds are flat with broad membranous wings.(To be continued.)
PRACTICAL AIDS TO THE CULTURE OF LILIES.
ByCHARLES PETERS.
Lilium Candidum.
Lilium Candidum.
Lilium Candidum.
Thegenusliliumis a large one, containing as it does over fifty species. The species themselves are very distinct and differ remarkably from each other in their forms and habits. It has therefore been thought advisable to sub-divide the genus into certain groups or sections which are distinguished chiefly by the shape of the flower.
There have been many divisions of the genus, and, as in every other classification of natural objects, all are very imperfect. It is extraordinary the contempt that nature has for human classifications and statistics! However you may divide any set of objects, you will find that there are many of them which will stick on the wall and refuse to be included in any one of your orders. And so it is in the present instance. The most approved division is given below; but you will see that there are grave objections to it. Personally we cannot see the scientific reason for the division of the genus at all. This is our excuse for not following the generally received classification. The arrangement of lilies which we are going to adopt does not pretend to be scientific. It is merely adopted in order that we can group together species which are more or less like each other. It is a classification for the flower grower and not for the botanist.
One of the latest, best, and most generally accepted classifications is the following division of the genus into six groups thus—
Section I.—Cardiocrinum.
Perianth[3]funnel-shaped, with oblanceolate[4]segments, falcate[5]only at the apex. Leaves heart-shaped, ovate, and stalked, 1.Cordifolium.2.Giganteum.
Section II.—Eulirion.
Perianth same asCardiocrinum. Leaves linear or lanceolate, not stalked.
(a) Tube scarcely widened from base to middle. 3.Philippinense.4.Wallichianum.5.Longiflorum.6.Neilgherrense.
(b) Tube widened from neck to base, (α) Leaves scattered. 7.Japonicum Odorum.8.Brownii.9.Krameri.10.Nepaulense.11.Candidum.12.Belladonna.(β) Leaves in whorls. 13.Washingtonianum.14.Parryi.
Section III.—Archelirion.
Perianth open and funnel-shaped. Segments deeply spreading and broadest about the middle. Stamens diverging from the style, which is curved.
(a) Leaves sessile. 15.Tigrinum.16.Oxypetalum.
(b) Leaves stalked. 17.Speciosum.18.Auratum.
Section IV.—Isolirion.
Perianth erect. Segments falcate, but not revolute. Stamens diverging on all sides.
(a) Leaves in whorls. 19.Philadelphicum.20.Medeoloides.
(b) Leaves scattered, (α) Style shorter than ovary. 21.Concolor.(β) Style longer than ovary. 22.Bulbiferum.23.Croceum.24.Davuricum.25.Elegans.26.Catesbaei.
Section V.—Martagons.
Perianth cernuous with the segments very revolute. Stamens diverging on all sides.
(a) Leaves in whorls. (α) American species; bulbs annual bearing rhizomes. 27.Canadense.28.Pardalinum.29.Superbum.30.Lucidum.31.Roezlii.32.Columbianum.33.Humboldti.(β) Old world species. 34.Martagon.35.Avenaceum.36.Hansoni.
(b) Leaves scattered, (α) Leaves lanceolate. Many-nerved. (i.) Perianth falcate above middle. 37.Monadelphum.(ii.) Perianth revolute to below middle. 38.Polyphyllum.39.Ponticum.40.Carniolicum.(β) Leaves narrow. With one or few nerves. (i.) Segments of the perianth from six to twelve lines broad in the middle. 41.Testaceum.42.Leichtlini.43.Batmanniae.44.Pseudo-Tigrinum.45.Wallacei.(ii.) Segments of the perianth from three to six lines broad in the middle. 46.Pomponium.47.Chalcedonicum.48.Callosum.49.Tenuifolium.
Section VI.—Notholirion.
50.Hookeri.51.Roseum.
We said that in all divisions of natural objects there were “aberrant” types whichrefused to be located in any one group and remained sitting on the wall between several of the divisions. And in this group there are likewise some which stick upon the wall. The chief reasons we have for not using this classification will be apparent from the following criticism of it.
The first section,Cardiocrinum, forms a very natural group.L. CordifoliumandL. Giganteum, though distinct species, are yet very near akin and are totally different from any other lilies.
Of theEulirionsection, the first orLongiflorumgroup, containingL. Longiflorum,L. Wallichianum,L. Philippinense,L. Neilgherrense, and the newL. Formosanum, forms as natural a division as isCardiocrinum. But the other members of theEuliriongroup are by no means so easy to classify.
L. Japonicum OdorumandL. Browniiare very nearly allied.L. Krameri, with the newL. Rubellum, more nearly resemble theArchelirionthan the present group.
In certain charactersL. Nepaulensenearly resemblesL. Monadelphum, a member of theMartagongroup.
L. Candidumbears but little resemblance to the otherEulirions. Its flowers are short and numerous, and the bulb sends up an autumn crop of leaves. In the last characteristic it differs very markedly from every known lily.
L. Belladonnais unknown to us.
L. Washingtonianumand its varieties resembleL. Candidumin bearing numerous small short flowers. Its bulb is very similar to that ofL. Humboldtiin being an oblique, almost rhizomatose, structure.
L. ParryiresemblesL. Nepaulensein some particulars, andL. Washingtonianumin others. Its bulb, however, is more like that ofL. Pardalinumthan that of any other species.
Of theArchelirionsection,L. AuratumandL. Speciosumhave much in common. ButL. Tigrinumhas but little relation to the former two lilies; its drooping flowers strongly suggest that this lily should be placed with theMartagons.
L. LeichtliniandPseudo-Tigrinumare placed among theMartagons; yet these two lilies bear a very strong resemblance toL. Tigrinum.
L. Oxypetalumdiffers from all other lilies in many respects. It resembles the fritillaries in most points and was formerly included with those plants.
As regards theIsoliriongroup, in which the flowers are erect, we would placeL. Medeoloideswith theMartagons, next toL. Hansoni—the plant which it most resembles.
L. Umbellatum.(Showing abnormal development of aerial bulblets.)
L. Umbellatum.(Showing abnormal development of aerial bulblets.)
L. Umbellatum.(Showing abnormal development of aerial bulblets.)
L. Concolorand its varieties should form a group of themselves.
L. Batmanniae[6]andL. Wallaceishould certainly be included with theIsolirions, and not with theMartagons.
LILY LEAVES.(From a photograph. Quarter diameter.)1. Leaf from upper part of stem,L. Giganteum.2. Basal leaf ofL. Cordifolium.3. Leaf ofL. Auratum.4. Leaf ofL. Auratum Platyphyllum.5. Leaf ofL. Pyrenaicum.6. Leaves ofL. Longiflorum, showing injury done by green fly.7. Leaves ofL. Brownii, showing commencement of disease.8. Deformed leaf,L. Longiflorum.9. Leaves and bulblets ofL. Tigrinum.
LILY LEAVES.(From a photograph. Quarter diameter.)1. Leaf from upper part of stem,L. Giganteum.2. Basal leaf ofL. Cordifolium.3. Leaf ofL. Auratum.4. Leaf ofL. Auratum Platyphyllum.5. Leaf ofL. Pyrenaicum.6. Leaves ofL. Longiflorum, showing injury done by green fly.7. Leaves ofL. Brownii, showing commencement of disease.8. Deformed leaf,L. Longiflorum.9. Leaves and bulblets ofL. Tigrinum.
LILY LEAVES.(From a photograph. Quarter diameter.)
TheMartagonsfall naturally into several groups. The first group, which we might call the swamp lilies,[7]includesL. Superbum,L. Canadense,L. Pardalinum,L. Roezlii, and one or two new species. All these lilies have but slightly recurved flowers and rhizomatose bulbs. They are all natives of North America.
Another group which we might call the trueMartagonswould includeL. Martagon,L. Pomponium,L. Pyrenaicum,L. Avenaceum,L. Tenuifolium,L. Callosum,L. Chalcedonicum, andL. Hansoni, etc.
L. Humboldtiis different from any other lily in many points. Its bulb somewhat resembles that ofL. Washingtonianum.
L. PolyphyllumandL. Monadelphummuch resemble each other in the form of their flowers.
L. Testaceumis a hybrid.L. Ponticumis a variety ofL. Monadelphum.L. Lucidumis unknown to us.
We are not going to adhere to this division. The one we are about to tabulate seems to us to be more useful. It is tentative, and is subject maybe to grave objections; but on the whole we think that it will be more generally useful to the lily grower. Obviously it is founded on the former classification, and we have used the names of the groups which are generally accepted.
We append no description to each group, for, though we could do so if we were pressed, we wish it to be clearly understood that the division is purely experimental, as what classification is not?
Group I.—Cardiocrinum.
1.Giganteum.2.Cordifolium.
Group II.—Eulirion.
LongiflorumSection: 3.Longiflorum.4.Formosanum.5.Philippinense.6.Wallichianum.7.Neilgherrense.
JaponicumSection: 8.Japonicum Odorum.9.Brownii.
CandidumSection: 10.Candidum.
WashingtonianumSection: 11.Washingtonianum.12.Parryi.13.Nepaulense.14.Lowi.
Group III.—Archelirion.
AuratumSection: 15.Auratum.16.Speciosum.
KrameriSection: 17.Krameri.18.Rubellum.
TigrinumSection: 19.Tigrinum.20.Leichtlini.21.Maximowiczi.22.Henryi.
Group IV.—Isolirion.
23.Bulbiferum.24.Catesbaei.25.Batmanniae.26.Wallacei.27.Philadelphicum.28.Elegans.29.Croceum.30.Davuricum.
Group V.—Martagon.
TrueMartagonSection: 31.Martagon.32.Pomponium.33.Pyrenaicum.34.Hansoni.35.Medeoloides.36.Avenaceum.37.Callosum.38.Tenuifolium.39.Carniolicum.40.Chalcedonicum.
Swamp-lily Section: 41.Columbianum.42.Humboldti.43.Canadense.44.Parvum.45.Maritimum.46.Superbum.47.Roezlii.48.Pardalinum.49.Californicum.50.Grayi.
MonadelphumSection: 51.Monadelphum.52.Polyphyllum.
Group VI.
53.Concolor.54.Davidii.
Group VII.
55.Oxypetalum.56.Roseum.57.Hookeri.
There are therefore fifty-seven distinct species of lilies; but of these there are over one hundred and twenty varieties. Besides these there are four double-flowered varieties, and four definite hybrids.
In our next number we will proceed with the description of these various species and varieties. But before we attempt to describe the individual species, let us glance at some of the chief characteristics of the various parts of lilies.
The lily has two sets of roots. One set develops beneath the bulb, the other is given off by the flower shoot above the bulb. Each set serves a definite purpose, and both are absolutely necessary to the welfare of the plant. The lower roots are concerned chiefly with the development of the bulb; the upper roots, or those given off by the flower-shoot, are the main source of supply to the stem and flowers. Unless these roots develop and are well covered with earth, the plant will not flower.
If the flower stem is removed from the bulb and the upper roots are not disturbed, it will continue to grow unchecked. Or, again, if the bulb be destroyed by disease, or its lower roots do not develop, the lily may still flower; but if the stem roots are destroyed, the shoot dies, even though the bulb and lower roots are quite perfect.
All the lilies possess bulbs. These bulbs are exceedingly characteristic, and differ greatly from those of any other plant. The bulbs of all lilies are imbricate—that is, consist of a number of scales united at their bases.
A typical bulb, such as that ofLilium Longiflorum, consists of numerous scales, closely packed together, united to a firm, fleshy part—the base of the bulb. It is from the base that the lower roots spring. In a perfectly sound fresh bulb the outer scales are approximated to the next layer, but in dry bulbs the outer scales wither and are but loosely applied to the inner ones.
The bulb is narrow at the base, whence it rapidly increases towards the middle, being thickest about one third of the way up from the base. From the middle it rapidly dwindles towards the crown, which usually ends in a point. In the centre of the bulb is the flower spike, which is the densest part of the bulb.
Lily bulbs vary in size, in colour, in shape, and in structure, according to the species. The bulb ofLilium Giganteumis from four to five inches in diameter, whereas that ofL. Wallaceiis barely half an inch across. As a rule, the larger the plant the larger is its bulb; but this is by no means always the case. The bulb ofL. Tigrinum var. Fortunei Giganteumis no larger than that ofL. Longiflorum, whereas the former plant is quite three times the size of the latter.
When freshly dug up, most lily bulbs are nearly white in colour; but after exposure to the air for a short time, they get tinted with various shades, which differ remarkably in the different species.
The bulbs ofL. Elegans,L. Bulbiferum,L. Croceum, andL. Umbellatum, and others usually remain pure white.L. Longiflorumand a great many others become of a yellowish tint.L. SpeciosumandL. Auratumusually become a dark brown or purplish colour. The bulb ofL. Giganteumis usually a deep russet colour.
Lily bulbs vary greatly in shape and structure. The typical bulb is ovate or pyramidal in shape, with small regular scales. There are many variations from this. Some are more or less rounded, others, notably that ofL. Polyphyllum, are very long and narrow. Some have large flat scales, whilst in others the scales are small and rounded. Some bulbs, such as those ofL. Superbum,L. Canadense, and many others, are borne upon a perennial rhizome, the bulbs themselves being annual.
The bulbs ofL. HumboldtiandL. Washingtonianumare curiously unlike those of any other lilies, being flat and oblique. Some bulbs possess a large number of minute scales, others have but a few large scales.
The bulbs ofL. RoseumandL. Hookeriare invested with a dense membranous sheath like the bulbs of the tulip. No other lily bulb possesses this sheath. These are some of the varieties of lily bulbs; an accurate description of most will be found in connection with the accounts of the various species.
The stem of the lily is usually straight and unbranched. Very rarely the stem is branched. It varies in diameter and toughness in the various species. In some species it is covered with down.
The leaves are subject to even greater variety than is the bulb. They may be few or many, arranged in whorls or scattered, and of various colours and shapes.
L. Chalcedonicumhas many hundred leaves, whilstL. Auratumrarely has more than thirty. In some lilies, such asL. Washingtonianum,L. Humboldti,L. Martagon, etc., the leaves are arranged in whorls, but in most kinds the leaves are irregularly scattered.
In colour the leaves of the lilies present much variety. Usually the leaves are deep glossy green. InL. Longiflorum Foliis Albo-Marginatisthe leaves are pale green bordered with white. In one variety ofL. Candidumthey are edged with yellow.
Lily leaves are usually linear or lanceolate; but they vary in shape from the thin pine-needle-like leaf ofL. Pyrenaicum, to the broad heart-shape leaf ofL. Cordifolium.
Usually but one kind of leaf is present, but inL. Giganteumat least three distinct forms of leaves are developed. And inLilium Candidumthe autumn or base leaves are totally distinct from the linear leaves borne on the stem.
The leaves ofL. BulbiferumandL. Tigrinumbear bulblets in their axils. Other lilies occasionally bear bulblets in the axils of their leaves, especially if the plant fails to flower. A bulb is only a modified bud, so that it is not surprising it should occasionally develop above ground.L. UmbellatumandL. Longiflorumare the commonest lilies to bear these aerial bulblets, except of courseL. TigrinumandL. Bulbiferum, in both of which lilies they are always present.
The flowers of the lilies vary immensely in most particulars. There are always three sepals, three petals, and six stamens. The flowers are either solitary, or there may be two or three or many borne in a pyramidal inflorescence. The flowers are borne terminally on the stalk. It is upon the characters of the flowers that the classification of the genus is based.
The fruit is a six-sided capsule, and the seeds are flat with broad membranous wings.
(To be continued.)
OUR PUZZLE POEM REPORT: AN IDEAL GARDEN.SOLUTION.An Ideal Garden.A garden like a room should be,With carpet green to rest the eye;Where tread is cool and soft and free;And on it here and there a treeTo give us shade from noonday sky:To give the birdies room for glee.And all around us we should see,And all be fain to specify,Blossoms in luxuriancy.And oh the happiness! that weShould be so blessed to testifyThat it is good alive to be.Prize Winners.Seven Shillings Each.Eliza Acworth, 9, Blenheim Mount, Bradford.Miss W. M. Cassan, 25, Lee Terrace, Blackheath, S.E.M. A. C. Crabb, Ipplepen, Alexandra Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts.Jessie F. Dulley, Lindens, Wellingborough.Emily Francis, 9, Darlington Street, Egremont, Cheshire.Herbert V. French, 19, Hart Street, Carlisle.Miss F. M. Goodchild, Burton Bradstock, Bridport, Dorset.Annie M. Goss, 4, Blenheim Terrace, St. John’s Wood, N.W.Mrs. Nicholls, Parlors Hall, Bridgnorth, Salop.N. E. Purvey, Penrhyn, Hayward’s Heath.Mildred Richardson, Glentworth, Queen Anne Terrace, Bowes Park, N.Wm. Dunford-Smith, 71, Ondine Road, East Dulwich, S.E.Mrs. W. C. Stevenson, Knockan, Londonderry.Norah M. Sullivan, 2, Ortranto Place, Sandycove, Co. Dublin.Elizabeth Yarwood, 59, Beech Road, Cale Green, Stockport.Most Highly Commended.M. S. Arnold, Annie A. Arnott, Helen M. Coulthard, Dr. R. Swan Coulthard, Mabel E. Davis, S. Dewhirst, Miss Flinn, M. Evangeline Hulse, Mrs. H. Jordan, Mata Kelway, E. E. Lockyear, E. Lord, Annie J. McConnell, A. Phillips, Lucy Richardson, Edith S. Russell, C. E. Thurgar, Mrs. B. M. Welford.Very Highly Commended.Division I.May Adamson, Mrs. Adkins, Ethel Anderson, “Annis,” Mrs. Astbury, A. Burgeis Badcock, Mary H. Barlow, Mabel Barnicott, Maud F. Bazeley, Frances Beach, Alice M. Berry, Clara A. Binks, Gertrude Bowdler, Ina M. Broad, Lillie and Daisy Browell, Violet Byrne, Agnes Clark, Mary A. Collins, Maud G. Collins, A. C. Crabb, E. V. Davies, C. M. A. Fitzgerald, Grace I. Gibson, Mrs. W. H. Gotch, Florence Graves, E. M. Hartill, Edith M. Higgs, Rose A. Hooppell, Eva Hooley, Muriel Howie, Mabel Howitt, “Iseult,” Mary Jolliffe, Helen Jones, L. Foster-Jones, Ethel Knight, Mrs. Latter, Clara E. Law, Edith Leadbeater, Edith M. Letch, Mary Lethbridge, M. H. Longhurst, M. A. Lowe, Annie G. Luck, Helen A. Manning, Nellie Meikle, Emilie Mills, E. C. Milne, Elizabeth Morgan, A. Morris, E. M. Le Mottée, Harriet Moule, Jessie Neighbour, Ethel C. Newell, Agnes Nicholls, Kate D. Norris, Edith Nye, Marion T. Ockleston, E. A. O’Donoghue, Janie Olver, Blanche E. Patch, G. de Courcy Peach, Mrs. N. M. Pollard, Mrs. W. Porritt, E. Preston, Elizabeth Rodgers, Muriel E. Scott, Agnes A. M. Shearer, Katherine H. Shorto, Caroline Skinner, Mary E. Spencer, Sadie Stelfox, Miss Stephenson, Alice E. Stretton, Gertrude M. Stott, Emily M. Tattam, Constance Taylor, L. M. Todd, Mabel Wearing, Caroline Weitzel, A. D. Wood, Emily M. P. Wood, David Young, Katherine Young.Division II.Mr. A. W. Blackburn, G. Brightwell, E. Burrell, Jenny M. Carmichael, Helen A. Carpenter, Leonora E. L. Clark, Gracie Davidge, Katherine Davids, Bessie Dominey, Ada E. Edmonds, Alfred G. Everett, Dorothy Felce, Mary E. Foley, J. Gutteridge, Ellen Hambly, Ellie Hanlon, Minnie C. Harris, Hilda M. Harrison, Maude Hayward, Blanche Holmes, Percy H. Horne, Lennox Howse, K. H. Ingram, Eva M. Jeayes, Eugenie Marinscheck, E. Mastin, Laura E. Mellor, Jessie Middlemiss, Katharine E. Moreton, E. Moss, Robert Murdoch, Mary M. Murray, Nita Nettleton, Grace Neville, Charles Nunneley, Mrs. A. Paulin, Lizzie Peacock, Mary Pennell, J. A. Emerson Reynolds, Florence E. Russell, J. Sedgwick, Agnes Smith, Mrs. G. W. Smith, A. M. Somersgale, B. M. Stagg, Mrs. H. F. Staunton, M. Stuart, H. H. Taylor, Edith Tichener, Nora S. Townshend, Freda Walter, Edith G. Wheeler, E. F. Woodhams, Emily C. Woodward.Division III.M. S. Baker, Lily Belling, Hetty Blakeston, Ines Bryson, F. Chute, Edith Collins, George R. Davidge, A. S. K. Ellson, Henry Goodwyn, Caroline S. Gregory, Caroline Gundry, Beatrice A. Hawes, Mrs. Hartnell, Marguerite Hendley, M. Hodgkinson, E. St. G. Hodson, Frances E. Kershaw, Mildred E. Lockyear, Winifred A. Lockyear, Jessie Mack, R. Pitman, E. G. Potter, Henzell G. Robson, Edward Rogulski, Annie Saunders, L. W. Siffken, Margaret B. Strathern, L. M. Todd, Mrs. C. E. Walker, Wm. Wearing, Gertrude Wearing.EXAMINERS’ REPORT.Once again we have good cause to lament simplicity, nearly three hundred solutions being all but perfect. All those mentioned are word perfect, and the differences which separate the various classes are so slight as to be almost trivial. Let us be explicit: The prize-winners are perfect in every way. The most highly commended are perfect in word and form. Ten group the lines into two stanzas, four leave out the second e in blessed, three omit the note of exclamation in the last verse, and one writes an interjection o! with a small letter.The “very highly commended” list mentions those solvers whose only important fault was a failure to indent the second and corresponding lines. In division I. the lines were grouped into four verses; in division II. into one verse, and in division III. into two verses.Following close upon the steps of perfection is a batch of ninety-six solutions which give “noonday” as a compound word or, even worse, as two words. We do not attempt to deny that solutions with only so trifling an error are deserving of high commendation, but before their turn came the space at our disposal was filled.Some of our readers with that perversity which is the heritage of many puzzle solvers, will doubtless fail to discern the basis of sound common sense underlying our ruling and will denounce it as arbitrary. Candidly, it is sailing quite as near to the wind as we like; but necessity knows no law, so why should an examiner? And after all we are confident that the sweet reasonableness of our decisions will appeal to all but the unwise and prejudiced.A few solvers still persist in ignoring rule 2. It can hardly be because they fail to understand it, and this time we have refrained from mentioning any solver who has transgressed it.Two or three solvers spelt “luxuriancy” with an e instead of an a. This was a pity, because it is much safer in a close competition to spell correctly.There were not many fantastic readings to while away the tedium of adjudication. Perhaps the most curious was a rendering of the eighth line, found in several solutions:—“And all be thine, O specify!”Although the reading can be justified by the text, it has nothing else to commend it unless it be its eccentricity.The eleventh line was often translated:—“Should be so blind to testify.”This we fail to understand from any point of view, because if the minus sign be taken for alinethe text runs blineed, which, when you come to think of it, is rather a clumsy way of spelling blind. It is clear, at any rate to us, that the stroke cannot do duty for both the minus sign andline. If it could all would be well, thus:—bline- ed = blind.But enough! for our brain reels.A Short Story in Verse.—In this competition a perfect solution was sent by Alice M. Seaman of St. Peter’s Park. By a clerical error it was misplaced, and did not reach us until some time after our adjudication. A prize has since been sent to this competitor, from whom, by the way, we received no complaint.
An Ideal Garden.
A garden like a room should be,With carpet green to rest the eye;Where tread is cool and soft and free;And on it here and there a treeTo give us shade from noonday sky:To give the birdies room for glee.And all around us we should see,And all be fain to specify,Blossoms in luxuriancy.And oh the happiness! that weShould be so blessed to testifyThat it is good alive to be.
A garden like a room should be,With carpet green to rest the eye;Where tread is cool and soft and free;And on it here and there a treeTo give us shade from noonday sky:To give the birdies room for glee.And all around us we should see,And all be fain to specify,Blossoms in luxuriancy.And oh the happiness! that weShould be so blessed to testifyThat it is good alive to be.
A garden like a room should be,With carpet green to rest the eye;Where tread is cool and soft and free;
A garden like a room should be,
With carpet green to rest the eye;
Where tread is cool and soft and free;
And on it here and there a treeTo give us shade from noonday sky:To give the birdies room for glee.
And on it here and there a tree
To give us shade from noonday sky:
To give the birdies room for glee.
And all around us we should see,And all be fain to specify,Blossoms in luxuriancy.
And all around us we should see,
And all be fain to specify,
Blossoms in luxuriancy.
And oh the happiness! that weShould be so blessed to testifyThat it is good alive to be.
And oh the happiness! that we
Should be so blessed to testify
That it is good alive to be.
Prize Winners.
Seven Shillings Each.
Most Highly Commended.
M. S. Arnold, Annie A. Arnott, Helen M. Coulthard, Dr. R. Swan Coulthard, Mabel E. Davis, S. Dewhirst, Miss Flinn, M. Evangeline Hulse, Mrs. H. Jordan, Mata Kelway, E. E. Lockyear, E. Lord, Annie J. McConnell, A. Phillips, Lucy Richardson, Edith S. Russell, C. E. Thurgar, Mrs. B. M. Welford.
Very Highly Commended.
Division I.
May Adamson, Mrs. Adkins, Ethel Anderson, “Annis,” Mrs. Astbury, A. Burgeis Badcock, Mary H. Barlow, Mabel Barnicott, Maud F. Bazeley, Frances Beach, Alice M. Berry, Clara A. Binks, Gertrude Bowdler, Ina M. Broad, Lillie and Daisy Browell, Violet Byrne, Agnes Clark, Mary A. Collins, Maud G. Collins, A. C. Crabb, E. V. Davies, C. M. A. Fitzgerald, Grace I. Gibson, Mrs. W. H. Gotch, Florence Graves, E. M. Hartill, Edith M. Higgs, Rose A. Hooppell, Eva Hooley, Muriel Howie, Mabel Howitt, “Iseult,” Mary Jolliffe, Helen Jones, L. Foster-Jones, Ethel Knight, Mrs. Latter, Clara E. Law, Edith Leadbeater, Edith M. Letch, Mary Lethbridge, M. H. Longhurst, M. A. Lowe, Annie G. Luck, Helen A. Manning, Nellie Meikle, Emilie Mills, E. C. Milne, Elizabeth Morgan, A. Morris, E. M. Le Mottée, Harriet Moule, Jessie Neighbour, Ethel C. Newell, Agnes Nicholls, Kate D. Norris, Edith Nye, Marion T. Ockleston, E. A. O’Donoghue, Janie Olver, Blanche E. Patch, G. de Courcy Peach, Mrs. N. M. Pollard, Mrs. W. Porritt, E. Preston, Elizabeth Rodgers, Muriel E. Scott, Agnes A. M. Shearer, Katherine H. Shorto, Caroline Skinner, Mary E. Spencer, Sadie Stelfox, Miss Stephenson, Alice E. Stretton, Gertrude M. Stott, Emily M. Tattam, Constance Taylor, L. M. Todd, Mabel Wearing, Caroline Weitzel, A. D. Wood, Emily M. P. Wood, David Young, Katherine Young.
Division II.
Mr. A. W. Blackburn, G. Brightwell, E. Burrell, Jenny M. Carmichael, Helen A. Carpenter, Leonora E. L. Clark, Gracie Davidge, Katherine Davids, Bessie Dominey, Ada E. Edmonds, Alfred G. Everett, Dorothy Felce, Mary E. Foley, J. Gutteridge, Ellen Hambly, Ellie Hanlon, Minnie C. Harris, Hilda M. Harrison, Maude Hayward, Blanche Holmes, Percy H. Horne, Lennox Howse, K. H. Ingram, Eva M. Jeayes, Eugenie Marinscheck, E. Mastin, Laura E. Mellor, Jessie Middlemiss, Katharine E. Moreton, E. Moss, Robert Murdoch, Mary M. Murray, Nita Nettleton, Grace Neville, Charles Nunneley, Mrs. A. Paulin, Lizzie Peacock, Mary Pennell, J. A. Emerson Reynolds, Florence E. Russell, J. Sedgwick, Agnes Smith, Mrs. G. W. Smith, A. M. Somersgale, B. M. Stagg, Mrs. H. F. Staunton, M. Stuart, H. H. Taylor, Edith Tichener, Nora S. Townshend, Freda Walter, Edith G. Wheeler, E. F. Woodhams, Emily C. Woodward.
Division III.
M. S. Baker, Lily Belling, Hetty Blakeston, Ines Bryson, F. Chute, Edith Collins, George R. Davidge, A. S. K. Ellson, Henry Goodwyn, Caroline S. Gregory, Caroline Gundry, Beatrice A. Hawes, Mrs. Hartnell, Marguerite Hendley, M. Hodgkinson, E. St. G. Hodson, Frances E. Kershaw, Mildred E. Lockyear, Winifred A. Lockyear, Jessie Mack, R. Pitman, E. G. Potter, Henzell G. Robson, Edward Rogulski, Annie Saunders, L. W. Siffken, Margaret B. Strathern, L. M. Todd, Mrs. C. E. Walker, Wm. Wearing, Gertrude Wearing.
Once again we have good cause to lament simplicity, nearly three hundred solutions being all but perfect. All those mentioned are word perfect, and the differences which separate the various classes are so slight as to be almost trivial. Let us be explicit: The prize-winners are perfect in every way. The most highly commended are perfect in word and form. Ten group the lines into two stanzas, four leave out the second e in blessed, three omit the note of exclamation in the last verse, and one writes an interjection o! with a small letter.
The “very highly commended” list mentions those solvers whose only important fault was a failure to indent the second and corresponding lines. In division I. the lines were grouped into four verses; in division II. into one verse, and in division III. into two verses.
Following close upon the steps of perfection is a batch of ninety-six solutions which give “noonday” as a compound word or, even worse, as two words. We do not attempt to deny that solutions with only so trifling an error are deserving of high commendation, but before their turn came the space at our disposal was filled.
Some of our readers with that perversity which is the heritage of many puzzle solvers, will doubtless fail to discern the basis of sound common sense underlying our ruling and will denounce it as arbitrary. Candidly, it is sailing quite as near to the wind as we like; but necessity knows no law, so why should an examiner? And after all we are confident that the sweet reasonableness of our decisions will appeal to all but the unwise and prejudiced.
A few solvers still persist in ignoring rule 2. It can hardly be because they fail to understand it, and this time we have refrained from mentioning any solver who has transgressed it.
Two or three solvers spelt “luxuriancy” with an e instead of an a. This was a pity, because it is much safer in a close competition to spell correctly.
There were not many fantastic readings to while away the tedium of adjudication. Perhaps the most curious was a rendering of the eighth line, found in several solutions:—
“And all be thine, O specify!”
“And all be thine, O specify!”
“And all be thine, O specify!”
“And all be thine, O specify!”
Although the reading can be justified by the text, it has nothing else to commend it unless it be its eccentricity.
The eleventh line was often translated:—
“Should be so blind to testify.”
“Should be so blind to testify.”
“Should be so blind to testify.”
“Should be so blind to testify.”
This we fail to understand from any point of view, because if the minus sign be taken for alinethe text runs blineed, which, when you come to think of it, is rather a clumsy way of spelling blind. It is clear, at any rate to us, that the stroke cannot do duty for both the minus sign andline. If it could all would be well, thus:—
bline- ed = blind.
bline- ed = blind.
bline- ed = blind.
bline- ed = blind.
But enough! for our brain reels.
A Short Story in Verse.—In this competition a perfect solution was sent by Alice M. Seaman of St. Peter’s Park. By a clerical error it was misplaced, and did not reach us until some time after our adjudication. A prize has since been sent to this competitor, from whom, by the way, we received no complaint.