at the feet of unsuspecting gentlemen, and elicit from naval officers symptoms of terror such as would not have been drawn forth by an enemy's broadside or a lee-shore. Of course Pedro came to grief. Rambling one day unattended, he came across 'a marauding Frenchman,' his owner's maid arriving only in time to rescue his lifeless body. It was sent, wrapped in black crape, to a neighbor with a weakness for fricasseed lizard; but having seen this especial one fondled and caressed, he could not find the appetite to eat it; and so Pedro was consigned to the earth instead of the pot.

De Candolle tells of a fair Switzer who, unmindful of Red Riding Hood's sad fate, made a companion of a young wolf, and had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing the fond beast fall dead at her feet in a paroxysm of joy at her return home after a long absence. But although one wolf was faithful found, it does not follow that the fair sex are justified in going to the forest or jungle for pets. The proprietress of a loving leopard that came regularly to her chamber door in the dead of the night, and howled loudly enough to wake the Seven Sleepers, until its mistress turned out of bed and quieted her disturber with an offering of warm milk, might well doubt if she had bestowed her affection wisely. Such favorites, however kindly they take to domestication, are very undesirable additions to an orderly establishment. When Captain Burton was domiciled in Syria, the famous traveller left the management of his live-stock to his wife, and under her fostering care that department assumed formidable proportions. Not content with horses and goats, a camel, turkeys, geese, ducks, fowls, and pigeons, Mrs. Burton must have her own especial pets a white donkey, a young St. Bernard dog, four English terriers, a Kurdish puppy, a snow-white Persian cat, a lamb, and a leopard. The last-named, according to the lady's account, became the pet of the household; which it deserved to be, if the household abhorred a quiet life, for the leopard behaved much after the manner of the gazelle whose owner sang:

He riled the dog, annoyed the cat,
And scared the goldfinch into fits;
He butted through my newest hat,
And tore my manuscript to bits!

Mrs. Burton, with pretty good grace, confesses her husband had fair cause for saying his happy family reminded him of the House that Jack built; for the fowls and pigeons ate the seeds and destroyed the flowers; the cat fed upon the pigeons, the dogs worried the cat; while the idol of the household harried the goats until one of them drowned itself in sheer disgust, and frightened the donkey and camel by jumping upon their backs, and indulging in a shrieking solo, horrible enough to scare any animal of a well-regulated mind into madness.

Lady Hornby, while ambassadress at Constantinople, obtained, as she thought, a Turkish street dog, with whom she was soon on the best of terms. Introducing her pet to a gentleman who knew a dog when he saw one, he exclaimed: 'That's no dog; it is a common brute of a wild jackal! 'Well,' rejoined the enlightened lady, anyhow, I have tamed him, and dog or jackall, don't mean to part with him!'

It was to her husband that Mr. Frank Buckland was indebted for the Kurdish dog, whose prowess delighted him, despite the trouble entailed by its exhibition; for Arslan, imbued with the notion that he was created to rid the earth of his kind, conscientiously tried to fulfil his mission by killing every dog so unlucky as to cross his path. Fortunately for his master's serenity, Arslan's unkind attentions were confined to his own species; otherwise there would have been anything but joy in the house of Buckland, since that general lover of animal-kind was never yet without pet bears, beavers, or monkeys, calculated to excite the ire of a brave dog; and priding himself upon the brown rats, black rats, piebald rats, and white rats with pink eyes, which swarmed to the door of their cage to welcome his coming, and allowed him to handle them as he listed, while at the advent of a stranger they were up on their hind-legs in fighting position in

stanter.

Much, however, as he loved them, they increased and multiplied so quickly that Mr. Buckland was by cruel necessity compelled, now and again, to carry a bagfull away wherewith to regale the snakes of the Zoological Gardens; a method of riddance unavailable to the gentleman who tried his hand at porcu

pine-petting, and found the creature throughly deserved Shakspeare's epithet of 'fretful,' its inquisitiveness and restlessness rendering it the most unpleasant of all quadrupedal pets.

Strange pets usually come to some untimely end; as Miller Luke says, ' Things out o' natur never thrive.' But your an

imai lover need not go far afield for worthy objects upon which to expend his kind care, for he was a wise man who wrote, 'If we were to pet our useful and hard-working animals, we should find it both to our credit and advantage.'Chambers's Journal.

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VI.

Good Words.

THERE are few collections of modern poetry which do not contain some specimens of Miss Procter's delicate and musical verse, and several of her poems have long established themselves as popular favorites; but her life was so brief and withal so uneventful as to afford the biographer scarcely material enough for a paragraph, while a line or two is all that is accorded her in the cyclopædias.

ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER was born in London on the 30th of October, 1825. Her father was Bryan Waller Procter, better known under his pseudonym of "Barry Cornwall," and though her inspiration was too genuine to descend to imitation, his influence was certainly predominant in moulding her song. Her literary tastes manifested themselves early, but she was never a prolific writer, and it was not until 1858 that her first volume appeared, "Legends and Lyrics, A Book of Verse." Two years later, in 1860,

appeared "A Second Volume of Legends and Lyrics." Miss Procter died in London on February 2d, 1864; and in the following year both series, with a number of new poems, were published in one volume, with an Introduction by Charles Dickens.

Without ever achieving what could be called a "hit," Miss Procter secured recognition and an audience with the publication of her first volume, and though she died so soon after its appearance, she lived long enough to know that she had made a name for herself in the literary annals of her country. As to the quality of her verse, both the critical and popular estimate of it is well expressed by Mr. Stedman when he says in his Victorian Poets: "It is like telling one's beads, or reading a prayer-book, to turn over her pages-so beautiful, so pure and unselfish a spirit of faith, hope, and charity pervades and hallows them."

HISTORY OF FRENCH LITERATURE. By Henri Van Laun. Volume II. From the Renaissance until the End of the Reign of Louis XIV. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

In our notice of the initial volume of the "History of French Literature," we described so fully Mr. Van Laun's method and distinctive merits that it is hardly necessary to say more of his second volume than that it amply fulfills the promise of the first. Beginning with the classical renaissance inaugurated by Du Bellay and Ronsard in poetry, by Malherbe in criticism, by Jodelle and Corneille in the drama, and by Pascal and the Port-Royalists in religious philosophy, it covers the long and illustrious reign of Louis XIV., and presents an exceedingly vivid and impressive sketch of what has been well named the Augustan age of France-the period when the national genius seems to have culminated, and to have accomplished its most brilliant achievements alike in war, in society, and in letters. Pursuant to his plan of showing the intimate relationship and reciprocal influence between history and litera

ture, Mr. Van Laun makes brief but comprehensive record of the great political and religious struggles of the period, notes their influence upon letters, and furnishes not less careful and effective portraits of Henry IV., of Richelieu, and of Louis XIV. than of Corneille, Racine, Molière, Pascal, Bossuet, Fénelon, Massillon, Descartes, La Fontaine, Boileau, Bayle, Madame de Sévigné, and the other famous writers, teachers, and preachers who shed lustre upon the reign of the Grand Monarque. In particular, he emphasizes the manifold and far-reaching effects of the religious wars and persecutions which not only destroyed and impoverished the people, but gave a bitterness and cynicism of tone and a controversial twist to the national literature, from the influence of which it has never wholly recovered.

As regards execution, this second volume is in several respects an improvement upon its predecessor. Mr. Van Laun is evidently more at home than when dealing with the earlier and more obscure period; he has the consciousness of treading on firmer ground, and he writes with an ease, and point, and precision that an author only attains by com

plete mastery of his materials. A greater fullness in dates and more frequent references to authorities are also observable, and the illustrative extracts, though not generally as copious as we could wish, are always fresh, characteristic, and apposite.

One more volume, according to the pub. lishers' announcement, covering the period from the reign of Louis XIV. to that of Napoleon III., will complete the work; and though it is hardly probable that it will prove so fruitful in attractions as the present one, yet we look forward with interest to Mr. Van Laun's treatment of the brilliant Frenchmen who, though so nearly our contemporaries, are so slightly and imperfectly known to us.

DEEPHAVEN. By Sarah O. Jewett. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co.

In this dainty and unpretentious little volume the author professes to give some of the more noteworthy features of a summer spent in a secluded and decayed old fishing hamlet on the New England coast; and if they are not a bona-fide transcript of actual experiences and observations, they are certainly a very remarkable instance of imaginative realism. The mouldering but picturesque village, the rotting wharves and dilapidated houses, the deserted harbor and surf-beaten light-house, the gray desolation that broods over the rug ged coast and exhausted country, the general society of the place with its eighteenth-century class distinctions and its complacent selfsufficiency, and the sharply differentiated individual characters that seem to develop themselves more completely among a seafaring folk than elsewhere-all these are portrayed with pre-Raphaelite fidelity and minuteness of detail, and yet with a graciousness of sympathy and a delicacy of touch that seem to impart a poetic atmosphere to the whole. Not the least pleasing feature of the work is the amiable disposition of the author not to seek mere amusement from her contact with unusual people and quaint social conditions, but to comprehend and appreciate them; and while there is humor in the sketches of a very genuine kind, it is not the satirical and cynical humor now so much in vogue, but the humor of Lamb and of Hood-the humor which is likely to bring a tear to the eye as well as a smile to the lips. The reader will often find himself laughing with the quaint and almost grotesque characters introduced, but never at them; and even while he laughs he will be conscious that his sympathies are appealed to quite as effectively as his risibilities. We know of few books that illustrate so truly and attractively the great law of human fellowshipthe fact that, in spite of all differences of rank,

of station, of education, and of surroundings, a man is a man, actuated by the same feelings, inspired by the same hopes, and touched by the same sorrows.

"Deephaven" is neither a story, nor a series of descriptive essays, nor a mere collection of character studies; but it possesses the charms of all, and offers something enjoyable to wellnigh every class of readers.

BESSIE LANG. By Alice Corkran. Leisure Hour Series. New York: Henry Holt & Co. Though it deals with a somewhat hackneyed subject, and makes no attempt even at originality of plot, "Bessie Lang" is one of the freshest, most pleasing, and most touching stories that we have read for a long time. It professes to be taken down from the lips of an intelligent and eccentric old woman, who tells it as a reminiscence of the most striking episode in her experience-an episode which has colored her whole subsequent life; and not the least noteworthy feature of the book is the skill with which the strongly-accentuated character of this woman is brought out in the course of the narrative. Bessie, the heroine, is a very charming specimen of a type which has been often drawn but which seldom fails to please the pretty, innocent, affectionate, and confiding middle-class English country girl; but the strong point of the story is the portrait of the gentleman-artist, Ellis, who presents an instance, rare in fiction, of a clever person whose cleverness we are not compelled to take on the author's bare assertion, but of the reality of which we are furnished abundant and convincing illustration. Next to Ellis, the best-drawn and most original character is that of the rustic genius, Bill Traughton, whose love for Bessie proved so tragical a circumstance for both; but even the minor personages are portrayed with a firmness and precision which do not always mark the work of far more distinguished and experienced novelists. Comparatively little use is made of the scenery of a region which is picturesque enough, apparently, to attract artists and summer visitors; yet the background and accessories are minute enough to assist in giving vraisemblance to the story, and Miss Corkran follows a true artistic instinct in concentrating attention upon the domestic drama which she unfolds with such skill. Altogether "Bessie Lang" is a story which well repays perusal. STANDARD FACTS AND FIGURES. Edited and Compiled by A. G. Sullivan. New York: Morton & Dumont.

There are few specific points regarding the statistics, laws, and methods of business concerning which information of some valuable

HOMEOPATHIC DOMESTIC MEDICINE. By Joseph Laurie, M.D. Edited and Revised by Robert J. McClatchey, M.D. New York: Boericke & Tafel.

This is a new issue of a work which has passed through twenty-one editions in England and seven in the United States, and which has long been accepted as a standard treatise on the homoeopathic domestic practice. Many improvements have been introduced into the work since it was originally published; comparatively new diseases and new remedies have been brought in; and the directions made at once more comprehensive and more specific. In its present form the treatise seems to be all that could be desired : not too technical to be understood by readers of average intelligence, and yet precise and scientific in its diagnoses and instructions.

The volume contains 1044 pages and a copious index by means of which any ailment can be at once found under its proper head in the body of the work. It also contains a repertory of medicines, and a glossary of terms, both of which are valuable additions to the work itself. The book is handsomely bound, and well printed.

"6 Short

MR. J. R. GREEN has completed the first volume of the revised and enlarged edition, in three octavos, of his well-known History of the English People." He has rewritten the new volume, as he will rewrite its successors, so as to make the work an entirely new book.

MR. ALBERT COHN, the compiler of the admirably full list of editions of Shakespeare and Shakespeareana in the German Shakespeare Society's "Year-book," has been collecting for twenty years materials for a classified Shakespeare bibliography. The book will make about 600 pages octavo, and be a most useful guide to students.

AT the coming Caxton celebration there will be exhibited an analytic type-distributor, the invention of a former editor of the Daily Japan Herald, which, it is stated, will distribute a page of the Times in an hour and a half, its selectors extracting at one and the same moment all the letters in the width of a page of any given description, and dropping them in the proper "box." The characters are not notched, as required to be done by the Sorensen machine.

La Bibliographie de la France calls attention to the fact that, in widening the Rue SaintJacques at Paris, many houses of historic interest are being swept away. "Au Soleil d'Or," in this street, is stated to have been Germans, named Gering, Friburger, and the sign of the house where, in 1473, three Krantz, established the first Parisian printingpress, and from the Rue Saint-Jacques emanated many of the most ancient bibliographical treasures of the Sorbonne National Library.

MR. W. FRASER RAE, who paid a lengthened visit to the United States last year in order to procure fresh material for the history of that country, which he is engaged in writing, will shortly give to the world an account of his impressions during his stay here, with special reference to the changes which have occurred since the publication of his "Westward by Rail." His new work, which will also contain several chapters relating to Canada, will be entitled, "Columbia and Canada: Notes on the Republic and the Dominion."

in Spain; 95 were political, 65 religious, 78 DURING 1876, 443 journals were published literary, 105 scientific, artistic, and industrial, and 100 were miscellaneous. The Correspondencia de España has the largest circulation, having circulated during the last year nearly twenty-one millions of copies, besides about two millions of extra sheets (supplements). Upwards of eleven millions of copies were