t has been said, it will be obvious that our common fires
and chimneys are most powerful ventilators, though their good services
in this respect are often overlooked. As soon as the fire is lighted,
a rapid ascending current of air is established in the chimney, and
consequently there must be a constant ingress of fresh air to supply
this demand, which generally enters the room through the crevices of the
doors and windows. When these are too tight, the chimney smokes or the
fire will not draw; and in such cases it is sometimes necessary to make
a concealed aperture in some convenient part of the room for the
requisite admission of air, or to submit to sitting with a window or
door partly open. Any imperfect action of the chimney, or descending
current, is announced by the escape of smoke into the room, and is
frequently caused by the flue being too large, or not sufficiently
perpendicular and regular in its construction. When there is no fire,
the chimneys also generally act as ventilators; and in summer there is
often a very powerful current up them, in consequence of the roof and
chimney-pots being heated by the sun, and thus accelerating the ascent
of the air. In a well-constructed house there should be sufficient
apertures for the admission of the requisite quantity of air into the
respective rooms, without having occasion to trust to its accidental
ingress through every crack and crevice that will allow it to pass.
These openings may either be concealed, or made ornamental, and by
proper management may be subservient to the admission of warm air
in winter."

* * * * *

HENRI III. OF FRANCE.

We quote the following scene from one of the Tales recently published
in three volumes with the general cognomen of _Chantilly_. It is from
the longest and most successful of the stories called "D'Espignac,"
in the time of Henri III., and, as our extract shows, the scenes and
sketches exhibit considerable talent, and a certain graphic minuteness
which has become very popular in modern novels. The tale itself is not
to our purpose, but we promise the reader a _petit souper_ of horrors
from its perusal, especially to those who woo terror to delight them.
The pen is young and feminine, and of high promise. The occasion of the
following scene is an interview of one of the characters with Henri.

"It was a small dark apartment, hung round with tapestry, the ceiling
richly decorated with mass