eal_."

* * * * *

It is said that the intestines of the Carolina parrot are an
instantaneous poison to cats.

* * * * *

CHINESE DUNNING.

When a debtor refuses payment in China, the creditor, as a last
resource, threatens to carry off the door of his house on the first
day of the year. This is accounted the greatest misfortune that
could happen, as in that case there would be no obstruction to the
entrance of evil genii. To avoid this consummation, a debtor not
unfrequently sets fire to his house on the last night of the year.

* * * * *

During the times of Catholicism in Scotland, _Fishing_ was
prohibited from the Sabbath after vespers, till Monday after
sunrise. This was termed _Setterday's Slopp_.

* * * * *

THE TOWER OF BABEL,

says a recent traveller in the east, now presents the appearance of
a large mound or hill, with a castle on the top, in mounting to
which, the traveller now and then discovers, through the light sandy
soil, that he is treading on a vast heap of bricks. The total
circumference of the ruin is 2,286 feet, though the building itself
was only 2,000, allowing 500 to the stadia, which Herodotus assigns
as the side of its square. The elevation of the west side is 198
feet. What seems to be a castle at a distance, when examined, proves
to be a solid mass of kiln-burnt bricks, 37 feet high, and 28 broad.

* * * * *

SPANISH LITERATURE.

The Spaniards are particularly averse to borrowing from the
intellectual treasures of other nations. They glean the field of
their own muses to the very last ear, and then commence the same
labour over again.

* * * * *

EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER.

Here is a well-turned reply to plaintiff's counsel, available in all
suits and times. It occurred in the trial of Lord Danby, in the time
of Charles II. "If the gentleman were as just to produce all he
knows for me, as he hath been malicious to show what may be liable
to misconstruction against me, no man could vindicate me more than
myself."

* * * * *

In modern education there is a lamentable lack of veneration for the
great masters of English literature. Spenser, Milton, and Dryden are
altoget