n excellent
Chinese, and, even if we do not read the language, we cannot doubt that
they refer to the _tea doses_ which the chests contain.

By some, philately has been called a science. Perhaps it hardly merits
so exalted a title but it opens for us a wide field for research, in
which we may find many curious, interesting and instructive things. It
trains our powers of observation, enlarges our perceptions, broadens our
views, and adds to our knowledge of history, art, languages, geography,
botany, mythology and many kindred branches of learning.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Canada Postage", Christmas 1898, 2 cents]

Philately embraces the whole earth and likewise the whole earth is
sometimes embraced within the limits of a postage stamp. As an example
of this, witness the recent effort of our Canadian cousins in
celebration of the achievement of the long-desired ocean penny postage,
at present an inter-colonial rate of the British Empire, but some day to
be an international rate. The motto is a trifle bombastic and suggests
the Teutonic superlative; "So bigger as never vas," and the "Xmas 1898"
reads like the advertisement of a department store: "Gents pants for
Xmas gifts." But we must admit that the stamp is a pretty conceit, in
spite of these defects and of the ambition of the artist, which has
spread the "thin red line" over territory that has not otherwise been
acquired. In addition to the things to be learned from the pictorial
part of stamps, there are other things which attract the attention of
the thoughtful and bring with them knowledge that is both interesting
and valuable. The mechanical part of stamp making may be studied with
much profit and entertainment. Considered in all its aspects, philately
is even more instructive than matrimony. You will remember the elder
Weller's views on the latter subject: "Ven you're a married man,
Samivel, you'll understand a good many things as you don't understand
now; but vether its worth while going through so much to learn so
little, as the charity boy said ven he got to the end of the alphabet,
is a matter o' taste. I rather think it isn't." This reproach cannot be
applied to philately. It teaches even the unwilling and careless. In the
effort to fill the spaces in their albums they must learn what varieties
they are lacking and in what these differ from other and similar
varieties. Thus some knowledge must be gained, even if unsought. To the
studious and the careful, in