It is a Collection which no one who loves music should fail to own; it should find a place in every home. Never before, it may truthfully be said, has a song book been published at once so cheap, so good, and so complete.—Colorado Springs Gazette.

This Song Collection is one of the most notable enterprises of the kind attempted by any publisher. The brief sketches and histories of the leading productions in the work add greatly to the value of the series.—Troy Times.

Sold Everywhere. Price, 50 cents; Cloth, $1.00. Full contents, with Specimen Pages mailed, without cost, on application to

Harper & Brothers, New York.

---

The Theban Chariot.

When in Florence we started for the Egyptian Museum one morning at ten, and got there in about twenty minutes. I was disappointed when I first looked at the chariot. As I examined it I saw how wonderfully it was made. There was no metal in it, and the only substances besides wood were leather and fossil bone. There are very few pieces of wood in the chariot, as you will see in the picture. The collar is like a wishbone with the point down. The tip is round instead of flat, and is of fossil bone. The ends of the yoke are finished with the same bone, and also the heads of the wooden spikes that hold the wheels on the axles.

THE THEBAN CHARIOT.

The pole is about the same length as an average carriage-pole. The yoke is about four feet long, and the wheels the same height. The place where the driver and warrior stood is made of leather, plaited like a split-bottomed chair, and this platform is semicircular. The yoke and pole are held together by a bone-headed spike. The spokes, pole, and hubs were originally covered with birch bark. The authorities say that from the quality of the wood and the absence of metal, it may be presumed that this chariot, formerly belonging to some warrior of the north, had been taken to Egypt as one of the spoils of war over 3300 years ago.

I have seen a photograph of a Roman chariot. It was the same as this, but filled in with bronze, and thirty times as heavy. The pieces of leather which go from the breast-work of the platform to the pole have been put there recently. There is a bow, that was found with the chariot, leaning against it. It used to be covered with leather, and is about five feet long.

John B. Cantley.
Woodburn Sands, Bletchly, England.

---

A Man-eating Russian.

In the church of St. Alexander, St. Petersburg, are the remains of a Russian general, Hannibal. A guide once said to a traveller, "There lies a Cannibal." This startling remark was all due to the fact that the Russian alphabet is H-less.

---

An Infallible Guesser.

When Thomas was compiling one of his first almanacs his clerk asked him what forecast he should enter opposite a certain week in July.

"Thunder, hail, and snow," promptly replied Thomas—and, lo! the prediction proved to be true! Thomas's almanac was thereafter considered well-nigh infallible.

---

In Order Now for "S.Z.B." to Explain.

Some weeks ago a letter reached us, signed by what appeared a responsible name, and dated at Kingman, Arizona, telling us of the death of Lady Florence E. Cowan. As Miss Cowan lives at Kingman, we believed the statement, and as she had contributed to the Table many delightful morsels, which thousands had enjoyed, we made a minute of the news. A letter from Miss Cowan expresses her natural surprise, and gives us and the Table the glad tidings that the information of "S.Z.B." was incorrect.

---

Some Odd Pastimes.

Spinosa, after studying assiduously for hours, would amuse himself by setting spiders to fighting. His laughter was said to have been positively alarming on the occasion of especially exciting combats. Socrates loved to play with children, and Tycho BrahÉ to polish spectacle glasses. D'Andilly, a translator of Josephus, spent his leisure in cultivating trees, while Barclay, author of the Argenis, was as devoted to his flowers as Celia Thaxter. Balzac collected crayon portraits, and the AbbÉ de Maroles, prints. Politian was never so happy as with his lute. The learned monk Petavius would gravely whirl his chair for five minutes at the end of every second hour of theological research, while Dr. Samuel Clarke was an expert chair and table jumper. Swift was often seen running up and down the steps of the deanery. Shelley's fondness for sailing paper boats is well known, but few know that he once folded a fifty-pound bank-note and sent it bobbing down the current of the Serpentine. But all will be glad to know that the shallop was finally moored in safety lower down the river. This launching somehow reminds us of the first stanza of Lear's Owl and Pussy Cat.

Geoffrey Cartwright.

---

Two Apt Anagrams.

A person once wrote this anagram of the name "Napoleon Bonaparte": "No, appear not on Elba."

When it was rumored that the Duke of Wellington intended marrying a rich heiress, Angelina Burdett Coutts, this anagram appeared:

"The Duke must in his second childhood be,
Since in his doting age he turns to ABC."
Orion Belton.

---

Kinks.

No. 19.—A Jingle of Jacks.

Pray find, without much tribulation,
Full many a neat ejaculation:
The Jack¹ that flies at vessel's prow;
Before it all good Jack Tars bow;
The Jack² that on a darksome night
May well inspire one's soul with fright;
The Jack³ that rears its massive trunk
O'er flowers that of the brook have drunk;
The Jack⁴ whom ev'ry butcher greets
With offers of all lean-fleshed meats;
The Jack⁵ whom sober-minded people shun,
So great his size he fills a tun!
The Jack⁶ who makes the strong and hale
Before its very name turn pale;
And now I'll tell you of one Jack—
The Jack who has the happy knack
Of making sunshine out of shade—
The dearest Jack that e'er was made!
Prote A. Jay.

---

No. 20.—A Quartus.

First is a state that is surely in debt;
Second, a stone that in truth is a door;
Third, an odd gem which dilates in a pet;
Fourth is a stone that may mean a horse poor.
Plesiosaurus.

---

No. 21.—A Sestine of Stones.

The stone (1) that will capture the "mackerel-guide";
The stone (2) which might have the term "measures" applied;
The stone (3) that "O, Partner!" cries out with esprit;
The stone (4) that may grow 'mid the tall fleurs-de-lis;
The stone (5) that means "steward" in Persian, 'tis said;
And, lastly, the stone (6) in which gas burns o'erhead.
Eason C. Arlington.

---

No. 23.—A Mythological MÉlange.

In the following jumble find these mythological personages, Greek and Roman: nine female and five male divinities, two giants, two heroes, a legendary king, a monster, a Greek maiden metamorphosed into a white heifer, the most beautiful of all mortals, and the mother of a well-known god and goddess:

The miner vacantly began to leer—ostentation at last! He cater to a maniac? Hill escaped; an oven used to mar Smith's arbor. Eastwardly the coach ironically accompanied Jan. "Usually I owe; he bears genuine grief amid astounding trials, surpassing any Medes." The ice restored her; attentive Lucas tore the vest at the hem; the shy mender let oats fly, while the poacher messed his porridge—the color I only conjectured to be bice.

Southe Arlington.

---

Questions and Answers.

Are you interested in music and natural history? Inez M. Brush, Chelsea, Iowa, wants to correspond with you if you are. If you live in Baltimore, P. Dettelbach, 1905 Druid Hill Avenue, wants you to join the Monumental City Chapter. Corresponding members are also received. William J. Smith,—No badges are now in stock. When more are prepared, notice will be given in these columns. We know of no active Chapter in Detroit near you. It is better to form one among your own friends than to join one whose members you have no acquaintance with.

"Disputants,"—Austria is on a gold and Russia on a silver monetary basis. "Amateur Newspaper,"—There are several methods by which writing is cheaply duplicated. None are perfect—that is, as perfect as type-printing, and none can, unless done far better than the average amateur is able to do, deceive the recipient to the extent of making him think it an original letter. For Harper's Magazine, and for prices apply to your bookseller. Directions go with the apparatus.

Henry F. Brown, a Massachusetts Knight, who won a Round Table Illustration prize, asks if the late Horace Bradley is the same person who judged his picture: "for," he writes, "I find 'H.B.' on the back of it." We cannot say with absolute certainty, but it is probable that it is. Mr. Bradley, who was one of the most obliging of men, passed judgment upon much work sent in by Round Table members. Pressed with responsibilities, he often took time to look through a pile of members' drawings, giving a word of criticism here or of commendation there. In half a dozen instances he wrote letters to members of artistic promise, giving them helpful advice. You should prize your drawing with its initials "H.B." highly.

Eugene B. Benton, who says he hopes one day to enter the navy, asks what became of the old vessels of the Revolutionary navy. There were about forty of them, and they had different fates. Two, the America and the Ariel, were presented to France. The famous Bonhomme Richard was sunk in 1779, and the Washington, Independence, and Montgomery in 1778. The Saratoga was lost at sea, and the Lexington was captured by the British in the English Channel, in 1778. You are in error in thinking the Constitution was in the war of the Revolution. It was not launched until 1797. It was in service, with some lapses, until December, 1881, when it was consigned to "Rotten Row," in the Brooklyn Navy-yard. The earliest built of our new navy, or White Squadron, was the Chicago, in 1886. Previous to 1862 enlisted men in the navy were granted a "spirit ration." In July of that year Congress passed a law abolishing it, and enacted that "hereafter no distilled spirituous liquors shall be admitted on board of vessels of war, except as medical stores." Read Admiral Gherardi's article on the navy, in Harper's Round Table for June 30 last. It can be had for five cents from the publishers, and it authoritatively answers all of your questions about entering the navy, the pay, etc.

---