We have duly received a parcel of the February issues of these excellent magazines. "Want of' space obliges us to notice them much more briefly than they merit, but they ate so well-known, or if not they ought to be, that a long notice is not so necessary with them nowadays. The aristocrat among them, Cussell's Magazine, is as full Of good reading, light and serious, and excellent pictures as ever. Football players will rend with great interest. the' article on American football and note the strange, defensive armour which: American players wear. There no picture, however, of the steel conning tower with thick plate-glass-lights in which the -Referce is put for safety. There is an interesting article, too, on the Broad-moor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, in which the following remarks" by the medical superintendent are quoted.:—
"'T should also like you to remember that because patient may seem rational enough, talking, and acting with prefect sanity, it does not follow that he could be safely released. Here, his life is: ordered for him—he has not a care, from waking to.sleeping.
these circumstances he may. seem—and, indeed, be—sane for weeks and months: together., Friends come to, see him, and indignantly petition the, Home Office for his release: They forget our responsibility to the public.; The: man's. nervous income may be sufficient, for. his life. here, but before the Home Secretary orders his release, there must be reasonable assurance that ho will not soon dangerously relapse, when sent into the world to. manage for himself. -Of, course, the risk will be less.if there are friends able and willing to: look."fter him, But. it is obvious; that, even, then, with people who have already committed homicide, or-acts: of. great violence, we have to be much. more stringent than is generally the case in other asylums. All we can do is to make the confinement as tolerable as possible."
We like-to read the Quiver from the satisfaction we have at seeing how much [broader is the tange/of what. is considered "Sunday, reading," than. it, was thirty Yeats ago," There is plenty, of fiction, which. the most worldly person may read without danger or disappointment, and there is much excellent general reading such as Miss Elizabeth Banks's article in. the issue before us, on ' American Country Parsons and their Wives." There are also special articles, sermons, ete., never long enough to be tedious, and the illustrations are first-rate.
Yassell's Saturday Journal is more of a popular magazine, and it would be very rd if it were nob very popular, consider-the enormous amount of condensed information and: amusement it contains. Then there are pages of comic designs, and there isa pretty frontispiece to the issue before us. The short stories are short and pointed, and there is a thrilling serial story by Fergus Hume. There is good advice too, such as the following observed, smile, the proprietor of "Perhaps is foolish of me to say so,"
cycle depot, "but itis a fact that I take soures of shillings a week from riders whose machines, have gone wrong simply from neglect. There are hundreds of cyclists who would save themselves pounds, and many hours-of disappointment, if they only took a, little trouble in keeping their machines in order. Bearings are allowed get too loose, and balls get smashed, frequently quite destroying the ball races'; chains are not lubricated and so wet quickly worn, or, being ridden loose, mount the cogs and break them, or snap. Many riders use the brakes so freely, instead of back-pedalling, that the tires are worn thin, easily punctated, and are ruined in a single season. However, it is, perhaps, as well for us that riders will still do these things."
The three magazines above noticed are companions for the hours of leisure, but there is a fourth still to be noticed, n companion full of ins-ruction, experience, and advice, tobe referred, to' in the hours of labour Work is its name, Its real value is well. expressed by one of its readers who says: "With Work by my side I never feel afraid to tackle any job." Anybody can make anything, in fact, if he follows the instructions in Work. Here is a sample for those who have secrets that must be written down The usual invisible or sympathetic inks are made from cobalt nitrate or chloride, which in the hydrated condition (i.e. containing water) are a pale pink, but become deep green by loss of water on heating Writing upon paper with these inks is invisible at the ordinary temperature, but by warming the paper the marks appear very distinct, but fade away again after short time. "In hot climates the writing would not be invisible. Invisible writing may be done with a solution of tannic acid, and developed at any time by soaking in a diluted solution of ferric chloride. A true ink is then formed. Another method is to write with a solution of boiled starch, and develop the writing by damping the paper and holding it for a few minutes over a bottle containing iodine; the blue iodide of starch is then formed, and the writing becomes quite distinct for a time. It fades away again as the paper dries, but may be developed in the same manner several times. Another process is to write with a solution of lead acetate, and develop; by moistening the paper and holding it over a bottle containing sulphuretted hydrogen; the writing then becomes permanently black, sulphide of lead being formed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.