Harper's Young People, January 11, 1881

James S.Moberly, Missouri.

I will send a nice recipe for ice-cream in the winter. Take a glassful of snow, and put in just enough cream to make it thick, with some sugar, and just a little extract of vanilla or lemon. My brother and I have ice-cream all summer, and winter too. I am nine years old.

Maggie B.

Pearl A. Hare, of Lynchburg, Harris County, Texas, accidentally omitted the little word "for" in her letter published in Young People No. 56, which made her appear to offer birds' eggs and postage stamps for exchange, when she wished to obtain them in exchange for Texas snail shells. Our readers will please note the correction.

I am a boy eleven years old. I was born in Cairo, Egypt, and came to America in 1876. I am living on a farm now, and like it very much.

I have some Egyptian stamps I would like to exchange for any other foreign stamps.

Ambrose Strang, Lincoln, Tennessee.

The following exchanges are also offered by correspondents:

Postmarks.

M. P. Rich,50 West Thirty-eighth Street, New York City.

German postage stamps for any other foreign stamps.

Maude Buckner,1208 Russell Street, Covington, Ky.

Postage stamps and postmarks for foreign postage stamps and coin.

S. New,127 East Sixty-ninth Street, New York City.

Postmarks for postage stamps.

Thomas K. Durham,P. O. Box 735, New York City.

Postmarks and War Department stamps for stamps and monograms.

Campbell T. Hamilton,Fort Preble, Portland, Maine.

Shells for Indian relics, shells, ore, or petrified wood.

Henry Scott,20 Patchen Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Postmarks for postmarks and stamps.

Al. E. Barker,P. O. Box 115, Judsonia, White County, Ark.

Foreign postage stamps for minerals, fossils, shells, sea-weed, or birds' eggs.

Louis D. Orrison,Care of Abernathy, North, & Orrison,Kansas City, Missouri.

Southern moss for a Chinese coin or any old relic.

Daisy Rollins,P. O. Box 186, Columbus, Missouri.

Twenty-five postmarks for two rare stamps.

W. W. Elhose,22 Brill Street, Newark, N. J.

Foreign postage stamps or postmarks for all kinds of United States internal revenue stamps.

George Wells,P. O. Box 466, New York City.

Curiosities, postage stamps, or sea-shells for curiosities. Or thirty postmarks for five birds' eggs. No duplicates.

Harry Madison,206 Stockton Street, San Francisco, California.

One hundred postage stamps for ten coins, or for ten birds' eggs. No duplicates.

Frank Knox,2318 Third Avenue, New York City.

Minerals, fossils, rare stamps, or monograms for coats of arms, crests, and monograms.

A Reader of "Young People,"Lock Box 42,Little Falls, Herkimer County, N. Y.

California curiosities, shells, or minerals for old or rare American coins.

C. W., Jun.,P. O. Box 2305, San Francisco, California.

Foreign stamps for postmarks and postal cards. Postmarks must be cut square.

C. S. Petrasch,13 West Thirty-second Street, New York City.

Two fine specimens of Southern fern, or some evening-glory seeds, for United States postage stamps.

Emma Bruff,238 Felicity Street, New Orleans, La.

Postage stamps.

Hawley Webster,394 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, Long Island.

Postmarks.

Louis Gibbs,Care of J. J. Carter, Titusville, Penn.

C. H. L. – The old scrip which you inclose is probably a genuine five-franc assignat, as the paper money was called which was first issued by the French government in 1790, and afterward by the Revolutionary authorities. It was based on the security of the public domain, consisting of the confiscated estates of the Church and wealthy exiles. The value of these assignats, which were issued to the amount of 45,578,000,000 francs, declined rapidly after the reign of terror. In the summer of 1793, one franc in silver was worth three francs in paper. Three years later, one franc in gold was worth three hundred francs in paper, although the government, in order to check this depreciation, had passed a law to regulate the price of commodities.

The inscription on your assignat shows that it was issued in October or November, 1793, the second year of the French Republic. The lettering in the corners proclaims death to any one who should dare to counterfeit the assignat. The livre, which name appears on the scrip, was a French coin about the value of a franc, by which it was superseded in 1795. Eighty francs were equal in value to eighty-one livres.

If you examine your assignat carefully you will see to the left the dim and faded stamp of the figure of Liberty, and if you have a strong magnifying-glass, you can amuse yourself by trying to make out the lettering around it. This little scrap of coarse paper, not quite a hundred years old, may incite you to read the story of the terrible time of which it is a relic. If you are not old enough to enjoy Carlyle's History of the French Revolution, you will find the scenes vividly portrayed in Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities, and Victor Hugo's novel entitled "'93."

Henry H. T. – Your proposal to found a Natural History Society, composed of contributors to Harper's Young People, is hardly practical. The exchange of specimens, etc., would be dilatory and difficult, as our contributors are scattered over the whole continent. Local societies of the kind you mean might be formed to advantage, and the officers of different associations could correspond with each other, and exchange views and information.

L. M. F. and L. L. P. – Your plan for a reading and debating club is excellent, and if well carried out must have good results. You will find suggestions that may be useful in some remarks appended to a letter from Violet S. in Harper's Young People No. 53, and also in a book called Stories of the Sea, noticed in No. 61. We would advise you not to waste your time over fourth-rate literature (to which the books you mention belong), but to select the best authors, whose works will not only entertain but instruct you. An excellent guide for you would be William Swinton's Masterpieces of English Literature, recently published by Harper & Brothers.

Violet S. – Your account of the proceedings of your society is not full enough. Can you not favor us with a sprightly description of what is done and said at your meetings, instead of giving the "order of exercises" merely?

John N. H. – Either hickory or sassafras wood is good material for bows.

Helen G. – How to make the "Wiggles" was fully explained at the end of the Post-office Box in No. 51 of Young People.

R. T. F. – Amber is not, as you suppose, made from "the sap of a tree in South Africa," but is a fossil resin from several species of coniferous or cone-bearing trees of a very remote geological period. More than 800 species of insects have been found preserved in amber, and leaves of 160 species of plants. Fine pieces of amber are very highly prized, and are sometimes worth more than their weight in gold. The largest mass known is in Berlin, Prussia. It weighs eighteen pounds, and is valued at $30,000. Amber is extensively used for ornaments, the mouth-pieces of pipes, etc. You may be able to procure a piece of some manufacturer of meerschaum pipes.

The ancients prized amber very highly, and it was an important article of commerce in early times. From the fact that it is found in large quantities in the remains of the lake-villages of Switzerland, we know that it must have been an article of exchange in prehistoric times.

Floy. – If you have any pressed flowers, leaves, or other pretty objects which can be sent easily by mail, we have no doubt some of our readers would be glad to send you postage stamps in exchange for them. You can put your offer in the Post-office Box.

Jesse H., Jun. – The English noun envelop, as well as the verb, is accented on the second syllable. The French form of the word, envelope, has an even accent on the three syllables. Our word is derived from the French.

Jean C. P. – Please give the name of the county in which the town of Warren, where you live, is situated. There are several towns of that name in Ohio, and correspondents will not know where to address you unless the county is given also.

Ford D. Lyon. – The controversy about the origin of the phrase, "Consistency, thou art a jewel," has not been satisfactorily settled. The saying has been floating about for a great many years, but no one has been able to find out who started it on its travels.

Grace. – The ü in Olmütz is sounded like the French u, very difficult to catch without the aid of a teacher. You can come very near it by pronouncing the vowel o and changing to e without altering the position of the lips.

C. G. G. – The time required for the transmission of a signal through the Atlantic cable varies according to the condition of the batteries. A dispatch has been sent from New York to London and the answer received within an hour.

James McK. – No charge is made in the matter about which you ask.

Sallie K., Cincinnati, Ohio. – The name of the street in which you live is so obscurely written that we can not make it out. Write it very plainly, and we will print your request.

Daisy R. – Send enough to make a pretty wreath.

Jennie S. M. – A very good recipe for butterscotch was given in a letter from Kittie G. in the Post-office Box of Young People No. 37.

Henry C. D. – Glass for windows was made during the Middle Ages in all European countries. In England glass-painting for windows was practiced in 1338. Some splendid windows of York Cathedral were painted at that period by John Thornton, of Coventry. In the fifteenth century English window-glass was more expensive than any other kind of glass. The Egyptians made glass at a very early period of their national existence. Paintings representing glass-blowers making a very large vase show that nearly 4000 years ago the Egyptians were far advanced in this art.

Favors are acknowledged from Garrett Waggener, Bertha Herron, C. C. Shelley, Jun., Stella Pratt, George W. Taymun, Flora C. B., Mabel White, Alice Brown, J. W. Menefee, Orrie H. Clark, Shelton H. Hibbs, H. H. J., S. H. R., W. H. Scherzer, Carrie and Belle N., Albert Woolley, B. D. Ellis, C. G. Myers, B. Tompkins, E. Fay Stevens, H. McIlvain, Frank A. Harmony, Annie S. and Bennie C. Duffie, F. H. Kellogg, Everett Jones, Lewis B. Frazier, Lyman Perley, Sidney J. Carson, Katie Dale, Louis Mareé, Tamar Love, Thomas Buford, Fredy Leser.

Correct answers to puzzles are received from C. H. McB., Hugh Pilcairn, Thomas Cook, George Dudley Kyte, "Lone Star," Harry and Isobel Jacob.

PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORSNo. 1WORD SQUARES – (To Owlet)

1. First, a piece of ordnance formerly used for blowing up barricades and other defensive works. Second, a female name. Third, to feel a sharp, pricking sensation. Fourth, a state in Africa. Fifth, part of a printing-press. Sixth, having a melancholy appearance.

Zelotes.

2. First, to disturb. Second, to weaken. Third, a Turkish coin. Fourth, absent without leave. Fifth, to show clearly. Sixth, leased.

Bolus.No. 2DIAMOND

A letter. A small vessel. A hut. A celebration. A guide. A snare. A letter.

Wennie.No. 3DOUBLE ACROSTIC

An ensign. A boy's name. A wonder. Finished. Answer. – Two things to gain which men often make great sacrifices and devote all their energies.

Lone Star.No. 4ENIGMAFirst in sieve, not in pail.Second in rum, not in ale.Third in calf, not in ox.Fourth in cat, not in fox.Fifth in rude, not in kind.Sixth in brain, not in mind.Seventh in wheat, not in hay.The whole a savage bird of prey.Oscar.No. 5ACROSTIC

Place seven divisions of the United States in such order that, their initials read downward spell the name of another.

Bolus.