SOLDIER'S DAUGHTER informs "Kate" that there is a poem on Kate Barlass called "The King's Tragedy," by Christina Rossetti. Guided by this hint, we have ascertained that "The King's Tragedy" is by Dante Gabriel (not Christina) Rossetti, and is to be found in the collected edition of his poems. The Queen called out to Kate, "Bar the door, lass," and she thus obtained her name. Perhaps this poem may be the one required.
J. L.--If it be merely weakness of the eyes, bathing frequently in a weak solution of vinegar and cold water will be found strengthening; a change of employment, writing being less trying than reading, and knitting and coarse crochet-work than plain sewing. When the eyes are tired and ache, change your occupation at once; set the house or drawers or books in order; take a turn in the garden, or a walk out of doors, and look at distant objects. Read our "New Doctor's" Medical answers on these subjects.
CHINESE WHITE.--We regret we have not space to give you the long list of printers and publishers for which you ask.
MISS M. CARLEY.--Married or unmarried you may wear a mourning ring wherever you find it will fit the best.
A. B. C.--For getting rid of the pest of little red ants that infest cupboards, we have recommended the use of a solution of alum, but we have just been advised to employ it hot. The right proportions are as follows:--Take two pounds of alum, dissolve it in two or three quarts of boiling water, and let it stand on the fire until the alum has disappeared; then apply it with a brush, while nearly boiling, to every joint and crevice in your closets, wooden bedsteads, pantry shelves, and also to those in the floor, and of the skirting boards and wainscotes. When you have your ceilings whitewashed, add plenty of alum to the lime, and when your house paint is washed, use cool alum water, which is obnoxious to cockroaches. Sugar barrels and boxes may be kept free from ants by the simple plan of drawing a wide chalk band round the edge of the receptacle, taking care that the band be unbroken, or else the vermin will cross over the broken line.
STAR-GAZER.--The largest telescope, at present existing, is that at the Lick Observatory, having an object glass of thirty-six inches diameter. Next follows that at Pulkova, Russia, having a glass of thirty inches. The next below that is at the University of Virginia, of twenty-six inches. Harvard possesses the fourth in size, with a twenty-four inch glass; and the fifth is that of Princeton College. That of Yerkes, the latest of the celebrated productions at Cambridge, Mass., is rated at forty inches in diameter. But all the American Telescopes, even the last-named, are eclipsed by the forthcoming monster of Paris, exceeding even the Lick by eleven inches. It will be 186 feet in length, and on view, ready for use, in 1900, at the proposed _Exposition_. The image is to be received on a level mirror, 75 inches in diameter.