'Barry Cornwall, Poet," is an anagrammatic pseudonym for Bryan Waller Proctor.

For three days Daniel remained in the lions' den because he prayed three times a day.

Some scientists assert that there is a complete change in the human body every seven years.

The saying "six thrice or three dice," sprang from the fact that aces were callod dice, and didn't count.

There were seven great wonders of the world in classic times. They are described elsewhere in this volume.

Six has for its symbol two equilateral triangles placed base to base, representative of equilibrium and peace.

Placentius, a sixteenth century Dominican, wrote a Latin poem of 253 stanzas, every word of which begins with P.

"Get nymph; quiz sad brows; fix luck," containing all the letters of the alphabet, is capital advice to a young man.

The alphabet is inexhaustible in its possibilities. Some one calculates 620,448,401,733, 239, 439,369,000 transpositions.

In Alchemy the Sun is gold, the Moon silver, Mars iron, Mercury quicksilver, Saturn lead, Jupiter tin and Venus copper.

An Englishman, wishing to revile America, has been noted as speaking, "The 'ideous Hamerican 'abit of habusing haitch.

"The 'orn of the 'unter is 'eard on the 'ill" is a cockney version of the line from Mrs. Crawford's "Kathleen Mavourneen."

Seven sciences composed the Trivium and Quadrivium, viz., grammar, rhetoric, and logic, music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. Note the three in " fish, flesh and fowl; morning, noon and night; ' "water, snow and ice;" 'heaven, earth and hell;" "red, white and blue."

Among the Chinese, heaven is odd, earth is even; heaven is round, earth is square. The numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, belong to yang (“heaven"); but 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, belong to yin (“earth”).

The Nine Worthy Women were: (1) Minerva, (2) Semiramis, (3) Tomyris, (4) Jael, (5) Deborah, (6) Judith, (7) Britomart, (8) Elizabeth or Isabella of Aragon, (9) Johanna of Naples.

Jericho fell on the seventh day. To accomplish this seven priests with seven trumpets march around the city once a day, and on the seventh day seven times-and the walls fell.

"Ha helephant heasily heats hat 'is hease
Hunder humbrageous humbrella trees."
-MOORE.

The seventy years' captivity of the Jews in Babylon, which lasted seventy years, began B.C. 584 and ended B.C. 515. They were carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and released by Cyrus. This is also called "The Babylonish Captivity."

Ancient Rome, built on seven hills, surrounded by Servius Tullius with a line of fortifications, was called the seven-hilled city. The seven hills are the Pallatinus, the Capitolinus, the Quirinālis, the Cælius, the Aventinus, the Viminālis, and Esquilinus.

Seven times Christ spoke on the Cross: (1) "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;" (2) "To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise;" (3) Woman, behold thy son!" (4) "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (5) "I thirst;" (6) "It is finished!" (7) Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit."

66

The ten numerations are cabalistic doctrine. Three are called the superior, and seven the inferior numerations. The three superior are the supreme diadem, wisdom and understanding. These existed from all eternity. The seven inferior numerations are mercy, severity or might, beauty, victory, glory, stability and sovereignty.

"TheThree R's-reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic"-is the title of a toast given at a dinner in honor of the Board of Education by Sir Wm. Curtis, Bart., Lord Mayor of London, in 1795. In consequence of this toast the Lord Mayor has been handed down to posterity as an ignoramus, though those present recognized the jest clothed in the elisions.

One solution of Daniel's seventy weeks is to suppose it to begin with the decree of Darius given to Ezra B.C. 491, and the seventy weeks to mean seventy times seven years (i.e. four hundred and ninety), which would bring us to the birth of Christ, "when a finish was made to transgression, and an end put to sins by the reconciliation of the Messiah, the prince."

Our word alphabet is composed of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta. These were adopted from the Phoenician Aleph and Beth, which mean respectively "ox" and "house"-referring no doubt to the shape of the letters-which show us the connection between the alphabet as we know it and the ancient cuneiform and hieroglyphic writing of Babylonia and Egypt.

Card-players who are continually bewailing their ill-luck of always receiving the same poor cards, will, perhaps, be reassured by knowing that the fifty-two cards, with thirteen to each of the four players, can be distributed in 53,644,737,756,488,792,839,237,440,000 different ways, so that there would still be a good stock of combinations to draw from, even if a man from Adam's time had devoted himself to no other occupation than that of playing at cards.

One gallon of water weighs ten pounds, so the number of gallons in the Pacific is over 200,000,000,000,000, an amount which would take more than 1,000,000 years to pass over the falls of Niagara. Yet, put into a sphere, the whole of the Pacific would only measure 726 miles across. The Atlantic could be contained bodily in the Pacific nearly three times. The number of cubic feet is 11,700,000,000,000,000,000, a number that would be ticked off by 1,000,000 clocks in 370,000 years.

ABRACADABR

ABRACADAB
ABRACADA
ABRACAD
ABRACA

Abracadabra is a magical word or formula ABRACADABRA constructed out of the letters of the alphabet, and supposed to be highly efficacious for the cure of agues and fevers. The letters were written so as to form a triangle, capable of being read many. ways on a square piece of paper, which was folded or stitched into the form of a cross; worn as an amulet in the bosom for nine days, and ultimately thrown backward before sunrise into a stream running eastward. The adjoining is one way of arranging this mystic word.

A BRAC

A BRA
A BR
A B

A

Writing is of two kinds - ideographic, in which signs represent ideas; and phonetic, in which signs represent sounds. Ideographic writing, which preceded phonetic writing, is illustrated by the picturewriting of the ancient Mexicans, and by the Chinese system of writing, which is strictly ideographic. The Phoenician and other Semitic nations derived their knowledge of writing from the Egyptians. The art was introduced from Phoenicia into Greece, and from Greece into Italy, whence it spread with the spread of Christianity.

The Jewish Sanhedrim, or national council, was constituted of a president called Nasi, a deputy, sub-deputy and seventy ordinary members. Their place of meeting was called The Pavement. The seventy sat in the form of a crescent, thirty-five on each side of the throne. In A.D. 32 the seventy were sent forth by Jesus to spread His mission. They were to go two by two, without purse, scrip or change of shoes, but were endowed with the power of working miracles. Seventy elders were appointed to assist Moses in the wilderness (Num. xi. 16, 17).

Seven Wise Men is the collective designation of a number of Greek sages, whose moral and social experience, according to the ancients, was embodied in certain brief aphorisms. Their names, as usually given, and their characteristic aphorisms are as follows: Solon of AthensNothing in excess;" Thales of Miletus-"Suretyship brings ruin ;" Pittacus of Mitylene-"Know thine opportunity;" Bias of Priene, in Caria -"Too many workers spoil the work." Chilon of Sparta—“Know thyself;" Cleobulus, tyrant of Lindus, in Rhodes-"Moderation is the chief good;" and Periander, tyrant of Corinth-"Forethought in all things.'

Here is another of the curious ones: Multiply a number composed of the nine digits, 123,456,789, by 45, and the product is 5,555,555,505. Reverse the figures in the multiplier 54, and the product is 6,666,666,606. Reverse the multiplicand to 987,654,321), and multiply by 45, and the product is 44,444, 444, 445. Reverse the multiplier to 54, and the product is 53,333,333,334. The first and last figures are the multiplier. Use half the multiplier or 27, and the product is 26,666,666,667. The first and last figures are the multiplier. Reverse the figures of the multiplier to 72, and the product is 71,111,111,112, the first and last being the multiplier.

FRANCE'S FATAL THREE.

The fatal number to Rome has been six; and three has proved singularly fatal to France.

I. Take the kings. The third of any name has been uniformly either worthless or unlucky: Childebert III., Clotaire III., Clovis III., Dagobert III., and Thierry III., were rois fainéants.

Childeric III, the last king of France of the first race, was confined in a cloister that Pepin le Bref might reign in his stead.

Pepin le Bref was the third Pepin: (1) Pepin de Landen; (2) Pepin d'Héristal, his grandson, and (3) Pepin le Bref, grandson of Pepin d'Héristal, who was succeeded by the Carlovignian dynasty.

Charles III., le Simple, was wholly under the thumb of favorites, and after a most inglorious reign was poisoned by the Comte de Vermandois. Henri III., le Mignon, "weaker than woman and worse than harlot❞ was assassinated by Jacques Clément.

Louis III., joint king with Carloman, reigned about a year and was killed by an accident at the age of twenty-two.

Philippe III., le Hardi, was singularly unfortunate, and singularly misnamed "The Bold." This tool of Labrosse went on a crusade, and brought home the dead bodies of five near relatives: his father, his wife, his son, his brother, and his brother-in-law. The "Sicilian Vespers" occurred in his reign. He died of an epidemic at Perpignan.

Napoleon III. lost his imperial crown at Sedan, and died in exile at Chiselhurst, in Kent.

II. The succession of three brothers has always proved fatal. The Capetian dynasty terminated with the succession of three brothers: Louis X., Philippe V., and Charles IV. (sons of Philippe le Bel). The Valois line came to an end by the succession of three brothers: François II., Charles IX., and Henri III. (sons of Henri II.).

The Bourbon dynasty terminated with the succession of three brothers: Louis XVI., Louis XVIII., and Charles X. (sons of Louis the Dauphin).

III. The monarchy of France was brought to an end by the third of these triplets.

The empire of France consisted of Napoleon I., Napoleon II., and Napoleon III.

DATES OF THE SECOND EMPIRE.

1. 1869, the last year of Napoleon's glory; the next year was that of his downfall. As a matter of curiosity, it may be observed that if the day of his birth, or the day of the empress' birth, or the date of the capitulation of Paris be added to that of the coronation of Napoleon III., the result always points to 1869. Thus he was crowned in 1852; he was born in 1808; the empress Eugénie was born 1826; the capitulation of Paris was 1871. Whence:

2. 1870, the year of his downfall. By adding the numerical values of the birthdate either of Napoleon or Eugénie to the date of the marriage, we get their fatal year of 1870. Thus, Napoleon was born 1808; Eugénie, 1826; married, 1853.

3. Empereur. The votes for the president to the emperor were 7,119,791; those against him were 1,119,000. If, now, the numbers 711979r/1119 be written on a piece of paper, and held up to the light, the reverse side will show the word empereur. (The dash is the dividing mark, and forms the long stroke of the "p.")

THE APOCALYPTIC NUMBER.

The mystical number 666, spoken of in the Book of Revelation (xiii. 18) is called the apocalyptic number. Among the Greeks and Hebrews the letters of the alphabet were used to denote numbers. Hence such

letters must be taken as will, when used as numbers, make up 666 (either in the Greek or Hebrew alphabet) as the letters of the name in question. The best solution of the riddle is "Neron Kesar," the Hebrew form of the Latin "Nero Cæsar." The vowels e and a are not expressed in the ancient Hebrew writing. The number represented by NERON KeSaR would be 666, thus:

50+ 200+ 6 + 50 + 100+ 60+ 200 = 666. Other interpretations were adopted in early times, as Antichrist and Lateinos, the latter being supposed to refer to the Roman empire, and even in more recent times being explained by Protestant controversialists of greater zeal than discretion, as a prophetic allusion to papal Rome.

THE FIVE WITS.

An old and curious standard of mentality is that which credits mankind with having "five wits:" common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory.

1. Common wit is that inward sense which judges what the five senses simply discern: thus the eye sees, the nose smells, the ear hears, and so on, but it is "common wit" that informs the brain and passes judgment on the goodness or badness of these external matters.

2. Imagination works on the mind, causing it to realize what has been presented to it.

3. Fantasy energizes the mind to act in accordance with the judgment thus pronounced.

4. Estimation decides on all matters pertaining to time, space, locality, relation, and so on.

5. Memory enables the mind to retain the recollection of what has been imparted.

THE SACRED NUMBER.

Seven was frequently used as a mystical and symbolical number in the Bible, as well as among the principal nations of antiquity, the Persians, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The origin is doubtless astronomical, or rather astrological-viz. the observation of the seven planets and the phases of the moon, changing every seventh day. As instances of this number in the Old Testament, we find the Creation completed within seven days, whereof the seventh was a day of rest kept sacred. Every seventh year was sabbatical, and the seven times seventh year ushered in the jubilee year. The three Regalim, or Pilgrim festivals (Passover, Festival of Weeks, and Tabernacles), lasted seven days; and between the first and second of these feasts were counted seven weeks. The first day of the seventh month was a Holy Convocation." The Levitical purifications lasted seven days, and the same space of time was allotted to the celebration of weddings and the mourning for the dead. In innumerable instances in the Old Testament and later Jewish writings the number is used as a kind of round number. In the Apocalypse we have the churches, candlesticks, seals, stars, trumpets, spirits, all to the number of seven, and the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb. The same number appears again either divided into half (31⁄2 years, Rev. xiii. 5; xi. 3, xii. 6, etc.), or multiplied by ten-seventy Israelites go to Egypt, the exile lasts seventy years, there are seventy elders, and at a later period there are supposed to be seventy languages and seventy