PRIZE PUZZLE COMPETITION.

During the next six months we propose to make a variation in our Prize Competitions which will, we think, prove an additional attraction to our readers both at home and abroad. In the place of Two Quarterly Competitions there will be Three Competitions, each extending over two months, as below:—

I. The Summer Competition, consisting of Puzzles appearing in the present (July) and the August Numbers.

II. The Home and Foreign Competition, specially introduced for the purpose of giving readers residing abroad an opportunity of competing on favourable terms. Particulars of this will appear in the September Number.

III. The Winter Competition, consisting of Puzzles appearing in the November and December Parts.

Prizes.

I. In the Summer Competition there will be a First Prize of a Guinea Volume; a Second Prize of a Half-Guinea Volume; a Third Prize of a Five-Shilling Volume, awarded in Each Division, viz., the Senior Division for girls and boys between the ages of 14 and 16 (inclusive), and the Junior Division for those under 14 years of age. There will also be awards of Bronze Medals, of the Little Folks Legion of Honour to the three next highest of the Competitors following the Prize-winners in each Division.

II. In the Home and Foreign Competition Special and Additional Prizes will be offered, of which full particulars will be given in the September Number.

III. A List of Prizes in the Winter Competition will appear in the November and December Numbers.

Regulations.

Solutions of the Puzzles published in this number must reach the Editor not later than July 8th (July 12th for Competitors residing abroad), addressed as under:—

The Editor of "Little Folks," La Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, London, E. C. Answers to Puzzles. Junior [or Senior] Division.

Solutions to Puzzles must be accompanied by certificates from a Parent, Teacher, or other responsible person, stating that they are the sole and unaided work of the competitor. No assistance must be given by any other person. Competitors can be credited only under their own name. The decision of the Editor of Little Folks on all matters must be considered final. The names and addresses of Prize and Medal winners will be duly published in Little Folks.

GAME PUZZLE FOR JULY.

Our Game Puzzle for this month will be in the form of a little story. Four children were one bright summer afternoon standing together in an old-fashioned garden. There was Millicent, aged fourteen, upon whom sat a weight of care, for it was her task to look after and amuse the other three, viz., her two brothers Harry and Arthur, aged ten and eight respectively, and little Beatrice, aged five. The children seemed altogether out of sorts, they were cross, petulant, teasing, and would settle to nothing. At last Milly thought of the toys indoors, and said, "Now we will go and have a good game in the nursery."

"No," said Bee, stoutly, "me don't want to do and play wiz dolly to-day. I 'ike ze darden best."

In this fashion answered the others.

Then, said Milly, an idea dawning on her, "shall we try a new game out of doors?"

"A new game out of doors—just the thing," the boys chimed in.

"Let us all stand," said Milly, "together by this bower, and in turn think of some flower. I will begin, and so show you the way. I think of a polyanthus, and I say, 'Who will first touch a poly?' Then I count three, and if any of you can guess the word during that time we shall all start together for the nearest polyanthus, and when we reach it call 'polyanthus.' Who reaches the flower first scores a mark. Do you understand?"

Yes, they all thought that would do, and so they tried it quite successfully. Such shouts of "Fuchsia," "Dahlia," "Geranium," "Snapdragon," &c. &c.; but when it came to Beatrice's turn they thought she wasn't old enough to think of a flower on her own account, and so suggested all kinds of words.

"No, me tell one myself," she said, and then grandly pronounced "Wo."

"What's that?" they all exclaimed, and whilst Bee counted three they all puzzled to find it out.

Then little Bee ran a few yards and stopped at the nearest Rose-bush. "Why, that's a Rose," said Harry.

"Tourse it is, silly boy, didn't I say 'Wo?' and isn't it a 'Wosy Posy?'"

And so they all played on, and their little faces brightened into smiles, and fretfulness was forgotten in a good game as it always is; and by tea-time they were all thoroughly tired, and ready to go indoors when mamma called them.

There's the game, now for the Puzzle. You will find below a quantity of syllables in squares. Those syllables, if sorted out correctly, will make a certain number of wild and garden flowers, briefly described below, and all you have to do is to pick them out and place them in their proper order.

Senior Division.

taueachclemaber

mimbeyimaris

eschsantcenugetis

ivaliranrhipol

ziracholtrithusnum

nestumanalusry

The following flowers can be made from the above syllables:--1. A small pink wild flower, bitter to taste, found in dry pastures--June to September. 2. Many flowers on one stem. 3. Its name is derived from a Latin word meaning mimic or ape. 4. A small but important order, including the poppy and many poisonous plants. 5. With open mouth behold this favourite flower. 6. Erect flowering-stems, found in damp hedgerows, moist woods, edges of streams--June to August. 7. Its name is derived from a word meaning sensitive to cold. 8. A beautiful purple or white flower, seen on the walls of many homes. 9. "A plant ever young." 10. Touch the stamens with the point of a pin, and they all spring forward and touch the pistil.

Junior Division.

celocorpimebeg

asueandinemel

dicamopdineany

agsisperpanocory

jasnerithusumo

nelniatralanymine

The following flowers can be made from the above syllables:—1. A pretty yellow flower, found in damp fields, meadows, and brooks. 2. A white or yellow flower found on houses. 3. A pretty little yellow flower, on high flowering-stems, sweet in scent. 4. A "divine" flower. 5. Bell-shaped—blue, purple, or white. 6. Purple, red, and yellow, sometimes white. The fruit is a pod containing many seeds. 7. Sometimes eaten as salads, the leaves and stems being flavoured with oxalic acid. 8. Named from the resemblance of its seed to a small beetle. 9. A beautiful little crimson flower, covering the fields in summer. 10. A beautiful white spring flower, found in copses and hedgerows. 11. A beautiful pale blue flower, found especially on sand or chalk.

The flowers must be named in the order given in the two lists.

Answer to Puzzle No. 17.

Senior Division.

1. Christopher Sly. 2. Carolina Skeggs, Wilhemina. 3. Shallow, 4. René 5. Prester John. 6. Nahum Tate. 7. St. Loy. 8. Petronel Flash.

Class I.—Consisting of those who have gained eight marks:—F. G. Callcott. Class II.—Consisting of those who have gained seven marks or less:—M. Bradbury, N. Besley, C. Burne, H. Blunt, A. Bradbury, G. Clayton, J. Cooper, M. Cooper, H. Coombes, Ellen Corke, A. Chappell, G. Dundas, E. B. Forman. C. Gilbert, E. Griffiths, H. Gill, A. Garnham, M. Heddle, C. Hart, D. von Hacht, E. Hobson, H. Leake, B. Law, E. Lloyd, A. M. Lynch, H. Leah, J. Lewenz, C. Morin, M. More, C. Mather, E. Maynard, E. McCaul, E. Prate, M. Addison-Scott, K. Stanton, A. Solomon, M. Somerville. M. Trollope, Una Tracy, B. Tomlinson, Harold Watson, W. Wilson, E. Woolf, E. Wedgewood, K. Williams, A. Wilson.

Junior Division.

1. Sir Torre. 2. Pip. 3. Humphrey Clinker. 4. Zem. 5. Bore. 6. Cæsar. 7. Troilus. 8. Duergar.

Class I.—Eight marks:—D. Blunt, M. McCalman Turpie. Class II.—Consisting of those who have gained seven marks or less:—A. Allsebrook, R. G. Bell, E. E. Borchard, L. Besley, C. Burne, E. Blackbourne, E. Burdett, F. Boreham, E. Brake, F. Burne, L. Biddle, F. Cooper, M. Cooper, A. Coombs, C. Crawford, E. Coombes, M. Callcott, E. Carrington, F. Clayton, H. Chappell, J. Chapman, S. Coventry, V. Coombes, C. D'Almeida, R. Dutton, E. Elston, E. Evans, C. Fullford, M. Foreman, M. Frisby, L. Forrest, A. Gilbert, L. Gill, G. Griffith, E. Gruning, A. Howard, F. Howard, P. Hale, E. Hanlon, K. Hawkins, W. Hobson, W. Johnson, A. Kino, A. King, A. McKelly, A. Leah, K. Lynch, J. Laneum, W. Lewenz, E. Morgan, H. Mayer, J. Moore, M. Meredith, G. Morris, C. Moody, N. Maxwell, F. Medlycott, E. Nicholson, G. Neame, E. Neame, F. Newman, E. Quilter, S. Rolfe, M. Crompton-Roberts, E. Stanton, K. Simson, L. Stibbs, E. Stanley, G. Stallybrass, H. M. Smith, M. Wood-Smith, F. Todd, M. Wiper, K. Wedgwood, F. Woolf, L. Walpole, W. Wigram, J. Williamson. Note.—The following Competitors were credited in our Register with Solutions to Puzzle No. 16, but by an oversight their names were omitted from the list published in the May Number:—Seniors. W. Besley, H. Cornfield, G. H. Dundas, E. M. G. Gill, C. G. Hill, H. Leah, C. J. Mather, C. G. Rees, H. R. Stanton, M. C. Welland, B. Wright, E. L. Wilkinson, E. H. Wilkinson. Juniors. E. Elston, L. L. Gill, W. Goligher, M. A. Howard, F. S. Howard, M. Jenkins, A. Leah, F. J. Medleycott, E. L. Metcalf, H. J. Nix, E. A. Neame, G. Price, C. Roberts, E. Stanton, M. W. Smith, M. C. Tonge, M. Turpie (K. Lynch should have been in Class I. instead of Class II.)

The "Little Folks" Special Prize Competitions for 1884.

The following is a Complete List of the Seven Special Competitions for the present year in which—with the view of giving younger readers the same opportunities of success as older ones—there are Senior Divisions for those of the age of Fourteen and under Seventeen, and Junior Divisions for those under Fourteen:—

No.I.—Plain Needlework, as shown in Night-dresses and Cotton and Print Frocks for Children and Infants in Hospitals. [N.B.—In this Competition machine sewing is not allowed, and no article is to be washed.] No. II.—Illuminated Texts, suitable for hanging in the wards of Children's Hospitals and kindred Institutions. [N. B.—The Texts are to be limited to from three to nine words. The designs are not to be necessarily original, but printed outlines will not be allowable.] No. III.—Single Dolls in Costume.—Historical, Military, Naval, representing Nationalities, &c. [N.B.—The clothes should be made to take off and put on.] No. IV.—Scrap-Albums. [In this Competition the Albums may include not only ordinary Scraps and Coloured and Plain Pictures, but also Pressed Flowers, Ferns, Seaweed, Christmas, New Year, Easter, and Birthday Cards, &c. &c. The Albums themselves may either be bought or made by the Competitors.] No. V.—Single Dolls (including Baby Dolls), in Ordinary Clothes. [N.B.—The clothes should be made to take off and put on.] No. VI.—Toys, Made of Any Material, And Wool Playthings as shown in Wool Balls, Knitted and Crocheted Reins, &c. &c.

In each of these Six Competitions (I. to VI.) Two Prizes in Books of the respective values of Two Guineas and One Guinea will be awarded in the Senior Division, and Two Prizes of the respective values of One Guinea and Half a Guinea will also be awarded in the Junior Division; making in all Four Prizes in each Competition of the value of Four and a Half Guineas.

No. VII.—The "Little Folks" Special Illustrated Story Competition for 1884. [In this Competition (No. VII.) Prizes in Books and Medals of exactly the same value and number are offered in each Division to those who shall send in the Best Original Illustrated Stories, account being also taken of the neatness of the writing and the arrangement of the Pictures. The following is the list (in each Division):—A First Prize of One Guinea and a Half in Books for the Best Story; a Second Prize of One Guinea in Books for the Second Best Story; a Third Prize of Half a Guinea in Books for the Third Best Story; and Twelve Prizes of Half-Crown Books to the Next Twelve Best of the Competitors following the winner of the Third Prize; thus making in all, in the Two Divisions, Thirty Prizes. Further particulars and the Regulations were given in the January, 1884, Number of Little Folks.]

All Prize-winners in the Seven Competitions will receive Bronze Medals constituting them Officers of the Little Folks Legion of Honour; and in addition to the Prizes and Medals offered, some of the most deserving Competitors will be included in a Special List of Honour, and will be awarded Members' Medals of the Legion. All readers of Little Folks (if within the stipulated ages), whether Girls or Boys, may compete in any or all of the above Competitions, and the Regulations (which were given in full in the January Number) are, briefly, as follow:—

All work of every kind (including, of course, the Stories) to be certified by a Parent, Magistrate, Minister of Religion, Teacher, or other person in a responsible position, as the sender's own unaided work. In the case of the Stories (for Competition VII.) a Certificate must be given that they are original; and the printed conditions must be strictly observed. The age of every Competitor must also be attested.—All work to be carefully marked with the Competitor's name, age, and full address, and to be sent, accompanied by the Certificate, carefully packed and carriage paid, addressed to "The Editor of Little Folks, La Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, London, E.C."—All the Competitions will finally close on Saturday, the 30th of September, 1884.

The whole of the work of every kind in the Seven Competitions will be distributed among the little inmates of the principal Children's Hospitals and Kindred Institutions throughout the United Kingdom.

The foregoing are in addition to the regular "Picture Page" and Puzzle Competitions, &c. (see pages 61 and 64).

[The Editor requests that all inquiries and replies intended for insertion in Little Folks should have the words "Questions and Answers" written on the left-hand top corners of the envelopes containing them. Only those which the Editor considers suitable and of general interest to his readers will be printed.]

Prize Competitions, &c.

A Foreign Competitor.—[An announcement of a Prize Puzzle Competition, in addition to a "Picture Page Wanting Words" Competition, in both of which Extra Prizes will be given, and much longer time than usual allowed for sending in Answers, will appear in the September number of Little Folks. These two Competitions have been arranged, in response to repeated requests, in order that Competitors residing on the Continent, and in the United States, Canada, &c., (in addition to those living in Great Britain), may take part in them in much greater numbers than they are generally able to do.—Ed.]

Literature.

A Crocodile writes in answer to Mary Hodge, that the line—

"When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war,"

was written by Nathaniel Lee, and is to be found in his tragedy of Alexander the Great, act iv., scene 2. Answers also received from Kitt, Thistle, Chloe, A Young Fiddler, and Pop-a-top.

Flurumpus Flump asks in what poem

is to be found, and what is the first verse.

Cookery.

Ariel writes, in reply to Princess Ida, that the way to make jumbles is to rasp on some good sugar the rinds of two lemons; dry, reduce it to powder, and sift it with as much more as will make up a pound in weight; mix with it one pound of flour, four well-beaten eggs, and six ounces of warm butter; drop the mixture on buttered tins, and bake the jumbles in a very slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes. They should be pale, but perfectly crisp. Answer also received from Nora F. Maid of Athens wishes to have a recipe for oat-cakes. Pepper and Blossom would like to know how to make cocoa-nut ice.

General.

White Anemone writes, in answer to Bluebell, who wishes to know when and by whom organs were invented: "Jubal is mentioned in Gen. iv. 21, as 'the father of all such as handle the harp and organ;' but neither the century of its invention nor the name of the inventor can be given. Hero and Vitruvius speak of a water-organ, invented or made by Ctesibius, of Alexandria, about 180 or 200 B.C., so that it may be inferred that other kinds of organs were then in existence. Aldhelm, an Anglo-Saxon writer, mentions that organs were used in England at the end of the seventh and the beginning of the eighth century. The Byzantine emperor, Constantine VI., sent an organ to Pepin, the father of Charlemagne, about the year 757. In 812, Charlemagne had another one built in the same way. This is related by Eginhard, who was Charlemagne's secretary. In 880, Pope John VIII. had an organ from Germany, and an expert player was sent with it. It is supposed that this organ was the first ever used in Rome. Of the quality of these early organs little is known."—Answers also received from F. Cropper, Gamba, Cherub, and Claudia.

The Duke of Omnium writes, in answer to Sister Snout, that a window-box may be very prettily arranged with nasturtiums (climbing ones) at each corner, and Lobelia speciosa. Mignonette would make a border, or violets and sweet alyssum placed alternately. Red geraniums should be placed behind the smaller plants, and thus a very pretty box may be made with good, hardy plants.—Answers also received from Iolanthe, Cherub, H. B. Bodington, Dear Dumps, and Cupid.

The Black Prince wishes to have directions for making a cardboard model. [An article on this subject appeared in Little Folks, Vol. XVII., page 205.—Ed.]

M. H. S. would be glad to know if maidenhair ferns need much water, and how often they ought to be watered.

The Duke of Omnium writes, in answer to Queen Mab, that if her myrtle suffers from scale, the following is an excellent cure for it:—"Make some size or jelly glue water of moderate thickness. Dip the head of the plant in such water, or syringe it well all over. After this, the plant should be placed in a shady place for about two days, and then, after rubbing the dry head of the plant through your fingers so as to cause the insects and glue to fall off, syringe heavily with clear water at 120°."

Elaine.—[The meaning of "A E I" was given in Little Folks, Vol. XVIII., page 63.—Ed.]

Natural History.

A Gentleman of Colour would be glad to know if Indian meal is good for rabbits. [It can be used in turn with other dry food, but is too fattening to suit any animals kept in confinement for a permanency, unless they are to be fattened up.]

Snout and M. S. R. wish to know what is the best food for goldfinches, and whether hemp-seed is injurious to them.—[A very little hemp-seed occasionally is good, and much is very bad, for nearly all birds. The best food is a mixture of canary, millet, oat-grits, and rape or maw-seed, putting about a dozen grains of hemp-seed on the top every day. The bird soon learns the plan, and leaves off scattering the other seed to get at the hemp, as he will otherwise do.]

Queen Mab wants to know how to tame her goldfinch. It is a last year's bird, and she has not had it long. It is fed on canary-seed and a little hemp.—[For food, see above, a little more variety being well. As to taming, it will soon get tame if you spend time often by it and keep still, and always feed it yourself. Some children are too impatient—to be quiet near birds and animals is the main thing.]