B. G. (Employment in the Colonies).—We hope you will observe this answer, as you have not given a pseudonym. It is, of course, a very serious question whether you would do wisely or rightly to leave your present comfortable situation where your services are valued in order to seek employment abroad. So far as you yourself are concerned, it would seem probable that if you have made yourself useful to one household, you would to another. But in dealing with your employers a frank explanation would probably be best. Tell them that you have this strong desire to see something of the world outside your own country; but that you would not like to leave at a moment when, by so doing, you would be putting them to inconvenience. We can hardly doubt that your employers will meet you in a similar spirit, and will try to arrange matters so that you may leave England at the right time of year for emigration purposes. If you wish to leave this season, you should lose no time in taking lessons in cookery. You do not say where you live, but nowadays there are few localities without either a regular school of cookery or some evening classes at which cookery is taught. If you can make yourself a really good cook, Canada would be the most suitable country to which you could betake yourself. According to the latest report of the Emigrants’ Information Office (31, Broadway, Westminster, S.W.), cooks earn much more than general servants, £25 a year being frequently paid. In the north-west cooks receive as much as £5 a month, or at the rate of £60 a year. You should not leave for Canada later than September, as the winter, which is severe, begins in October. If you could go earlier it would be better, otherwise you should wait till April of next year. The British Women’s Emigration Association, Imperial Institute, Kensington, W., would advise and help you further if you would apply to the Secretary. You should also make a note of the address of the Women’s Protective Immigration Society, 84, Osborne Street, Montreal, and of the Girls’ Home of Welcome, 272, Assiniboine Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba. To these institutions you could turn if you wanted a lodging or help in seeking a good situation.

Daisy (One Year’s Training in a General Hospital).—General hospitals—the qualifications of which carry weight in the nursing world—almost invariably receive probationers for not less than two years’ training. Three years is an ordinary limit, and even four years are required by some of the best training schools. The only alternative course you could pursue is to enter some hospital as a paying probationer. You would be required to pay thirteen guineas per quarter; this would cover board, lodging, and tuition, but not uniform or laundry. It is possible that at the end of six months a paying probationer, who has shown an aptitude for nursing, may be invited to join the regular nursing staff of the hospital. If such an invitation were made to you, you would do wisely to accept it, for your position as a private nurse would be strengthened by the fact that you had undergone a full course of hospital training. We advise you to offer yourself as a paying probationer to the Middlesex Hospital, Mortimer Street, London, W., or the Royal Free Hospital, Gray’s Inn Road, London, W.C. If you prefer to remain in Scotland, you might apply to the Matron of the Northern Infirmary, Inverness. Here candidates are received for one year only and are paid a salary. This institution, however, is much smaller than either of the London hospitals above-mentioned, and could not offer you so complete a knowledge of nursing in all its branches.

Doris (Hospital Training).—Hospitals do not receive girls as probationers who are so young as eighteen. You must wait patiently, we regret to say, till you are two or three and twenty. In the meantime try to discover whether any evening classes are being held in your neighbourhood at which you could study ambulance work. Perhaps you could attend a polytechnic and learn other things as well, such, for instance, as cookery, which is a most useful subject for a nurse to understand. Indeed, if you occupied the next few years in obtaining complete expertness in all the domestic arts, you would find in later life that the time had been well spent.

A. E. T. (Situation as Under-Nurse).—As you are young and have not yet been out in service, it might be better for you not to come to London at first, but to seek a situation in your own locality. The Matron of the Girls’ Boarding Home, 5, Abbey Street, Carlisle; or Mrs. Chalker, Ladies’ Association for the Care of Girls Training Home, 8, George Street, Carlisle, would doubtless be kind enough to give you the address of some thoroughly respectable registry office in the North of England, through which you could seek a situation. You are too young to enter any hospital.

M. D. de J. (Veterinary Surgeons).—The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons does not at present admit women to membership; consequently women cannot practise in this country with the English qualification. There are many women who breed horses, and who, no doubt, are quite capable of acting as “vets” in an amateur capacity. But women have not gone further in this direction at present.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Rosebud.—White velvet, if not very much soiled, can be cleaned at home with flour rubbed in well, and then brushed out; and this process may be repeated till it is clean.

Thelma.—If you do not wish to mark your underlinen with your own initials, why not wait till you are married, and mark it then with your new ones? The father of the bride should pay for the carriages in which the bridal party goes to church; the bridegroom pays for his own, and also for that in which the newly-married pair depart from the church and the house.

Theo.—1. The great writer on the subject was Lavater, and there is a cheap edition of his book, but most libraries contain it.—2. We cannot suggest methods of earning money when we do not know what you can do, nor your age and position.

Eve.—1. There are exhibitions held in a large number of provincial centres, at any of which you might exhibit your paintings. There is one at Newbury, Berks, and many towns in that part of England, but as you do not give an address, we cannot help you.—2. You must make an arrangement with some shop (a greengrocer, perhaps) to sell your flowers.

Fritz C.—The word “lacustrine” is derived from the Latin lacus, a lake. It means anything pertaining to lakes or swamps. It is used especially of those lake dwellings which have been found at various times and places, in which prehistoric peoples have lived for protection and better security. The most famous of these were discovered a few years ago in the Lake of Bienne, in Switzerland.

J. J.—We do not think that Di Vernon was an historical character. Rob Roy, of course, was such, as it was a nickname given to Robert McGrigor, who assumed the name of Campbell, when the Clan Macgregor was outlawed by the Scotch Parliament in 1662. He has been called the Scottish Robin Hood.

Topsy should certainly offer to pay for herself; but if the person she accompanies wishes to do so, she can accept the offer with thanks, of course.

Nine Years’ Constant Reader.—All engravings by Bartolozzi are of value, but we could not say of how much, unless we knew in what condition they were. You had better have them valued by someone near at hand.

Rita.—The year of The Girl’s Own Paper ends with the month of September. You would begin with the first number of October.

Kuden.—The shillings and sixpences coined in the reign of Queen Anne are said to be worth 2s. to 3s. You do not describe it, so we cannot tell you further. If there be an “E.” under the Queen’s bust, it was coined in Edinburgh.

Dragon-fly.—In the first issue of threepenny, twopenny, and penny-pieces in Charles II.’s reign, the edges were not milled, but there is no reason given for the fact. In the reign of Elizabeth there was an issue of hammered, and one of milled, threepenny-pieces. It was probably a matter of convenience, as we can find no explanation of it.

Barge.—1. The term “Limited,” or “Ld.,” as generally written, is a legal way of announcing the way in which that business is conducted. There can be no question of politeness nor good manners about it, so you can add it to your address without interfering with either.—2. The word “therefor” is used in law works. “Therefore” means “for this (previously mentioned) reason.” “Therefor” means “for this (previously mentioned) thing.”

Mercia.—The book is not of any monetary value, we regret to say.

Stencil Ware.—The origin of the family of Este was in Italy. The first we hear of it is Alberto I., a Tuscan prince, who died about 972 A.D. They were rulers of Tuscany, Milan, Genoa, Padua, Modena, and Ferrara. The last ruler of this State, Alfonso II., died without issue, 1597, and Pope Clement VIII. seized on his estates. The descendants, however, of his brother Cesare ruled in Modena till 1801, when the male line became extinct, and it passed through the female line to Austria. The last duke, Francesco V., was driven from his dominions in 1859, and the duchy was soon afterwards incorporated into the kingdom of Italy. The House of Este was (in 1060) divided into two branches; John Guelf was invested with the Duchy of Bavaria, and Fulco remained at Modena and Ferrara. The former is the ancestor of the House of Hanover.

A Widow.—A widow does not change the style of her address on the death of her husband. If she were previously Mrs. John Thompson, she remains the same, and uses it on her cards and letters. Mrs. Mary Thompson is a form of address that is purely legal, and used by lawyers or other men of business. It is not used in society. The methods of addressing an aunt differ in different families. Aunt Mary, or Aunt Thompson, are both correct. The latter is, however, rather old-fashioned. We know a family in which there are three Aunt Marys. One is Aunt Mary, the second is Aunt Mary John (the name of her husband superadded), and the third is Aunt Mary Scott. These distinguishing names are only used when their owners are spoken of. When spoken to, they are all Aunt Marys.

A Bedfordian.—We think your handwriting unformed, and you probably could not write quickly enough for secretarial work. Why not practise a more flowing hand?

Lorna.—It is quite correct to have cards of your own, if you be living with your brother, and keeping his house.

Flossie.—Wear the white dress, if it be clean enough. Why not?

[Transcriber’s Note—the following changes have been made to this text.

Page 677: Autologia to Antologia—“Nuova Antologia”.

National to Nationale—“Révue Nationale”.]