History Of Rings.

In England there was a popular superstition that a ring made from five sixpences , collected by a bachelor from five different bachelors , and made by a bachelor smith , will cure fits if the bachelors who contribute do not know what they are contributing for , otherwise the charm is spoiled . Three nails from a used coffin forged into a circlet are regarded in Devonshire as an infallible

remedy for king ' s evil . A wart pricked through a wedding ring with a gooseberry thorn is believed , in Ireland , to disappear , as does also a sty when rubbed by the same circlet . Epilepsy was to be cured by wearing a ring in which a portion of an elk's horn was to be enclosed , while the hoof of an ass , worn in the same way , had the reputation of preventing conjugal debility , and a ring of lead and quicksilver prevented and stopped the headache . In fact , a belief in the efficacy of magnetic rings exists to this clay , and they find an extensive market among the lower classes abroad and in some sections of this continent .

Holiday Hours.

HOLIDAY HOURS .

BY A FLANEUR . JUST now we are all of us " on the wing , " and , like the grouse , let us hope in " good condition . " Freemasons , like everybody else , must have a holidayand therefore we are all offsome north and southsome east and

, , , west , some with a " portmanteau and a hat box , " some with numerous " impedimenta " in the shape of a " wife aud bairns . " But wherever we go let us try and enjoy our " outing . " Let us leave behind us cares and worries , or ( as some one has said— -no doubt a man of very ill-regulated mind ) " bills and babies , " and let us seek to have a few hours of peaceful rest after prosperous business or engrossing brain-work . Whetherthereforewe are

, , off to Wales , to Cowes , to the lakes of Killarney or the lakes of Westmoreland and Cumberland ; whether we are going to Brittany or Switzerland , to Mont Blanc or the Lake of Como , to Marienbad or Gastein , Kissengen or Wildbad , Homburgh or Spa , or even Etretat or Osteite ! , let us make up our mind to

eirjoy ourselves thoroughly , and to be pleased with everything and everybody . Some people always travel with " the air of a martyr , " or as if they were doinopenance . Everything bores them and bothers them . The douane and the table d'hote , the foreign language or different hours , cafe au lait or the " gerstenschleimer sttppe , " all are to them subjects of deep mental exacerbation ; and the consquence is they make themselves disagreeable to everybody , and foreigners especially think them either rude or mad . Such hopeless travellers

are cross to their own clear wives , their blooming daughters , their son and heir , and of course to chance travellers . We had a very kind , pleasant friend of old , who used to declare that travelling made her always so cross she never spoke to anybody , not even her maid . We know a distinguished " voyageur " still , who , pleasant as he can be if he likes , is always quarrelsome in travelling with everybodyand complaining about everythingespeciallhis rooms '

, , y . So we venture to address our many travelling friends just now , and impress upon them the necessity of seeking to make the most of their little holiday , be they where they may . If abroad , let them try to do "as Rome does , " and not always to be asking after English food , English ways , English books , English things . There was once a person who never could be happy or in good humour until he had seeu the Times daily . Now the Times , we