showed themselves, the nautical gentlemen also
appeared, appealing to the audience to elect
them to tie the exhibitors' hands. In this way,
they exposed the supernatural pretensions and
fairly drove them out of England. The skill of
the brothers was praiseworthy, but their imposture
was unbearable.

On one occasion, Mr. Galton was proposed
by an audience to tie their hands. He did his
best, and also scrutinised his colleague's knot,
as well as the dark and confined space in which
the exhibitors were tied, permitted. The cord
was, perhaps, a little too thick, but it was
supple and strong; and Mr. Galton was
greatly surprised at the ease with which the
brothers disembarrassed themselves. They
were not more than ten minutes in getting
free. Of course, if either of the exhibitors
could struggle loose, he would assist his
colleague. It was an ingenious idea, too, to
have two persons, and not one person, to tie
them. It was improbable that a person, taken
at hap-hazard, should be capable of tying his
man securely; it was doubly improbable that
two persons so taken should both be capable.
If it were twenty to one against any one person's
having sufficient skill, it was twenty times
twenty, or four hundred to one, against both the
persons selected to tie the Davenports being
able to do so effectively.

To tie a man's hands behind his back, Mr.
Galton assures us a handkerchief is the best
thing; failing that, take a thin cord. It is
necessary that its length be not less than two
feet, but two feet six inches is the proper
length. For a double tie, it should be three
feet six inches. If you are quick in tying the
common "torn-fool's knot," known to every
sailor, it is the best for the purpose. Put the
prisoner's hands one within each loop, then
draw tightly the running ends, and knot them
together. To secure a prisoner with the least
amount of string, place his hands back to back,
behind him, then tie the thumbs together, and
also the little fingers. Two bits of thin string,
each a foot long, will do this thoroughly.

Technically, there is the seamstress's' knot,
for retaining the end of the thread in her work;
there is likewise the weaver's knot, for renewing
the continuity of a broken warp. There are
packers' knots, hangmen's knots, guillotine-men's
knots, (for the previous " toilette"),
slavedrivers' knots, cat-o'nine-tails-men's knots;
while sailors are universally and altogether
men of knots.

Many stitches are incipient knots; as chain-
stitch, lock-stitch, herring-bone-stitch, and the
rest. They really go with the knots that bind
various materials together. On the other hand,
netting, knitting, and crochet work, are knots that
cause a single thread to weave itself into a tissue.
This part of the subject naturally branches into
braids. Whether it be a whipthong composed
of several strands, or of only a single strip or
cord contorted and involved with its own proper
self; whether it be a horse's mane or tail plaited
with straw to appear at a fair, or a lady's back
hair or chignon braided, with or without
ribbons, out of three, four, or more separate
tresses; it cannot escape from its close
relationship to knots.

Metaphorically, a river can tie a knot,
however hard the feat might be to accomplish
literally;

              Though Fate had fast bound her,
              With Styx nine times round her,
         Yet music and love were victorious.

Music, it appears, can do the reverse;

     In notes with many a winding bout
     Of linked sweetness long drawn out,
     With wanton head, and giddy cunning,
     The melting voice through mazes running,
      Untwisting all the chains that tie
      The hidden soul of harmony.

At the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in
Paris, are numerous examples of knots,
arranged in the order of their intricacy. Mr.
Galton's excellent Art of Travel, from which we
have already quoted, gives not a few. There
you find represented the three elementary knots
which every one should know; namely, the
timber-hitch, the bowline, and the clove-hitch. At
page 51 are mountaineering knots. Of one,
No. 4, a diagram is given, in order that no one
may imitate it, as it belongs to the family of
knots which most weaken a rope. Its nearest
neighbour for mischief is the common single
knot, of which no diagram is needed. For the
simple and serviceable Malay-hitch, and for
the Norwegian mode of tying a parcel on your
back like a knapsack, we refer the reader to
Mr. Galton's instructive and amusing book.

But scattered hints and partial information
will not suffice for the British public. It is an
honourable characteristic of our literature that
it contains numerous admirable and complete
treatises on many special subjects. Mr. Robert
Hardwicke, publisher of many pleasant and
useful works, has sent forth a Book of Knots, by
Tom Bowling, illustrated with one hundred and
seventy-two diagrams, showing the manner of
making every knot, tie, and splice, for the
moderate price of half-a-crown, or nearly six
knots a penny. It proves the feasibility of the
old Peruvian knot- writing. If with an alphabet
of six-and-twenty letters we can convey
intelligence to the full extent of our need, it
would be odd if we could not do so, though
not in quite so portable a form, with one
hundred and seventy-two knots.

ENGLISH EYES ON FRENCH WORK.

LAST year the council of the Society of Arts
determined that a certain number of skilled
artisans should be sent over to Paris to study the
productions of their various trades in the Exposition
there. The committee of Council on
Education offered the society five hundred pounds
for the purpose, provided an equal sum was
raised by voluntary contribution. What was
raised was exactly sixpence under a thousand
and forty pounds; which enabled about eighty