bread at the proper distance from the fire, and exposing it to a proper heat for a due length of time. By this means, the whole of the water may be evaporated out of it, and it may be changed from dough-which has always a tendency to undergo acetous fermentation, whether in the stomach or out of it—to the pure farina of wheat, which is in itself one of the most wholesome species of food, not only for the strong and healthy, but for the delicate and diseased. As it is turned to farina, it is disintegrated, the tough and gluey nature is gone, every part can be penetrated, it is equally warm all over, and not so hot as to turn the butter into oil, which, even in the case of the best butter, is invariably turning a wholesome substance into a poison. The properly toasted slice of bread absorbs the butter, but does not convert it into oil; and both butter and farina are in a state of very minute division, the one serving to expose the other to the free action of the gastric fluid in the stomach; so that when a slice of toast is rightly prepared, there is not a lighter article in the whole vocabulary of cookery. Toast.-In the act of toasting bread we wish to get out the water, which makes the bread cold, waxy, and heavy of digestion. Perhaps we shall be best understood if we first explain what makes bad toast of a slice of bread, or rather what makes it no toast at all, but merely a piece of bread with two burnt surfaces, more wet and waxy in the heart than ever, and which not a particle of butter will enter, but only remain upon the surface, and if vexed with additional fire, turns to a rancid oil of the most unwholesome description. If the slice of bread is brought into close contact with a strong fire, the surface becomes covered with, or rather converted into charcoal before the heat produces any effect upon the interior of the slice. This being done, the other side is turned, and converted into charcoal in the same manner. Charcoal, as everybody knows, is one of the worst conductors of heat. It is of no consequence whether the said charcoal be formed from wood, flour, or any other substance, for its qualities are in every case the same. Now, when the surfaces of the slice of bread are charred over in this manner, there is an end of toasting, as no action of heat can be communicated to the interior, and not one drop of water can be evaporated. In this statement. the slice of bread may be wholly burnt to charcoal; but until it is altogether so burnt, the unburnt part will become always more wet and unwholesome. There is an illustration of this in putting a potato in the middle of a strong fire in order to be roasted. If the fire is but hot enough, a potato the size of one's fist may be burned down to a cone not bigger than a marble, and yet that cone will remain hard and scarcely warmed. Chestnut-brown will be far too deep a colour for good toast; the nearer you can keep it to a straw-colour the more delicious to the taste, and the more wholesome it will be. If you would have a slice of bread so toasted as to be pleasant to the palate and wholesome to the stomach, never let one particle of the surface be charred. To effect this is very obvious. It consists in keeping the Yeast Dumplings, are only good for those with strong digestion, and who have laborious out-of-door employ Vermicelli and Maccaroni are made from a hard, small grained wheat; the flour is made into dough, and dried until hard; whether simply stewed, taken with the gravy of meat, or used as a vegetable, they seldow disagree even with a weak stomach. If boiled until soft, and eaten with French mustard or jam, it makes a soluble and wholesome dish, which may even be taken by invalids. Puddings are usually better than Pies for those affected with indigestion, especially if made with milk and eggs, instead of butter, lard, suet, or treacle. Baked puddings are not so good as boiled, and those done under meat are objectionable for weak stomachs. The simplest form of constituting puddings is that of flour, eggs, and milk. Pancakes fried in fat are not good. (To be concluded in our next.) ADVERTISEMENTS INVESTI money, or GATED. small sums MANY persons must have been struck with the large number of advertisements which appear in the daily and weekly papers (and the numbers of which have greatly increased of late), offering in return for remittances of in postage stamps, to return information, or grant certain benefits, which appear to be singularly disproportionate to the charges made. Some of these advertisements have offered to show, in return for a few shillings, how an income of £5 a-week might be realised with perfect ease; others have promised to impart knowledge of some new and peculiar art, and to give employment by which £2 per week might be earned, in return for a fee of £1; and various offers have been made more or less tempting. to the advertiser, and we leave the reader to judge whether they are fraudulent or not, and in what degree they are so. The following are those which we have already investigated; and in our next INTERVIEW we hope to give the exposée of the whole of the remaining ones, not included in the following list. We shall feel obliged by such further information upon the subject as those of our readers, who have bought experience, may be able to supply :— 241, Skeldergate, York, March 31st, 1856. Sir,-I took in your valuable work ENQUIRE WITHIN, and now take its successor, THE INTERVIEW. Among the various things you set before your readers, I see you investigate advertisements and set the result of your trouble before them; so, hoping I shall not be deemed too intruding. I beg to enclose you a reply I got in an-wer to an advertisement, headed, in large flaring capitals, "£250 Per Annum for 10s," stating that particulars might be obtained by enclosing a postage stamp to Mr. James Anderson, 20, MiddleAlthough, upon the very face of row, High Holborn. London Will you be them such offers must be gross imposi- good enough to inform me through the metions, there is too much reason to fear dium of your valuable little magazine, whether any faith is to be placed in it; that very many persons, urged by newhether it is really a flourishing public comcessity, and tempted by the highly-pany, as its circular would lead us to supcoloured professions of the advertisers, have been misled and duped. The fact that these advertisements appear, week after week, in our high-priced advertising mediums, and that many of these advertisements must have cost as much as 20s. or 30s. each insertion, sufficiently proves that this nefarious method of obtaining money from struggling but confiding persons, has been too successful. If any other proof were required of the unmerited success of these fraudu lent advertisers, it would be supplied by the number of letters we receive, urging us to expose those deceptions. pose, or whether it is only a few or perhaps QUIRED.--10 Active Men are Wanted as with energy, double that amount would only be a fair estimate. None need apply without references. There being so many applicants from curiosity only, no letter can receive attention Stamps; for which, samples of goods, all unless 5s be enclosed by Money Order or particulars and instructions for immediate operation, will be sent free. Unpaid letters refused. Address to the Manager, 30, Holywell. street, Somerset House, London. As a matter of duty we have, therefore, taken up the subject, and in our present INTERVIEW we publish a number of advertisements, and the "advantages which, upon application, we have found them to offer. We think it unnecessary to make remarks special to each. We content ourselves with the publication of the advertisements; end the reply received upon application ugly deformity, squint, or cross-eyes, may be having instructed him to pay five shillings tisement was an imposition. That 65. MEMORY MODES OF STUDY. We are not prepared to recommend the use of any system of artificial memory. Most of those we have examined require more trouble to understand than would enable the student to gain the knowledge he seeks without them; and they too often make those who use them mere mechanical repeaters of facts, without enlarging their judgments or adding to their stock of real knowledge. To learn a list of dates is of little use, unless the student understands the causes and results of the events whose place he fixes in his chronology. An enlarged view of periods of history, and a knowledge of the manner in which the events of past ages influence the present conditions of mankind, is more to be valued than the most perfect memory of dates. It is a common error of students in science, to seek perfection in details before mastering general principles, and to overburden the mind with a series of comparatively unimportant matters, while they neglect to gain acquaintance with the fundamental laws. This is as absurd as the conduct of a man, who, wishing to gain a complete knowledge of a fine piece of architecture, began by analysing the cement used in its construction. INDIS 66. PRONUNCIATION TINCTNESS. - One great cause of indistinctness in reading, is sinking the sound of some of the final consonants when they are followed by words beginning with vowels, and, in some cases, where the following word begins with a cononant. A common fault in reading and speaking, is to pronounce the word and like the article an. Example :dog an cat," instead of "dog and "Men an money," instead of 'men and money." This fault is most offensive to the educated ear, if it 8 committed when the following word Commences with a vowel of the same Hound, as in the sentence, "question an nswer," instead of "question and anwer;" or, "he ate pears an apples, an n egg," instead of "he ate pears and #pples, and an egg." In some parts of he kingdom the final f is dropped, at." especially before words beginning with th. The word with before th is also frequently slurred in a manner which gives much indistinctness to utterance. In reading or speaking in large rooms, distinctness is secured only by the slow utterance of words, between each of which there should be a perceptible interval. 67. WRITING MATERIALS. Before the invention of writing as a means of recording events, men planted trees or erected rude altars or heaps of stone, in remembrance of past events. Pictures and statues were soon suggested as symbolical or representative things. Hercules probably could not write when he fixed his famous pillars. The most ancient mode of writing was on bricks, tiles, oyster-shells; then tables of stone or facets of blocks; afterwards, on plates of ivory; and finally, an approximation to the use of paper was made by the use of the bark and leaves of trees. It has been gracefully observed, that the ancients gave speech to rocks, metals, and trees by engraving memorable events upon them. In the book of Job, mention is made of engraving on rocks and sheets of lead. The law of the Jews was said to be written on tables of stone ;-Hesiod's works on leaden tables. The laws of the Cretans were described as 66 graven in bronze." The Romans etched their laws on brass, and the speech of . Claudius, engraved on plates of bronze, is said to exist in the town-hall of Lyons. Bronze tables are still unearthed in Tuscany. Treaties and conveyances of property were also engraven on brass, and official mementos have been found etched on copper. A bill of feoffment on copper, dated a century before Christ, is stated to have been dug up near Bengal. In early times the shepherds wrote their songs with thorns and awls on straps of leather, which they wound round their crooks. The Icelanders scratched their runes on their walls, and their heroes appear to have bestowed some of their leisure in recording their own acts on their chairs and bedsteads. Wooden boards overlaid with bees-wax were sometimes en in use. The Mahomedans scratched their chronicles on the blade-bones of sheep. 66 68. WAX. Vegetable wax and bees-wax differ in their elementary composition. The former is a vegetable product, forming the varnish of the leaves of certain plants and trees; it is found also upon some berries-as the Myrica cerifera, and it is an ingredient of the pollen of flowers. It was long supposed that bees merely collected the wax ready formed in plants, but Huber found that, though excluded from all food except sugar, they still formed wax. Bees-wax" is obtained by draining and washing the honeycomb, which is then melted in boiling water, strained through calico or linen, and cast into cakes. Many of the cakes sold in the shops will be found to be moulded into the shape of the inside of the cottage dishes in which the melted wax was cooled. Foreign wax comes from the Baltic, the Levant, and the shores of Barbary. It is bleached by exposure in thin slices to air, light, and moisture, or more rapidly by exposure to action of chlorine. White-wax is generally adulterated with spermaceti. It is also mixed for artistic purposes with Canada balsam, Venice turpentine, common resin, tallow, &c., &c. 69. DEAF AND DUMB. - Deafness may be partial or complete. Where it is partial, it usually arises from disease; such as inflammation or destruction of the internal parts of the ear, or disease of the throat, where the eustachian tube opens at the back of the nose. Where the deafness is complete, it commonly arises from incompleteness of the organs of hearing from birth, and in such cases dumbness is always the result. The reason of this is obvious. The man who never hears the sound which others use to communicate their thoughts, can never imitate those sounds. It has been found, indeed, in those rare cases where complete deafness has arisen after children have learned to talk, that they have retained, only for a while, the memory of the modes of speech; but that their words become fewer, till at last they have forgotten altogether how to utter words or articulate vocal sounds. In complete deafness, the sufferers do not hear the sounds which they themselves utter. The effort to teach the dumb to talk has been undertaken by ignorant persons, who, having found all the organs of the voice complete, supposed that in that circumstance they found all the conditions necessary for the production of speech, being ignorant of the fact, that speech is an imitation of sounds heard, and that the integrity of the organ of hearing was the first requirement. 70. ELECTRICITY OF THE AIR. -The earth and the surrounding air have an extraordinary relation to electricity. These phenomena may be referred to static or dynamic electricity; the latter occurs but rarely, as in case of thunderstorms, &c., which are instances of great local disturbance, as there must be a great amount of this abnormal action to produce a sensible effect on the galvanometer. It is very remarkable that these disturbances occur when the amount of atmospheric electricity is at its minimum. The static condition of atmospheric electricity is a subject of much higher philosophical interest. From the observations of M. Quetelet, it appears-First, that the amount of electricity at any given mo ment varies at different altitudes, but is the same at all similar altitudes. Secondly, that it increases directly with the distance from the earth's surface. Thirdly, that it is greatest in the coldest months. Fourthly, that in the course of the day it is greatest at 8 A.M. and 9 P.M. Fifthly, that it is greater when the sky is clear than when it is clouded. Sixthly, that the electricity of fog or snow is double that of rain, and equal to the mean maximum of the cold months. During his observations, continued through five years, M. Quetelet found the atmosphere in a negative state in twenty-five instances only, and all these occurred either immediately before or immediately after rain, or & storm. As to the dependence of electricity on the direction of the wind, it appeared to be greatest when the wind was from S.E. to E.S.E., and from W.N.W. to N.W. 71. COLLEGE EXPENSES. Oxford. Several correspondents ask"Which college is the least expensive for persons wishing to study and graduate at?" This is a question which has been asked, no one knows how often, during the last 120 years, and still continues to be of great interest. Mr. Eden, a fellow and ex-tutor of Oriel College, published a work on College Expenses and Poor Scholars; and the Rev. O. Gordon, Considerations. It has been stated, upon high authority, that a young man might have rooms, food, and college tutor for £80 a-year (of twenty-two weeks). As observed in an excellent article on this subject in the Oxford Protestant Magazine for October 1847-Oxford expenses are of two or three classes: there are the voluntary, the involuntary, and an ugly class, which may be called the unreckoned, or the unconscious, or the miscellaneous. For the first only are the college authorities directly responsible. The expenses of a quiet reading man, as incurred during his first year of residence, are given as follows:-Preliminary Expenses: Caution money, £30; admission fees, £5; matriculation, £1 18s. 6d. ; furniture, £40; making a total of £76 18s. 6d. For Lent term (eight weeks), he paid for food (battels), university dues, tuition, rent, coals, and laundress, £21 17s. ; for Easter term (six weeks), in the same manner was expended £19 11s.; for Act term (three weeks), £14 2s.; and for Michaelmas term (five weeks), £23 2s.; making the current expenses for the one year equal to £78 12s., or for the three years, £235 16s. Add to this the preliminary expenses, and we find that upon the three years there has been an outlay-which may be called compulsory-equal to £312 14s. 6d., or an average of £104 4s. 10d. per annum. In addition, however, the four grace terms of non-residence are charged for, of which the expenses are equal to about £21 8s. To this must be added the fees for B.A. (£12 6s.) and M.A. (£22 12s.) degrees; making a gross total of £369 Os. 6d. From this is to be deducted caution money, and thirds for furniture, returned £54; leaving a nett total of £31 5 0s. 6d., or £105 per annum. To this must be added the expenses of tea, sugar, and candles (which the college does not provide), the fees of a private tutor, and the expenses of books, and what are called extras, which may be regarded as closely allied to necessaries. The poor student, therefore, pays for one hundred weeks' residence in Oxford upwards of £400. [See the Report of the Bristol Education Society.] The least expensive college for a man of thirty years of age is Pembroke or Exeter. The expenses are said to be a little less at what are called "Halls." In reply to questions about "terms to be kept," we should refer our pupils to the University Calendar (68.) for more detailed particulars than we can here give. There are four terms in the year, the lengths of which respectively had been given above. Sixteen terms (nominal) are required for the degree of B.A. from commoners; and they are allowed to be candidates for the degree after having completed three years; but owing to certain regulations, residence for twelve terms only is actually necessary. From the admission to B.A., twelve nominal terms are computed before the admission to M.A., but only one term is actually required. B.C.L. (bachelor in civil laws), twentyeight nominal terms are necessary, but seventeen only need be actually kept. The regulations of matriculation are private with your college tutor. In answer to A. R., and others, we reply that a B.A. of Dublin may get his terms allowed, but must pass an examination before obtaining a decree. The difference between the incorporation" and "ad eundem gradum," is, that the latter only gives a vote in convocation. W. B. F., &c.-The terms at St. Bees' do not count at Oxford.-Cambridge.-The college expenses at Cambridge, which appear to be very disproportionate compared with those of the Scotch universities, amount to about £80 per annum, exclusive of tradesmen's bills and private tutorage. For this sum, the student is entitled to the exclusive use 66 For |