sons.

INTRODUCTION.

Miss Killikelly has had a long experience in trying to answer some of the multifarious questions which are asked in this day of eager interest in the world of science, of society and history. In reading the manuscript of the present volume of her series of "Curious Questions" I have been impressed by the range of topics upon which she has touched, and by my own need of information concerning many of the things of which she has written. I have never found her manifesting any interest in frivolous questions, although I have often found her disposed to throw light on curious and out-of-the-way incidents, associations and perThe impression which her book leaves upon me is that of a well-informed student concerned only with the things which are worth knowing, and with that knowledge of the places to go for information which is likely to take the place of what used to be called scholarship; for the world is growing so large, and information in every department has taken on such vast proportions, that the scholar no longer pretends to know anything completely save the method of getting at facts and the places in which facts are to be learned. This book is a repository of facts, useful and curious, collected from many quarters by one whose experience entitles her to be called an expert.

Hamilton W. Matri

As the articles in this book are not essays, but merely answers to questions, it is very desirable that the following directions be observed :— Before reading any article, turn to this Table, and read carefully the question that corresponds in number with the article.

1. When was Rome a deserted city for forty days? Page 1.

2. Who was the Ayrshire Ploughman? Page 2.

3. What city owns the house of Michael Angelo and its treasures? Page 5.

4. Why is a British soldier called "Tommy Atkins"? Page 7.

5. What is the national sport of Spain? Page 7.

6. What Hindu girl won recognition as a writer of English verse? Page 11.

7. What is the

legend of the "Phantom Battle of Utrecht"? Page 12.

8. Why should Friday be accounted a lucky day in America? Page 14.

9. What was the "Trent Affair"? Page 15.

10. What is the legend of the river Seine? Page 19. II. What five antique statues are in the Tribune of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence? Page 20.

12. What quaint episode transacted on the Vega of Granada is of world-wide interest? Page 23.

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13. What is meant by the "Dead Cities" of the Zuyder Zee? Page 25.

14. What is the legend of the river Ganges? Page 29. 15. Who was the greatest satirist with his brush? Page 33.

16. What single European nation in 1600 alone disputed territory in America with the Red men? Page 35. 17. What royal marriage made the "Isle of Pheasants" famous? Page 36.

18. What was the prayer of Ajax? Page 37.

19. What picture is called the "Jewel of the Hague"? Page 38.

20. How did the expression "to see the lions of the town" originate? Page 39.

21. What was England's responsibility as to the Cruiser "Alabama"? Page 39.

22. What is the legend of Holyrood Abbey? Page 41. 23. Who is the busiest man in Paris? Page 42.

24. Who inaugurated the modern Postal System? Page 45.

25. What woman caused the sudden irruption of the Norsemen into Europe? Page 46.

26. What was the occasion of Tennyson's Ode: "Who is he that cometh like an honored guest"? Page 47.

27. Who was "the poet-painter"? Page 48. 28. What is the "Order of the Elephant"? Page 50. 29. What is the oldest existing Republic? Page 50. 30. What is the legend of the Stauffen? Page 52. 31. What church in Paris is, in style, a Greek Temple? Page 54.

32. What was the origin of the Indian Totem? Page 56. 33. What was England's compensation for the loss of her thirteen American colonies? Page 57.

34. Who was the "Warden of the Cinque Ports" in Longfellow's poem of that name? Page 59. 35. Who was called the "Hogarth" of Spanish painters? Page 60.

36. Where can a real Viking Ship be seen? Page 62. 37. What is the history of Mont St. Michel, and what are its traditions? Page 62.

38. What is the plot of India's great epic, the "Ramayana"? Page 66.

39. What legend does Raphael illustrate in his "Sposalizio"? Page 69.

40. What is the "Danneborg"? Page 70.

41. Who are the "fire worshippers" of the East?

Page 71.

42. What Scottish clan do Scott and Wordsworth celebrate in song and story? Page 75.

43. What modern statue is second in size only to the Colossus of Rhodes? Page 76.

44. What is in history the "Victory of the Vocal Mountain"? Page 77.

45. What was the immediate cause of the Sepoy Mutiny? Page 78.

46. Of whom did a king say: "One of his pamphlets is worth an army of 100,000 men"? Page 80. 47. What is the most costly monument in England? Page 82.

48. What unique ceremony is still observed at the funeral of a Spanish king? Page 84.