the mortal waiters were out of the room. We are enabled to lay a copy of it before our readers; and we are sure they will, with us, receive with pleasure this proof of the interest which the Muses are taking in matters of science and useful art. It is reported that the Nine are about to become members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. THE ANTI-DRY-ROT COMPANY'S SONG. _Air_--"Well, well, now--no more;--sure you've told me before." _Love in a Village._ 1. Have you heard,--have you heard,-- Anti-dry-rot's the word? Wood will never wear out, thanks to Kyan, to Kyan! He dips in a tank, Any rafter or plank,-- And makes it immortal as Dian, as Dian! If you steep but a thread, It will hang by the head, For ever, the largest old lion, old lion; Or will cord up the trunk Of an elephant drunk;-- If you doubt it,--yourself go and try 'un, and try 'un. 2. In the days that are gone, As to timber and stone, Decay was by no means a shy 'un, a shy 'un. He bolted our floors, And our vessels by scores, And the thirsty old rot was a dry 'un, a dry 'un! Oak crumbled beneath The dry blast of its breath, As soon as it e'er came a-nigh 'un, a-nigh 'un; But gone is the day Of that glutton Decay, Since he can't eat his timber with _Kyan_, with _Kyan_! 3. Say--now--what shall we steep In the tank? just to keep.-- Shakespeare sniffed our great secret, the sly 'un, the sly 'un! Hamlet, Macbeth, and Lear, Have been _Kyan'd_, my dear, By Nature's immortal Paul Pry 'un, Paul Pry 'un. Shall the plays of the day Take a plunge from decay? (There is no need for Tell, or for Ion, for Ion;) I fear he could not Soak away the dry-rot From _some_ things:--But _all_ rests on Kyan, on Kyan. 4. Put the lid on the tank,-- Not a crack for a plank,-- While I point out one thing, as I fly on, I fly on, Which really must not Have a dip 'gainst dry-rot,-- Stuff with cotton the ears of my Kyan, my Kyan. In a whisper I speak, (But 'twill rain for a week,-- Or as long as St. Swithin will cry on, will cry on,--) The moment I make Your conviction awake That _Vauxhall_ wants no plunge 'gainst the dry 'un, the dry 'un.