Cards, of which there are so many curious types among the old examples found in many homes, were introduced into the West of Europe from the East about the fourteenth century. At first they were hand drawn and coloured, then printed from wood blocks, being subsequently printed from blocks and plates engraved on the types which were gradually standardized. Some very interesting collections of old cards have been made, one of the most complete being that of Lady Charlotte Schreiber, now in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. In the days when card playing was at its height many fine brass counter trays and curious card trays were fashioned in brass and copper. Some of these may very well be collected, and are suitable receptacles for old metal counters, of which there are many varieties. Some of these counters were made by the diesinkers who helped tradesmen to provide themselves with token change, and they bear a striking resemblance to the contemporary metallic currency. Others were chiefly hand engraved, and often sold in small metal and silver boxes, those dating from the time of Queen Anne being the most interesting. The most popular card counters in the early days of the nineteenth century were brass copies of the spade-ace gold guinea, which they closely resembled, and it is feared, when gilt, were not infrequently palmed off as genuine gold. Outdoor Amusements. The outdoor games practised when household curios were being fashioned necessitated fewer accessories than such games do to-day, and many of them were crude and obviously the work of amateurs. Yet the same games were being played and possibly enjoyed as much, although the sport was rougher! When we think of winter amusements in the past somehow we conjure up pictures of hard frosts and crisp snow, although rain, damp, and fog were probably frequent visitors in Old England. Some of the games can be traced back to very early days--such, for instance, as skating, many ancient skates having been found. There is a remarkable contrast between the beautifully made skates now used on the comparatively rare occasions when the ice bears and the roller skates used all the year round, to those curious bone skates, so very primitive in their construction, examples of which are to be found in several local museums. In the Hull Museum, among the Market Weighton antiquities, there is a choice collection from East Yorkshire; one, made from the cannon bone of a horse, is smooth and well polished, having seen some active use, evidently belonging to some skater in the fifteenth or sixteenth century.