“You may fricassee, roast them, or stew, as you will, But the scent of the egg shell will cling round them still.” There was also connected with this department an aviary, containing specimens of agricultural birds, from a bee to an ostrich. A little corner given up to old women and their herbs was so suggestive as to be painful; we steered clear of it and endeavored to rid our olfactories of the remembrance of catnip and senna, by hieing us to the birds, flowers, perfumes, and fountains of Horticultural Hall. On our way thither we passed THE WOMEN’S DEPARTMENT. [UNWARRANTED LIBERTIES.] We became aware of our approach to this sacred locality, by the Sabbath-like stillness which marked the vicinity. Into the pavilions no male foot was allowed to tread. The sides were of glass, and tickets merely conferred the privilege of looking through the transparent surface. We hinted in the preceding pages at some trouble concerning the erection of this building, and the ladies in a spirit of refined sarcasm, had made it a monument of man’s tyranny by building the wooden and iron work of broken broom handles, twisted pokers, and ruptured fire shovels. The cement was mixed with handfuls of short human hair of variegated colors and various degrees of fineness. Women from all parts of the world were here on exhibition. All colors, nationalities, styles, and complexions, were properly classified and arranged within their respective departments. Each woman was ticketed with a fancy label, on which was inscribed her name, age, nativity, weight, prominent qualities and general record. With a few exceptions in the Asiatic and African avenues, the women were ticketed “These Goods Not For Sale.” In the American District, there were some few notices such as “Applying for a Divorce, “Four months’ Widow,” “Open for Negotiations.” The greatest order and most systematic detail was everywhere observable. Each age, from eighteen to eighty years, had a separate district. Those exceeding the latter age were carefully packed away in the sub-cellar. Electric wires being attached to each department, General Hawley sat comfortably in his office, and as he touched the springs, the women smiled, frowned, wept, and laughed in concert. We remained gazing upon this interesting exhibit, until we felt the temptation to break through the glass growing too strong for us, when we continued our way and entered the building sacred to Flora and Pomona, or in other words HORTICULTURAL HALL. Pansies and violets! Sunflowers and forget-me-nots!! Rhododendrons and daffodils!!! Buttercups and dahlias!!!! Never, never, never, had such a thing been seen before. Every plant and every flower was labelled with its name and peculiarity, just like the women we had left. In some cases this did very well, in others it did very ill. Take, for instance, a single section--nay, but a small portion of the section, the hyacinth department, and see what hurt our feelings.