ENGLISH HISTORY.--I have been reading several books on this subject, and am rather puzzled. Are the English people, _as existing now_, Teutons, or Danes, or Celts, or what? Can we be Teutons when the aborigines of these islands were not Teutonic? I feel that my own genius--and I have a lot--is Celtic; at the same time I have always prided myself on my Norman blood; yet from my liking for the sea, which never makes me sick, at least at Herne Bay, I fancy I must be descended from a Scandinavian Viking. What is the ethnological name given to a person who is an amalgamation of such heterogeneous elements?--INQUIRER. * * * * * [Illustration: TOUCHING CONFIDENCE IN THE FOG. _Gentleman of Engaging Manners._ "BLESS YOUR 'EART, YOU'LL BE HALL RIGHT ALONG O' ME, MUM! LET ME KERRY THE LITTLE BAG FOR YOU, MUM!!"] * * * * * THE BRUM AND THE OOLOGIST. [Mr. W. JAMES asked the LORD ADVOCATE whether his attention had been called to a circular, issued from Birmingham by the Naturalists' Publishing Company, inviting applications for shares in "An Oological Expedition to the land of the Great Auk," meaning the Shetland Isles, and stating that, "if the season is a pretty fair one, a haul of at least twenty thousand eggs" of rare sea-birds might be expected.--_Daily Paper_.] The "Brum" and the Oologist Were walking hand in hand; They grinned to see so many birds On cliff, and rock, and sand. "If we could only get their eggs," Said they, "it would be grand." "If we should start a Company To gather eggs all day, Do you suppose," the former said, "That we could make it pay?" "We might," said the Oologist, "On the promoting lay!" "Then you've a tongue, and I a ship, Likewise some roomy kegs; And you might lead the birds a dance Upon their ugly legs; And, when you've got them out of sight, I'll steal their blooming eggs." "Oh, Sea-birds," said the Midland man, "Let's take a pleasant walk! Perhaps among you we may find The Great--or lesser--Auk; And you might possibly enjoy A scientific talk." The skuas and the cormorants, And all the puffin clan, The stormy petrels, gulls, and terns, They hopped, and skipped, and ran With very injudicious speed To join that oily man. "The time has come," remarked the Brum, "For 'talking without tears' Of birds unhappily extinct, Yet known in former years; And how much cash an egg will fetch In Naturalistic spheres." "But not _our_ eggs!" replied the birds, Feeling a little hot. "You surely would not rob our nests After this pleasant trot?" The Midland man said nothing but,-- "I guess he's cleared the lot!"