The Spaniards base their claim of having been the first to use, if they were not the inventors of, playing-cards to the fact that _Naïbi_, the name by which cards were known among the Italians about the year 1393, is very nearly similar to the name by which they are known in Spain to-day. As it was about that time that Italy was invaded by the Spaniards, they declare that they, as the conquerors, imposed cards upon that country and taught their use, under the name they bore in their own homes. The Spanish word _Naïpes_, as we have already mentioned, seems to be derived from one which means “flat” or “even;” but an ancient Spanish dictionary states that it comes from the initial letters of the name of the Spanish inventor of cards, N. P., Nicolas Pepin. This etymology seems fanciful and as unsatisfactory as the claim to the invention of the cards; but the Spaniards can point to a statute made by John the First, King of Castile, in 1387, which prohibits “games of dice, of Naypes, and of Chess;” and this proves beyond dispute that at that date they were at least well known in that place. A Flemish traveller named Eckeloo, who lived about 1540, describes the Spaniards of his time as “most passionately fond of gambling,” and says that he “travelled many leagues in Spain without being able to procure the necessaries of life, not even bread or wine, but that in every miserable village cards were to be bought.” Travellers of the present day describe the tradespeople, fishermen, and beggars of every wretched town playing even at the street-corners, and using blocks of stone or the steps of the churches on which to throw their cards. It was the Spaniards without doubt who carried cards into Mexico, when they conquered that country in 1519; and history mentions that Montezuma took great pleasure in watching the Spanish soldiers at their games. Mr. Singer says that the Spanish pack consists, like the German, of only forty-eight cards, as they contain no _tens_. Their four suits are named _Espadas_ (Spades), _Copas_ (Cups), _Oros_ (Money), and _Bastos_ (Maces). _Oros_ means literally “golden money;” and this suit is also called _Dineros_,—that is, “money in general.” Like the Italian and German packs, they have no Queen, her place being taken by the usual Knight, or Mounted horseman. The court cards are called _Il Rey_ (King), _Caballo_ (Knight), and _Sota_ (Knave). There are some packs in which a Queen is permitted, the suits then having four court cards instead of three. FRANCE. Among the archives preserved in the Chambre des Comptes in Paris there was at one time an account, dated 1392, which said, “Paid to Jacquemin Gringonneur, Painter, for three packs of cards of gold and different colours, ornamented with different devices for the King [Charles the Sixth], for his amusement, 50 sols parisis.” [Illustration: Plate 9.]