NELL.--Your mother's brother is your uncle, no matter whether by the father or the mother. To put the case in another way, your grandfather's son is your uncle by whatever wife he had, first or fourth. Of course you could not marry him. See the "table of degrees of affinity" in the Book of Common Prayer. ONE OF OUR GIRLS.--We think that men not much exposed to cold and damp, and night work, such as sailors and soldiers, do not need the warmth nor stimulant obtained by smoking any more than women do. Nevertheless, a single cigar or pipe daily would not be injurious to a grown man, though much so to a young lad in his teens. Men are so careless about cleansing their pipes from that poisonous nicotine, that multitudes have found their habit of excessive smoking a highly provoking cause of cancer in the mouth. HEBRIDEAN.--We think some foolish person has been worrying you with nonsensical fault-finding. We can not see that you were wrong in any way. You were with other girls and with your brothers, and that should be sufficient protection, whoever you were walking with. Do not allow yourself to be teased.