Several competitors left this query unanswered. One girl frankly declared, “I do not think that any woman, once having tasted the sweets of power, would ever give it up!” The most frequent name given erroneously was that of Lady Jane Grey, the unfortunate nine days’ queen. Those girls answered correctly who gave the remarkable abdication of Christina, Queen of Sweden, who of her own free will retired from regal business in 1654, heartily sick of the “splendid slavery of royalty.” The leading incidents of her eccentric career were well given in few words by many competitors. =2. What stone is said to endow whoever kisses it with wonderful powers of speech?= Few had any difficulty about this question, and many gave answers abounding in interesting details. The competitor who simply answered, “The Blarney Stone,” was right enough, but was quite an exception in being sparing of her words. Almost everyone knew that the stone was at Blarney Castle, near Cork. Some explained how to kiss it in the proper manner, and nobody disputed the saying that, when one’s lips have once touched it, the power of persuasive speech is sure to follow. “There is a stone there That whoever kisses Oh! he never misses To grow eloquent.” =3. How is it that, though the moon turns round on its axis, we never see the other side?= Almost everyone tried to answer this query, but a good many—especially among our younger contributors—failed; not for want of originality—oh, no!—but for want of information. One, for example, put it that it was because the earth turned round as well as the moon, another asserted that it all arose from our never seeing the moon in the daytime—“the sun’s rays are so strong then that they hide it.” The right answer is that it results from the moon turning round only once on its own axis in the same time that it takes to journey round the earth. For the general good, let us quote an illustration given by a competitor, which makes this very clear: “Place a vase of flowers,” she says, “on a table, take up your position opposite the window, and then walk round the table, keeping your face to the flowers. When you are half-way round, you will have your back to the window; but, on reaching the starting-point, you will find you have your face to the window again. You will have turned completely round (on your axis) once yourself, and at the same time have gone round the table, yet never have shown your back to the flowers.” Now the table is the earth; you are the moon; your face stands for the moon’s shining countenance; and your back for that unknown side which the earth never sees. =4. Why is hard water very unsuitable for cooking and washing?=