A parallel remark might with equal justice be made on the gentler sex, who, after exercising a degree of tact, neatness, and tasteful invention, that the self-styled “lords of the creation” might in vain hope to rival, in the formation of a piece of needlework, knitting, netting, or crochet, are for the most part, totally unable, when it is finished, to tie it up so as to make a decent parcel; ladies’ packages are, in fact, the opprobrium of the sex—the annoyance of all carriers, cads, and coachmen, who have anything to do with their conveyance, and the torment of their owners; the cords are certain to become loose, the knots are sure to slip, except when a slip-knot is requisite, and then it is a fixture! It is in the hope that we may be instrumental in improving this state of things, that we are induced to devote this article to Knots, Packages, Parcels, &c., and we shall at once lay before our fair readers a method of tying a parcel neatly and securely, and at the same time affording facilities of releasing the contents without destroying the string by cutting it away—a too ordinary practice, especially where time is an object. [Illustration: _Fig. 13._] The most simple purpose for which a knot is required, is the fastening together of two pieces of string or cord: the knot selected for this purpose should possess two important properties—it should be secure from slipping, and of small size. Nothing is more common than to see two cords attached together in a manner similar to that shown in _Fig. 13_. It is scarcely possible to imagine a worse knot; it is large and clumsy, and as the cords do not mutually press each other, it is certain to slip, if pulled with any great force. In striking contrast to this—the worst of all—we place one of the best; namely, the knot usually employed by netters, and which is called by sailors “the sheet-bend.” It is readily made by bending one of the pieces of cord into a loop (_a b_, _Fig. 14_), which is to be held between the finger and thumb on the left hand; the other cord _c_ is passed through the loop from the farther side, then round behind the two legs of the loop, and lastly, under itself, the loose end coming out at _d_. In the smallness of its size, and the firmness with which the various parts grip together, this knot surpasses every other: it can, moreover, be tied readily when one of the pieces, viz., _a_, _b_, is exceedingly short; in common stout twine, less than an inch being sufficient to form the loop. The above method of forming it is the simplest to describe, although not the most rapid in practice; as it may be made in much less time by crossing the two ends of the cord (_a b_, _Fig. 15_) on the tip of the fore-finger of the left hand, and holding them firmly by the left thumb, which covers the crossing; then the part _c_ is to be wound round the thumb in a loop, as shown in the figure, and passed between the two ends, behind _a_ and before