In conclusion let me say, I know of no exercise more exhilarating and healthful for women than skating in the open air, though, I am bound to say, this cannot be said of the exercise in covered rinks, as one is liable to get very hot and then to catch cold. The combination of hot air above and the cold current rising from the ice, does not tend to produce a very healthy atmosphere. But as we should not make such rapid progress, or have the advantage of seeing together so many good skaters of all nationalities, if we had not the covered rinks, many of us will not be inclined to complain. I am afraid my remarks are very disconnected, but the subject is a difficult one to treat from a general point of view. I shall be satisfied if what I have said should inspire even one of my readers with a greater devotion to the beautiful art of skating. May Balfour. II. It is natural that the art of skating should come to us from the North, for it is in the land of ice and snow that the problem of traversing the frozen surface of the snow-covered ground and the ice-bound water would have to be solved. With the Greeks and the Romans indeed, the great ruling nations of the South, there was no word to designate the exercise--a conclusive proof that it was unknown to them. But from Scandinavia we have an old war song which tells of the progress of the God of Winter over the water, supported on the bones of animals, and this shows that the skates of those early days were made of bone, though they were, as might be expected, of most primitive structure. It is generally agreed that the necessity of crossing the enormous fields of frozen snow during the long Scandinavian winters led to the fashioning of snow-shoes, and that from these were made the smaller skates, by the aid of which the frozen waters could also be crossed, locomotion thus being made possible. The early form of the bone skate was brought to England by the Northern tribes which settled in our midst, though it was to our Dutch neighbours, at a much later period in our history, that we owed the introduction of the wooden skate bound with iron, which is the prototype of our skate of to-day. From the earliest efforts with the primitive bone skates to the graceful evolutions now possible on a modern Mount Charles there is a marvellous change, and the art which has a history of nearly two thousand years behind it, is entitled to a place among the time-honoured pastimes of the world. A beginner in this, as in all other pursuits, is met at the outset of her career, when she is without practical knowledge to guide her in the choice, by the difficulty of selecting a proper instrument. She must then trust to others. As the choice however is not large, she can scarcely do wrong in investing in a Mount Charles, which should be fixed to a well-fitting-boot with low heels, a fairly thick sole, and laced upper leathers. [Illustration: _MOUNT CHARLES._]