een curried, brushes it clean of dandruff, and
makes it smooth and glossy. After one _good_ currying with this device
the nag is ready for harness, his coat sleek, shiny, and, above all,
clean.

You young people who are the happy owners of horses, must always make
sure that the gloss on your favorite's coat is the result of health and
cleanliness, and not kerosene.

* * * * *

CAR-STEP.--This excellent device is the invention of a young lady of
Pittsfield, Illinois.

Every one who has travelled in Pullman cars knows the discomfort of that
last step before you reach the ground. It is true that the porter is
always waiting with a little wooden stool on which you step from the
high car-step above, but for old people or lame people or nervous people
there is always the dread that they may miss the little stool, and be
tumbled over on the platform.

This invention is to prevent any such difficulty.

The steps of the Pullman cars can only be a certain length, and must not
jut out beyond the sides of the car, otherwise they would be liable to
be torn off when the oar passes through tunnels or narrow places. It is
therefore impossible to have them built any longer than they are at
present. The new invention, however, adds a step without going beyond
the proper limit.

[Illustration: Car-step]

It is done in this way: The step is made of iron, and is joined to the
regular wooden steps by strong rods. When the train is in motion the
extra step folds under the car-step. When the train stops the porter
touches a lever, and down comes the extra step, making the descent from
the car as easy as walking downstairs.

It is a fine invention, and we hope soon to see it used on all Pullman
cars.

G.H.R.

BOOK REVIEWS.

There has just been published a collection of sketches and essays by
Charles Dickens which have hitherto been uncollected and none of which
has been reprinted in the United States. This cannot fail to be an
extremely interesting book to the great army of admirers of Dickens. His
books always bear the unmistakable imprint of the master, novelist's
mind--in his fun, satire, and humor going hand in hand, as well as in
his sincerity and interest in the poor. Everything that Dickens wrote
has upon it the mark of genius, and this book will come as a delight to
many.

("Old Lamps for New Ones, and Other Sketches and Es