up and drenched with warm water.

5th. It should not shrink or waste much in cooking.

6th. It should not run to water or become very wet on standing for a
day or two, but should, on the contrary, dry upon the surface.

7th. When dried at a temperature of 212 deg., or thereabouts, it
should not lose more than from 70 to 74 per cent. of its weight,
whereas bad meat will often lose as much as 80 per cent. The juice of
the flesh is alkaline or neutral to test paper.

RAILROADS IN FINLAND.

People who think of Finland as a sub-arctic country of bleak and
forbidding aspect maybe surprised to hear that several railroads have
already made a large part of the region accessible. A new line, 160
miles long, has just been opened to the heart of the country in the
midst of great forests and perhaps the most wonderful lake region in
the world. Sportsmen are now within less than a day's journey from St.
Petersburg of central Finland, where there is the best of hunting and
fishing and twenty hours of sunlight every summer day. The most unique
of railroads, however, is still the little line in Norway, north of
the arctic circle, carrying the product of far northern mines to the
sea, and famous as the only railroad that has yet invaded the polar
regions.

COMPARATIVE SIZE OF THE ARK AND THE GREAT EASTERN.

The following comparison between the size of Noah's ark and the Great
Eastern, both being considered in point of tonnage, after the old law
for calculating the tonnage of a vessel, exhibits a remarkable
similarity. The cubit of the Bible, according to Sir Isaac Newton, is
20-1/2 inches, or, to be exact, 20.625 inches. Bishop Wilkins makes the
cubit 20.88 inches. According to Newton the dimensions of the ark were:
Length between perpendiculars, 515.62 feet; breadth, 84.94 feet; depth,
51.56 feet; keel, or length for tonnage, 464.08 feet. Tonnage, according
to old law, 18,231 58-94. The measurements of the ark, according to
Wilkins' calculations were: Length, 54700 feet; breadth, 91.16 feet;
depth, 54.70 feet; keel, 492.31 feet. Tonnage, 21,761. Notice how
surprisingly near the Great Eastern came to being constructed after the
same plan: Length, 680 feet; breadth, 83 feet; depth, 60 feet; keel, 630
feet. Tonnage, 23,092.

FINGER NAILS AS AN INDICATION OF CHARACTER.

A white mark on the nail bespeaks misfortune.

Pale or lead-colored nails indicate melancholy people.

Broad nails indicate a gentle, timid, and bashful n