and like to become a
sovereign.

Why are ladies great thieves?
Because they steel their petticoats, bone their stays, and crib
their babies.

In what month do ladies talk the least?
In February; because it's the shortest.

What is the difference between ladies and clocks?
One makes us remember time, and the other makes us forget it.

Why is an empty room like another full of married people?
Because there is not a single person in it.

Popular Errors

The commonly received notion that a man may marry his first cousin,
but must not marry his second is not true; but it is quite true that
Cole's Book Arcade is in Bourke Street, Melbourne, about half-way
between Swanston and Elizabeth Sts.
The rumour that a Yankee Gentleman had invented a machine to take
the noise out of thunder has turned out not to be true; but it is
quite true that Cole's Book Arcade is open from nine in the morning
to ten at night, every working day in the year.
The fact that Cole's Book Arcade contains 80,000 sorts of books is
not the cause of the sea being salt--of coca-nuts containing milk--
of the growth of big gooseberries, nor of the multitude of great big
fibs told annually about a sea-serpent.
It is not true that cats will suck the breath of children when they
are asleep, but it is quite true that Cole's Book Arcade contains one
interesting cat and 80,000 sorts of interesting books.
N.B.--The likeness of Cole's Cat can be seen on page 153.

[Page 126--Riddles And Catches]

Riddles And Catches

Which is the greatest peer that England ever produced?
Shakespeare.

What is the grandest verse in existence?
The universe.

What is the greatest stand ever made for civilisation?
The inkstand.

What is that which, although black itself, enlightens the world?
Ink.

What is that which is full of knowledge, and yet knows nothing?
A book-case.

What is that which you and every living man have seen, but can never
see again?
Yesterday.

What is that which no man ever did see, which never was, but always
is to be?
To-morrow.

What thing is that that is lower with a head than without one?
A pillow.

What volume is sure to bring tears to your eyes?
A volume of smoke.

What is that which has form without substance, and size without
weight?
A shadow.

Name me and you break me.
Silence.

What is that which renders life inert, and yet restores it?
Sleep.

Formed long ago,