thing that felt like soft fur, without showing agitation, till she was
near four years old, though every gentle means were used to conquer
her antipathy; the antipathy was, however, cured at last, by her
having a wooden cat covered with fur for a plaything.

A boy, between four and five years old, H----, used to cry bitterly
when he was left alone in a room, in which there were some old family
pictures. It was found that he was much afraid of these pictures: a
maid, who took care of him, had terrified him with the notion that
they would come to him, or that they were looking at him, and would be
angry with him if he was not _good_. To cure the child of this fear of
pictures, a small sized portrait, which was not amongst the number of
those that had frightened him, was produced in broad day light. A
piece of cake was put upon this picture, which the boy was desired to
take; he took it, touched the picture, and was shown the canvas at the
back of it, which, as it happened to be torn, he could easily identify
with the painting: the picture was then given to him for a plaything;
he made use of it as a table, and became very fond of it as soon as he
was convinced that it was not alive, and that it could do him no sort
of injury.

By patiently endeavouring to discover the causes of terror in
children, we may probably prevent their tempers from acquiring many
bad habits. It is scarcely possible for any one, who has not
constantly lived with a child, and who has not known the whole rise
and progress of his little character, to trace the causes of these
strange apprehensions; for this reason, a parent has advantages in
the education of his child, which no tutor or schoolmaster can have.

A little boy was observed to show signs of fear and dislike at hearing
the sound of a drum: to a stranger, such fear must have seemed
unaccountable, but those who lived with the child, knew from what it
arose. He had been terrified by the sight of a merry-andrew in a mask,
who had played upon a drum; this was the first time that he had ever
heard the sound of a drum; the sound was associated with fear, and
continued to raise apprehensions in the child's mind after he had
forgotten the original cause of that apprehension.

We are well aware that we have laid ourselves open to ridicule, by the
apparently trifling anecdotes which have just been mentioned; but if
we can save one child from an hour's unnecessary misery, or one parent
from an hou