deserves.
Truffles are not only used "like mushrooms," but for stuffing game and
poultry, especially in France: who does not remember the _perdrixaux
truffes_, of the Parisian _carte_. The chapter on coffee, cacao, tea,
and sugar, is brief but entertaining. We may observe, by the way, that
one of the obstacles to the profitable cultivation of tea in this
country is our ignorance of the modes of drying, &c. as practised in
China.

Another volume of the Entertaining Series, published since that just
noticed, contains a selection of _Criminal Trials_, amongst which are
those of Throckmorton and the Duke of Norfolk, for treason. They are, in
the main, reprints from the State Trials, which the professional editor
states to contain a large fund of instruction and _entertainment_. We
have been deceived in the latter quality, though we must admit that in
judicious hands, a volume of untiring interest might be wrought up from
the State records. As they are, their dulness and prolixity are past
endurance. As the present work proceeds in chronological order, it will
doubtless improve in its entertaining character, since no class of
literature has been more enriched by the publication of journals,
diaries, &c., than historical biography, which will thus enable the
editor to enliven his pages with characteristic traits of the principal
actors. This has been done, to some extent, in the portion before us,
and in like manner fits the volume for popular reading.

* * * * *

MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.

* * * * *

FIRE TEMPLES IN PERSIA.

[Illustration: Persian Temple]

These mystical relics are but a short journey from the celebrated ruins
of Persepolis. Mr. Buckingham describes them in his usual picturesque
language: "Having several villages in sight, as the sun rose, with
cultivated land, flocks, trees, and water, we arrived at the foot of the
mountain, which forms the northern boundary of the plain of Merdusht.
The first object we saw on the west was a small rock, on which stood two
fire altars of a peculiar form: their dimensions were five feet square
at the base, and three at the top, and they were five feet high. There
were pillars or pilasters at the corners, and arches in the sides. In
the centre of each of these, near the top, was a square basin, about
eight inches in diameter, and six in depth, for the reception of the
fire, formerly used b