PREFACE. The Editor of this work, by Her Majesty's Artiste, Mrs. Peachey, fairly entitled the Royal Guide to Wax Flower Modelling, would fain leave the introduction, written by the same hand which rivals nature in her varying adornments, to unfold its historic, its poetic, its moral, and its suggestive graces—for it combines these; but having accepted the part, without which, since the days of... more...

CHAPTER I: rains peculiar to each season—spring showers—midsummer rains—rains of autumn and winter—means of supplying the earth with rain—rain-clouds—deceptive appearances of clouds—their light and shade—effects of clouds in mountainous countries—ascent of monte pientio—ascent to the peak of teneriffe—grand effects of clouds in the pyrenees—voyage in a balloon through the... more...

Chapter the Thirteenth     Charles Eames and Charles Sumner-Schurzand Lamar—I Go to Congress—A    Heroic Kentuckian—Stephen Foster and His Songs—Music and Theodore    Thomas I Swift's definition of "conversation" did not preside over or direct the daily intercourse between Charles Sumner, Charles Eames and Robert J. Walker in the old days in the National Capital. They... more...

Chapter the First     I Am Born and Begin to Take Notice—John Quincy Adams and Andrew    Jackson—James K. Polk and Franklin Pierce—Jack Dade and "Beau    Hickman"—Old Times in Washington I I am asked to jot down a few autobiographic odds and ends from such data of record and memory as I may retain. I have been something of a student of life; an observer of men and women and... more...

I A BIOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE In July of 1904 the eighty-seven mortal years of George Frederick Watts came to an end. He had outlived all the contemporaries and acquaintances of his youth; few, even among the now living, knew him in his middle age; while to those of the present generation, who knew little of the man though much of his work, he appeared as members of the Ionides family, thus inaugurating the... more...

I I am asked to jot down a few autobiographic odds and ends from such data of record and memory as I may retain. I have been something of a student of life; an observer of men and women and affairs; an appraiser of their character, their conduct, and, on occasion, of their motives. Thus, a kind of instinct, which bred a tendency and grew to a habit, has led me into many and diverse companies, the... more...

INTRODUCTION California is proving itself more and more the wonderland of the United States. Its hosts of annual visitors are increasing with marvelous rapidity; its population is growing by accretions from the other states faster than any other section in the civilized world. The reasons are not far to seek. They may be summarized in five words, viz., climate, topography, healthfulness, productiveness... more...

INTRODUCTION The earliest form of painting was with colours ground in water. Egyptian artists three thousand years B.C. used this method, and various mediums, such as wax and mastic, were added as a fixative. It was what is now known as tempera painting. The Greeks acquired their knowledge of the art from the Egyptians, and later the Romans dispersed it throughout Europe. They probably introduced... more...

FOREWORD Washington's Masonic correspondence as found among the Washington papers in the Manuscript department of the Library of Congress, affords an insight of the great esteem in which Washington held the Masonic Fraternity, of which since his early days he had been an honored member. This is further shown by his great courtesy to the Brethren, in his replies to their addresses, no matter... more...

CHAPTER 1. THE POMPILI. (This essay should be read in conjunction with that on the Black-bellied Tarantula. Cf. "The Life of the Spider," by J. Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chapter 1.—Translator's Note.) The Ammophila's caterpillar (Cf. "The Hunting Wasps," by J. Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chapters 13 and 18 to 20;... more...