correspondence, bring the stamps of every foreign country into the business houses of New York. But the main difficulty is so to manage with the stamps as to make them more than a plaything for a few weeks—to make them really instructive, and their possessors real Philatelists.

The materials requisite for the beginner are very few—a blank book, some sheets of very thin writing-paper, and a small bottle of pure gum-arabic dissolved in water and made thin. Of course, when the collection increases and begins to assume form, this blank book must give way to a special album; but in the beginning a small book, worth, say, four or five cents, will suffice. Thus provided, you are ready to begin your collection.

Fig. 1.

Every reader of Young People has friends who have a correspondence more or less extensive, and whose desks are, therefore, store-houses of postage stamps. Requests for these stamps will seldom be denied, and in a very little while the beginner will have enough to make a start. Look over the specimens, pick out those that are the cleanest, and put aside as useless those that are torn or much defaced. Remove any superfluous paper from the back of the stamps selected for use by carefully touching the backs with warm water, when the adhering paper can easily be peeled off. Then cut the sheets of thin writing-paper into strips half an inch wide, gum along one edge of the strips, and lay the stamps on the gummed edge as in Fig. 1. Next cut the strips and trim the paper as in Fig. 2. Now fold this little strip of paper backward, so as to make a hinge, and fasten it to the blank page by a touch of gum. This is called mounting the stamp.

Fig. 2.

Now you may ask why all this labor, all this patience, with a lot of common stamps. Simply this: this system has been adopted by all Philatelists, but only after many trials, and the destruction of many fine specimens; and it is well, therefore, to be guided by the experience of others. Again, the collection will increase in interest, which could not be the case if no pains were taken in the mounting, and it will increase in size. You will, of course, desire to transfer the stamps to a more pretentious and permanent album. A little moisture will loosen the strip from the first book, when it can be placed in the new book without damage. Even when here you may wish to replace it by a better specimen without injury to the book. Another plan is to mount the stamps on thin card-board a trifle larger than the stamp, gum a square of paper to the back of the card, and a touch of gum to the centre will fasten it to the page.

But why hinge the stamp? Simply to enable you to write under it the date of issue, its cost, and certain other matters connected with the stamp itself, so that you may have at hand the few facts necessary to be known—all of which is necessary if you wish to be a true Philatelist.

Another point to which particular attention is directed: do not cut the stamps close up to the printed designs; if perforated, do not cut off the perforations. Aside from destroying the appearance of the stamps, you also destroy their value for collectors. Not long since a very large collection of stamps was sold by auction. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars must have been spent in purchasing the specimens, among which were numbers of all rarities. The owner had trimmed and trimmed his specimens, cutting away everything up to the printed design. The collection went for a mere song, in comparison to what it would have brought if the scissors had been left alone. No true collector fancies a mutilated specimen.

Thus far I have told you how to select your specimens, and prepare them for your blank book. At the outset it is likely you will receive nothing but current stamps of the several countries. Take all you get, select the best of each kind for yourself, and keep the others to make exchanges with your companions. That you may have some idea of the value of your specimens, it would be well to provide yourself with a catalogue of stamps, in which you will find full lists of all stamps issued, and in some many illustrations of the stamps. By exercising judgment in your exchanges you will soon be enabled to get together quite a number of good specimens from all quarters of the globe, and these without spending a single penny. Of course there is a limit to this mode of collecting, and you will soon find that you will require some loose change in order to add to your album. But do not let this frighten you. As interest in your collection increases—and it will increase if you start out properly—ways and means will suggest themselves for getting desired specimens, and you will be astonished how much you can do at a little outlay. My collection, which numbers over fourteen thousand specimens, and which at the very lowest estimate is worth $15,000, has not cost me $1500 in money. And all this by making judicious use of the knowledge I acquired gradually, and by following out the principles I have laid down for your guidance. And my stamps are to-day as great a source of pleasure to me, if not greater, as were the first specimens I got eighteen or twenty years ago.

What I have written thus far applies only to postage or revenue stamps. Stamped envelopes and wrappers and postal cards must be managed differently, but it will be well to leave the proper mounting of these until you have advanced with your "adhesives." For the present, therefore, it will suffice to say, Do not cut out the designs from the envelope, wrapper, or card. Keep whole. However, the system of stamps has increased so enormously that it is next to impossible to keep up with the different classes. As a consequence, collectors are turning to specialties. Some devote themselves to postal adhesives, others to revenue stamps; some to stamped envelopes and wrappers, others to postal cards; and some, again, collect nothing but the private die proprietary stamps of the United States. Each of these is a field large enough in itself to be covered properly, and the one who attempts to cover all, or even several, will require a very long purse, and more time than can be spared in this busy age.

Make your choice, therefore, and stick to that alone.

FARM-HOUSE PETS IN JAPAN.

BY ELLIOT GRIFFIS.

The Japanese people are very fond of pets. It is very rare to find a house entirely destitute of some favorite animal, from the costly chin (King Charles spaniel) to the bob-tailed cat that purrs near the tea-kettle on the hibachi, or fire-box. Canary-birds are quite common, and in place of something more rare, tiny bantam fowls are caressed and petted. Even a "rain-frog," or tree-toad, has been made a child's darling, while the little water turtles with fringed tails are prized as rare objects of delight.

In the country the boys of the family catch