_LONDON PORTER._

The bitter contained in porter, if taken wholly from hops, would
require an average quantity of ten or twelve pounds to the quarter
of malt, or about three pounds per barrel; so that if we consider the
fluctuation in the price of hops, we shall not be surprised at the
numerous substitutes, by which means the brewer can procure as much
bitter for sixpence as would otherwise cost him a pound.

Quassia is, probably, the most harmless of all the illegal bitters.
The physicians prescribe the decoction to their patients to the extent
of a quarter of an ounce of the bark a day--as much as the brewer was
accustomed to put into nine gallons of his porter.--_Library of Useful
Knowledge_.


_BLACK GAME_

Have increased greatly in the southern counties of Scotland and north
of England within the last few years. It is a pretty general opinion,
though an erroneous one, that they drive away the red grouse; the
two species require very different kinds of cover, and will never
interfere.--_Note to White's Selborne, by Sir W. Jardine_.


_BIRDS OF PREY._

All birds of prey are capable of sustaining the want of food and water
for long periods, particularly the latter, but of which they also seem
remarkably fond, drinking frequently in a state of nature, and during