expressions, come in the morning, after the repose of the night, and
after sleep--when one has it, but of which I have not a very large
share. I attach so much importance to the ideas which come during the
night or in the morning, that I have always at the head of my bed
paper and pencil suspended by string, by the help of which I write
every morning the ideas I have been able to conceive, particularly
upon subjects of scientific research. [Footnote: Curtis, I think, says
that whenever Emerson has a "happy thought," he writes it down, be it
dawn or midnight, and when Mrs. Emerson, startled in the night by some
unusual sound, cries, "What is the matter? Are you ill?" the
philosopher's soft voice answers, "No, my dear, only an idea."--
_Appleton's New York Journal, Nov., 1873.] I write these notes
in obscurity, and decipher and develop them in the morning, pen in
hand. This is the reply I can make to your interesting enquiry. I
shall be happy to know the conclusion to which you will be conducted
by the information which you will have been able to collect.

GASTON PLANTE.




THE REV. A. PLUMMER,
HEAD MASTER OF THE DURHAM COLLEGE. University Tutor and Lecturer, and
University Proctor.


I am a firm believer in the value of a moderate use of tobacco and
alcohol for the brain worker. I generally smoke one pipe in the
morning, _before_ work, and one at night, _after_ work (or