2762. Blackberries.

Blackberries are very beneficial in cases of dysentery. The berries are healthful eating. Tea made of the roots and leaves is good; and syrup made from the berries excellent.

2763. Sloe Wine.

Sloe wine is useful in cases of diarrhoea, the astringent properties of this fruit tending to counteract relaxation of the bowels. It is made by steeping sloes in water, and letting them stand therein until a thick coating of mildew is formed on the surface. This is removed, and the liquor is then strained and bottled, and tightly corked down.

Not more than from half a wine-gla.s.sful to a wine-gla.s.sful should be taken when required.

2764. Early Milk.

"Morning's Milk," says an eminent German philosopher, "commonly yields some hundredths more cream than the evening's at the same temperature. That milked at noon furnishes the least; it would therefore be of advantage, in making b.u.t.ter, &c., to employ the morning's milk, and keep the evening's for domestic use."

[OF ALL SMELLS, BREAD; OF ALL TASTES, SALT.]

2765. Lawn Tennis.

This fashionable and delightful game, suitable for both ladies and gentlemen, is generally played on a lawn or gra.s.s-plat by two, three, or four players, with b.a.l.l.s and racquet bats. The object of the game is to strike a ball over a net and keep it in play backwards and forwards within certain limits. The court or ground may be of any size consistent with the lawn, the base lines being marked out by chalk, or tapes slightly pinned to the turf, which should be frequently mown and rolled. The mode of play may be seen from the following leading rules, which are now generally accepted by all players.

2766. Rules of Lawn Tennis.

i. The _Court_, for a single-handed game, should be 78 ft. long and 27 ft. wide, and for a double-handed game the same length, but 36 ft. wide, divided across the centre by a _net_ attached to two upright posts. The net should be 3 ft. 6 in. high at the posts, and 3 ft. at the centre. At each end of the court, parallel with the net, are the _base lines_, whose extremities are connected by the _side lines_. The _half-court line_ is halfway between the side lines and parallel with them. The _service lines_ are 21 ft. from the net and parallel with it.

ii. The _b.a.l.l.s_ should be 2-1/2 in. in diameter and 2 oz. in weight.

iii. The players stand on opposite sides of the net. The player who first delivers the ball is called the _server_, the other the _striker-out_.

iv. At the end of each game the striker-out becomes server, and the server striker-out.

v. The server stands with one foot beyond the base line, and delivers the service from the right and left courts alternately.

vi. The b.a.l.l.s served must, without touching the net, drop within the court nearest to the net, diagonally opposite to that from which the striker serves it.

vii. If the service be delivered from the wrong court it is a _fault_. It is also a fault if the server does not stand in the manner as stated above, or if the ball served drop in the net or beyond the service line, or if it drop out of court, or go in the wrong court.

viii. A fault must not be taken, that is, played back to the server.

ix. The striker-out may not _volley_ the service. Volleying is striking the ball back before it has touched the ground.

x. The ball, having been returned, must be kept in play either by volleying it, or striking it back after the first bounce. A ball bouncing twice is out of play.

xi. If, in serving, the ball touch the net and go over into the proper court, it counts to neither server nor striker-out.

xii. The server scores if the striker-out volley the service, or fail to return the service in such a way that the ball would fall within the opponents' court.

xiii. Two consecutive faults count a stroke against the server.

xiv. If the ball when in play touch either player it scores a stroke for his opponent.

xv. The first stroke won by either player scores 15 to that player; the second, won by the same player, raises his score to 30, his third stroke to 40, and his fourth counts _game_. If, however, the players have both scored 40, it is called _deuce_, and the next stroke won by either is called _advantage_ to the winner of it, and if he also win the following stroke he scorea _game_. Should he lose it the score returns to _deuce_. The player winning two consecutive strokes directly following a _deuce_ scores game.

xvi. Whichever player first scores six games is considered to win the _set_.

2767. Three--Handed and Four-Handed Lawn Tennis.

i. The laws as given above apply equally to these games. The difference in the width of the court has been stated.

ii. In Four-handed Tennis the players deliver the service in turns: thus supposing A and B are partners opposed to C and D; A serves in the first game, C in the second, B serves in the third, and D in the fourth, and so on.

iii. In Three-handed Tennis the single player serves in each alternate game.

iv. No player may return a service that has been delivered to his partner.

2768. Badminton.

Badminton is a game similar to Lawn Tennis, but it is played with shuttlec.o.c.ks instead of b.a.l.l.s, and over a higher net.

[THAT THOU MAYEST INJURE NO MAN, DOVE-LIKE BE.]