It may be asked, What is a riddle ? - Ah ! what is it That's just the rub! Well, then, it is a queer affair, without shape, size, humanity, compassion, breath, or sex. It is caressed, abused, courted, slighted, jostled, hustled, and, notwithstanding all that is said against it, universally looked upon as a welcome guest when it is not in a dull mood.

3235. The oldest riddle on record is that put forth by Samson (Judges xiv.) - 'Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." His solution is well known, as it is explained in the same chapter.

3236. No doubt there are many riddles which should have been handed down to posterity, that deserved this distinction, but that ascribed to Cleobulus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, deserves to be recorded; it is said to have been composed B. c. about 705 years. "There is a father with twice six sons: these sons have thirty daugh-ters a-piece, parti-colored, having one check white and the other black, who never see each other's face, nor live above twenty-four hours." His solution was "The Year."

How we have puzzled and puzzled again over some of the good old riddles of yore, and when their solutions have been whispered, half in mirth and half in fear at our wrath, we have laughed at our very stupidity, and wondered how any person could fail to discover them.

What a batch now crowd upon us - 'tis fearful to contemplate ! But we shall lash off a few as they pass in review, commencing with -