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Three removes are as bad as a fire, says Poor Richard, and in no sense are the cost and annoyance of a removal more severely felt than in the unavoidable injury to furniture, and the difficulty of adapting the old articles of furniture to the requirements of the new abode. Peculiarly is this the case with regard to-the depository for books. If the victim is of a literary turn, and therefore has accumulated a store of books, he knows the advantage of having a bookcase familiar to his -touch as well as his sight, from which he may select a volume without the time and annoyance demanded by undirected search. So a bookcase in which every volume may be found at will is a valuable article of furniture, and if it has the advantage of portability its value is greatly enhanced. The engraving represents a bookcase of a peculiar style, patented by Ezra Haskell, of Dover, N. II. It may be built of any size, and of any kind of wood. One in our office is of black walnut, eight feet by four, surmounted with an ornamental scroll and holding eight shelves, sufficient to accommodate 250 volumes, of the sizes usually found in a miscellaneous library. Each shelf is hinged to a board forming the back, to allow it to be folded together when the shelf is taken from the upright sides. These sides are grooved to receive the ends of the shelves, which have a projecting iron that engages in a saw scarf in the upper side of the groove, by which contrivance the parts of the case are held firmly together. The sides of the case are hinged at the middle of their length so they can be folded when the case is to be removed. The whole case may be contained in a box 14 by 16 inches and 4 feet long. No tools, screws, nails, etc., are required in taking down or putting up, and when in place the case is an elegant as well as compact piece of furniture. Eights to manufacture or the bookcase may be had of Howard Gannett, 40 Winter st., Boston, Mass.
