The same remarks, of course, apply to the ball bearings fitted to the pedals, bracket, and other parts of the cycle, and in a general way it may be said that care of the bearings is care of the cycle, for if the bearings are all right and in good running order, the machine, unless some radical fault exists in its construc tion, cannot be far wrong. 'Hie bearings sometimes get clogged up with oil and dust, and if the machine i.s only occasionally iwed they may get absolutely stuck : this state of tilings can be remedied by injecting a little paraffin, which liquefies the thickened oil. and causes it to run out if Che wheels are vigorously rotated for a Short time. When, after repeated doses, the heal ings appear to be clean, they should be carefully reoiled with some suitable oil. and will, of course, be found much the better for the operation. Some care of Hie chain will also be found of service, though the almost uni versal fitting of the gear ease has much simplified the task of the chain-user of late years. In earlier days the dust clogged chain required frequent clean ing. if oiled, it caught and held rhe dust : if not oiled, it was a terrible thing in wet weather, rusting up into a rigid bar. holding the mud. getting gritty. jumping, and so on. The cures adopted were various ; black leading was a fa vourite method, as it is to-day in Ameri ca amongst the line weather riders over the boulevards of the big cities rhe rid ers who never require a gear-ease or mud-guards ; the chain was soaked in oil, in lard, aud so on, and many other devices were tried, but nowadays the real work of taking care of the chain falls on the gear-case, and those cases which contain an oil-bath are much to be preferred. Of course the tine weather riders and the mere promenaders do not need anything more than a pretence at a gear-case, but many of the flimsy things now made are of no service at all to the real rider : they shake loose, get ■ •rooked, fail to keep out the dusr or keep in the oil. and. 