interfere with the free action of the goal-keeper, while they do their best to kick the ball into goal.
Frisking the ball.—In close play you may point out the scientific from the brute-force player, as easily as you can pick silver coin from among copper. Though the play of the old school is not to be ignored, it is not the paragon of to-day, even though it should sometimes succeed against the present more studied game. To improve Lacrosse, and not detract from its native merits, we must agree to the systematic conformity, intended in the regulations which guide the game. Unscientific play in any game has sometimes been more effective than its antithesis, as poor shots have sometimes made bull’s-eyes when champions have missed altogether; but the more head-work put into such a game as Lacrosse, the more beautiful and less rough it will become.
Among the improvements in general play we must recognize one peculiar feature of close contests, which is becoming a specialty and a mark of the true artiste in Lacrosse. Occurring only at close quarters, and sometimes lasting but a few seconds, it is the foreshadowing of a scientific game, and an evidence that there is more scope for development than gene-
