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water mole. It is an animal about eighteen inches long, that has the body of a quadruped and the beak of a duck.

STEPHEN. How large was the icthyosaurus?

PAPA. Some species were about the size of young whales, and others smaller.

Perhaps the eye of the icthyosaurus was as wonderful an organ as the animal possessed. What would you think, Willie, of an eye, the orbit of which was three feet in circumference? The outer coat of the eye was made up of moveable thin plates of bone, which changed the shape and size of the pupil, as circumstances required, so that its eye was in fact a telescope and microscope combined.

The jaws were eight feet long, and it had two hundred formidable teeth. It was covered, it is supposed, by a smooth skin, and was altogether a fearful animal. STEPHEN. Did it live altogether in the

sea?

PAPA. Yes, I imagine so; for though it breathed air, yet its paddles would allow of but very feeble locomotion on land, though nothing could have been better adapted for progression through the water. WILLIE. But you have missed out one animal, papa.

PAPA. Which was that? Oh, I recollect the cetiosaurus.

WILLIE. Yes, that was it.

PAPA. It was a reptile as big as a whale, and is supposed to have had web feet but we don't know so much about it as about other reptiles; we know, for instance, more about the pterodactyl.

Now that is a reptile, with a very appropriate name-when translated it means wing-fingered (pteron, a wing; dactylos, a finger.)

Cuvier pronounced the pterodactyl to be the most extraordinary of all the extinct animals.

The general form of this strange creature, with the exception of the head, was probably that of a tropical bat or vampire.

The head was like a crocodile's, with an enormous snout and large eyes, while each jaw grinned with some sixty bloodthirsty teeth. Although it was a reptile, yet it was provided for flight by a membrane sustained principally on a very elongated toe. Its arm was articulated as the animal's needs required; but the fourth fin

ger of the hand was very much elongated and the membrane was stretched between it and the body. Some species of this reptile were but small; others, however, have been found whose remains indicate a width of from sixteen to eighteen feet from the extremity of one wing to the other.

But besides the power of flight it could walk on the ground, swim on the water and dive beneath it, perch on trees and climb up rocks. There is a passage from Milton often quoted with reference to the Pterodactyl:

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It is highly descriptive of the varied powers of locomotion possessed by the pterodactyl. So much for the age of Reptiles. I will just briefly notice one or two of the other divisions of the fossil Animal Kingdom, and then I think you may begin to read a work on Geology.

One of the earliest animals which existed on our earth was the Trilobite, so called from its having two divisions down the back, which make it seem to consist of three pieces. It was a small creature, and had a shelly covering composed, like that of the shrimp, of a number of plates.

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The peculiar organ of the trilobite was its eye, for the lenses found in it, show us that the light we now enjoy, and the light that shone in those remote ages, the condition of the atmosphere and of the waters, then were much the same as now. less than 400 lenses have been found in the visual organs of the trilobite; but the number is not extraordinary, for the common fly has an eye composed of no less than 14,000 distinct optical tubes.

The next period is the one called the period of fishes.

STEPHEN. Did the fishes live after the trilobites?

PAPA. Yes, for the beds in which they are found rest upon the strata in which the remains of the trilobite occur. The trilobites were created, lived for thousands of years, at last began to die out when the fishes of the Devonian system began appear.

WILLIE. What is the Devonian system? PAPA. The fishes I am about to tell you of are found in strata of sandstone and cornstone, which are largely devoloped in Devonshire, and hence the name Devonian. A most excellent book has been written about the Devonian system by Mr. Hugh Miller, who began his remarkable career as a stonemason in a Scottish quarry, and now ranks as one of the first of living geologists. The Devonian strata used to be classed as unfossiliferous, and Mr. Miller says that he was acquainted with it for ten years before he ascertained to the contrary.

Two of the fishes discovered by him are I called respectively Ptericthys and Cephalaspis.

STEPHEN. I am sure I know what ptericthys means. Is it not "winged fish?"

PAPA. Yes, that is it. It is something like the shield of a small tortoise with a gradually tapering tail, a broad head, with no neck, and a pair of hard, long, paddle-looking things at the shoulders.

It was covered on the upper side by hard plates, and the under side was protected by a tough skin. The cephalaspis was also covered with bone. Indeed, the name "buckler-headed" is given to it on account of the buckler of bone which forms the head.

Hugh Miller compares it to a saddler's crescent-shaped cutting-knife, the body forming the handle.

But I shall not have time to notice many more, so I will pass to the next period of animal life; it is called the period of frog-like reptiles.

They lived during the deposition of those immense beds of sandstone which abound in Warwickshire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire.

There are very few fossils indeed found in the system, but those discovered are of great interest. At some quarries in Germany, and afterwards near Birkenhead, were found, on the clayey sandstone, large footprints something like those of a man's hand; at least, two of the feet were large and the other two relatively very small, and geologists did not know what kind of an animal could have made them; but at last some bones were found in Warwickshire, and they are believed to be those of the animal that made the footprints.

It is ascertained to have breathed air and to have been amphibious, and that it was carnivorous. Its legs must have been of a very peculiar form, as the footsteps are very singular. It was a big saltwater frog, or animal allied to that tribe. STEPHEN. Why, papa, how big was it? PAPA. It is calculated to have been as big as a rhinoceros.

WILLIE. Oh! brother Stephen, what a noise they would make when they croaked! PAPA. After this period ought to come the age of reptiles; but I have already described the principal creatures that lived then, so we come, lastly, to the Tertiary period.

STEPHEN. You did not tell us what the big frog is called.

PAPA. By some it is called Cheirotherium, or handed wild beast, and by others Labyrinthodon, because a section of one of its teeth has a very labyrinthic structure.

The tertiary formation is found both in Europe and elsewhere, and I will pick out an animal from Europe, and one from South America.

The one from South America is called the Mylodon, an animal as big as the hippopotamus. It belonged to that division of the mammalia called the Edentata.

Now the edentata are not properly toothless animals, but they have no front teeth; and the mylodon had none, it had only grinding teeth: it had both claws and hoofs on the same foot, the hip-bones were of enormous size and the hinder legs were exceedingly colossal and heavy, and the tail was very strong and powerful.

Now the mylodon lived on the leaves and young twigs of trees; but it was a ponderous and heavy creature with a short neck, and so clumsy and weighty that no tree could have sustained its weight: but still it had to procure these leaves and twigs; and how do you think it contrived? WILLIE. It would root the trees up, I dare say.

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therium, or terrible wild beast. It was an herbivorous animal, from fifteen to eighteen feet long. Its body was like that of the hippopotamus, its legs were ten feet long, and it had a proboscis like an elephant. The lower jaw was about four feet long, and had two large tusks fixed in it, and these tusks curved downwards.

STEPHEN. What good were they if the points were turned down, the animal could not hit anything with them?

PAPA. The deinotherium used to inhabit swampy places, and was indeed an amphibious animal, and the tusks were very likely used as pickaxes.

This is the last of the large animals I have to tell you of. You will find in your reading that England has often been the bed of the ocean, and that these strange animals lived here. Geology will teach you that our world was a strange one before man occupied it; and what varied scenes it must have passed through, the insensible object of mighty convulsions, as in silent majesty it rolled on in the process of preparation for the most wonderful of God's works-that one which He made after His own image-MAN.

MARY. Then, do you really think that our world was merely in a state of preparation for man during all those long periods you tell us of?

PAPA. There can be no doubt about it. Indeed man could not have been an inhabitant of our world, at any period before the very one at which he was introduced. Fancy the few men who would be on the earth at first, contending with the iguanodon or shooting pterodactyls, or harpooning plesiosauri. They could not have done it; for I fancy that when first man was created, he was innocent, but ignorant-that is, he had to learn by experience.

MARY. Oh, papa, what a strange idea! PAPA. Well, we can hardly conceive the idea of man being created with the experience and information which mental exertions would imply. I do think that man's first state must have been one of passive innocence. In fact, even now we find our race continually improving; and if man had been created mentally perfect, so perfect that he could rise no higher, I do not think it would be so therefore, had man been placed on the earth before the extinction of the ante-hominal ani

mals, I fancy they would have soon extinguished him.

STEPHEN. Are there no remains of the insect-tribe ever found?

РАРА. Oh yes, I have seen several fossil insects-some of the best preserved were inside pieces of amber.

MARY. Well, they would be strange objects. How could they get inside?

PAPA. Of course, when the amber was a gum newly exuded from the tree the insects would, perhaps, fly on it and stick there. But several hundred specimens of insects have been found in the marls and other strata in England.

WILLIE. What kind were they?

PAPA. Oh, some of your friendscrickets, dragon-flies of gigantic size, cockroaches, cuckoo-spit insects, and such like. About 800 species of insects have been discovered in amber alone.

STEPHEN. There must be a great many fossils altogether?

PAPA. Yes, I rather fancy there are; but, indeed, I do not know how many thousands there may be, and if you will only remember that there are now, at a moderate calculation, about 700 terrestrial mammalia alone, without saying anything about birds, or fishes, or insects, and that there were many successive creations of animals on our globe, and that they have all become fossilized, you will at once see that the number of them must be immense.

Geology is too extensive a science to be successfully studied in all its branches by any one mind. All our eminent geologists are eminent in some one department. Some are great mineralogists, others excel in investigating fossil animals, and some have devoted themselves to the study of geological phenomena.

Geology as a science is a noble pursuit. Herschel says, that it ranks next to astronomy in the scale of the sciences in the sublimity of the object of which it treats; and I should indeed be glad if I could induce you to study it earnestly.

Indeed, in company with every department of natural science, it affords lessons of the highest wisdom and instruction, and no one can say with greater truth than the geologist,

"And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running

brooks,

Sermons in stones, and good in everything."

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HOME'S home, although it reached be Through wet, and dirt, and night:-though heartily

I welcomed was, yet something still,
Methinks was wanting to fulfil
Content's odd appetite; no cheer
Say I, so good as that which meets me here.

How here at home; not that my board
I find with quainter, richer dainties stored;
No, my high welcome all in this
Cheap simple word presented is,
My home; a word so dearly sweet

That all variety in it I meet.

When I'm abroad my joys are so,

And therefore they to me seem strangers too : I may salute them lovingly,

But must not too familiar be:

Some ceremonious points there are

Which me from pleasure's careless freedom bar.

But Home, sweet Home, releaseth me

From anxious joys into the liberty

Of unsolicitous delight:

Which, howsoever mean and slight,
By being absolutely free

Enthrones me in Contentment's Monarchy.

MOUNTAIN CHILDREN.

BY MARY HOWITT.

DWELLERS by lake and hill!
Merry companions of the bird and bee!

Go gladly forth and drink of joy your fill, With unconstrained steps and spirits free! The sunshine and the flowers,

And the old trees that cast a solemn shade;

The pleasant evening, the fresh dewy hours, And the green hills whereon your fathers play'd; The gray and ancient peaks

Round which the silent clouds hung day and night;

And the low voice of water as it makes, Like a glad creature, murmurings of delight;

These are your joys! Go forthGive your hearts up unto their mighty power; For in his spirit God has clothed the earth, And speaketh solemnly from tree and flower. The voice of hidden rills

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Its quiet way into your spirit finds;
And awfully the everlasting hills
Address you in their many-toned winds.

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The dew that used to wet thee.

And, white first, grew incarnadined, because
It lay upon thee where the crimson was-
If dropping now-would darken where it mec
thee.

The fly that lit upon thee,

To stretch the tendrils of its tiny feet
Along the leaf's pure edges after heat-

If lighting now-would coldly overrun thee.

The bee that once did suck thee, And build thy perfumed ambers up his hive, And swoon in thee for joy, till scarce aliveIf passing now-would blindly overlook thee.

The heart doth recognize thee, Alone, alone! The heart doth smell thee sweet, Doth view thee fair, doth judge thee most complete

Though seeing now those changes that disguise thee.

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USEFUL RECEIPTS.

Casting from Leaves.-The leaf, as soon as convenient after being gathered, is to be laid on fine-grained moist sand, in a perfectly natural position; having that surface uppermost which is to form the cast; and being bauked up by sand, in order that it may be perfectly sup ported. It is then, by means of a broad camelhair brush, to be covered over with a thin coating of wax and Burgundy-pitch, rendered fluid by heat. The leaf being now removed from the sand, and dipped in cold water, the wax becomes hard, and at the same time sufficiently tough to allow the leaf to be ripped off without altering its form. This being done, the wax mould is placed on moist sand, and banked up as the leaf itself was; it is then covered with plaster of Paris, made thin, care being taken that the plaster is accurately forced into all the interstices of the mould by means of a camel-hair brush. As soon as the plaster is set, the warmth thus produced softens the wax, which in consequence of the moisture of the plaster is prevented from adhering thereto; and with a little dexterity it may be rolled up, parting completely from the cast, without injuring it in the smallest degree.

Sealing-wax. Take four ounces of shellac, one ounce of Venice turpentine (some say 1 Melt ounces), and three ounces of vermilion. the lac in a copper pan suspended over a clear charcoal fire, then pour the turpentine slowly into it, and soon afterwards add the vermilion, stirring briskly all the time of the mixture with a rod in either hand. In forming the round sticks of sealing-wax, a certain portion of the mass should be weighed while it is ductile, divided into the desired number of pieces, and then rolled out upon a warm marble slab, by means of a smooth wooden block, like that used by apothecaries for rolling a mass of pills. The oval sticks of sealing-wax are cast in moulds, with the above compound in a state of fusion. The marks of the lines of junction of the mould-box may be afterwards removed by holding the sticks over a clear fire, or passing them over a blue gas-flame. Marbled sealingwax is made by mixing two, three, or more coloured kinds of it, while they are in a semifluid state. From the viscidity of the several masses, their incorporation is left incomplete, so as to produce the appearance of marbling. Gold sealing-wax is made simply by stirring gold-coloured mica spangles into the musk, or other perfume. If one part of balsam of Peru be melted along with ninety-nine parts of the sealing-wax composition, an agreeable fragrance will be exhaled in the act of sealing with it. Either lamp-black or ivory-black serves for the colouring matter of black wax. Sealing-wax is often adulterated with rosin, in which case it runs into thin drops at the flame of a candle.

To wash Ribbons, Silk Handkerchiefs, &c.-None but ribbons of excellent quality, of one entire colour, and of a plain unfigured surface, will bear washing. A good satin ribbon may be made to look very well by washing it carefully, first in cold water, to which add a few drops of spirits of wine: then make a lather of white soap, and lukewarm water, and wash the ribbon

through that: afterwards rinse it in cold water
pull it even, and dry it gradually. When dry,
stretch out the ribbon on an ironing - table.
(securing it to the cloth by pins), and sponge it
evenly all over with a very weak solution of
isinglass, that has been boiled in clear water
and strained; or if you have no isinglass, rice-
water will be a tolerable substitute for restoring
the stiffness and gloss. To iron the ribbon, lay
it within a sheet of clean smooth letter paper
(the paper being both under and over it), and
press it with a heated iron moved quickly. If
the colour is lilac, add a little dissolved pearlash
to the rinsing-water. If green, a little vinegar.
If pink, or blue, a few drops of oil of vitriol.
If yellow, a little tincture of saffron. Other
colours may be set by stirring a teaspoonful of
ox-gall into the first water. If white, a salt-
spoonful of cream of tartar mixed with the
soapsuds. It is seldom worth while to take
the trouble of washing ribbon, unless you have
a tolerable quantity to do. Unfigured silk hand-
kerchiefs and scarfs may be washed and ironed
in the above manner. The proportion of spirits
of wine, is about a tablespoonful to a gallon of

water.-M. DAVIES.

To Pack Fruit for Carriage.-If fruit is to be sent to any considerable distance, great care should be taken in packing it: it should not be done in baskets, as they are liable to be bruised among heavy luggage, and the fruit, of course, will be impaired. Forsyth, therefore, recommends boxes made of strong deal, of different sizes, according to the quantity of fruit to be packed. In packing, proceed thus:-First put a layer of fine long, dry moss in the bottom of the tin box, then a layer of currants or cherries, then another layer of moss, and so on alternately, fruit and moss, until the box is so full, that when the lid is hasped down the fruit may be so finely packed as to preserve them from friction. Then make a layer of fine moss and short, soft, dry grass, well mixed, in the bottom of the deal box; pack in the melons with some of the same, tight in between all the rows, and also between the melons in the same row, till the layer is finished; choosing the fruit as nearly of a size as possible, filling up every interstice with the moss and grass. When the melons are packed, put a thin layer of moss and grass over them, upon which place the tin box with the currants, packing it firmly all round with moss to prevent it from shaking; then put a thin layer of moss over the box, and pack the pears firmly (but so as not to bruise them), on that layer, in the same manner as the melons; and so on with the peaches, nectarines, plums, and lastly the grapes, filling up the box with moss, that the lid may shut down so light as to prevent any friction among the fruit. The boxes should have locks and two keys, which may serve for them all: each of the persons who pack and unpack the fruit having a key. The moss and grass should always be returned in the boxes, which, with a little addition, will serve the whole season, being shaken up and well aired after each journey, and keeping it sweet and clean. After the wooden box is locked, cord it firmly. If fruit be packed according to the above directions, it may be sent to the farthest parts of the kingdom, with perfect safety.

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