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found on the coasts of the Orkney group, from whence the following curious account of fishing by proxy is sent:-"The great supply is obtained in the following manner. In the winter and early spring a pair of black-headed gulls take possession of the bay, drive away the interlopers, and may be seen at day-break every morning beating from side to side, on the wing, and never both in one place, except in the act of crossing as they pass. The sail-fluke skims the ridge of the wave towards the shore, with its tail raised over its back, and when the wave recedes is left on the sand, into which it burrows so suddenly and completely that though I have watched its approach, only once have I succeeded in finding its burrow. The gull, however, has a surer eye, and, casting like a hawk, pounces on the fluke, from which with one stroke of the bill it extracts the liver. If not disturbed, the gull no sooner gorges that luscious morsel, than it commences dragging the fish to some outlying rock, where he and his con

sort may discuss it at leisure. By robbing the black-backs I have had the house supplied daily with this excellent fish, in weather during which no fishing-boat could put to sea. Close to the beach of South Bay, a stone wall has been raised to shelter the crops from the sea spray. Behind this we posted a smart lad, who kept his eye on the soaring gulls. The moment one of the birds made his well-known swoop, the boy rushed to the sea strand shouting with all his might. He was usually in time to scare the gull away, and secure the fluke, but in almost every case with the liver torn out. If the gull by chance succeeded in carrying off his prey to the rock, he and his partner set up a triumphant cackling, as if deriding the disappointed lad."

LIVE TROUT, CAUGHT IN A WATER TANK. The water in the large tank in Edinburgh Castle having been run off for the purpose of executing some repairs, one of the workmen engaged in rémoving the silt from the bottom, caught a live trout, six inches long; this trout must have come through the pipe from the reservoir at the Pentland Hills, and as the tank has not been cleaned since its erection, seven years ago, the fish has most probably passed several years in solitary confinement.-Newspaper, 1860.

THE SWORDFISH.

THE DOG-APE.

A fine specimen of the ape, familiarly called cynocephales, or dog-headed, has been presented to the Zoological Gardens of Marseilles by a skipper. The animal is said to be prodigiously strong, and equally savage; he made desperate efforts to seize some of the sailors, to whom he had a dislike, and a very strong chain was necessary to restrain him-they were even obliged to saw off some of his canine teet. His appearance is very odd; the head being exceedingly long, the muzzle occupying two-thirds of the whole; the eyelids flesh-coloured; the limbs elongated and slender; and the tail the same dimensions (? length) as the body. He is beginning to behave himself respectably now, but at first he was extremely fierce and sulky.— Morning Star, June 15, 1860.

THE FEROCITY OF THE OWL.

a field at

A singular, and, we believe, previously unheard-of occurrence, took place a few evenings since. A young man, the son of a respectable farmer, in returning home across Twyning, was violently seized on the back part of his neck by an owl, which had suddenly alighted on his back, its approach being unperceived, and it was with some difficulty that the winged assailant could be kept at bay. Shortly afterwards a working man of the neighbourhood, who was passing near the spot, was also attacked by the same or another owl, which flew in his face, and severely bit him just under one of his eyes. In each case blood was drawn by the beak of the aggressor, and two or three days elapsed before the pain caused thereby wholly subsided. It was subsequently ascertained that there was a nest of young owls in a tree near the place, and there is no doubt that one or both of the parent birds made these remarkable assaults. Worcester Journal.

ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

ACTIVITY OF BIRDS (p. 154).-Dr. Macgillivray records the observations made by a friend on a pair of blue titmice when rearing their young. The parent birds began their labour of love at half-past three o'clock in the morning, and did not leave off till after eight o'clock in the evening, after being almost incessantly engaged for nearly

A proof of the extraordinary power of the sword-seventeen hours. Mr. Weir counted their various fish may be seen in the Arab, engaged in the African trade, and now undergoing repairs at Bristol. The fish appears to have driven its sword through a double sheathing of copper, a plank 2 inches thick, and deep into one of the ship's timbers, when the weapon broke short off.-1860.

returns to the nest, and found them to be 475. Up to four o'clock, as a breakfast, they were fed twelve times; between five and six, forty times, flying to and from a plantation more than 150 yards from their nest; between nine and ten o'clock they fed them forty-six times, and they continued at their

work till the time specified, sometimes bringing | of the most familiar examples of the class. It

in a single large caterpillar, and at other times two or three small ones.

POWER OF THE HUMAN EYE OVER WILD ANIMALS (p. 154).-Several travellers have recorded the fact that few, if any, of the wild creatures can endure the steady gaze of man, if he exhibit no signs of fear. Among others, Sir Francis Head, who in his "Journey Across the Pampas " says:-"The fear which all wild animals in America have of man is very singularly seen in the Pampas. I often rode towards the ostriches and gamas crouching under the opposite side of my horse's neck; but I always found, that although they would allow any loose horse to approach them, they, even when young, ran from me, though little of my figure was visible; and when one saw them enjoy themselves in such full liberty, it was, at first, not pleasing to observe, that one's appearance was everywhere asignal to them that they should fly from their enemy. Yet it is by this fear that man hath dominions over the beasts of the fields: and there is no animal in South America that does not

his

acknowledge this instinctive feeling. As a singular proof of the above, and of the difference between the wild beasts of America and of the Old World, I will venture to relate a circumstance which a man sincerely assured me had happened to him in South America. He was trying to shoot some wild ducks; and, in order to approach them unperceived, he put the corner of his poncho (which is a sort of long, narrow blanket) over his head, and, crawling along the ground upon his hands and knees, the poncho not only covered his body, but trailed along the ground behind him. As he was thus creeping by a large bush of reeds, he heard a loud, sudden noise, between a bark and a roar; he felt something heavy strike his feet, and, instantly jumping up, he saw, to his astonishment, a large lion actually standing on poncho; and perhaps the animal was equally astonished to find him in the immediate presence of so athletic a man. The man told me he was unwilling to fire, as his gun was loaded with very small shot, and he therefore remained motionless, the lion standing on his poncho for many seconds! At last, the creature turned his head, and walking very slowly away about ten yards, he stopped and turned again. The man still maintained his ground; upon which the lion tacitly acknowledged his supremacy, and walked off. OCTOPUS (p. 154.)-This term, or as it is more properly written octopod, comes from the Greek okto eight, and pous foot, and is applied to a class of animals having eight serpent-like limbs. Henry B. turns to page 172 of the present volume, he will see a comical-looking object, which is one

If

is the cuttle-fish, found on all the British shores. These creatures are the "polypi" of Homer and Aristotle: they are solitary animals, frequenting rocky shores, and are very active and voracious; the females oviposit on the sea-weeds, or in the cavities of empty shells. In the markets of Smyrna and Naples, and the bazaars of India, they are regularly exposed for sale. Although common (at St. Jago) in pools of water left by the retiring tide, they are not very easily caught. By means of their long arms and suckers, they can drag their bodies into very small crevices, and when thus fixed it requires great force to remove them. At other times they dart, tail first, with the rapidity of an arrow, from one side of the pool to the other, at the same time discolouring the water with a dark chestnut-brown ink. They also escape detection by varying their tints, according to the nature of the ground over which they pass. In the dark they are slightly phosphorescent.

SILKWORMS (p. 154.) The silkworm originated in the southern part of the Chinese empire, where written documents are said to exist, proving that these insects were raised there 2,700 years before the Christian era. From thence they passed into Persia, India, and various parts of Asia, and subsequently to the Isle of Cos. In the sixth century, they appeared to have arrived at Constantinople, where the Emperor Justinian made them an object of utility, and they were successively cultivated in Greece, Asia, Spain, Italy, and France.

QUERIES.

Age of Animals.-Some time ago you answered a query of mine respecting the age of geese. I am now desirous of knowing something about the duration of life in animals generally.-RuSTICUS.

Tame Otters.-Are these creatures capable of being tamed? I have heard that they are, but do not remember to have read of an instance of one becoming confiding and familiar with man.RUSTICUS.

The Nutcracker.-There is a bird called by this name which is, I believe, rare in this country. I saw a stuffed specimen, which had been shot by a friend a short time since, and feel desirous of knowing a few particulars of its natural history. Can you furnish me with the required information?

-ANNIE.

seal, which was improperly called a fish; but I am Singing Fish.-We have lately had a talking informed by a sailor that there is a greater wonder than this-a fish in reality, which has a natural song! Is this the case?-ANNIE,

Woodwele.-In the ballad of Robin Hood I read

that

"The Woodwele sung, and would not cease, Sitting upon the spray." What bird is this ?-HENRY B.

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HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

(Continued from page 151.)

"Words are the sole expounders of the mind, And correspondence keep 'twixt all mankind."

"Hæthen cild bith ge-fallod, ac hit ne bræt na his hiw with-utan, dheah dhe hit beo withinnan awend. Hit bith ge-broht synfull dhurh Adames forgægednysse to tham fant fate. Ac hit bith athwogen fram eallum synnum with-innan, dheah dhe hit withutan his hiw ne awende."

Transl.-A heathen child is christened, yet he

THE first Anglo-Saxon writer of emi-altereth not his shape without, though he be who wrote in his own language, and of whom there are any remains, was Ced

nence,

Adam's disobedience to the font vessel. But he is within changed. He is brought sinful through washed from all sins inwardly, though he out

f mon, a monk of Whitby, who died aboutwardly his shape not change. A.D. 680. The following is a specimen of Anglo-Saxon poetry in that day; it was We have now arrived at that stage-the composed by Cadmon on the Work of semi-Saxon period of the language-at Creation," and is selected, as will be other which the vernacular Anglo-Saxon first specimens of Anglo-Saxon and early Eng-began to pass into modern English. There lish, from Chambers' "Cyclopædia of Eag-exists a production, usually known by the

སྣ སྤང་ ཆ་ གན་ ན་ ་ན་ ན་ 5

lish Literature" :

Anglo-Saxon.-"Nuwe sceolan herian-heofonrices weard, metodes mihte and his mod-ge-thone wera wuldor fæder! swa he wundra ge-hwæs ece dryhten oord onstealde." Translation.-Now we shall praise the guardian of heaven, the might of the Creator, and his counsel, the glory father of men! how he of all wonders, the eternal Lord, formed the beginning. A few names of inferior note fill up the list of Anglo-Saxon variety to the time of the venerable Bede. His works were very numerous, and consisted chiefly of Scriptural translations, commentaries, religious treatises, and the most useful of all, an ecclesiastical history of the Anglo-Saxons. Some of his works were subsequently translated into the vernacular by the illustrious Alfred, who designed thereby to improve the condition of his ignorant subjects. Alfred was born A.D. 848, and died

A.D. 901.

The following specimen of Anglo-Saxon, as it existed in the interval of these dates, is an extract from his translation of Boethius "On the Consolation of Philosophy," and is selected from "Spalding's History of English Literature" :

"We sculon get, of ealdum leasum spellum, the sum bispell recean. án hearpere Hit gelamp gió thætte was on thæse theode the Thracia hátte. Thæs náma was Orfeus. He hæfde án swithe ænlic wif. Sió wæs háten Eurydice." Transl.-We will now, from old lying tales, to thee a certain parable tell. It happened formerly, that a harper was in the nation which Thrace was called. His name was Orpheus. He had a very incomparable wife. She was called Eurydice." Subsequently to Alfred, the next important name is that of Elfric, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died A.D. 1006. He, like Alfred, wrote much in the vernacular for the enlightenment of the people. The following specimen of Anglo-Saxon prose, in

Homily"

name of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which gives a view of early English history, and is supposed to have been composed by a series of authors, commencing soon after the death of Alfred, and continuing to the reign of Henry II. The following passage, therefore, gives a frightful description of the miseries endured by the peasantry during the disturbed reign of Stephen, and must therefore have been written subsequently to that king's death, which took place A.D. 1154:

"Hi swencten the wrecce men of the land mid castel-weorces. Thá the castles waren maked,

thú fylden hi mid yvele men."

the land with castle works. When the castles were Transl. They oppressed the wretched men of made, then filled they (them) with evil men.

The Norman Conquest produced a great change in the language of the country. Norman-French, a modification of Latin which arose in the middle ages, became the language of education, of the law courts, and of the upper classes generally. But it was destined, in the course of the 12th century, to undergo great grammatical changes. Its sounds were greatly altered, syllables were cut short in the pronunciation, and the terminations and inflections of words were softened down until they were entirely lost. Dr. Johnson says that in this manner the Normans affected the

Anglo-Saxon more than by the introduction of new words; and this opinion is supported by the evidence supplied by Lazamon's metrical chronicle, the "Brut," which belongs to the end of the 12th century, or the beginning of the 13th, and must, therefore, have been written a century and a half after the Norman Conquest, and which, notwithstanding that it contains more than 32,000 lines, has few words not Anglo-Saxon, and only about fifty which may be regarded as French.

The following is an extract, from a charter of Henry III., in the common language of the time:

"Henry, thurg Godes fultome, king on Englenelaunde, Lhoaverd on Yrloand, Duk on Norman, on Acquitain, Earl on Anjou, send I greeting to alle hise holde, ilærde and, illwelde, on Huntindonnschierre."

Translation.-Henry, through God's support, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy, of Acquitain, Earl of Anjou, sends greeting to all his subjects, learned and unlearned, of Huntingdonshire.

The following specimen of old English belongs to the middle of the 14th century, and from it will at once be seen the rapid change the language had then undergone, so much so, that it can be ventured without a translation; it is taken from "The Vision of Pierce Ploughman," a poem ascribed to a priest of that day, and written evidently for the purpose of exposing the corruptions of the church, the cause which even then was silently preparing the way for the Reformation. Pierce is represented as falling asleep, and seeing a series of visions:"Out of the west coast, a wench, as we thought, Came waeking in the way, to hell-ward she looked;

Mercy hight that maid, a meek thing withal,
A full benign burd, and buxom of speech;
Her sister, as it seemed, came soothly waeking,
Even out of the East, and westward she looked,
A full comely creature, truth she hight,
For the virtue that her followed afeard was she
never.

When these maidens mette, Mercy and Truth, Either axed other of this great wonder, Of the din and of the darkness," &c.* With these imperfect models as his only native guide, arose our first great author, Geoffrey Chaucer, distinctively known as the father of English poetry. Though our language had risen into importance with the rise of the Commons in the time of Edward I., the French long kept possession of the court and higher circles; and it required a genius like that of Chaucer to give literary permanence and consistency to the language and poetry of England. Henceforward his native style, which Spenser terms "The pure well of English undefiled," formed a standard of composition. It is unnecessary to continue specimens of the English language for the purpose of exhibiting the transitions thereof from one stage to another farther down than the time of Chaucer and Wycliffe. The language they composed in has been called middle English, and is, in all essentials, so like our everyday speech, that there scarcely exists any difficulty, *Chambers' "Cyclopædia of English Litera

ture."

except probably the old-fashioned spelling, to prevent any well-informed Englishman of the present day from readily understanding every word of it.

66

The following selection is from Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales" :

"A knight there was, and that a worthy man,
That fro the time that he first began
To riden out, he loved chevalrie,
Trouthe and honour, freedom and curtesie.
Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre ;
And, thereto, hadde he ridden none more ferre,
As wel in Christendom as in Hethenesse,
And ever honoured for his worthinesse."

sidered one of the greatest in English history. In maintaining the great doctrines of the Reformation, and defending himself against priestly intolerance and persecution, he produced many controversial works of great merit; but the work of the most enduring utility was his translation of the Holy Scriptures into the vernacular.

The name of Wycliffe must ever be con

The following, a translation of the "Magnificat," may be taken as a fair specimen of his style :

"And Marye sayde, my soul magnifieth the Lord,

And my spiryt hath gladid in God myn helthe.

For he hath behulden the mekenesse of his handmayden; for lo, for this alle generations schulen seye that I am blessid. For he that is mighti hath done to me grete thingis, and his name is holy. And his mercyis fro kyndrede into kyndredis, to men that dreden him. He hath made myght in his arm, he scatteride proude men, with the thoughte of his herte."

The comparative number of words in modern English derived from the mother tongue, and the method whereby such number has been tested, have been previously stated. It is not sufficient, however, for a thorough appreciation of the importance comparatively of the elements of our language, that we should know how many words therein are traceable to the AngloSaxon, and how many to a foreign original. The mere question of the number of words so derived has in it more of the curious than the useful; and, when so put, may have the effect rather of deceiving us as to the proper value to be attached to the respective elements. Words which may be very numerous in dictionaries, may be comparatively unimportant as being wholly unnecessary to the conducting of correspondence, and carrying on the ordinary business of every day life, whilst words, on the contrary, or sorts of words that occur less frequently, may be of such importance as to render it impossible to dispense with them. The vocabulary of the English language being analyzed in this

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way, the obligations it is under to the Anglo-Saxon will appear in a much stronger light than by analyzing it merely in reference to the number of words deduced from the latter. The following are the classes of words in modern English derived from an Anglo-Saxon parentage.

through the association of ideas, of recalling to our minds, when we are so disposed, a great variety of the most affecting sensations, images, and emotions.

6th. The Anglo-Saxon element of modern English is that which supplies us with the language of ordinary business transactions 1st. Words which imply relationships.—the counting-house, the shop, the marThe importance and necessary number of ket, the street, the farm;-and of invective, such words will be seen by a careful perusal humour, satire, and colloquial pleasantry; of Locke's "Essay on the Human Under- and thus becomes, among the eminently standing," Book ii., chapters 25, 28 in- practical people, the medium of practical clusive. action.

2nd. We owe to the Anglo-Saxon not only the great body of our adjectives, implying, as they do, evident relationships, as great, small, big, &c., but the nouns and verbs, which are usually denominated by grammarians irregular.

The organization of the English language may be regarded as complete at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The rules regulating the changes to be made on words, and determining the grammatical structuré of sentences, had been definitively fixed pre3rd. We derive from the mother tongue vious to that period. The mere vocabulary the names for the greater number of objects of the language, however, had not been so perceived by the senses, as sun, moon, stars, fixed. Indeed the vocabulary of the lanland, water, wood, stream, hill, and dale; guage may not be said even to be finally to which may be added names for the most fixed, as it continually receives new accescommon animals and plants. sions, especially in the case of modern lan4th. Whilst from Latin, and in many in.guages, from the necessities for fresh words stances, French, we borrow such particular words as imply an abstraction, and are very general in their applications, those whose signification are particular, we generally borrow from the Saxon. We materialize a Latin word for instance, when we speak of "colour," but fall back on our mother tongue when we specify the particular sort, and describe it as red, yellow, blue, white, black, green, brown, &c. &c. In the same manner, we Romanize the expression when we speak of "motion" in general, but are obliged to fall back again on the Teutonic element when we specify the sort, and say he, leap, spring, stagger, slip, slide, glide, fall, walk, run, swim, ride, creep, crawl, fly, &c. &c.

5th. From the same origin we derive the great bulk of such expressions as are used to denote ordinary kinds of feeling and affection-to name the individuals who are the earliest and most natural objects of our attachment, and those inanimate things by which we' figuratively signify domestic union and habits. Of this class are the words-love, hate, hope, fear, gladness, sorrow, smile, tear, sigh, groan, weeping, laughter, father, mother, man, wife, child, son, daughter, kindred, friends, home, hearth, roof, fireside, &c. &c. These are instances of a multitude of words, which, even when they are not the only names for learn to give them; they therefore occur the things called by them, are the first we to us most readily, and have the power,

arising from the numerous discoveries in science and other causes. During the last three centuries, therefore, our language has been considerably enlarged as it regards the number of words, especially such words as have been introduced by classical scholars from a classical stock; otherwise it has undergone no change since the end of the middle ages, except changes in style; that is, varieties in the manner in which individuals, all using the same language, express their ideas.

Such is a brief sketch of the history of our native language, that language which has been made use of to awaken in the hearts of Englishmen love, hope, patriotism, and a boundless, innumerable store of the pleasantest associations. It combines strength, precision, and copiousness sufficient to enable it to be the efficient medium of communication between millions: and these, that part of the human race that appears most likely to control, in an eminent degree, the future destinies of the globe. It is calculated, that before the end of the present century, English will be the native and vernacular language of no less than 150 millions of human beings; and, from the restless energy and colonizing spirit of those who speak it, will yet be written down, in the page of history, as one of the greatest engines for the dissemination of civilization and christianity throughout the remotest corners of the globe.

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