LESSON XXXVII. -THE SABLE.

I. Description of Appearance, Structure, &c.

OBTAIN much of this from the children after allowing them to examine a print or specimen of the animal. Resembles a weasel or marten in size and form; about eighteen inches long. Small oval head-round ears - long whiskers; large feet-five toes-white-hooked and hard-pointed claws. Covered with dark fur (commoner kinds have light fur under their throats). Bushy tail, five inches long.

II. Habitat.

Found in woody districts (e. g., forests of fir) of the northern regions of both the Old and New World. Siberia, Kamtschatka, Hudson's Bay territory. Russia produces about 25,000 skins annually.

III. Habits, Disposition, Food, &c.

Lives in holes under the roots of trees; sleeps during the day; very active and lively in the night. Courageous, attacks larger animals than itself. Omnivorous; feeds on weasels, hares, squirrels, and partridges generally-in autumn on fruits and berries. Female bears from three to five young ones about March. Very docile and intelligent; has been domesticated.

IV. Manner of Capture.

Hunted in the months of December, January, and February; taken in pits, nets, and traps. Hunters assemble in large companies; offer prayers for success; are subdivided into smaller parties of five or ten; set out carrying provisions, cook

ing apparatus, &c.; mark the trees as they proceed; why? Set traps on their way; revisit them; take out their prey and reset them. Nets sometimes watched for days. Men suffer greatly from want of rest and food-also from the severity of the climate.

V. Uses.

Supplies very valuable fur; the coat is generally brown, sometimes tawny, and occasionally quite white; the skins having the longest and darkest hairs considered the best. (Notice our adjective sable, black or dark, as sable plumes). A skin about four inches broad sells for from one to ten pounds. Dyed skins often sold by the Chinese as the real.

LESSON XXXVIII.—THE SILK-WORM.

I. Description of Appearance, &c.

IN its first state, a very small, flat egg; hatched into a caterpillar (its second stage)-the larva (a mask); why so called? because an insect or butterfly in disguise; at first very small, about the size of a grain of mustard seed-when full-grown about three inches long. Covered with twelve rings; has sixteen legs; fourteen eyes-seven on each side of the head.

IL Localities where reared.

It is kept and carefully reared in warm countries- -e. g., China, India, Persia, Turkey (Asiatic and European), Italy (Naples, Tuscany, Lombardy, Sardinia), Austria (Illyria), France (especially around Lyons). In England, on account of the

The Chinese keep

climate, only for amusement. the caterpillars in large clean rooms, heated artificially, in trays, carefully attending them day and night; occasionally the cocoons are spun upon the branches of trees.

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III. Habits, Food, Changes, &c.

The caterpillar, till arrived at maturity, eats most voraciously; devours quantities of the leaves of the white mulberry tree. When eight days old, changes its skin; why? Rests about two days; recommences eating; changes its skin four times. When full-grown, ceases to eat; commences spinning a nest, house, or cocoon (from the French cocon, a ball or pod")—a small silky bag, consisting of fine silken threads drawn from its mouth - these are very long, some nearly a thousand feet; finished in two days; now resembles a firm, yellow ball (its third stage)—a chrysalis (from the Greek chrysos, "gold"-golden-tinted) or pupa (meant originally a baby-doll in swaddling clothes), the insect in a torpid state-a grub, without visible mouth, legs, eyes, or wings; remains thus for three or four weeks; throws off the cocoon and re-appears a moth-the perfect insect-beautiful and delicatecoloured. Lays eggs and dies. Question out the four different forms under which it appears- the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and moth. The eggs are collected and carefully preserved in bags, bottles, &c.; have the appearance of seeds till the following spring; often removed to colder districts, filled into bottles, which are sealed and immersed in cold water; why? Also hatched by means of artificial heat-e. g., in heated rooms, and in bags carried about the person,

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IV. Lessons.

Recapitulate the whole of the lesson, and draw from the children that it leads us to admire the wisdom of God, which is so wonderfully displayed in the habits, &c. of this little insect; e. g.:

1. The silkworm the only insect that feeds on the mulberry leaf.

2. It does not wander like other caterpillars; the raw silk is therefore more easily secured.

3. It is hatched simultaneously with the budding of the mulberry tree; the young and tender foliage is consequently adapted to its age.

The following poetical resumé by Cowper may be given as a dictation lesson, and afterwards committed to memory:—

"The beams of April, ere it goes,
A worm scarce visible disclose;
All winter long content to dwell
The tenant of his native shell.
The same prolific season gives
The sustenance by which he lives
The mulberry leaf, a simple store,
That serves him till he needs no more;
For, his dimensions once complete,
Thenceforth none ever sees him eat;
Though, till his growing time be past,
Scarce ever is he seen to fast.

That hour arrived, his work begins,

He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins,
Till circle upon circle, wound

Careless around him and around,

Conceals him with a veil, though slight,

Impervious to the keenest sight.

Thus self-enclosed, as in a cask,
At length he finishes his task;

And though a worm when he was lost,

Or caterpillar at the most,

When next we see him wings he wears,
And in papilio pomp appears;

ELASTIC and highly porous substance; the skeleton of an animal; consists of a large number of fibres; resembles net-work. The best, softest to the touch and palest in colour, with very small holes; when alive, of a dull bluish colour above, and white beneath. Several varieties.

II. Formation.

Produced by minute polypi; when living, resemble jelly; adhere to and cover the surface of rocks, shells, &c., under water at various depths between three and thirty fathoms; line the walls of caves or "hang in living stalactites from the roof;" a constant stream of water flows through them.

III. Whence obtained.

Widely diffused; every coast furnishes some kind, from the poles to the equator; more abundant and larger in the warmer zones. Best taken among the Cyclades. Principal markets, Smyrna, Rhodes, Napoli, Constantinople, Beyrout, Latakia, and Tripoli these markets are visited by merchants from every part of the world, and present a