the two adjoining the North and South poles, are called frigid, on account of their extreme cold; the next two are called temperate, because they are neither hot nor cold; the middle one is termed the torrid zone, on account of its great heat.

Any thing round, like a boy's hoop, is said to be circular; anything round, like a ball, is said to be spherical or globular.

Phos'-pho-rus is a substance obtained from bones; it has the remarkable property of taking fire, and burning with a gentle flame, when exposed to the air.

When a ca-nal' is carried over a river, or any low ground, the way is called an aqueduct; when a railway is carried over a river, or other roads, the way is called a viaduct.

Liverpool, the great mart of the American trade, is advantageously situated on the river Mersey; two or three centuries ago, it consisted of a few fishermen's huts.

Sponge is a soft porous substance found adhering to rocks, covered with sea water; it is said to be a zo'-ophite, because it partakes both of the nature of a vegetable, and that of an animal.

The first appearance of a winged insect after leaving the egg, is that of a grub; its next that of a chrys'-a-lis; its last that of a perfect moth or fly; in this state it deposits its eggs for a new generation, and then dies.

Tortoise shell is the horny covering of the marine* or sea tortoise; it softens like horn when heated, and is formed into combs, spectacle frames, and a variety of other useful articles.

The diamond is the most valuable of all the precious stones, and such is its hardness, that it can only be cut by itself, hence we have the old saying, "diamond cut diamond." *Ma-reen.'

When the air is drawn out of a pipe with one end immersed in water, the pressure or weight of the air or atinosphere, will force the water up the pipe to the height of thirty-three feet; this is proved by the work ing of the pump.

A monarchy is a country under the government of one person; England is a constitutional monarchy, that is, the sovereign governs according to the laws.

An-i-mal'-cu-la are insects so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye; a single drop of stagnant water contains many thousands of these minute

creatures.

A government is said to be democrat'ic when the sovereign power is placed in the whole body of the people, as in The United States of America.

A centurion is often mentioned in the Gospels; he was a Roman officer, who commanded a hundred men, or of much the same rank as a captain in the English

army.

LESSON XXIV.

THE SPIDER.-THE BOA CONSTRICTOR.

The spider is an insect so commonly met with, that it is unnecessary to describe its size and shape; it has eight feet, each of which ends in a hook; it has, also, eight eyes, but these cannot be moved like those of man, so that their number is probably designed to make up for that want.

In its body it has five little openings called "spinnerets," out of which comes the gummy substance of which it forms its thread; it usually chooses for its web

*Mon'-ar-ke.

a place near which there is some hole to which it may escape, as, for instance, the wall in the ceiling in the corner of a room.

In forming its web, it fixes one of its threads to the wall, by means of its spinneret, and then passes to the other side, carrying its thread with it, and fastening it to the opposite wall; after it has carried many threads backwards and forwards in one direction, it goes upwards and downwards, weaving other threads across them, till the snare is formed in which flies and other small insects are to be entangled.

It also constructs a small cell for itself, usually in the middle of the web, where it sits patiently waiting for its prey; sometimes the cell is fastened to the web by threads, which shake it as soon as anything is struggling and give it notice to descend, and seize upon the unfortunate fly that has become entangled in the meshes.

A kind of silk has been produced from the threads of some spiders, and an attempt was made to keep them for this purpose, but they were found to be so fierce, and so fond of fighting with each other, that in a little time very few were left, besides the silk they produced was not so good as that which is spun by the silkworm.

It has been observed by naturalists, that the spider is only furnished with a certain quantity of the gummy substance, of which it forms its threads, and that when this stock is exhausted, it has no means of subsisting but by attacking a younger and weaker spider, and taking possession of its web.

Among the many evils attending a hot climate, may be named the presence of snakes or serpents, of which naturalists have reckoned about two hundred species or

kinds, and of these the largest is the boa constrictor, chiefly found in Africa, and South America.

Some of these monsters reach the length of sixty or seventy feet, and such are their amazing powers, that one has been known to wind itself round the body of a buffalo, and after breaking in all its bones, and licking it all over with its tongue, to swallow it whole.

it

When the boa has thus devoured an animal of any size, it falls into a state of sleep or stupor, during which may easily be destroyed; when it wakes up hungry, it is very active, and usually makes its way to the bank of a river in search of food, when entwining its tail round the trunk or branch of a tree, it swings itself backwards and forwards until some animal comes to drink, upon which it seizes and makes its prey.

A

LESSON XXV.

THE OVER INQUISITIVE BOY PUNISHED.

An unwelcome visitor had found his way into Mr. Walter's poultry yard, a visitor that would probably carry something away with him.

To such an intruder we commonly say "your company is not agreeable," and so would Mr. Walter have done long ago, but sly Reynard did not give him the opportunity, although he made frequent visits to the poultry.

No one would have suspected these visits, had not the poultry begun to disappear; first a poor hen was missing, then a pigeon, then a chicken or two, and at last a fine fat goose, and all this was done in such a sly manner that no person ever saw the robber.

Mr. Walter did not like thus to be deprived of his poultry, and one day named the circumstance to his neighbour, who said, "Oh! I can help you sir, I have an excellent fox-trap, and you shall have the use of it, and I trust you will soon have the pleasure of making Mr. Reynard's acquaintance, but you must caution the children not to meddle with it, for such a trap is dangerous."

Mr. Walter thanked him, took the trap home, and showed it to his children, telling them to be careful not to come near it, lest they should be hurt; he then tied a dead hen upon the trap, and when all the poultry had gone to roost, he set it in the yard.

Now George, one of Mr. Walter's children, had rather too great a share of curiosity, for he must know everything, whether it was proper for him to know it or not, and his father frequently told him that his over inquisitiveness would, at some time, bring him into trouble.

The trap had been set about an hour, and it was quite dark out of doors, when George began to wonder whether the fox was already caught; he knew that the poultry yard was not yet fastened, and he thought he could visit it and no person would know,

He went into the yard, but he could neither see nor hear anything of the fox, but in groping his way back, he unfortunately stepped upon the trap, and his leg was caught in it; he shrieked so loud, that every one in the house was alarmed, and hastened with lights to see what had happened.

When they came to the yard, they found not the robber-fox in the trap, but poor George, with his leg held fast between two iron hoops, with sharp teeth, which pinched so hard, that he was almost distracted with pain.