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When they greeted him all with a cheer and a shout,
And called him their sports to share;

And a charm, to wheedle him down, they sung,
When quick he darted the fellows among;
And after him then their hats they flung,
But not a whit did he care.

4. He whipped away, in his fitful flight,
Through a casement into a parlor bright,
Where the young and gay were met that night,
And threw them into alarm;

For the maiden feared that the ugly thing,
As he flitted along on his leathern wing,
Himself would into her tresses fling,

And do her a deal of harm.

5. Ah, now the intruder will soon be caught!
The knights are up, with the valorous thought
To strike him down, and he has forgot

Where it was that he first came in.

They are after him hard with brush and cane;
His nights are numbered! He must be slain!
But he darts off-whither? They watch in vain;
He is off, no more to be seen!

6. He is sporting without, in a safer place;
He is giving the moths and the millers a chase;
For he feels himself in a hungry case;
And these his affections crave;
So, whenever a lusty one he sees,
He snaps him up with the greatest ease,
And having feasted himself on these,
He retires again to his cave.

ANONYMOUS.

LESSON CXLVIII.

VOCAL GYMNASTICS.

REFER TO CAUTION 29.-The following lesson is a continuation of the exercise on page 219. Read over again the remarks there given.

(1.) Yet half I see the panting spirit sigh. (2.) A vaporing white-waistcoated waiter. (3.) A vagabond wagoner and a vagrant way-faring beggar. (4.) A wet white wafer. (5.) Beef-tea and veal-broth. (6.) Be the same in thine own act as thou art in desire. (7.) Oh, the torment of an ever-meddling memory! (8.) All night it lay an ice-drop there. (9.) Teach thy heart the holy art of humbly hear. ing truth. (10.) Hope, open thou his eye to look on high and his ear to hear. (11.) Would that all difference of sects were at an end! (12.) Oh, studied deceit ! (13.) A sad dangler. (14.) Goodness centers in the heart.

LESSON CXLIX.

amination.
MA-TU'RI-TY, ripeness.

CAP'SULE, (Latin capsula, a little chest,) | IN-VES-TI-GA'TION, research, inquiry, exa seed-vessel that opens with valves when the seeds escape. DIS-SEM'IN-ATE, (Latin dis, which denotes separation or scattering, and semen, seed,) to sow, to scatter seed. DI-VERS'I-FIED, made various or differ

ent.

EM'I-GRATE, to remove from one place to another.

IM-BIBE', to drink in, to absorb.

NU'TRI-MENT, that which nourishes, food.

OR'GAN-IZED, formed with organs; so formed that all the parts may act together to one end.

PROP-A-GA'TION, the continuance of the kind by the production of new individuals

PRONUNCIATION.-Prog'ress 27a, cu'ri-ous 16, pro-duced' 16, mi'cro-scope 276, burst 9, moisture 16 and 18, a-mus ́ing 16.

THE INTELLIGENT POTATO.

1. A YOUTH, whom we shall call Inquisitive Jack, happened one day to go down into the cellar; and he saw there a potato, which had been left upon the ground, and which had now begun to put forth several shoots.

2. These were nearly white; and Jack asked himself why the stalks of a potato in the cellar should be white, while the stalks in the open air were green. He watched the potato for several days, and perceived that it was growing quite rapidly.

3. At length one thing greatly excited his curiosity. There was a low, narrow window in the cellar. Between this and the potato there was a barrel; but the stalk of the potato had found its way round the barrel. It was actually directing its course towards the window, as if it really wanted to see the light and breathe the fresh air.

4. Greatly excited by these observations, Jack continued to watch the potato from day to day; at the same time musing with himself as to what it could' mean.

5. "Has this potato sense and feeling?" said he thoughtfully. "Does it feel itself to be a prisoner, and want to go out and see the light and breathe the air? Who has taught this plant to bend its way toward the light, and lift up its head, and point its leaves toward that which it seems to require?"

6. Not being able to satisfy these inquiries, the boy at last went to an intelligent aunt, and opened the subject to her. This led to explanations, the substance of which is as follows:

7. Plants or vegetables are organized substances, which live and grow by the aid of light, air, and moisture. They need to be fed as much as animals, and without food will die as surely as an insect, a bird, or a quadruped.

8. Instead of taking their sustenance by means of a mouth, they suck it up by means of roots. These draw from the soil, in the form

of sap, the particular nutriment that is required; and this is distributed to the branches and leaves of the plant.

9. Heat and moisture are necessary, in order to set the sap in motion; air and light are imbibed by the leaves of the plant; the various colors of plants are drawn from the rays of the sun. All plants are propagated by seeds, which, however minute, contain all the members of the parent-plant-stalk, leaf, and flower.

10. These are so nicely folded up as not to be distinguished; but when the plant begins to grow you can see with the microscope the several parts unfolding, one by one, until at last they assume the form of the plant from which they spring. It is said that the acorn, which is the seed of the oak, contains all the members of the future

tree.

11. Jack was exceedingly delighted with these curious facts, and, according to his custom, he pursued the investigation of the subject by his own observation, by reading books, and by inquiries of his intelligent and obliging aunt.

12. In the progress of his studies he learned many other curious facts, some of which we must relate, for they are quite amusing.

13. Although plants have no sense or thought, yet nature seems to have made provision which supplies all their wants. To prevent chestnuts and hickory-nuts from being devoured before they are ripe, the former are covered with a prickly burr, and the latter with an exceedingly bitter rind.

14. When these are ripe the outer coating bursts open, and lets out the imprisoned fruits, or seed. Similar contrivances are observed in respect to a multitude of other plants.

15. Some seeds,-as those of apples, peaches, plums, pears, cherries, and currants,-are covered up in a fleshy or pulpy substance, which we call fruit. Here a double purpose is answered.

16. The seeds are nicely taken care of, while mankind, with many other creatures, are provided with an ample store of delicious food. But lest the seeds should be destroyed before it is brought to maturity, the fruit is very sour or bitter, until the seeds are quite ripe.

17. Thus we see that God has taken good care of the life and prosperity of plants. As these depend entirely upon seeds for their propagation, he has provided that these seeds shall be wrapped up, protected, and nursed as carefully as little children.

18. Nor is this all. We might suppose that a seed falling from the tree beneath the shadow of its parent would shoot up, and perish for want of light, heat, and air.

19. But as children are able to go from the parent-roof and find homes for themselves, so God has provided that seeds shall emigrate from their homes. and, scattering themselves abroad, cover the face of nature with diversified vegetation.

manner.

20. This emigration of the seeds is brought about in the following You have seen the thistle-down in the autumn rise upon the air, and go sailing along to a great distance. Attached to that down is a thistle-seed, which is carried along to some place where it may rest in the soil. The rain falling upon the seed, it will shoot up into a thistle.

21. Thus, you see, the little seed is supplied with wings upon which it flies away from home, and sets up for itself. One thistle will throw off many thousands of these downy seeds, and thus the race is multiplied.

22. There are many other plants that have winged seeds. Perhaps you think the rough winds of autumn are unpleasant and mischievous; but remember that they shake myriads of seeds from the plants and trees, and scatter them abroad over the land.

23. Nor is this the only way in which seeds are disseminated. Birds carry the stones of cherries and the seeds of various berries from the place where they are produced to distant points.

24. Quadrupeds spread the seeds of various grasses and grains, by carrying them from one point to another. Burdock-seeds and cockle-seeds attach themselves to the woolly fleece of animals, and are thus diffused.

25. Rains carry seeds down the slopes of hills and mountains, and rivers bear them from one region to another. Some seeds scatter themselves by means of springs in their covering.

26. If you slightly pinch the ripe seed-case of the pretty flower of the gardens called the balsam, it will burst asunder, and scatter the seeds in all directions. The pouch which contains the seeds of the wood-sorrel also bursts, and scatters the seeds around on all sides.

27. The capsules of ferns open with a spring. The seeds of some species of this plant, when viewed through a microscope upon paper, seem to be endowed with a kind of leaping movement.

28. These and many other curious particulars Jack learned about plants. He learned that the whiteness of the potato-plant is to be attributed to the absence of light.

29. His aunt told him that in the Mammoth Cave, into which the light of the sun has never entered, the fishes, and even the crickets, are white. The absence of light in the cave has produced the same effect on the animals that the absence of light in the cellar produced on the plant.

30. She told him, too, that the motion of the plant towards the light might be compared to the instinct of animals. The infant does not know that food is necessary to its existence; yet instinct urges it to seek the food which is to support its life.

31. So light is necessary to the proper growth of the plant, and the stem of the plant accordingly seeks the light.

LESSON CL.

CIR CLING, revolving, going round.

COR O-NAL, a crown, garland.

DYE, color, hue, tint.
GEM, to adorn, embellish.

DAINTY, pleasing to the taste, delicious. | TRANS-PORT'ED, delighted, charmed.

PRONUNCIATION

- Lan'guid 24, and 29, ne'er 33, a-lone' lf, lad′en 4d, per

fume' 16.

LIVE TO DO GOOD.

1. "NOT to myself alone,”

The little opening flower transported cries
"Not to myself alone I bud and bloom.
With fragrant breath the breezes I perfume,
And gladden all things with my rainbow dyes.
The bee comes sipping every eventide
His dainty fill;

The butterfly within my cup doth hide
From threatening ill."

2. "Not to myself alone,"

The circling star with honest pride doth boast
"Not to myself alone I rise and set;

I write upon night's coronal of jet

His power and skill who formed our countless host;
A friendly beacon at heaven's open gate,
I gem the sky,

That man may ne'er forget in every fate,
His home on high."

3. "Not to myself alone,"

The honey-laden bee doth murmuring hum
"Not to myself alone from flower to flower
I roam the wood, the garden, and the bower,
And to the hive at evening weary come;
For man, for man, the luscious food I pile
With busy care,

Content if he repay my ceaseless toil
With scanty share."

4. "Not to myself alone,"
The soaring bird with lusty pinion sings -
"Not to myself alone I raise my song;

I cheer the drooping with my warbling tongue,
And bear the mourner on my viewless wings;
I bid the hymnless churl my anthem learn,
And God adore;

I call the wordling from his dross to turn,
And sing and soar."

5. "Not to myself alone,"

The streamlet whispers on its pebbly way

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