1. IF you look at a picture, or as it is called, a map of the world, for the first time, it will give you no idea of its real shape, for the world is not flat like the map, but is solid and nearly round. An orange will give you a better idea of the shape or form of the earth than anything else. You see that it is not quite round, but is a little squeezed or compressed at each end.

2. The earth not only resembles the orange in being nearly round, but like the orange it is full in the inside also; and in no place that man has discovered is it hollow. Within the orange is pulp and juice; within the earth (that is beneath the ground) are found stones, water, and many useful things which you see every day in different forms, such as iron, of which the stoves are made-coals, so useful for making fires, tin and copper, which are used for kettles and saucepans, besides many other things,silver, of which spoons, and the half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences, are made.

3. If we divide a globe or ball, the half of that globe or ball is called a hemisphere; and if you cut an orange exactly in halves through

the eyes, you may call each half a hemisphere. One side of the round world or globe on which we live is called the Eastern, and the other side the Western Hemisphere. The meaning of the East and West I will tell you presently. In the Western Hemisphere is a great country or continent called America, and many large islands. On the other side of the globe or Eastern Hemisphere are three other great continents, whose names are Europe, Asia, and Africa, besides islands, amongst which is that on which you live.

4. I have spoken of islands; now as we live upon an island, you ought to learn what an island is. It is a piece of land with water all round it. There is one island called Australia, which is larger than the whole of Europe; but the island you inhabit, is small compared with many.

5. You ought also to know the meaning of the words North, South, East, and West, for they are words which you will often hear. When you are looking at a map, the top part is called the North, the bottom the South, the right hand, or the side nearest to your right hand, the East, and the side to your left hand, the West. But you would like to know out of doors which is the North and South, East and West. I will tell you.

6. The sun always rises, or at least you

always see it first, in the East. He does not really rise for he never moves-it is the earth that moves; but the place in which the sun first appears in the morning is called the East, and the place where he seems to sink or disappear at night, is called the West. If you stand then with your right hand towards the place where the sun first appears in the morning, and your left towards the place where you saw him disappear at night, the North will be before you, and the South behind you.

LESSON 43.-THE SONG OF THE GRASS.

Everywhere aged starry gratefully

noisy

smiling

pleasant quickly
silently numbered

command

beautify

HERE I come creeping, creeping everywhere;

By the dusty road-side,

On the sunny hill-side,

Close by the noisy brook,

In every shady nook,

I come creeping, creeping everywhere.

Here I come creeping, smiling everywhere;
All round the open door,
Where sit the aged poor,
Here where the children play
In the bright and merry May,

I come creeping, creeping everywhere;

Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
In the noisy city street,

My pleasant face you'll meet,

Cheering the sick at heart,
Toiling his busy part,

Silently creeping, creeping everywhere.

Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere.
You cannot see me coming,

Nor hear my low sweet humming;
For in the starry night,

And the glad morning light,

I come quietly creeping everywhere.

Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
More welcome than the flowers,
In summer's pleasant hours;
The gentle cow is glad,

And the merry bird not sad

To see me creeping, creeping everywhere.
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
When you're numbered with the dead,
In your still and narrow bed,
In the happy spring I'll come,
And deck your silent home,
Creeping, silently creeping everywhere.
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere;
My humble song of praise

Most gratefully I raise

To Him at whose command
I beautify the land,

Creeping, silently creeping everywhere.

1. ALMOST all boys who live in the country will know what ants are, and will have seen

their nests.

Those who have looked carefully

at them, will be able to tell us that an ant is a small insect, with a large head, small chest, and large stomach, and that it has six legs attached to its chest. Some of the insects are almost black, others are of a reddish brown colour. A few of them have wings, but the greater number have none.

2. They live in nests, which they build on the ground or in it. Their nests are made up of little morsels of earth, which these insects collect and carry in their jaws. When the nest is finished, it is a roundish hill among the grass, and sometimes we may see a few blades of grass growing on it. It is almost always built of a clayey kind of earth, and is made so as to keep out the wet.

3. When the nest is finished its outside does not look very striking. But if we wish to see how clever these little insects are, we must see the interior of their dwellings.

4. The inside of their nest is almost like a little town. There are long tunnels which serve for streets, and chambers which do for houses. In some of these chambers the ants store up their food. In others we may see little white bodies, shaped like a long egg. These contain young insects, which will come out some day with wings.

5. If the nests of the ants be broken open,