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smile, to inquire of Mrs. Jenkins why she did'nt tell him, when he called, on Saturday, of her inability to procure a house? To which that lady innocently replies that she didn't wish to give him any unnecessary trouble! which reply satisfies him as to Mrs. Jenkin's claim to force of intellect.

He finds that Mrs. Jenkins has packed all her things in the back basemnet and the second-floor sitting-room. Poor thing! she has done her best, after all. She is in ill health; her husband is sick, and away from home; and her children are not well. But Smith is a kind-hearted man. With a few exceptions, the Smiths are a kind-hearted race-and that's probably the reason they are so numerous.

Smith puts on a cheerful countenance, and busies himself in arranging his furniture. Mrs. Smith,. kind soul, forgets the destruction of her bandbox and bonnet, and cares not how long or how loud Smith whistles. Suddenly the prospect brightens! Mrs. Jenkin's brother-in-law appears, and announces that he has found rooms for her a little higher up town. Cartmen are soon at the door, and the Jenkinses are on their "winding way " to their new residence.

-But the Smiths' troubles are not yet over. The painters, who were to have had the house all painted the day before, have done nothing but leave their paint-pots in the hall, and a little Smithling, being of an investigating turn of mind, and hungry, withal, attempts to make a late breakfast off the contents of one of them. He succeeds in eating enough to dis gust him with his bill of fare, and frightens his mamma into hysterics. A doctor is sent for: he soon arrives, and, after attending to the mother, gives the young adventurer a facetious chuck under the chin,. and pronounces him perfectly safe. The parents are

greatly relieved, for Willy is a pet; and they confidently believe him destined to be President of the United States, if they can only keep paint-pots out of his way.

It takes the Smiths some ten day to get "to rights." The particulars of their further annoyances-how the carpets didn't fit; how the cartmen "lost the pieces;" how the sofas couldn't be made to look natural; how the pianoforte was too large to stand behind the parlour door, and too small to stand between the front windows; how the ceiling was too low, and the book-case too high; how a bottle of indelible ink got into the bureau by mistake and "marked "all Mrs. Smith's best dresses-I forbear to inflict on the reader. Suffice it to say, the Smiths are in a "settled state;" although their apartments give signs of the recent manifestation of a strong disturbing force-reminding one, somewhat, of a settlement" slowly recovering from the visitation of an earthquake. Still, they are thankful for present peace, and are determined positively, not to move again—until next May.

LITTLE SHOES AND STOCKINGS.

Little shoes and stockings!

What a tale ye speak,

Of the swollen eyelid,

And the tear-wet cheek;

Of the nightly vigil,

And the daily prayer;
Of the buried darling,
Present everywhere!

Brightly plaided stockings,
Of the finest wool;
Rounded feet and dainty,
Each a stocking-ful;
Tiny shoes of crimson,
Shoes that nevermore
Will awaken echoes

From the toy-strewn floor.

Not the wealth of Indies
Could your worth eclipse,
Priceless little treasures,
Pressed to whitened lips,
As the mother nurses,
From the world apart,
Leaning on the arrow

That has pierced her heart.

Head of flaxen ringlets;

Eyes of heaven's blue;
Parted mouth-a rosebud—
Pearls, just peeping through;
Soft arms, softly twining
Round her neck at eve;—
Little shoes and stockings,
These the dreams ye weave.

Weave her yet another,
Of the world of bliss,-
Let the stricken mother
Turn away from this;
Bid her dream believing
Little feet await,
Watching for her passing
Through the pearly gate.

ANON.

THE EYES OF BIRDS.

facility muscle carcass

quadrupeds membrane velocity

designed

obliquely muscles provision reasoning instrument

Human beings have six muscles to each eye, that they may with facility move it on either side; but horses, cows, sheep, and other quadrupeds, which habitually incline their heads to the earth in search of food, have a muscle by which the eyeballs are suspended and supported, and which we do not need. Birds require to have them sometimes as flat as possible for protection; and, at other times, as round as possible, that they may see the small objects, flies, and other insects, which they are chasing through the air, and which they pursue with the most unerring certainty. This could only be accomplished by giving them a power of suddenly changing the form of their eyes. Accordingly, there is a set of hard scales placed on the outer coat of their eye, round the place where the light enters; and over these scales are drawn the muscles, or fibres, by which motion is communicated; so that, by acting with these muscles, the bird can press the scales, and squeeze the natural magnifier of the eye into a round shape when it wishes to follow an insect through the air; and can relax the scales, in order to flatten the eye again, when it would see a distant object, or move safely through leaves and twigs.

The power of altering the shape of the eye is possessed by birds of prey in a very remarkable degree. They can see the smallest objects close to them, and can yet discern larger bodies at vast distances; as a carcass stretched upon the plain, or a dying fish

afloat upon the water. The eyelid is designed to moisten the eye, and to keep it clean; and, a singular provision is made for keeping the surface of the bird's eye clean-for wiping, as it were, the glass of the instrument and also for protecting it, while rapidly flying through the air, and through thickets, without hindering the sight. Birds are, for these purposes, furnished with a third eyelid; a fine membrane, or skin, which is constantly moved very rapidly over the eye-ball, by two muscles placed in the back of the eye. One of the muscles ends in a loop, the other in a string, which goes through the loop, and is fixed in the membrane, to pull it backward and forward. If you wish to draw any thing toward any place with the least force, you must pull directly in the line between the thing and the place; but if you wish to draw it as quickly as possible, and do not regard the loss of force, you must pull obliquely, by it in two directions at once. Tie a string to a stone, and draw it straight toward you with one hand; then make a loop on another string, and running the first through it, draw one string in each hand, not toward you, but sideways, till both strings are stretched in a straight line; you will see how much swifter the stone moves than it did before, when pulled straight foward. Now this is proved, by mathematical reasoning, to be the necessary consequence of force applied obliquely; there is a loss of power, but a great increase of velocity. The velocity is the thing required to be gained in the third eyelid ; and the contrivance is exactly that of a string and a loop, moved each by a muscle, as the two strings are by the hands in the case we have been supposing. LORD BROUGHAM.

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