the size of the mouth to a height of 60 feet, and through this half a dozen smaller jets, ranging from 6 to 15 feet in diameter, rise to a height of 250 feet. The eruptions are irregular and usually last from fifteen to twenty minutes, so that one is able to enjoy to the fullest extent the grand and unique spectacle."-Adapted. Questions on the lesson :-What number of hot springs is believed to be in the Yellowstone region? What is their size? How is the mist from them used? What is the peculiarity of the Prismatic Spring-of the Rainbow Spring? What other interesting objects are found in this region? How often is Old Faithful active? the Beehive? How high does the water rise in the various geysers described? What volume of water is lifted up by the Giantess? How high? What may be seen passing through it? LOVE THE ONLY PRICE OF LOVE. 1. The fairest pearls that northern seas do breed, For precious stones from eastern coasts are sold; Nought yields the earth that from exchange is freed; Gold values all, and all things value gold. Where goodness wants an equal change to make, There greatness serves, or number place doth take. 2. No mortal thing can bear so high a price, But that with mortal thing it may be bought; The corn of Sicil buys the western spice; French wine of us, of them our cloth is sought. No pearls, no gold, no stones, no corn, no spice, No cloth, no wine, of Love can pay the price. 3. What thing is Love, which nought can countervail ? Nought save itself, ev'n such a thing is Love. All worldly wealth in worth as far doth fail, As lowest earth doth yield to heaven above. Divine is Love, and scorneth worldly pelf, And can be bought with nothing but with self.-Anon. breed, produce. countervail, equal in value. pelf, riches, money. THE EAR.1 1. The organ or instrument of hearing is in all its most important parts hidden within the head. We cannot discover its construction by merely examining it from the outside. What in ordinary language we call the ear, is only the outer porch of a curious series of 1 From The Five Gateways of Knowledge, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co. intricate, winding passages. Like the lobbies of a great building, these passages lead from the outer air into the inner chambers. 2. Certain of the passages are full of air; others are full of liquid. Thin membranes are stretched like parchment curtains across them at different places, and can be thrown into vibration, or made to tremble, as the head of a drum or the surface of a tambourine does when struck with a stick or the fingers. Between two of those parchment-like curtains, a chain of very small bones extends, which serves to tighten or relax these membranes, and to communicate vibrations to them. 3. In the innermost place of all, rows of fine threads, called nerves, stretch like the strings of a piano from the last points to which the tremblings or thrillings reach,` and pass inwards to the brain. If these threads or nerves are destroyed, the power of hearing as certainly departs as the power to give out sound is lost by a piano or violin when its strings are broken. 4. Without attempting to enter more minutely into a description of the ear, it may now be stated that, in order to produce sound, a solid, a liquid, or a gas, such as air, must in the first place be thrown into vibration. We have an example of a solid body giving a sound, when a bell produces a musical note on being struck; of a liquid, in the dash of a waterfall or the breaking of the waves; and of air, in the firing of a cannon or the blast of a trumpet. Sounds once produced travel along solid. bodies, or through liquids, or through the air, the last being the great conveyer or conductor of sounds. 5. The human ear avails itself of all these modes of carrying sound. Thus the walls of the skull, like the metal of a bell, convey sounds inwards to the nerves of hearing; whilst within the winding canals referred to, is enclosed a liquid, which moves as the sea does when struck by a paddle-wheel or the blade of an oar. Lastly, two chambers divided from each other by a membrane, the one leading to the outer ear, the other opening into the mouth, are filled with air, which can be thrown into vibration. 6. We may thus fitly compare the organ of hearing, considered as a whole, to a musical glass, that is, a thin glass tumbler, containing a little water. If the glass be struck, a sound is emitted, during which, not only the solid wall of the tumbler, but the liquid in it, and the air above it, all tremble or vibrate together, and spread the sound. All this is occurring every moment in our ears; and as a final result of these many thrillings, the nerves which I likened to the "piano strings" convey an impression inwards to the brain, and in consequence of this we hear. Questions on the lesson :-Why is it not easy to know the construction of the ear? What is the outer ear in reality? What are the inner passages filled with? What is stretched across them? How are the parchment-like curtains connected? What can be done to those curtains? What are found in the innermost places of all? What are the threads like? Of what importance are they? What must be done before sound is produced? What example is given of a solid body producing sound? Of a liquid? What is the great conductor of sounds? Which of these modes of conveying sound does the human ear avail itself of? To what is the ear as a whole compared? emit, to send forth. intricate, difficult to follow. liquid, a flowing substance. membrane, a thin skin-like substance. parchment, skin of sheep or goat prepared for writing on. porch, an entrance. vibration, moving backwards and forwards. THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 1. Hark! the warning needles click, Brought with more than lightning speed. 2. Let the sky be dark or clear, Sing who will of Orphean lyre, 3. Think the thought and speak the word, London speaks at twelve o'clock, Sing who will of Orphean lyre, |