humbled adventurer; while the sudden flight of a pheasant from amid the snow, or the slow and lordly sweep of the lammergeir, in circles upward, startles the feelings into greater intensity. QUESTIONS. 1. What are the Alps? 1. How are glaciers formed? 3. At what elevation do they commence? 5. What are the shapes they assume as they slide down? 7. What are ice-seas? 7. What is the depth of some of the crevices in the ice? 7. What is the Rhone? 7. What is lake Geneva? 9. What colored snow is sometimes met with on the Alps? 9. Of what colors has snow been seen in the polar regions? 9. What is supposed to be the cause of the color of the snow upon the Alps? 12. What is the average thickness of the glaciers? 14. What do the mountaineers call the sound of the glaciers, and what does the word mean? ERRORS.2. Sheth for sheath; 3. shon for shōne; 4. tem'pes for tem'pest; 7. houn for hound; 7. strange for stränge. EXCELSIOR. H. W. LONGFELLOW. [In the following piece, ambition is beautifully represented under the figure of a noble youth, climbing the lofty Alps at the close of day.] 1. THE shades of night were falling fast, 2. His brow was sad; his eye beneath, Flashed like a falchion from its sheath, And like a silver clarion rung The accents of that unknown tongue,- 3. In happy homes, he saw the light, Of household fires, gleam warm and bright; And from his lips escaped a groan, - 4. "Try not the Pass!" the old man said; The roaring torrent is deep and wide!" Excelsior! 5. "O, stay," the maiden said, "and rest 6. "Beware the pine tree's withered branch! This was the peasant's last good-night; 7. A traveler, by the faithful hound, 8. There, in the twilight cold and gray, And from the sky, serene and far, Excelsior! 1. What was the device How did the youth ap QUESTIONS. How is ambition represented in this piece? on the banner of the youth? 1. What does it mean? 2. pear? 4. What did the old man say to him? 4. What did he reply? 5. What did the maiden say? 5. How did it affect him? 7. Where was he found? What induced him to leave his friends and thus lose his life? Ambition. 1. Gi-gan'tic, very large. LESSON LIII. Spell and Define. 2. Or'gan-iz-ed, formed with organs. 3. Em'u-late, to strive to equal. 6. Con'ic-al, like a cone. 6. Cyl-in'dric-al, like a cylinder. 6. Quad-ran'gu-lar, having four corners. 7. Tri-an'gu-lar, having three angles. 8. Squa'mous, pertaining to scales. 8. Jolly-boat, the small boat of a ship 9. An-te'ri-or, foremost in place. 9. Lon-gi-tu'din-al, pertaining to length 12. E-ject'ed, thrown out. 15. Ma-ter'nal, motherly. 15. Har-poon'ed, struck with a harpoor.. ERRORS.1. Dis-cribe' for de-scribe; 1. crea'tur for creat'ure; 1. un-sat-is fac'try for un-sat-is-fac'to-ry; 4. judg'munt for judgment; 6. co'nic-al for con'ic-al, 8. ca'per-ble for ca'pa-ble; 9. ap'er-tchures for ap'er-tures; 9. nors'trul for nos' tril; 14. gar'lons for gallons. THE WHALE. J. D. GODMAN. 1. In attempting to describe a creature so gigantic and surpassing in strength as the whale, we deeply feel the want of language suitable to our purpose, and vainly endeavor to remove this difficulty by resorting to comparisons scarcely less inadequate, or conveying at best, but vague and unsatisfactory ideas. 2. Sublime in magnitude, among organized and animated beings, the whale is adapted, in all his attributes, to the fathomless and illimitable waters, which he is destined to inhabit. Contrasted with other animals, his strength as far transcends their greatest exertions, as the irresistible heavings of the mighty deep exceed the harmless rippling of a sylvan stream. 3. It is only by successive approaches and detailed examination, that we can arrive at a proper conception of this animal; and, therefore, the statements which are freest from attempts to emulate, by ambitious style, the magnitude of the subject, will lead us to the most satisfactory conclusions. NOTE. — a The whale differs from quadrupeds only in the organs of motion, which are fins instead of legs. It cannot properly be called a fish, and is ranked among the mammalia, or animals that suckle their young. 4. But large as the whale certainly is, it has been much overrated; for such is the avidity with which the human mind receives communications of the marvelous, and such the interest attached to those researches, which describe any remote and extraordinary production of nature, that the judg ment of the traveler receives a bias, which, in case of doubt, induces him to fix upon the extreme point in his opinion, which is calculated to afford the greatest surprise and interest. 5. The length of the whale, when fully grown, may be stated as varying from fifty to sixty-five feet; very rarely, if ever, reaching seventy. The greatest circumference is from thirty to forty feet, and the weight sixty or seventy tons. 6. It is thickest a little behind the fins, or in the middle of the animal, from whence it gradually tapers, in a conical form, towards the tail, and slightly towards the head. Its form is cylindrical from the neck to within ten feet of the tail, beyond which, it becomes somewhat quadrangular, the greatest ridge being upward, or on the back, and running backward nearly across the middle of the tail. 7. The head has somewhat of a triangular shape, and the under part, the arched outline of which is given by the jawbones, is flat, measuring from sixteen to twenty feet in length, and from ten to twelve feet in breadth. The lips, extending fifteen or twenty feet in length and five or six in height, and forming the cavity of the mouth, are attached to the under jaw, and rise from the jaw-bones, giving the appearance, when viewed in front, of the letter U. 8. The upper jaw, including the crown bone or skull, is bent down at the extremity, so as to shut the front and upper parts of the cavity of the mouth, and is overlapped by the lips, in a squamous manner, at the sides. When the mouth is NOTES.- —a Whales are most numerous and of the largest size in the waters about Greenland, in Baffin's and Hudson's Bays, and in the ocean north of Bhering's Straits. b Whalebone, so much used for umbrellas, stays, &c., is taken from the upper jaw of the whale, where it adheres in thin plates varying from three to twelve feet in length. open, it presents a cavity as large as a room, and capable of containing a merchant ship's jolly-boat full of men, being six or eight feet wide, ten or twelve feet high in front, and fifteen or sixteen feet long. 9. On the most elevated part of the head, about sixteen feet from the anterior extremity of the jaw, are situated two blow-holes, or spiracles, consisting of two longitudinal apertures six or eight inches in length. These are the proper nostrils of the whale. A moist vapor, mixed with mucus, is discharged from them when the animal breathes; but no water accompanies it, unless the expiration of the breath is made under the surface. 10. In their usual conduct, whales remain at the surface to breathe, about two minutes, seldom longer; during which time they blow eight or nine times, and then descend for an interval, usually of five or ten minutes, but sometimes, when feeding, fifteen or twenty. 11. The depth to which they descend, is not known; though from the eddy occasionally observed on the water, it is evidently, at times, only trifling. But when struck, the quantity of line they sometimes take out of the boats, in a perpendicular descent, affords a good measure of the depth. By this rule, they have been known to descend to the depth of a mile. 12. They have no voice, but in breathing or blowing, they make a very loud noise. The vapor they discharge is ejected to the height of some yards, and appears at a distance like a puff of smoke. They blow strongest, densest, and loudest when running. When in a state of alarm, or when they first appear at the surface after having been a long time down, they respire or blow about four or five times a minute. 13. Immediately beneath the skin, lies the blubber of fat, encompassing the whole body of the animal. Its color is yellowish white, yellow, or red. Its thickness all around the body, is eight or ten or twenty inches, varying in different parts, as well as in different individuals. |