thus enabled not only to supply his own wants, but also to assist his father.

7. Having improved in the art of drawing, he was induced to draw portraits from the life with Indian ink on vellum. This art, which he practised with facility, afforded him a comfortable subsistence for several years, and allowed him leisure for pursuing those favourite studies which ultimately raised him to eminence. In 1748, he began to give lectures on astronomy, mechanics, and other branches of natural philosophy. The clearness of his statements, and the familiar illustrations which he employed, the sparing use which he made of technical terms and mathematical reasoning, together with his admirable diagrams and mechanical apparatus, made Ferguson popular as a lecturer.

8. George III. showed his appreciation of the "peasant-boy philosopher's" genius and efforts by sometimes attending the lectures, and by giving the lecturer an annual pension of fifty pounds. He died in 1776, leaving about £6000 to his family, which he had acquired by his lectures, books, and the sale of models.

10. "I do not want this money," said the landlord to the judge, "as your honour may well suppose. Will you have the goodness to take the ten shillings and give the peasant five shillings out of it-for that, as he confessed to me, is all that his wood was worth and return the remainder to the poor Frenchman? For the breakfast I want nothing."

11. The judge was much moved at these words of the good innkeeper. He counted out the five shillings to the peasant, and dismissed him with a severe rebuke.

12. The rest was returned to the emigrant, who, on hearing the story, went to thank the kind innkeeper, and with great difficulty persuaded him to accept a small sum for the peasant's breakfast.

Where was the poor emigrant passing the winter of 1794? Why was he obliged to live with the greatest

economy? From whom did he want to buy a load of wood? Why did the peasant ask more for it than it was worth? Why was the Frenchman obliged to buy it? Whom did the peasant tell that he had cheated the Frenchman? What did the innkeeper say to him? How did he reply? How much did the innkeeper charge for the peasant's breakfast? Why did he object to pay it? What was the reply? Why was the judge at first surprised to see the innkeeper before him? When the case was explained, what did he then say? What was done with the money?

THE LIGHTHOUSE.

1. The tide comes up, and the tide goes down,
Over the rocks, so rugged and brown,
And the cruel sea with a hungry roar,
Dashes its breakers along the shore;

Where was Ferguson born? In what year? How did he learn to read? What length of time did he attend the grammar school? When did his taste for mechanics арpear? How did he obtain a livelihood in his early days? What plan did he adopt to make a map of the heavens? Who taught him decimal arithmetic and algebra? Of what did he make his clock? How did he make the globe? When did he begin to give lectures? On what subjects did he lecture? How did George III. show his esteem for Ferguson? When did Ferguson die?

more numerous.

RICE.

1. Rice is a kind of marsh grass, bearing, when in ear, a nearer resemblance to barley than to any other of the corn plants grown in England.

The seeds grow on separate ears, springing from the main stalk. Each ear is terminated, like barley, with a beard, and the grain is inclosed in a rough yellow husk.

2. The stalk is not unlike that of wheat, but the joints are

Rice is almost entirely com

posed of starch, having little or no gluten, and no sugar.

3. The outer husk clings so firmly to the grain that it can only be detached from it by passing the rice through a pair of mill stones. These are placed at such a distance from each other, that they serve to remove the husk by friction, without crushing the grain.

4. There is little reason for doubting that this grain is of Asiatic origin. From the earliest times it has formed the principal, if not the only food of the great mass of the population that inhabit India and the Chinese Empire.

5. Rice is one of the chief productions of Egypt, and constitutes one of the principal sources of wealth to the inhabitants. Egypt is well suited for its cultivation, as it requires abundance of water, and constant irrigation.

6. It has also been introduced into America. The swamps of South Carolina, which are often inundated by the tides and by floodings of the rivers, are well suited for the production of rice. The cultivation is carried on with trifling labour, and rice of a remarkably fine quality is raised.

7. In Carolina the rice seed is carefully sown in rows about 18 inches apart. The sowing is done by negro women, who do not scatter the seed, but put it carefully into the ground with the hand. The water, which has been kept back by flood-gates, is now allowed to overflow the ground to the depth of several inches, and the fields remain in this state for a week, until the seed germinates. The