removed the twenty-one eggs to a distance of about forty yards." In the dry and sunny days which so generally prevail in the early part of this month, the coveys of young partridges may be frequently seen, particularly in the morning, rubbing themselves in the loose dusty soil. The object of dusting seems to be, to obtain relief from the torture inflicted on them by numerous parasitic insects by which birds are infested. As the day wanes, the coveys repair to some neighbouring field, where the corn is yet uncut, or, later in the season, to the stubbles, and pick their afternoon meal of grain: after which, the call-note of the partridges is heard, and they all move away together, to the spot selected for the night's repose. It appears that the whole brood arrange themselves in a circle, touching each other, the tails of all being in the centre, and thus, squatting close upon the ground, they pass the night; instinctively taught thus to guard against surprise from every quarter.-Gosse. LESSON XLVIII.-WE ARE SEVEN. A simple child That lightly draws its breath, I met a little cottage girl, She was eight years old, she said; She had a rustic, woodland air, Her eyes were fair, and very fair, -Her beauty made me glad. I "Sisters and brothers, little maid, How many may you be?" "How many? Seven in all," she said, "And where are they? I pray you tell." "Two of us in the church-yard lie, "You say that two at Conway dwell, Yet you are seven !-I pray you tell, Then did the little maid reply, 66 'Seven boys and girls are we : Two of us in the church-yard lie, Beneath the church-yard tree." "You run about, my little maid, "Their graves are green, they may be seen," 'The little maid replied, "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door, And they are side by side. "My stockings there I often knit, And there upon the ground I sit- "And often after sunset, Sir, I take my little porringer, And eat my supper there. “The first that died was little Jane; "So in the church-yard she was laid: "And when the ground was white with snow, My brother John was forced to go, And he lies by her side." "How many are you then," said I, "If they two are in heaven ?" The little maiden did reply, "O master! we are seven." "But they are dead; those two are dead; And said, "Nay, we are seven." Wordsworth. LESSON XLIX.-THE OCEAN. The principal part of the water on the globe occupies large depressions on the solid surface, known under the name of oceans. These are connected together by comparatively narrow passages, and are therefore really united, forming one wide and continuous expanse of sea. The different parts are, notwithstanding, known by distinct names; the most important being the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans. There are also some internal seas, or lakes, of considerable extent, as the Mediterranean, the Baltic, and others, which are almost entirely enclosed by land, and are filled with salt water, besides the great gulfs and bays of North America, and others better known, but far less extensive, in Europe. The depth of the ocean varies exceedingly, and its bed is broken, like the surface of the land, into plateaux, forming shoals, and ranges of mountains as well as isolated mountains, appearing above the surface in islands and groups of islands. Many parts of the ocean have been fathomed; but in some places a line, whose length nearly equals the elevation of the loftiest peaks of the Himalayan chain, has failed to reach the bottom. Around our own coast the depth is very variable, not amounting to one hundred feet over a great part of the German Ocean, while towards Norway, where the shore is bold, the depth is more than five thousand feet at a very short distance from the coast. The deep water commences also at a short distance from the shores of Ireland. The ocean over all parts of the earth contains a certain proportion of salt, which is not quite the same, how ever, for different seas, and even varies in different seasons and at various depths. The proportion is between three and four per cent., or half an ounce to the pound, but is larger in the southern than in the northern hemisphere, and in the Atlantic than the Pacific. The surface is often less salt than the deeper parts of the sea, owing to the flowing into the ocean of large quantities of fresh water from rivers. In this case the fresh water, being lighter, floats on the surface for a long distance before becoming thoroughly mixed. Deep seas are generally more saline than those that are shallow, and inland seas than the open ocean; but this is not invariably the case, as it depends on the proportion that the river water flowing into the sea bears to the evaporation from its surface, and also partly to the influx of salt water. Thus the Mediterranean, especially in the deeper parts, is much more salt than the open sea, but the Baltic is much less so. The temperature of the water is generally different from that of the atmosphere above it, and is greatly affected by depth and local circumstances. The temperature of deep water is constant (40 Fahr.), and in most parts of the ocean within the temperate and torrid zones is much lower than that of the surface. The temperature diminishes in descending, at different rates, however, in different seas, being so unequal that a decrease of one degree of the thermometer (Fahrenheit) answers sometimes to forty and at others to eighty feet of depth, and even more. Still it has been considered, that in general the temperature decreases six times as rapidly downwards in the sea as it diminishes upwards in the atmosphere, and that we much sooner arrive at the stratum of invariable temperature.—Ansted. |