The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1869-09-12
xeRx1xe star, AND cATKoLIO MEssEHGER.
INV oRLnANs. suNpAx. BErrEMnER u. laa0.
GENERAL lrIscELLAHY.

Training of Young ChildreR.--A distinguished
onthor has declared his conviction that every
Child learns more the first year OF It's iite
than during any succeeding year. AZ rs linen
.to measure distances with his eye, to test
Substances by touch, and to use his feet in
walking. His senses are more keen and
susceptible, and the first period OF a chllds
life is that of sensational education Nature
truly proves successful teacher in these
branches but the general impression that we
have no need to supplement her instructions is
erroneous. Those who have visited the more
modern kindergarten schools that originated
. i'm Germany, and have lately been introduced
into our country, have been surprised at the
amount of information conveyed, and the real
thirst awakened in the minds of children too
Young to undergo the routine Of school lessons
The sensations are as capable OF education as
any of our faculties and much may be &C
.complished in the earliest years of childhood,
to improve, elevate, and refine the senses of
sight, hearing, and touch. This fact is well
known and recognized by teach ers OF the nnna,
whose pupils are taught to cultivate their
hearing and touch to O remarkable degree, and
the eyesight of the deaf and dumb is now
educated SO that they can hold conversation
by noticing the motion of the lips. Little
children may be taught to distinguish and
arrange colors, to have q correct idea OF shapes
and forms, and even fair knowledge OF
elementary mathematics may be instilled- by
adding and multiplying objects before the
child can read aletter. The various properties
of substances, when illustrated by expert
ments, can be made interesting to the smallest
child, and the different qualities OF articles IN
common use may be wildly impressed upon
his mind, This, also, is the age when the
heart is most susceptible to moral impressions.
. ing right from wrong, and the training
necessary to inculcate habits of truthfulness,
honesty, obedience to the law, and general
virtues, are more easily accomplished dur1n
1t will be affirmed that these duties belong
rightfully to the parent, and it is true that the
intellectual and moral atmosphere which n child
inhales ut home from the examples and pre-
cepts of its parents; perhaps more than any
thing else, give direction and clearness to his
faculties. But we ought not to overlook the
large number of little ones, who, by various
circumstances, are inevitably deprived OF
these advantag es. Numbers of parents, from
necessity, can only devote to their children the
time needful to provide for their physical
if they can only succeed in doing this. Some
are unable, from want of knowledge them
selves, to communicate it to their little ones
and others have no tact nor powers of the
nature required for this work Forced to labor
hard through the day, some parents cannot
even take tho requisite care of the physical
well-being of those too young to send to the
public schools; and thousands of these infants
are daily educating each other in habits OF
selfshness, malice, and mischief, who, II
cared for and instructed might become very
different beings. All life is education, and the
training of human character begins at birth
and continues until death.
Snake Fascination.--The power OF, fascination
possessed by snakes has often been doubted
Mr.. j. B. Bowker, of Alstonfields, district 81
Somerset when walking one day In his garden
was attracted by the loud chipping of birds
and upon investigating the cause, discovered
large "tree-snake" cooled in the branches o
was slowly approaching it. The bird futteret
around and hoped from twig to twig
gradually drawing neareI and nearer, until
when within some six inches of the snake
he okf all dad iayV
took its prey, 2hd then, coiling its bod.
around the little victim, crushed it, an'
afterwards deyoured it. Mr.. w. stubbs, o
Whittlesea, district of Queenstown, Will
crossing q cornfield, heard the plaintive cry o
q rat, which appeared to be in great trouble
He went to the spot whence the noise proceed
ed, and found rat walking backward ant
forward, and yet constantly drawing near
point where lay large puf-adder, motionless
with its mouth wide open, and its eyes fixe'
upon the rat. A few moments sufficed to brini
the rat within the adder's reach, when it wa
quickly killed and eaten. LII the summer o
1850, Mr. Bowker, of the frontier armed ant
mounted police, High Commissioners agent il
Basutalong, was stationed at Butterworth i
the Trans-Keian territory. One day, Will
indulging in stroll, his attention was attracte
by the squeakiDgg of mouse, which, to use hi
own expression 'had evidently come to grie
in some way other."-Upon investigator
the cause he found brown snake which wa
exercising its powers of fascination upon
mouse. He at once killed the snake, but tn
mousse SCiil unuef inc Spell, COHtiuueu U
approach the snake. Mr.. Bowker took til
mouse in his hand, but it manifested no fear c
him, seeming perfectly overcome by the powe
of the snake. He put it on the ground, When
to his SURPRISE it actually crept to the spc
where the dead snake was lying and sat upo
its head After time it appeared to reali2
its position, and crawled away. Mr.. III.
| Barber, of Highlands, near Graham's Tow
discover green-aud-yelTow tree-snake in I'll
act of fascinating wood-robin. He called
his father, who came with a gun, and the tw
watched the operation until they saw that
another moment tlA bird would fall into I'll
open mouth of the snake The father the
raised his gun, and, by well-aimed sho
killed the snake, and saved the life of IL
bird.
Tho Invented the Mariners Compass ?-Flav
Gioja, Neapolitan, is the popular reply, b'
OH no satisfactory evidence; and when it WI
discovered that the Chinese and Arabia
authors had spoken of the polarity of tt
magnet before the fourteenth century, 1t begG
to be suspected that the Rcapolitan was mere
the Introduction of the compass into Europ
Nj. Klaproth, however, proved the Chinese clai
to the invention in their magnetic CHARIOT, tt
origin of which is lost 3n-t the obscurity
NEUROLOGICAL ages. The power of magnetism
and the polarity of the magnetic need
MI