The Princeton union., 1892-10-06
FOR YOUTHFUL READERS.
INTERESTING INFORMATION ON
A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS,
About Hornbooks -" Siamese"
Twins From lndta--For Curious
Boys--Slnking FarfOut at
3 aSea--A Young Mans
s.% Chances.
About Hornbooks.

ABOUT HOrnDOOkS.
Occasionally in reading of old
times in England mention is made Of
the Hornbook, but so little is
said about it that it's appearance
and use seem to be left entirely to the
imagination. AS this is a busy fac
ulty, it goes to work at wondering:
'Were these books really made OF
horn? And did they have leaves?
And what was printed in them?" In
an old poem by Shenstone, called
'The schoolmistress,' it is said Of the
children. v. aa.15 a.,
''Their books of stature small they take in
hand, ~ - -. t i
Which with pellucid horn secured are, ..
10 save from fingers wet the letters
fair" Es..
TO say that books are "of stature
small'' has very comical sound, as it
seems much easier to call them little
books; yet it is a quaint old-time ex-
preston that harmonizes with the
''pellucid horn" 1t is easy to under
stand from the poem that the horn
book was a primer although it is Of.
ten supposed to be a kind of almanac;
and the "pellucid horn," very thin
and transparent, covered and pro-
tected the single leaf which was all
that the book contained. "On this
leaf, headed by cross, was the al
phabet in old English and Roman
letters, making it very hard to learn,
followed by small batch of two-let-
tered words like alb; then came an as
cription OF praise,to the Holy Trinity;
and the Lords Prayer finished the
literary part OF the book.
This precious leaf was often pasted
on solid oak, with a frame and short
handle of the same, and in shape it re-
sembled a hand mirror. Sometimes
it was pasted on horn, without any
protection from "the fingers wet" that
were expected to make havoc with the
lettering; and such a @book" could be
bought for the moderate sum of two
English pennies. From the cross and
the alphabet on it, the hornbook was
commonly called the "Christ- Cross
Row." and this degenerated into
'sCriss-cross Row." which name has
been given to a very old book at OK
lord.
Hornbooks were used as primers
until rather more than century ago;
and in their time school-children had
no use for satchels, as the book usual
ly had hole at the end of the handle
for string to pass through, by which
it was fastened to the waist or girdle.
Some old pictures OF children show
the ancient primer thus ATTACHED.
These books are now very rare, but
there is a copy in the British Museum
that was found some years ago in
the walls Of an old farmhouse by a
laborer who was pulling them down.
1t is one of the best specimens, in q
frame OF black oak, with hehorn COW
er In front, and the back has a. Dor
trait OF King Charles I, on horseback.
-Harper's Young People.
"Siamese" Twins From India.
The new Siamese twins do not come
from Siam. They are natives of
Orissa, in India, and the following de-
scription is sent to the Pail Mall
Budget by correspondent, who saw
them in Poona. They are to appear
in London previous to fulfilling their
engagement at the worlds fair,
Chicago. The names of the children
are Radica and Dodica. The two
little girls are 3R years old, and are
really pretty children. The peculi-
arity OF their connection is that there
is q flexible bony attachment from
sbreast to breast. and below this there