Year: 1868

the series. Ihey are written in the form o
letters to child, and disclose, in style


wondrously clear and fascinating. the hid
den wonders of the phenomena of life, the


processes by which physical existence is pre-
served, and mental power and activity main


tanned. They compose a complete elementary


treatise on physiology, which will be read


by healthy child of eight years with more


pleasure than the AraJian Nights, and with


as great advantage as the boy of twice that


age, previously uniformed on the subject


Will pursue the study at school


Monsieur Mace introduces the first volume


by saving:


something of the life and nature Of men and


animals, believing the information may be of


use to you in after-life, besides being an


amusement to you now"


Think of physiology being an amusement


But it is, and it is so because the author


knows how to make it so. A few extracts


will show how he does it, better than col


umns of description.


After illustrating the circulation of the


blood, and calling attention to the pulse OF


the wrist, he SAYS


''Obscrve your mother when she is pack


ing trunk, and you will see that whatever


she is most afraid may be spoiled, she is most


careful to put in the middle so that it may


be least exposed to accidents And this is


what kind Providence has done with the
/ arteries, which have the utmost cause 70


dread accidents, while the veins, which are


much better able to bear rough usage are


allowed to wander about freely Just under


the skin. But when the bones happen to


take up a great deal of room, and come near


the skin themselves, as is the il the


wrist, the artery is forced, whether he likes
it or not, to venture to the surface, and


then are able to put our fingers upon him
| And there are others in the same sort of sit


uation; the artery Of the foot for instance


But only just think how far from agreeable
it would be to have to take off your shoe
and present your foot to the doctor 4,


''Perhaps yeu do not catch at once the
connection which exists between the SIZE of
the heart and of the appetite; yet it is very
simple. Large barrels are requisite for those
who brew great deal Of beer, and large
hearts for those who make great deal of
blood. Now, 1t is the blood as you know,
which carries heat, in other words life,
throughout the body; when it pours in tor
rents, the fire goes twice as fast and, conse-
quently, the feeding must be kept up y
medical friend Of mine told me that he once
had some rats sent To him-a box full, in fact
for one of those scientific experiments
which one would venture to condemn more
earnestly if their results were not sometimes
beneficial. Next morning there were only
two or three animals to be found, and these
had eaten up the others See the consequence
of having too much heart


You feel quite sure blood is red, do YOU
not? Wei, 1t is no more red than the water
of a stream would be If you were to fill it
with little red fishes suppose the fishes to
be very, very small-as small a grain of
sand-and closely crowded together through
the whole depth of the stream the water
would look quite red, would it not? And
this is the way in which blood looks red on
ly observe one thing: a grain of sand is
mountain in comparison with the little red
fishes in the blood. If | were to tell YOU
they measured about three thousand TWO
hundrcdth part of an inch in diameter, YOU
would not be much wiser, 80 prefer saying
(by way of giving you a more striking idea
of their minuteness) that there would be
about million in such drop of blood as
would hang on the point of needle | say
=, che. authority 80 -cicutidc Eren Imam
M. Bouillet. Not thar he ever counted +
them, you may suppose. any moro than | ,
have done but this is as near rs an approach
can be made by calculation to the size Of
those fabulous blood-fishes which are the
three thousand two hundredth part OF an
inch in diameter.


'.You have already learned that oxygen '
united with hydrogen produces water. Com :
bined with nitrogen. it produces air bat.
in that case, there is no union OF the two
They are merely neighbors occupying be ,
tween them the whole space extending from
the earth's surface to forty or fifty miles
above our heads-together everywhere, but {
everywhere as entire strangers to each other
as two Englishmen who have never been in ,
troduced | should be good deal puzzled
to say what nitrogen does IN the air. lie l.
there as an inert body, and leaves all the bu-
sIncss to the oxygen. " hen we breathe. tor
instance, the nitrogen enters our lungs. to-
gether with its inseparable companion, but :
it goes out as it went in, without leaving
trace of its passage. Nevertheless, some
times happens among men, the one who does
nothing takes up the most room. Nitrogen
alone occupies four tifths Of the atmosphere
where it is of no other use than to moderate
the ardent activity of king oxygen, who
would consume everything were he alone.
| can compare it to nothing better than to
the water Won mix with wine, which would
be too frey for your inside if you drank 1t
by itself This is what nitrogen does. 1t
puts the drag on the car of the combustion,
as in society the large proportion Of quiet
people put the drag on the ear of progress
let us for once indulge ourselves in talking
like the newspapers y; and such people are
of definite use, however irritating their in
ference may appear in some cases. The
world would 90 on too rapidly if there were
nothing but oxygen among men. We have
quite enough in having fifth Of it -


The law of projectiles is thus prelimina-
rily illustrated


:.You know the story of the Wandering
Jew and his five half-pence, the most sub
stantially rich man on the record. because
no matter how frequently he distributed his
half-pence. the full sums was always to be
found in his purse. Now, instead of this
jew inexhaustible store, let your imagina-
ton suppose a large bag swelled out by five
thousand half-pence, but devoid of all magic
charm and the pOSsessOr obliged to give
away five of the halt-pense at each step he
takes If he takes a thousand steps 1t Is .
quite clear that when he rraches the thou
sandth he will have nothing lett. The bag
will not be worth as much as the unpretend- /
ing vet never empty purse of Ahasnerus.
But surprising the owner of the bag, on re-
tracing his steps. received five half-pense at .
each step he takes, be will, on arriving at the
thousandth, naturally have precisely the
same amount as at the commencement OF ms .
iourney-namely, five thousand pence 1hls .
is too clear to require any explanation. 1t
is the history of the ball thrown straight up
into the air.


These are among the beat of children
books, and we cordially commend them to
the notice of such Of our readers who have
a Young friend whom, with the author, they
can address as ''my dear child.


FEMALE BEAUTY.-Revive the beauty OF
bvgone ages, and you will revive all the ug-
illness Of those days: for there must have