food consists of grain, seeds, grass, and the tender foliage of plants; when tame, fed upon oats, barley, chaff, and cabbage, mixed. In confinement, has been known to swallow stones, pieces of metal, leather, wood, spoons, knives, &c.-hence called the "iron-eating ostrich ;" why does it swallow such substances? 66 IV. Adaptation of its Structure. Notice that the covering of the young is admirably adapted to harmonise with the sand, being of a pepper and salt" colour - thus it frequently escapes observation; its prominent eyes prevent its capture to great extent; the wings assist its running, but are not suited for flight, the barbs of the feathers having little adhesion. V. Uses. 1. Its flesh supplies food to the Africans; not eaten by Arabs, and forbidden to the Jews. 2. The eggs are highly prized, both by the natives and travellers; weigh about three pounds; contain as much as two dozen hens' eggs. Sold in Algiers at from three to five francs each. 3. The egg-shells are formed into vessels for liquids; covered with network; much used by the Bushmen. 4. The feathers are very valuable; an article of export; sold for from two to twelve guineas a pound, according to their quality; a pound contains about eighty. Chiefly exported to France. 5. The skin is hard, tough, and strong; used for armour by the Arabs. 6. Skin and feathers made into mats, rugs, &c.; very costly; one was sold in France for six hundred francs. COMMENCE the lesson by drawing from the children the names of shell-fish generally; remind them how numberless are these inhabitants of the ocean -fifteen thousand distinct kinds of shells have been named by choncologists; obtain the etymology of this word—concha, a shell, logos, a discourse, and the affix ist, a doer. These shells all differ in shape and colour, yet each is formed in the same manner, and each the residence of a soft delicate animal. Direct their attention to the oysterlings: first cast upon the waters like drops of grease, the spawn or eggs; when viewed through a microscope, appear of brilliant whiteness; carried to and fro by every wave; subject to the attacks of large and small fish, on every side; yet leading a roving and unsettled life "Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue, Many of these "spats "unite and adhere to rocks and old shells; form large banks. Its shell bivalve (name others; also some that are univalves, &c.) etymology, bis, twice, and valve, doorsformed of two parts; increases in size and thickness annually; the age of the oyster is calculated by the number of layers or "shoots on the shell -each marking a year's growth. It possesses also a powerful muscle, which enables it to close its shell with great force; and a beard, which consists of minute fibres, serving as lungs. II. Food. Notice the fact of its being headless, and elicit from the children its mode of taking food; how this is supplied, itself being unable to move. The mouth of the oyster is near the hinge; its food animalcula; each wave and billow, therefore, sweeping through the open shell, brings with it meat, drink, and air, which are sucked in by the little rays around that part. Thus they, at the return of the tide, "In their pearly shells, at ease, attend III. The Fishery. Britain celebrated for them from the most ancient times; principal fishery at Preston Pans, near Edinburgh-produces the famous Pandore oyster-small in size, but fetches the highest price; those taken from the Irish coasts larger. British Channel very noted; oysters the staple export of Jersey these are about five inches in diameter; chief seat of the fishery, Gorey, a small seaport on the eastern coast; season commences with September and ends with May-at its height in February and March; oysters exported during these months to the value of five thousand pounds weekly employing three thousand persons, and five hundred vessels. Stored in "parks" on the coasts of Essex, Sussex, and Hants-e. g., at the mouths of the Thames, Crouch, Blackwater, Colne, &c. ; thence supplied to the various markets; sent also to Hamburg, Bremen, Holland, France, &c. Pearl fishery: chiefly in the Persian Gulf, on the coasts of Australia and Japan, and the Gulf of California. Most celebrated and productive in the Bay of Condatchy in Ceylon; employs six thousand men; banks extend over a space thirty miles long by twenty-four broad. IV. Adaptation of its Structure. Recapitulate the lesson, and notice the wisdom displayed in its structure; e.g.:— 1. The powerful muscle by which it defends itself against the attacks of its enemies - the starfish, lobsters, mice, rats, and monkeys; has been known to kill a mouse, and even a rat, and to cut off a finger of the star-fish by closing its shell with great firmness. 2. The enlargement of the shell is equal to the size of the little inmate; the increase in size ceases when the oyster reaches maturity; then thickened by layers on the outside; by these it is protected from the whelk, which most industriously bores holes through the shell. 3. The beard, with its millions of minute fibres (invisible to the naked eye), all endowed with life, and beating with the most perfect regularity, shows the Almighty power of the Great Creator. LESSON XXXVI. - THE REINDEER. I. Description of Appearance, Structure, &c. QUADRUPED; about four feet in height; body of thick, squarish form; long, slender, branching, palmated horns. Brown-coloured above; white beneath; greyish-white when old, sometimes mottled; coat thickens and changes to a lighter colour as winter approaches; why? Fur very thick under the neck. The male, the larger; horns common to both male and female; why necessary? Hoofs, long, broad, cloven, black and spreading; form excellent snow-shoes for the animal. Has exquisite sense of smell; why so endowed? enables it to find its food under the snow. Broad antlers protect its eyes. II. Countries where found. Common in the Arctic regions of the Old and New World Lapland, Norway, Siberia, Kamtschatka, Greenland. Domesticated by the Lapps. III. Habits, Disposition, &c. Ruminant; feeds during summer on the green herbage; in winter its only food mosses (reindeer moss; white and branched; grows many inches deep; covers miles of surface; another species pendent from the branches of trees like locks of hair); how procured? Casts its horns every year; in summer driven to the sea-coasts or tops of mountains, to escape the attacks of the gad-fly, which pierces its skin till it resembles a colander. Very swift; general trot, ten miles an hour go nineteen miles : "With blue, cold nose and wrinkled brow, From Lapland's woods and hills of frost, Generally lives about sixteen years. ; can Gregarious; difficult to tame; when domesticated, docile : "The docile tribe Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift Of marbled snow." |