genial influence of the clements in these prolific climates; and in the second or third year, the hillock, if not overshaded by trees, becomes like the rest of the earth, almost covered with grass and other plants; and in the dry season, when the herbage is burnt up by the rays of the sun, it appears not unlike a very large haycock. "But of all extraordinary things I observed," says Adanson, "nothing struck me more than certain eminences, which, by their height and regularity, made me take them at a distance for an assemblage of negro huts, or a considerable village, and yet they are only the nests of certain insects."*

Smeathman has drawn a comparison between these labours of the termes and the works of man, taking the termes' labourer at one-fourth of an inch long, and man at six feet high. When a termes has built one inch, or four times its height, it is equivalent to twenty-four feet, or four times the height of man. One inch of the termes' building being proportionate to twenty-four feet of human building, twelve inches, or one foot, of the former must be proportionate to twelve times twentyfour, or two hundred and eighty-eight feet, of the latter; consequently, when the white ant has built one foot, it has, in point of labour, equalled the exertions of a man who has built two hundred and eighty-eight feet; but as the ant-hills are ten feet high, it is evident that human beings must produce a work of two thousand eight hundred and eighty feet in height, to compete with the industry of their brother insect. The Great Pyramid is about one-fifth of this height; and as the solid contents of the ant-hill are in the same proportion, they must equally surpass the solid contents of that ancient wonder of the world.

Every one of these hills consists of two distinct parts, the exterior and the interior.

The exterior consists of one shell formed in the manner of a dome, large and strong enough to enclose and shelter the interior from the vicissitudes of the weather,, and the inhabitants from the attacks of natural or ac

* Voyage to Senegal.

cidental enemies. It is, therefore, in every instance, much stronger than the interior of the building, which, being the habitable part, is divided, with a wonderful degree of regularity and contrivance, into an amazing number of apartments for the residence of the king and queen, and the nursing of their numerous progeny; or appropriated as magazines, to hold provisions.

These hills make their first appearance above ground by a little turret or two in the shape of sugar-loaves, rising a foot or more in height. Soon after, at some little distance, while the first turrets are increasing in height and size, the insects raise others, and so go on, increasing their number, and widening their bases, till the space occupied by their under-ground works becomes covered with a series of these elevations; the centre turret is always the highest; the intervals between the turrets are then filled up, and the whole collected, as it were, under one dome. These interior turrets seem to be intended chiefly as scaffolding for the dome; for they are, in a great part, removed when that has been erected.

When these hills have reached somewhat more than half their height, they furnish a convenient stand, where the wild bulls of the district may be seen to station themselves, while acting as sentinels and watching the rest of the herd reposing and ruminating_below; they are sufficiently strong for this purpose. The outward shell, or dome, is not only of use to protect the interior buildings from external violence and heavy rains, but to collect and preserve a regular supply of heat and moisture, which seems indispensable for hatching the eggs and rearing the young ones.

YOUNG LADIES' GARLAND.

TO YOUNG LADIES.

Ir a young lady cannot bear reproof without sullenness, and disappointment without repining, what are we to expect of her when placed at the head of a family; to guide and direct its concerns? Truly the education

258

Influence of the Female Character.

of females, at the present day, seems diametrically opposed to all that advances the happiness of domestic life. To attract admiration, and shine abroad, appears to be the principal object; as though they were destined for no higher purpose, like the ephemeral fly, they flutter awhile and are seen no more. What a lamentable circumstance, that the admirable picture drawn by Solomon should not have been more frequently imitated! All the refinements which wealth and luxury have introduced since the foundation of society, will never have power to do away the influence of those domestic virtues which the inspired penman has so beautifully delineated in the last chapter of Proverbs. One reason why the domestic virtues are so much neglected, is the love of show and external parade.-When once a love of fashionable pleasure steals upon the affections, it is in vain to look for the growth of those virtues which require a keeping at home. Fashion dethrones judg ment, and lays her empire in the dust. When once the affections begin to entwine around the idol, the soul is fascinated with a kind of enchantment, which it seems impossible to resist, until it becomes a prey to the most violent passions; which, like a garden grown up with weeds, presents a most gloomy prospect for a future day. S. L.

INFLUENCE OF THE FEMALE CHARACTER.

Compare the condition and pursuits of the mass of men with those of women, and tell me on which side lies the inferiority. While the greater part of our sex are engaged in turning up the clods of the earth, fashioning the materials which are to supply the physical wants of our race, exchanging the products of industry of different countries, toiling amidst the perils of war or the tumults of politics,-to you is committed the nobler task of moulding the infant mind; it is for you to give their character to succeeding ages; it is yours to control the stormy passions of man, to inspire him with those sentiments which subdue his ferocity, and make his heart gentle and soft; it is yours to open to him the

truest and purest sources of happiness, and prompt him to the love of virtue and religion. A wife, a mother!

How sacred and venerable these names! What nobler objects can the most aspiring ambition propose to itself than to fulfil the duty which these relations imply! Instead of murmuring that your field of influence is so narrow, should you not rather tremble at the magnitude and sacredness of your responsibility? When you demand of man a higher education than has hitherto been given you, and claim to drink from the same wells of knowledge as himself, should it not be that you may be thus enabled, not to rush into that sphere which nature has marked for him, but to move more worthily and gracefully within your own?-Thatcher.

YOUNG GENTLEMEN'S DEPARTMENT.

THE VALUE OF CHARACTER.

It is ever to be kept in mind, that a good name, is in all cases the fruit of personal exertion. It is not inherited from parents, it is not created by external advantages, it is no necessary appendage of birth, or wealth, or talents, or station; but the result of one's own endeavours-the fruit and reward of good principles, manifested in a course of virtuous and honourable action. This is the more important to be remarked, because it shows the attainment of a good name, whatever be your external circumstances, is entirely within your power. No young man, however humble his birth, or obscure his condition, is excluded from the invaluable boon. He has only to fix his eye upon the prize, and press towards it in a course of virtuous and useful conduct, and it is his. And it is interesting to notice how many of our worthiest and best citizens have risen to honour and usefulness by dint of their own persevering exertions. They are to be found in great numbers in each of the learned professions, and in every department of business; and they stand forth bright and animating examples of what can be accomplished by resolution and effort. Indeed, my friends, in the formation

of character, personal exertion is the first, the second, and the third virtue. Nothing great or excellent can be acquired without it. A good name will not come without being sought. All the virtues of which it is composed are the result of untiring application and industry. Nothing can be more fatal to the attainment of a good character than a treacherous confidence in external advantages. These, if not seconded by your own endeavours, will "drop you mid way, or perhaps you will not have started when the diligent traveller will have won the race.

Thousands of young men have been ruined by relying for a good name on their honourable parentage, or inherited wealth or the patronage of friends.-Flattered by these distinctions, they have felt as if they might live without plan and without effort, merely for their own gratification and indulgence. No mistake is more fatal. It always issues in producing an inefficient and useless character. On this account it is, that character and wealth rarely continue in the same family more than two or three generations.-The younger branches placing a deceptive confidence in an hereditary character, neglect the means of forming one of their own, and often exist in society only a reproach to the worthy ancestry whose name they bear.

NOTICE OF RECENT PUBLICATION.

Natural History of Insects. 12 mo pp. being No. X. of Harpers' Family Library. New-York: J. & J. Harper, 1830.

As often as, in the course of our reading, we chance to light upon volumes connected with the lower animal world, our astonishment is renewed, that the wonderful subjects of which they treat, receive so little attention from the mass of mankind. There have been, in all periods, a few persons, the chosen priests of nature, who have worshipped her with a holy enthusiasm, who have explored her mysteries through all her favourite haunts, and claimed, for her productions, the admiration to which they are so abundantly entitled. But from the days of Pliny, to the present hour, naturalists have made but a partial impression upon the minds of men, in seeking to attract them for a while from the busy paths of life, to the wilderness and the mountain, the forest and the river,-there to see not only innumerable proofs of the active superintendance and power of an Almighty Being, but also models of ingenuity, which, if pro