2. Object in Vegetable Kingdom.

LINEN, made from flax-a plant grown much in Ireland; stalks long and slender; gathered when ripe; dried in sun; rotted in water; outer skin decays; fibres taken out and dried; beaten with heavy wooden instrument; combed; woven into coarse linen; requires to be frequently combed or heckled for manufacture of fine linen, cambric, or lace.

3. Object in Mineral Kingdom.

IRON, most important of all the metals; extensively diffused through earth's crust; seldom found pure; in its impure state called ore or ironstone. Operations it undergoes-roasting in furnaces or heaps in open air; then smelting in blast-furnace; here mixed with limestone and coke, the materials supplied from above; the melted iron run off below into moulds of sand, hence called cast iron; sold in short bars named pigs; cast-iron converted into wrought or malleable iron by the processes of melting and hammering; uses too numerous to mention..

4. Manufactured Object.

THE MICROSCOPE, an optical instrument; magnifies minute objects; two kinds, single and compound; single microscope or convex lens consists of a single lens or sphere of glass; the object is placed in the focus; the most powerful single microscopes are made of minute globules of glass, formed by melting the ends of a few threads of spun glass in a candle; compound microscope or double-convex lens consists of two lenses placed within a tube: the one placed near the object is called the object-glass; that through which the image is seen is called the eye-glass: by the first an enlarged image is formed within the tube; by the second this enlarged image is magnified.

5. A scene.

THE HARVEST SCENE,-fields of yellow corn; golden ears waving in the breeze, ready to be cut down; describe the reapers in one field and their various occupations-cutting, tying, binding, slashing, &c. ; the gleaners in another, and the different aspect of the field; the gathering in and the corn-yard, rising full and spacious, the waggons being driven along the lanes; the harvest feast.

6. Moral Subject.

PLEASURE, all naturally seek, few understand in what consists; pleasure not business, but recreation from business; false sources of pleasure-excitement, accumulation of wealth, eating and drinking, &c. ; effects of such injurious to body, wearisome to mind, loss of time; real sources of pleasure-practice of virtue, improvement of intellect, occupation, &c.; kindness to others, assistance to needy, &c.; conclusion-pleasure consists in temperance, clear conscience, attention to duty, a sound mind in a sound body.

7. Biography.

JAMES WATT,—family and birth, delicate health in childhood; love of science as a boy; apprentice to mathematical instrument maker in London; great scientific reputation; Glasgow Univerversity takes under its protection; universality of his mechanical genius; his patents for improvements in steam-engine; extensive acquirements in literature and science; high moral character and great intellectual powers.

SUBJECTS FOR COMPOSITION.-I. DESCRIPTIVE.

1. Objects in animal kingdom-birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, insects, &c.

2. Objects in vegetable kingdom-trees, plants, grains, grasses, fruits, ferns, &c.

3. Objects in mineral kingdom-metals, minerals, gases, &c. 4. Manufactured objects, e. g., leather, paper, soap, cheese, cotton, candles, pins, pottery, gunpowder, &c.

5. Instruments or machines, e. g., saw, cannon, barometer, telegraph, printing press, sewing machine, &c.

6. Scenes from nature, e. g., return of spring, a waterfall, sunrise, a lake, a mountain, night, &c.

II. NARRATIVE.

1. Historical sketches-the Deluge, Alfred's retreat, Magna Charta, British Constitution.

2. A particular reign-birth and accession of sovereign, internal events, e. g., laws, rebellions, government; external events, e. g., wars, treaties; national industry, e. g., commerce, art, science; manners and customs, e. g., religion, education, and social condition of people; marriage and issue, death and character.

3. Biography-Sir W. Raleigh, Sir W. Scott, Alfred the Great, William Tell, Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More, &c.

4. Miscellaneous-a house on fire, the fate of Franklin, a voyage, adventure with pirates, a picnic, &c.

III. DIDACTIC.

1. Moral qualities-virtue, truth, friendship, pride, hope, punctuality, &c.

2. Miscellaneous--power of habit, advantages of travelling, lessons of history, books, &c.

PUNCTUATION.

THE comma (,) denotes the shortest pause; the semi-colon (;), a little longer pause than the comma; the colon (:), a little longer pause still; and the period, full point, or full stop (.), the longest pause.

comma:

The following sentence will show the importance of even a Mary walked on her head, a little higher than usual.” It should be, of course, "Mary walked on, her head a little higher than usual."

As a full stop denotes the end of a sentence, the next word must always begin with a capital letter.

A quotation from a saying or a book must always be marked by inverted commas; as John said, "Let us take a walk." He sang "The Bay of Biscay." I once read this proverb, "The early bird catches the best worms."

The parenthesis () is used to prevent confusion. Thus, "Mr. Smith told Mr. Jones that he (Mr. Smith) was a poor man, but that he (Mr. Jones) was rich in comparison."

The hyphen (-) is used to join compound words, such as watermill, pupil-teacher, prize-scheme, etc.

SCIENTIFIC SECTION.

MATTER AND ITS PROPERTIES.

THE name of matter is given to anything with which we become acquainted by means of our senses. All kinds of matter have certain properties in common.

1. Magnitude or Extension.-By these terms we mean that matter is extended, or occupies space. There are three dimensions or measures by which the shape of matter is determined, viz., length, breadth (or width), and depth (or height). Thus when we think of a brick we speak of its length, breadth, and thickness; when of a mountain we speak of its height; of water, of its depth; but they will all have some shape. When we speak of the size of anything we are obliged to compare one thing with another; e. g., we say as large as my head, &c. For the sake of convenience certain measurements have been agreed upon as standards by which to measure things; thus an inch is the standard of length-we say a thing is so many inches long, or so many feet of twelve inches each: in measuring surfaces the standard is a square which measures an inch each way, called a square inch; and in measuring solids the standard is a small cube or solid square, each side of which is a square inch, and the bulk of any solid measure is said to be so many cubic inches.

2. Impenetrability. This does not mean that matter cannot be penetrated, but simply that two bodies cannot be in the same place at the same time. A screw can be driven into wood, but it is impossible that there can be wood in the very space occupied by the nail; the particles of the wood are compressed more closely together to make room for the screw. This, however, is not so evident with regard to fluids. Common air, for example, which is a fluid, offers so little resistance that we are apt to forget that it is a real material body; but that it is so can be easily shown. If a paper bag be filled with air and then squeezed tight, the bag will be burst open. If a cup or glass be put mouth downwards into water, the water does not fill the glass because of the air in it. It is in this way that a diving-bell can be used.

That a liquid cannot occupy the same space with another body is evident from the fact that if anything is put into a cupful of water, the water will flow over, so as to make room for the new substance put in.

3. Divisibility.-Matter can be divided to an almost indefinite extent, far beyond what we can see with the naked eye. Thus the microscope has revealed the existence of tiny animals, each with members and organs complete a million of which will not occupy more space than a grain of sand. It is almost impossible even to conceive the minuteness of the particles of matter composing the tubes of these animalcules, as they are called. Still this divisibility must have some limit, though we may not be able to find it, and the name of atoms has been given to these ultimate particles of a determinate size.

4. Cohesion. This is the name given to that property by which the particles of matter stick together and form bodies. Cohesion acts only when two particles are in contact, or when the distances between them are imperceptible. If it were not for this force to bind its particles together matter would only exist in the shape of sand and powder.

The degree of cohesion is different in different bodies. For example, those objects which we term solid are much more difficult to displace than those which are liquid: and in the case of gaseous bodies we scarcely feel that they oppose a resistance to our movements; they are mobile in the highest degree. Matter, therefore, presents itself in three different states, which are called states of aggregation, namely, solid, liquid, and gaseous. Different states of cohesion are called by different names.

(1) Brittleness.-This property is too well known to need description. In certain kinds of matter, of which glass is a notable instance, on a very slight attempt being made to displace the position of the particles, the body flies in pieces.

(2) Ductility, or the power possessed by metals of being drawn out into wire: platinum is the most ductile metal.

(3) Hardness.-In many bodies the force with which the particles stick together is very great: this is termed hardness. The relative degree of hardness of two bodies is ascertained by seeing which will scratch the other. Thus glass will scratch gold and is therefore harder than it. All the precious stones are hard: a diamond is the hardest substance known, and is therefore used for cutting glass.

(4) Malleability is the power possessed by some metals, as gold, silver, copper, &c., of being hammered out into thin plates. This quality depends upon the union of softness and tenacity in the bodies possessing it: being soft, their particles can be made to change their position with regard to each other; being tenacious, the particles will not readily separate.