And I think it was very good of God to do so, when He knew how much all men and animals want it. M. Yes, Ion. I have read that nearly every man on the globe will, when he can get it, consume from five to six ounces of salt per week. How sorry we should have been if all the salt in the world had been put in one place! There are many things in this world which show how the good God thinks of man-many things which we have not found out yet. Ah! He thinks more about us than we think of Him!

W. Mamma! I like the quality conservative in salt, best. I have found out something from that word. Don't you remember, when we went to Uncle John's farm in the country, that he used to argue with papa about politics? Wellhe said to papa, that he liked to preserve the old laws, and not have new ones; and I think that is why papa called him "a Conservative."

Ion. Or else it was because he talked so much about preserving his game. He used to put salt on their tails, I suppose!

P. Now you are making_game of the Game Laws, Ion. It was because your uncle wanted to preserve the Game Laws, and other old laws, which I think have “turned bad" and won't keep much longer -that was why I called him "a Conservative."

But there are two ways of being conservative. I will give you a better idea from that word.

When Our Saviour was in this world, and was teaching men, thought about the quality servative;" and He said to his disciples, "Ye are the salt of the Earth."

con

Ion. I suppose he meant by that, that they might be useful

Ion. Yes; and keep the snails away from them-that is another

use.

I will say its history, mamma.

"It is useful to kill snails!"

(3.) Salt is procured from Saltsprings. The water is poured into pans, and boiled until it is all changed into vapour; and, the Salt remains at the bottom.

Salt is sometimes procured from the Sea, and is called BAY SALT.

Salt is also found under the Earth, where Salt-mines are formed-this is called ROCK SALT. There is a very large mine at Cheshire - - a much larger one at Cracow, and it is also supplied to man in many parts of Europe, in Asia, Africa, and America; and in nearly all parts of the World.

149

THE CRUST OF THE EARTH.

ARGIL, OR CLAY.

P. To-day, we shall examine another part of the Earth's crust. I have brought you a piece.

L. That is a piece of clay, papa. I can tell by its brown colour.

P. That is right, Lucy; but not all clays are brown. There are blue, white, yellow, and red clays. Clays with all varieties of colour.

Ion. I will begin the lesson. Well, that clay is brown; but, as there are other coloured clays in the Earth, we will say that clay, generally, is coloured.

L. It is odorous. papa; for it has a curious smell, or a peculiar smell, I should say.

W. I'll tell you a fine quality, рара. It is lumpy! Have you never heard of Humpty Dumpty? I think he was made of clay; for, when he fell off the wall, he couldn't get up again.

P. He was a piece of mortal clay, no doubt. I suppose that by "lumpy" you mean heavy.

W. Yes, and no spring in him. P. That is right; it is so with the clay. See, now that I have thrown it on the ground. It lies there like a piece of lead.

W. If, when you throw anything down, or press it with your finger it springs back again-what do you say of it?

L. We say it is elastic; but the clay is not elastic-see me press it! P. Because it is not-elastic, you may call it in-elastic.

W. And lead is inelastic, apa; and mud, and putty, and atter; but there is one thing I like in inelastic substances, you can make an impression upon them, and they will keep it. Suppose you tried to

make an impression on your Indiarubber!

Ion. Clay is more than impressible. It will let you do anything you like with it. I saw a country boy once, who had made a man of clay. All at once, he took hold of his 66 man by the head, doubled him up, and in a minute made a candlestick of him, to put inside his grotto of oyster-shells.

W. Ah! and you try a man that's made of India-rubber! and see if he'll let you double him up in that way!

Ion. Bat you can serve a lump of dough or putty in that way. What do you call a substance, papa, when you can so easily make it into any shape you please.

.P. We say it is plastic.

Ion. Then clay is. It is coloured, inelastic, impressible, and plastic -and it is a heavy earth, we said.

L. But clay is not always plastic, like this piece. In dry, hot wea ther it is very hard, and it crumbles-it is friable then. But in wet weather after a shower of

rain?

W. Ah! then it is very soft, and full of puddles. If you walk on it, it sticks to your shoes-so, you see it is different according to the weather. Thus

It is always coloured, and odorous; but in dry weather it is hard and friable

In wet weather it is soft and sticky; but in-in fair weather (I mean by that, neither dry nor wet) it is inelastic, impressible, and plastic.

P. I will now tell you something else about clay. It forms a very great part of the Earth's crust--it is even more plentiful than lime. Suppose that the Earth was all chalk?

W. Then it would be too dry and dusty, I should think. Even when it rained, the water would sink through it so quickly, that it would become dry again as soon as the sun began to shine.

So it must be a good thing to have clay to mix with the limebecause, you know, clay doesn't absorb water half so fast. We said that it made puddles in wet weather.

P. And, don't you remember how the pond, at the end of the garden, was made?

Ion. Oh, yes, papa. The man plastered clay all round the bottom and sides-then, that was to prevent the water from sinking into the earth. And poor people build their cottages of clay-that is because it becomes hard in dry weather.

L. And rich people build houses with clay--they make hard bricks with it. I once saw some brickmakers in a brick-field. They mixed sand with their clay and called it loam.

They baked the bricks, or rather burnt them, in a kiln to make them very hard.

W. About as hard as the cook makes her pie-crust when she burns it in the oven.

P. There are other kinds of clay; there is a fine clay which is burnt to make pots and pans. It is called Potter's Clay.

There is a finer clay still, found in Dorsetshire;--it is mixed with a paste formed from flints, and is used to make porcelain-this is called Porcelain Clay.

There is another white clay which is used to make pipes.

W. And is called Pipe-clay, I

suppose.

P. That is right; and this clay is also used to extract grease from your clothes, and from linen. There is another kind of clayrather coarse-which I once saw the servant use in scrubbing out some grease from the floor. It is called Fuller's Earth.

There are many hard substances in nature which contain clay. The slate you write upon at school is formed partly of clay.

W. Ah, and I remember now, papa, that my slate, when I wet it and clean it, has a smell something like the smell of clay,

P. It is the clay, or Argil as we call it, in the slate, which causes that smell.

You may now make a lesson on

the earth Člay.

Lesson 4. CLAY.

(1.) Clay, when it is wet, is soft and sticky-when dry, it is hard and friable-when neither wet nor dry, it is impressible, inelastic, and plastic. Clay is always odorous and coloured.

(2.) Because of these qualities it is useful in forming the bottoms of ponds, and beds of rivers for the walls of cottages, and bricks of houses.

(3.) There are many sorts of clay, all of which are useful

POTTER'S CLAY, which is used for making pots and earthenware.

PORCELAIN CLAY, which is used for making "China."

PIPE-CLAY, which is used for making pipes, and extracting grease;

and

THE TRAVELLER THROUGH

ENGLAND.

CUMBERLAND.

P. Here is Mr. Young's letter on Cumberland.

MY DEAR CHILDREN,—

I will tell you to-day, some of my adventures in Cumberland.

When Peg and I left my good friend the coal-factor, and had reached the outside of Newcastle, we set off towards the West. After passing many different places, we started for the CHEVIOT HILLS, which we reached on the next day. Peg did not seem to care about seeing them, so as it was nearly evening, I found a stable for her, and went to bed early myself.

The "boots" woke me up the next morning, at a quarter to five; and I set off, alone, for the Hills. On my way, I found one of the poor shepherds who live in these parts, sitting on a stone. He had a dark grey coat, which was very ragged, and mended with patches of red cloth and black cloth, and nis hat was worn out, and bent. The shepherds here get a very miserable living by minding the sheep; and when I saw the dry crust of bread he was eating; and how his good-natured dog, with a thin and hungry countenance, looked up for some crumbs,-then, I felt so much pity for them, that I gave the man three shillings, and told him to come and be my guide.

Away we trudged up the side of the hill; sometimes I stopped to pick a few of the very small wild flowers, which were growing on the turf, or to look at the bright drops of dew on them. "How misty and damp it is!" I said. "I ought to have brought my great coat."

"Yes, sir, and the air is rather raw, for an August morning."

"This spot," I said, "is very bleak; let us go a little further, and sit down under that ledge of rock."

"What do you mean by bleak, sir?"

"Bleak means damp and chilly. Now, as it is not bleak here, we will wait until the mist is cleared off; and then we shall see the hills. You must know that I am travelling through England; but, as I have to be in Westmoreland at the end of the week, and cannot stop to see all the mountains and lakes here, I want you to describe them. Here is my map."

"I cannot read maps, sir; but I can tell 'ee of some of our mountains.

"There is one called SADDLEBACK, which is very high-nearly 3,000 feet. Another one called SKIDDAW is higher still. Black eagles used to build their nests on the craggy rocks there. Ah! and that's the place for snow in the winter time! There is another one called SKA-FELL, which is the highest mountain in England."

"Can't you tell me anything about them?" I said.

"No, sir, except that they be mountains-very bleak, as you say, for the cold winds do blow over the North Sea, and Scotland. But they be very kind sort of places, for all that, for they keep the winds away from the Southern countries, and make them more warmer than they would be otherwise."

"What becomes of the snow on the mountains, in summer time?” "Why, sir, it comes down, you see, because it melts."

"And where does it go to?"

"It can't go nowhere, because why, there be no place for it to go to. It can't get out from between

them high mountains-so, it stop at the bottom, and make large, large, very large ponds, which be called 'Lakes,' and sometimes 'Meres.' Some of these here lakes have found a way out. The largest one, called Derwentwater, flows into the River Derwent. They be beautiful, broad, bright sheets of water; and when the white clouds move across the blue sky, they seem to be moving in the water, too. But you'll see some lakes, sir, when You go to Cumberland.

"You should go, sir, to see the moors in these parts, they be very broad places. The grass grow there and the sheep feed--but the wind blow across them, so that the grass be very short, and the land altogether barren.

"There be other places in Cumberland where you would not like to live at all. Not many things live there except long rushes, and grass-and, may be, a few frogs. There be wild berries and bushes too-but nobody cultivates the ground-and, for many miles it be a wild place, very wild, very wild -we call them 'the wastes,' sir."

"Ah! then," I said, "I'd rather not live in Cumberland. You say that it is made up of bleak mountains beautiful lakes - barren moors and wild uncultivated wastes. I should not like to dwell on a mountain, or in a lake, or in the other parts. If the country is full of such places, where do the people live ?"

"I doen't know, sir-there be a great many beautiful and pleasant places here but still, sir, I have heerd say that because our county be so cold, there be less people in it for its size-than in any other county."

"Yes," I said, "I have heard before, that it is not populous. I

don't wonder at it. The mist does not seem to clear up from these hills."

"No, sir. It be a misty morning.' It is rising a little you see, sir. Hark at the sheep bell!"

"Yes. What a number of Sheep! I can see now," I said-"they look like little dots on the hills-I can't see any one taking care of them."

"They doesn't want much taking care of, sir-they take care of themselves and help themselves. They're all in disorder now,--but if they hear any noise-or think there be any danger. Ah! look now, sir-they be alarmed,-they have heard something, and have all run together."

"Yes," I said, "how orderly they are-there they go, in a line. The old sheep with the bell is first, and the others are behind him. There they go! marching in a row like a regiment of soldiers."

66

They often walk so, sir, and d'ye see these 'ere marks like little paths? These have been made by them when marching-they are called 'sheep walks.'"

"Why-my good friend!—it is 8 o'clock!! No wonder that I begin to feel hungry-and, I'm afraid I am keeping you from your work. I must go.

"And, you'll be wanting your breakfast very much, sir, by the time ye get home. I'm afraid ye'll not see the hills to-day-it be too cloudy and misty."

"Well, good bye, my friend!"

"Good bye, sir. I be much obliged to you for them three shillings. I'll buy some meat for my little girl, and some for my dog." And the dog, who had been paying great attention, and had listened particularly to the history of the sheep, wagged his short tail at this, looked great gladness out of his