wanted to give mine to Mr. Cox, and he will not want two. Of course yours is a better one to give.'

Mark himself now felt rather sorry when their teacher entered the room.

"I am much pleased," he said to all the boys, "with the models. I have been watching you for the last five minutes, and I should like to have both coaches. Whenever I look at Arthur's model it will remind me of the lesson which I wish you now to learn."

"What is that, sir?" said the boys.

To rejoice in the success of others, not to envy them. Arthur showed great charity by being pleased with Mark's success, especially after his disappointment. You may read in the Bible that Charity envieth not.""

L. Do you think, mamma, that the boys then learned charity from Arthur.

M. I dare say that some of them did. They were never seen laughing at him when he was not first in his class, for they knew that he was not vexed. Arthur has since grown up to be a man, and his charity makes him very happy. The other day I went with him to see the splendid mansion which

While you,' I said, "have been working hard at your profession for nearly ten yearsyet you cannot afford to build yourself a house. Don't you wish that you may be able to do so?"

66

"I should be very glad," he replied, "but I never thought of such a thing. I am quite content with my own lot, and I am much delighted with my neighbour's good fortune."

Such was really the case for Mr. Arthur took me ove his neighbour's new estate and pointed out to me all the beau ties of the new mansion. In deed, he seemed quite to ente into its beauties, as if he had share in them.

The truth is he really had share in the matter. Why was this?

It was because he still ha within him the charity whic envieth not. Thus, throug all his life time, he has bee able to feel pleasure instead trouble at other people's succeɛ

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s, and have taste than e accounted hening. The dor, when China with Mandarins, was sented with a

of the seeds, the root, served Kernels of apricots ,in alternate layers e Chinese store up or the winter in salt

with endogens. The parts of their flowers are, you may remember, arranged in threes, or some multiple of three. Again. its seed is "Dicotyledonous," which is another distinction of

an exogen.

But sit down. I will give you the water-lily to examine. 1st. You know its place; it grows in stagnant or slowly running water; thus it is an "aquatic plant.

2ndly. Its parts are very beautiful. It has, you see, about twenty-five thickish petals. They are white; but the outside whorl are greenish at the back, and may be looked upon as sepals of the calyx. The whorl of sepals, and each whorl of petals, are five in number. These petals overlap one another, like the tiles of a house; they are, therefore, said to be imbricated.

W. And I see that the petals in the middle are smaller than the outside ones.

P. Yes, they gradually become smaller; and their points are thickened, and tipped with yellow. Indeed, they gradually change into stamens, as you have heard before (vol. iv. p. 244). The stamens, you may observe, are very numerous, and are inserted in the large fleshy disk. When the stamens have filaments so much like petals we say that they are petaloid.

L. Now we will notice the pistil. There does not seem to be any pistil, only a round Ovary and

W. Yes, you may well stop, Lucy; here are a number of

pistils, each with a style and stigma on the crown of the ovary.

P. No; you too are mistaken, Willie. These little ornaments at the top are only the orangecoloured stigmas. You see that they all radiate from one centre, so that they are considered as the stigmas of a single pistil. But let us notice the round ovary. It is curious that some of the petals and stamens grow upon it. The scars which you see outside it (preceding page, No. 2) show where they have been removed.

W. Now will you let us see the inside of the ovary, papa?

P. Yes, I will cut it. You see that it has ten or eleven distinct carpels; their walls form complete partitions. Each carpel contains a great number of ovules.

L. We have observed all the parts of the flower; let us now look at the leaves.

Ion. They are very fleshy. Their shape is round, cordate, or it is almost peltate (vol. iv. p. 150). They are not compound, so we say they are entire.

P. The plants of this order may also be known by their juice; it is rather milky, and is bitter and stringent.

We will next talk of the varieties of these flowers. There are many different sorts. Perhaps the most curious is the ancient Lotus of the Egyptians. This flower springs up in the rice-fields when under water. It is said to rise out of the water at sun-rise, and sink down again at its setting. It was formerly worshipped in Egypt;

and in the most ancient monuments a blue lotus is often represented.

You may see carvings of the lotus on articles from CHINA, where it is also worshipped; indeed, some of the Chinese ponds are literally covered with the plant. The mandarins cultivate it in large handsome pots, in their gardens. In EAST INDIA and JAPAN it is also esteemed a sacred plant. The Japanese say it is pleasing to their gods, and their idols are often drawn sitting on its large leaves.

In England the principal varieties are the White and the

Yellow Water-lily. It was once thought that these plants only grew in the northern hemisphere; but in the year 1838, a traveller who was on the river Berbice, in Demerara, discovered the gigantic waterlily which we call the Victoria Regia.

L. Yes, we have all seen that lily since the Great Exhibition. I can almost describe it. Its great broad leaves are salver-shaped, and are six feet across, with a broad rim rising round the edge. The flower is very large, and has several hundred petals; the outside whorls are white, and gradually become pink towards the centre -those in the centre are entirely pink. The petals also change into stamens like the petals of the white water-lily. Ion. The Victoria Regia has,

too, a sweet scent.

P. Its scent is well worth noticing. Some tropical plants of this order give forth a most

delicious odour in their own climate; they are all larger than ours, and some have brilliant tints of blue or red.

Ion. You have not told us of the uses of these plants, papa.

P. They have not many uses. Some parts are useful as food;the roots of most are tuberous, fleshy, and white; they contain so much starch that they are dried, and pounded, and made into cakes. The natives of India roast the rootstocks and stalks in the sand. The Egyptians also roast the seeds to make bread, or pound them, and mix them with their flour.

The seeds of the lotus in China are like acorns, and have a more delicate taste than almonds. They are accounted cooling and strengthening. The British ambassador, when breakfasting in China with the principal mandarins, was frequently presented with a dish consisting of the seeds, and slices of the root, served up with the kernels of apricots and walnuts, in alternate layers of ice. The Chinese store up the roots for the winter in salt and vinegar.

W. Now, papa, may we make a summary of the 3rd order?

P. Yes; and I will help you. Order 3. THE WATER LILIES. (Place.) In quiet waters, in temperate countries, and in the tropics.

(Parts.) FLOWER with numerous petals and sepals; petals are thickish substance, imbricatedwhite, yellow, pink, or blue; of grow on the disk, and even on the ovary. Sepals, green outside,