prov'-erb, an old and common saying; an adage; Sprichwort. u-ni-vers'-al, general; allgemein.

ap-pli-ca'-tion, act of directing something to a particular case; Anwendung.

1. Our bachelor uncle who lived with us was a quiet, genial man, much given to hunting and fishing; and it was one of the pleasures of our young life to accompany him on his expeditions to Great Hill, Brandy-brow Woods, the Pond, and, best of all, to the Country Brook. We were quite willing to work hard in the corn-field or the haying-lot to finish the necessary day's labor in season for an afternoon stroll through the woods and along the brookside.

2. I remember my first fishing excursion as if it were but yesterday. I have been happy many times in my life, but never more intensely so than when I received that first fishing-pole from my uncle's hand, and trudged off with him through the woods and meadows. It was a still, sweet day of early summer; the long afternoon shadows of the trees lay cool across our path; the leaves seemed greener, the flowers brighter, the birds merrier, than ever before.

3. My uncle, who knew by long experience where were the best haunts of pickerel, considerately placed me at the most favorable point. I threw out my line as I had so often seen others, and waited anxiously for a bite, moving the bait in rapid jerks on the surface of the water in imitation of the leap of a frog. Nothing came of it. "Try again," said my uncle. Suddenly the bait sank out of sight. "Now for it," thought I; "here is a fish at last."

4. I made a strong pull, and brought up a tangle of weeds. Again and again I cast out my line with aching arms, and drew it back empty. I looked at my uncle appealingly. "Try once more, ," he said; "we fishermen must have patience."

5. Suddenly something tugged at my line, and swept off with it into deep water. Jerking it up, I saw a fine pick

erel wriggling in the sun. "Uncle!" I cried, looking back in uncontrollable excitement, "I've got a fish!" "Not yet," said my uncle. As he spoke there was a plash in the water; I caught the arrowy gleam of a scared fish shooting into the middle of the stream, my hook hung empty from the line. I had lost my prize.

6. So, overcome with my great and bitter disappointment, I sat down on the nearest hassock, and for a time refused to be comforted, even by my uncle's assurance that there were more fish in the brook. He refitted my bait, and, putting the pole again in my hands, told me to try my luck once more.

7. "But remember, boy," he said, with his shrewd smile, "never brag of catching a fish until he is on dry ground. I've seen older folks doing that in more ways than one, and so making fools of themselves.

It's no use

to boast of any thing until it's done, nor then, either, for it speaks for itself.”

8. How often since I have been reminded of the fish that I did not catch. When I hear people boasting of a work as yet undone, and trying to anticipate the credit which belongs only to actual achievement, I call to mind that scene by the brookside, and the wise caution of my uncle in that particular instance takes the form of a proverb of universal application: "NEVER BRAG OF YOUR FISH BE

FORE YOU CATCH HIM.

John Greenleaf Whittier.

IX. THE COST OF A POCKET-KNIFE.

whit'-tling, cutting or shaping with a knife; Schnißeln.
mal'-le-a-ble, that which can be beaten out; hämmerbar.
weld, to hammer into permanent union; schweißen.
riv′-et, to fasten with rivets; nieten.
fash'-ion, to form; bilden; machen.
tusk, a long, pointed tooth; Stoßzahn.

1. A boy may use his good, strong jack-knife with but very slight ideas of its cost. If you should ask him, he would perhaps say "half a dollar." Stop your whittling a moment, my young friend, and let us look into the subject a little.

2. A knife does not come by nature, ready made. "But the iron does,'' you say. Yes, iron is found in the earth, but very seldom pure, or fit for the blacksmith and the manufacturer. It is mixed with clay or some other substance.

3. These substances must be separated from it by intense heat; no ordinary fire will answer the purpose. Charcoal is put into a furnace with the iron ore and some limestone; then the charcoal is lighted at the lower end, and wind blown on it by a powerful machinery, and the great heat melts the whole.

4. The iron being heavier than the other matter settles to the bottom, where the workman at the right time lets it out. It runs like water, through the hole he has prepared for it, into furrows made in sand, where it cools. These pieces are cast iron they are called pigs of iron; but this iron must have other processes before it is fit for making a knife.

5. Cast iron can not be worked with the hammer, or sharpened to a nice cutting edge; it must be made into malleable iron for these purposes. Malleable iron is a kind of iron which, instead of melting in the fire, will soften, and thus allow itself to be hammered into the desired shape, or welded together smoothly.

6. But when the iron is made malleable by being heated and stirred and beaten or rolled, even then it is not nice enough for a first-rate knife—it is only iron; and you want your knife made of steel, so that it will bear a keen edge without either breaking or bending. To get that we must change our material again.

7. To this end the workman must cover up his iron in powdered charcoal and again give it a red heat, that it may get the property upon which the keenness of the knife depends. But he must be careful that the heat be not too great or too long continued, as then the steel could not be hammered or welded.

8. Steel must be tempered. To temper it, it is plunged, while very hot, into cold water, and kept there until it is quite cool. Then the workman brightens it, and, laying it upon a piece of hot iron, holds it to the fire till the color shows him it is in a proper state to be again plunged into water; and now it is hardened enough to be hammered into shape.

9. Then the knife-grinder takes the knife upon his immense wheels, which are turned by water or steam, and move so swiftly that they seem to stand almost still. The grinding and polishing are quickly done by the aid of machinery. But you have only the blade of the knife now, and the handle is yet to be made and riveted on.

10. That handle may be fashioned from the tusk of an elephant, the horn of a buffalo or an ox, the wood of a cocoa tree, the shell of a pearl oyster or a turtle, or indiarubber; or it may, like the blade, be made of metal. So you see that it is not fifty cents, but labor and skill, that is the real cost of your knife.

X.-ACRES OF TURTLE-EGGS.

/term, to name; benennen.

re-cede', to move back; zurückgehen.

jut, to project; hervorragen.

in-fest', to trouble greatly; beunruhigen.

-si-mul-ta ́-ne-ous, happening at the same time; gleichzeitig.

trait, a marked feature; 3ug.

o'-val, having the shape of an egg; eiförmig.

lit'-er-al-ly, according to the strict meaning of the word and letters; buchstäblich.

7 in-dis-tinct', not clear; undeutlich.

spec ́-u-late, to meditate; nachdenken.
noc-tur'-nal, pertaining to night; nächtlich.

la-con'-ic-al-ly, briefly; furz.

rec-on-noi ́-ter, to examine by the eye; besichtigen.

di-am'-e-ter, a straight line passing through the center of a

figure or body; Durchmesser.
de-pos'-it, to lay down; niederlegen.
pul'-let, a young hen; Hühnchen.

pred ́-a-to-ry, plundering; räuberisch.

prog'-e-ny, offspring; children; Nachkommenschaft.
ma-ter'-nal, motherly; mütterlich.

1. It is probably known to our readers that the Amazon is the longest and largest river in the world. During the rainy season its full channels pour out so vast a body of water to the ocean that it has been termed an inland sea.

2. In the dry season the receding water leaves bare vast banks of sand, which line the shores, or jut out into the middle of the river.

3. No steamboats navigate the mighty Amazon; but travelers descend it in canoes and flat boats, as in former times they used to descend the western rivers of North America.

4. One pleasant evening, a few years ago, a party containing a young lad and an Indian guide landed from a canoe on a great bank of sand that extended for miles along the river. Here they made preparations for passing the night.

5. A heap of dry drift-wood was collected, and a large fire kindled, to keep off the wild beasts that infest those savage shores. The travelers were to keep watch in turn.

6. The lad, whose turn came first, seating himself upon a pile of sand that he had gathered up, did his best to keep awake. But in about an hour he fell into a nap, from which he was awakened by sliding down the sand-hill, and tumbling over on his side.