gaiters were tipped with French kid or patent leather; and watch seals and keys were to him especial objects of attraction and admiration. With open ears he would crouch under the parlor windows to listen to the conversation; and one day, as I was reading Tennyson's "May Queen," his round face, like a full moon, rose above the window sill, and his interest in the touching story got the better of his caution 66 'I say—you! could n't the doctor cure her?" After a reproof for eaves-dropping, which he bore with the most perfect "sang froid," I called him in and read him the whole of the beautiful poem, and never did a poet have a more honest or hearty admirer.

"Well now, aint that are pretty? I wish you'd give me a copy of them ere verses when I go home, to show to Mother?"

I have not time to tell you anything more about Tommy for the present; one of these days, perhaps, you shall hear more of him.

Little Items on Important Matters.

THE Chinese invented gunpowder about the time of our Saviour and used it in cannon. The microscope enables us to detect animalcula the ten thousandth part of an inch in length. - The Royal Library at Paris contains a Chinese chart of the heavens, made about six hundred years before Christ, in which one thousand four hundred and sixty stars are correctly inserted.

The organ was invented by a barber of Alexandria, about nineteen hundred years ago. — The pianoforte was invented in London by a German, about seventy-five years ago.. The first voyage around the world was completed in fifteen hundred and twenty-two. - The army with which Napoleon intended to invade England was com posed of one hundred and sixty thousand soldiers, ten thousand horses, seventeen thousand sailors, and a fleet of thirteen hundred vessels. Napoleon was conquered and sent into exile, but he said, "When I am dead, my spirit will be in the hearts of the French people, like thunder in the clouds of heaven, and throb with ceaseless life in new revolutions."

The beaver, when fully grown, does not exceed two feet in length, and scarcely one foot in height; and, in general appearance, it bears a considerable likeness to the rat. The chief exception is its tail, which, unlike that of other quadrupeds, is covered with scales. The hair of the animal is of a light brown color, and of two different kinds -short and long: the former fine and silky, the latter coarse. The teeth of the beaver are like those of the rat, sharp and well-fitted to cut wood. a qualification of no small value to the animal, as will be seen hereafter. Its fur is so much esteemed, and commands such a price, that the hunters have almost destroyed the race in the vicinity of their settlements, and they are now found only in the less thickly settled regions of country, and principally in the more northern parts.

The sagacity and ingenuity of the beaver are exhibited in its modes of living, and in the construction of its habitation. It is one of the most sociable of all animals, and, in the beginning of summer, large numbers assemble to form themselves into a community, and to establish a settlement, or, more familiarly speaking, a village.

The place selected for their home is always upon a pond or river. The latter is generally preferred by them, perhaps because it affords

them peculiar facilities for floating the timber they make use of in erecting their houses. The site chosen, let us suppose that it is a river or creek, the first step is to build a dam across the stream, and this is always made at the shallowest part. To build, they make use of small trees and the branches of larger ones, which they cut down with their teeth as easily, if not as rapidly, as men do with a saw. If a large tree is nigh the spot where the dam is to be made, they proceed to fell it across the stream; and having done this, they trim off those leaves and branches which are in the way, and use them as occasion demands. It is an exceedingly curious sight, a community of beavers, perhaps two hundred in number, all busily employed in this work of building a dam some cutting down trees, others floating them to the desired spot, and others again twisting boughs together to strengthen the work, or throwing in stones and mud to effect the same object. When they have adjusted a portion of their work, they hammer it hard with their flat, strong tails. They exhibit great ingenuity, also, in adapting the shape of the dam to the nature of the current. If it be gentle, they build straight across; if it be swift or violent, they make a considerable curve, - thus proving themselves to be wise builders.

These dams are so strongly built that they last for many years, and remain even long after their architects have disappeared. When the dam is completed and perfectly tight, the whole community proceed to the labor of house-building. Their habitations are built upon the edge of the pond created by the dam, and are sometimes three stories in height. The walls are composed of sticks, grass, mud and stones. The ends of sticks and logs projecting inward are cut off by the animals, and used as material to carry up the fabric. They continually hammer the work with their tails. Their huts are not square, but rather oval in shape. The rooms all connect with each other, and every one has two openings, to allow of entrance and exit; and also to enable the beavers to remove everything that could defile their houses, for they are as clean as they are ingenious.

It takes the industrious animals most of the summer to complete their building operations, and in the autumn they proceed to gather in their stores for the winter. These stores consist of branches of trees—the birch and other varieties — which they soften

by soaking in water, and thus render them more agreeable to their taste. During the summer they luxuriate on plants and shrubs, and the green young limbs of trees.

The pond is indispensable to the beaver, for it is an amphibious animal — and, although its fore feet are like those of other four-footed creatures, its hinder ones are furnished with the web, which enables it to swim at pleasure. When the beaver is sporting in the water, he directs his course by the capital rudder which he possesses in his curious and useful tail.

In the cold winters of the north the beavers seldom leave their habitations, except to search for green food; and the hunters often lure them out with this tempting bait.

Not to add to this account MARY HOWITT's beautiful lines, would be unpardonable.

Up in the north, if thou sail with me,
A wonderful creature I'll show to thee;
As gentle and mild as a lamb at play,
Skipping about in the month of May;
Yet wise as any old learned sage
Who sits turning ever a musty page.
Come down to this lonely river's bank;
See driven-in stake and riven plank :
'Tis a mighty work before thee stands,
That would do no harm to human hands;
A well-built dam to stem the tide
Of this northern river so long and wide.
Look! the woven bough of many a tree,
And the wall of fairest masonry;
The waters cannot o'erpass this bound,
For a hundred keen eyes watch it round;
And the skill that raised can keep it good.

And yonder, the peaceful creatures dwell
Secure in their watery citadel.

They know no sorrow, have done no sin;
Happy they live 'mong kith and kin-
As happy as living things can be,
Each in the midst of his family!

Ay, there they live, and the hunter wild,
Seeing their social natures mild,

Seeing how they were kind and good,
Hath felt his stubborn soul subdued;
And the very sight of their young at play
Hath put his hunter's heart away:
And a mood of pity hath o'er him crept,
As he thought of his own dear babes, and wept

I know ye are but the beavers small,
Living at peace in your own mud wall;
I know that ye have no books to teach
The lore that lies within your reach;
But what? Five thousand years ago
Ye knew as much as now ye know;
And on the banks of streams that sprung
Forth when the earth itself was young,
Your wondrous works were formed as true;
For the All-Wise instructed you.
But man! how hath he pondered on,
Through the long term of ages gone;
And many a cunning book hath writ,
Of learning deep, and subtle wit;
Hath compassed sea, hath compassed land,
Hath built up towers and temples grand,

Hath travelled far for hidden lore,

And known what was not known of yore;

Yet after all, though wise he be,

He hath no better skill than ye!

Billy Egg.

"CAN you direct me to Mr. William Egg's?" said I one morning to a smart shopman, who was loitering at the door of a showy haberdasher in the principal street of a town in Ireland, in which, for a few months, I once resided. I had been told by two or three persons, that Billy Egg's was the best shop in the place; for that he being a general dealer on a very large scale, I should be sure to get "everything in the world there." Moreover, I had been instructed that he sold good articles at a cheap rate, and being a stranger, I felt truly glad that I had been recommended to a tradesman on whom I could confidently rely. "Can you direct me to Mr. Egg's?" I repeated,