LITTLE LEAVES FOR LITTLE READERS.
Lessons
I onceknew two little children, who had a great deal of knowledge, for their age, and yet they were not taught altogether by books. They had a good mother, who took great pains with their education, and she managed in such a way as to make her lessons very pleasing.
I will tell you one method of teaching which she adopted—and it was this. She would get her two children around her, and then would ask them what creatures lived in the air? what lived in the water? what lived on the earth, &c. The children would give such answers as they pleased; if they were right, they were told so; if wrong, they were corrected.
That you may understand how this affair went on, I will give you a dialogue, which will set the matter clearly before you. You will remember that the children were named Dick and Lydia.
Mother.Now tell me, my children, what animals live in the air?
Dick.Birds.
M.Do all birds live in the air?
Lydia.No, mother; the ostrich is said never to fly, and it seems to me that many other birds, such as hens, partridges, quails, and others, rarely fly, and therefore cannot be said even to live in the air.
M.What birds live most in the air?
D.I should think the swallows, for they seem to me to be dodging about from morning to night. And, mother, I have heard Ben Halliard, the sailor, say that there is a sea-swallow that is always flying; he declares that the creature never lights and that he hatches his eggs under his wing!
M.The sea-swallow, or mother Cary’s chicken, is a bird that can remain on the wing for a long time; but like all other birds, it goes sometimes to the land. It builds its nest on the uninhabited islands of the sea; many of them may be seen in the unfrequented rocky islands near Florida.
L.Mother, it is said the birds of Paradise live always on the wing.
M.This is also an error; the sailors, who frequented the seas near the Asiatic islands, where these lovely birds are often seen on the wing, fancied them to be creatures of the air; and being always in the spicy breath of those charming regions, they called thembirds of Paradise. But now, that we are better acquainted with the islands of the Pacific we know that the birds of Paradise live chiefly on the land, and sport, like others of the feathered race, amid the branches of the trees.
L.Well, mother, I think there are other creatures that live in the air, beside birds. I mean insects, such as butterflies, bees, wasps, and other little flying creatures.
M.You should rather say, my dear, that these animals livea part of the timein the air. It is with these insects, as with birds, that though we see them often on the wing, they really spend but a part of the time in flying. Let me now ask you to tell what animals live in the water?
D.Fishes.
L.Beside fishes, there are other things; such as lobsters, crabs, oysters, clams, and many other creatures.
D.Yes; but these are fishes,—are they not, mother?
M.They are called shell-fish, but they are quite distinct from fishes, properly so called. The latter have no legs, and possess fins, by which they push themselves along in the water. They have a long skeleton, upon which the flesh is formed; whereas, in the shell-fish, there is no interior skeleton, but the flesh and muscles are attached to an exterior shell. Thus you see that the whole structure of the proper fishes and of the shell fish are very distinct.
D.That is very curious, indeed; but there are some creatures that live partly in water and partly on the land.
M.Yes; and these are called amphibious.
L.That puts me in mind of a story, mother. A traveller went once to the Tower of London, to see the wild animals. There was a man there who made it his business to show them and describe them. Well, there was a young alligator among the animals, and when the showman came to describe him, he said, “Here, ladies and gentlemen, is a halligator, which came from Merriky, in the state of Georgia; it was ketched in the great river Mississippi, which runs all the way up hill. This creature is amphibious, which means that he cannot live in the water and dies on the land; he is six feet and a ’alf from the tip of his tail to the tip of his nose, and seven feet ten inches from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. Like all Merrikens, the halligator is fond of young niggers, and the night afore he was ketched, he made his supper upon two of them!”
M.That story is absurd enough; though it is quite true that the showman at the Tower of London, does tell some queer stories. If he makes such mistakes and shows such prejudice, in respect to our country, as the story represents, he is certainly like many English travellers, who ought to know better. I think Mr. Dickens, who writes such nonsense about our country, should be employed to show the animals at the Tower. But let me now ask what class of animals live entirely on the land?
L.Quadrupeds, or four-footed beasts.
M.That is right; most quadrupeds spend their time wholly on the land; the only one of them that can fly, is the bat; and this creature is formed almost as much like a bird as a four-footed beast. Some of the amphibious animals, such as lizards, toads, frogs and tortoises, are quadrupeds; and though these creatures live a part of their time in the water, most of them still spend the greater portion of their time on the land.