TREES, those wonderful 'specimens of 'creative art, spread not their wide extended roots nor lift their lofty heads in vain. Beneath their cooling shades our flocks and herds find a comfortable 3asylum from the scorching rays of the summer sun. The wild stragglers of the forest have a place of rest among their woods and thickets; whilst the birds build their little dwellings in security, and sing among their branches. During a great portion of the year, the 'bread-fruit tree affords the chief sustenance of the Society Islanders, it being in season eight months of the year. The natives of these islands collect it without the smallest trouble; they have only to climb the trees to gather the fruit. A kind of cloth is made from the bark; the leaves are made into towels and wrappers; the wood is made into boats and houses, and a kind of cement is prepared by boiling the juice in cocoa-nut oil. Nearly every part of the date tree may be converted to some useful purpose. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia subsist almost entirely on its fruit, and it is also esteemed for its medicinal virtues. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, mats, bags, and brushes; from the branches, cages and fences; from the fibres of the boughs, thread, ropes, and rigging; from the sap, a spirituous liquor; from the wood, which also furnishes fuel, the beams and rafters of houses, as "Nearly every part of the date tree may be converted to some useful well as some implements of 'husbandry, are constructed. The stones are ground to make oil, and the refuse is given to the cattle. The shell of the fruit of the calabash, or gourd tree, is employed in the manufacture of water-vessels, goblets, and cups of almost every description. So hard and closegrained is the calabash, that, when it contains any kind of fluid, it may even, it is said, be put on the fire without injury. A medicinal juice is extracted from this useful plant; and of it the Indians construct some of their musical instruments. The 'cocoa-nut tree supplies the inhabitants of the countries in which it grows with bread, milk, and 10oil; it affords them a strong spirit, vinegar, and yeast; timber to build their huts, and thatch to cover them. The shell is a useful article among their household vessels, and the coarse fibrous husk surrounding it, as well as the bark itself, is made into cloth and cordage. Of the wood of the cocoanut tree, fastened together with the yarn spun from the bark, a vessel is constructed; of the same wood the mast is formed; of the bark and fibrous covering of the shell the sails are woven; so that from the different parts of this valuable vegetable the whole vessel, as well as the habitations of the natives of the cocoa-nut islands, are completed. There is a fibrous substance in the leaves of the 11cabbage tree, which is sometimes spun like hemp into different kinds of cordage. The sockets and grooves, formed by the broad part of the footstalks of the leaves, are used by the negroes as cradles for their children. The trunks, when cleared of the pith, serve as waterpipes and gutters, and of the pith itself a kind of sago is made. 7 The magney or mati tree affords, to the natives of 12 New Spain, where it grows in abundance, water, wine, oil, vinegar, honey, syrup, thread, needles, etc. In short, there are no less than nineteen services which this tree, though small, yields to the inhabitants. The leaves serve for covering their houses; out of its roots, strong and thick ropes are made; and a fine yarn may be spun out of the fibres of the leaves, which, being converted into cloth, serves for the purpose of clothing. Name some of the uses of trees. Describe the bread-fruit tree. How is the fruit prepared for food? To what uses are the bark, leaves, and wood put by the South Sea Islanders? Describe the date-palm. What people subsist almost entirely on its fruit? What are made from the leaves-fibres-sap-wood? Describe the calabash tree. What use is made of the fruit-of the juice? Describe the cocoa-nut tree. What use is made of the fruit-the shell-the hairy covering of the shell-the wood? How is the oil obtained? Describe the cabbage tree. What use is made of the foot-stalks-of the trunks? 6 1 specimen, a representative or pattern of the class of things to which it belongs. 2 creative art, the creation; the works of nature. Trees furnish an excellent example of the power and wisdom of the Creator. 3 asylum, a place of retreat and security, also an institution for the care of the unfortunate. 4 bread-fruit, a native of the islands of the Pacific Ocean and of the Indian 5 date. (see app.) Archipelago. (see app.) implements, tools. husbandry, agriculture; tillage. 8 calabash, a tree found in the West Indies and other tropical lands. (see app.) cocoa-nut tree, a species of palm, diffused over tropical regions. It grows best in a sandy soil near the sea. (see app.) 10 oil. Cocoa-nut oil is an important article of commerce, being used in making soap and candles. (see app.) 11 cabbage tree, a name given to some species of the palm, the large buds of which are eaten like the cabbage. 12 New Spain, Mexico, a country in Central America. 9 WE will divide snakes into two separate families, viz, those which have poisonous fangs and those which have none. The poisonous 'fangs are invariably in the upper jaw, but they are not fixed on the bone. They are always curved downwards like the blade of a 'scythe. There is a little opening on the convex part near the point. From this opening to the point, which is as sharp as a needle, the fang is quite solid, but hollow from it to the root. This point may aptly be styled the pioneer of death, as it makes the wound, into which the poison of the irritated serpent flows through the hollow part of the fang. It is the fatal weapon which causes a snake to be so much dreaded, and condemns the whole race to universal detestation; although, in fact, not one snake in ten has been armed by nature with the deadly fang. Still, as all snakes are more or less of the same form, especially when viewed at a distance, every individual is held in horror-the guiltless suffering equally with the guilty. Armed with a poison fang, the snake at one single stroke avenges itself on the unfortunate animal which has trodden upon it, or has put it in bodily fear by disturbing its repose. When not in readi |