Page images
PDF
EPUB

them. Nevertheless, since you have laid your injunctions upon me to be free and sincere, I will take the liberty to tell you that your last discourse, in my judgment, has not altogether the energy of your other performances. Did you not think so, sir, yourself?

Arch. So, then, Mr. Gil Blas, this piece is not to your taste?

Gil B. I don't say so, sir; I think it excellent, although a little inferior to your other works.

Arch. I understand you; you think I flag, don't you? Come, be plain; you believe it is time for me to think of retiring.

Gil B. I should not have been so bold as to speak so freely, if your Grace had not commanded me; I do no more, therefore, than obey you, and I most humbly beg that you will not be offended at my freedom.

Arch. God forbid! God forbid that I should find fault with it. I don't at all take it ill that you should speak your sentiments; it is your sentiment itself, only, that I find bad. I have been most egregiously deceived in your narrow understanding.

Gil B. Your Grace will pardon me for obeying

Arch. Say no more, my child; you are yet too raw to make proper distinctions. Be it known to you, I never composed a better homily than that which you disapprove; for my genius, thank Heaven, hath, as yet, lost nothing of its vigor; henceforth I will make a better choice of a confidant. Go! go, Mr. Gil Blas, and tell my treasurer to give you a hundred ducats, and may Heaven conduct you with that sum. Adieu, Mr. Gil Blas! I wish you all manner of prosperity, with a little more

taste.

LE SAGE.

Self-partiality hides from us those very faults in ourselves which we see and condemn in others.

LIX.-CHARCOAL'S STORY.

1. I'm only Charcoal, the blacksmith's dog,
Ugly and fast growing old;

Lying in the sunshine the livelong day,
By the forge when the nights are cold.
I look across at the little house,

The door where I used to wait
For a school-boy shout, a merry face,
To meet me within the gate.

2. My master, the smith, remembers too;
I see on his grimy cheek,

As he looks across at the cottage door,
A pitiful tear-drawn streak.

He, stooping, lays in a trembling way
His hand on my lifted head;

I look and whine, but we understand

Each thinks of the school-boy dead.

[ocr errors]

3. Prince is the tawny and handsome hound
That comes with the hunting Squire;
Smooth and well-fed, with a stable bed,
And a place by the kitchen fire.
The Squire is going away, he said;

He waited an hour to-day,

While my master carefully shod his mare
In his slow, old-fashioned way.

4. I heard him say, with an oath or two,
"Put an end to that sorry cur;

Better buy my Prince, he's a noble beast:"
I heard, but I did not stir.

For I knew I was only a worn-out thing,
Not bright, like the tawny hound,
And I felt I would gladly go and die
On a short, new church-yard mound.

t

5. "Well, Squire,"— the brawny arm rose and fell, The sparks from the anvil flew,—

"I s'pose the creature that's lying there

Is not much account to you;

But while I live and can earn his keep,
Old Charcoal and I won't part;
For, Squire, I really think sometimes,
The dog has a human heart.

6. "My little Jacky - he loved him so;
And Jacky, he's gone, you see;
And so it 'pears as if Charcoal knows
That he's more than folks to me."

7. The Squire is gone with his horse and hound, And master and I still wait

Together, and side by side go in

At night through the lonely gate.
But by and by one must go alone-
Only one be left of three

To pass the gate and the cottage door:
Alas! if it should be me.

LX.-SPONGE.

1. Sponge is a very porous and compressible substance found adhering to rocks, shells and other surfaces. It is found in large quantities in the Mediterranean Sea, among the islands of the Archipelago. Good sponges are also found in the Red Sea, on the coast of Florida, and among the Bahama islands. Those from the Greek islands, however, are considered most valuable.

2. Formerly, sponge was supposed to be a vegetable production, but it is now classed among the lowest orders

of the animal kingdom, as it yields, when analysed, the same results as animal substances in general. It is light and soft, usually containing embedded fragments of mineral matter and small shells-particularly in those of coarse texture and large size.

3. It is traversed by innumerable pores, the microscope showing the whole network of the sponge to be composed of fine tubes. If examined while in the water, currents may be seen passing out of the larger openings, having probably entered through the smaller pores, thus giving rise to an obscure motion or circulation.

4. As an animal, it lives on the water, and what the water holds in solution; and hence it is probably necessary that water should be constantly circulating through it. The bottle sponge- so called from its shape resembling a bottle-curiously exhibits this motion. Its absorbing pores are all on the outside, and its vents, or larger openings, within,- so that there is constantly a strong current pouring from the mouth of the bottle.

5. In some of the islands of the Archipelago, the inhabitants make it a business to obtain sponges by diving, having been trained to it from their infancy. Other methods are sometimes resorted to, such as spearing or grappling; but they injure the sponges, which can not easily be detached from the surfaces to which they adhere. When first taken from the water, they are covered with a slippery gelatinous substance, which is removed by washing.

6. They are placed in heaps, under piles of stones, which press them closely together, so that they become hard and flat when dry. The mineral substances are removed by beating the sponge until they are reduced to powder and drop out in washing. After this the sponge is ready for market and use. It is a singular fact that, after the impurities have been removed, the sponge weighs more than when first taken from the water.

7. Sponges serve a great variety of useful purposes, both in the arts and medicine, and contribute, in many known ways, to cleanliness and comfort. They are of very unequal value, the texture of some being fine and soft, while that of others is coarse and rough. Smyrna is a great market, or depot, for sponges.

S. One of the latest uses to which sponge has been applied is said to be that of making into cloth. The article most used for this is that found on the rocks of the Bahama islands, and the coast of Florida, which is excellent in quality and inexhaustible in quantity.

9. This sponge, when torn from the rock to which it adheres, appears at first as a heavy, black-looking mass, with a strong and offensive odor. In order to cleanse and purify it, it is buried in the earth for some weeks, at the end of which all the organic matter will be decomposed.

10. In this state it is liable to become hard and unfit for the manufacturing process. To obviate this, the sponge is immersed in water containing from ten to twenty per cent. of glycerine, and then squeezed dry, after which it will be entirely soft and elastic. It is then cut into small pieces, subjected to a carding process, and afterwards felted. Only certain qualities of sponge are capable of being spun into yarn for weaving. One of them is the kind known as "Chipoul," which has a long fiber.

11. The felted sponge may be used for hat bodies, carpets, etc. The sponge cloth for clothing is made in the same manner as 66 shoddy." Sponge may be used in textile fabrics, either with or without the admixture of other fibers, such as wool and hair. Sponge has of late been considerably used as a material for stuffing furniture, mattresses, cushions, pillows, etc. The surgeon, physician, chemist, and many others, find frequent and numerous uses for this valuable article.

Manual of Commerce.

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »