Pupils: We are very sorry mamma gave the rewards before we came home, as it is such a pleasure to be present at the time of distribution. Governess Your papa addressed them at the close of our business, impressing upon their minds the necessity of industry; yet not to think more of their bodies than their souls. He told them, that "having food and raiment, therewith to be content;" and to remember" They that seek the Lord shall lack nothing." Pupil Your speaking of contentment reminds me of the old woman in the " Cottage Dialogues," who, when having but a glass of cold water and a dry crust before her, was heard to exclaim-"All this, and Christ too!" Governess: She did, indeed, possess a contented mind; those that have such an one have a continual feast: poverty is then great riches. What made that poor woman SO happy do you think? An excellent work for servants and adults amongst the poor. Pupil I should say, because she felt that Jesus Christ was her Saviour, and that through him, when her mortal life ended, she should receive an immortal crown. Dear Miss, as the morning is fine, may we go to Widow Pearson's; and as we take our walk, perhaps you will fulfil your promise— I mean the one you made before we paid our visit to uncle Charles-that of your conversing upon flies, though they are not very numerous just now; but I suppose you do not mean the domestic fly only, do you? Governess: Do you remember why I said we would speak of flies when we again conversed? Pupil Was it not because flies are included in the next order, Neuroptera ? Governess: Yes; the dragon-fly is the first of which I shall speak. Pupil Excuse me interrupting you; but is not the dragon-fly the insect which torments horses so much? Governess: Yes; there are two species; one called the Libellula Varia, and the other Libellula Lucretia. Pupil As the butterflies' names were taken from those found in Grecian and Roman history, I am thinking whether the last dragon-fly's name was taken from that of the wife of Collatinus, the Roman consul. : Governess I have no doubt it was; the first species I mentioned, namely, the Libellula Varia, is an insect of peculiar beauty; it is three inches in length, and four inches from tip to tip of its wings; the body, which is slender as well as long, is black, with rich variations of bright blue and deep grassgreen; the wings are of black transparent net-work, which, like Percy's bubbles, assume all the colours of the rainbow, when viewed in the sun. Pupil: What kind of insect is the dragonfly which is called Lucretia? : Governess It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and remarkable for its length, being five inches and a half long, and not above one-tenth of an inch in diameter; it is of a deep mazarine blue. : Pupil What a difference in the earth's diameter and that insect's! Governess: I am going to ask you a question, which I hope you will be able to answer me, as I have done so to many of your questions? Pupil Oh! I will do it with the greatest of pleasure, dear Miss. Pray what is it? I am quite impatient to do it for you. Governess: I should say, from your exclamation just now, that you can tell me what is the earth's diameter ? Pupil: You told me, dear Miss, when I was reading my lessons on astronomy, that the earth is 7,970 miles in diameter; you told me that astronomers differed in their opinions regarding it, and that that difference is not much. You had not forgotten telling me so, had you, dear Miss : ? Governess: No, I had not. I asked you the question to see if you had forgotten. Pupil After we have finished our conversation this morning, I will reduce the tenth part of an inch to its proper quantity. Can I not do it by Reduction of Vulgar Fractions? Governess: Of course, my dear. As we have now reached Widow Pearson's pretty little cottage, we will discontinue our subject, and take one which will be more interesting to the tenant of this humble dwelling. DIALOGUE II. Governess: Now, my dear, we will resume our subject—namely, that of the dragon-fly, which pleased your imagination in its dia meter. Pupil I have been told that this insect lives on a water plant. Governess: You have been misinformed: the larva of this insect resides wholly in the water for two or three years; but when the time of its transformation arrives, it crawls to the top of the plant, and, by great exertion, bursts its covering; then soars into the air, like all other flies not capable of living in water. I think you will understand, from this account, that it is the larva which re |