called the wall bones-but more properly "The parietal bones."

fon. And here is a smaller bone at the back of the skull, in the lower part.

M. That bone has a long name, which you must take pains to remember-it is called "The Occipital bone."

L. And here is a bone at the side of the head, below the parietal bone.

M. That is the bone of your temple-it is called the Temporal bone, from the Latin word, Tempora.

Here is the first question for you,-Why should the skull consist of these three bones, instead of being all in one piece?

W. I can't tell, mamma, and I'm sure that I have been thinking.

M. Perhaps, then, I had better tell you. Suppose that the skull consisted of one piece. Then, if I were to strike your skull, the olow would be felt throughout the whole of it-but, now, if I strike your frontal bone, it will be felt only in that bone, and not in the others, because they are separate. Ion. Ah! that is a very good plan.

W. And I have been noticing those bones, mamma. How curiously they are joined together.

L. Yes, they have edges something like those of a saw, or the edge of a rose leaf.

M. Such edges, from the Latin word serra, a saw, are called "Serrated" edges.

Ion. And these edges fit in between each other, or are dovetailed together, as the carpenter would say. That is done that they may not easily be separated.

W. Now I will say the first part of the description-Write, Lucy.

"The SKULL consists of four separate bones,—

1. The Frontal bone,
2. The Parietal bore,
3. The Occipital bone,

4. The Temporal bones;these bones have serrated edges, and are dovetailed together, so that they may not easily be separated."

L. You have not stated why there are several bones in the skull, Willie.

W. No, that does not belong to the description. If we want to know the reason why, we must remember it.

M. Let us next look at the shape which these bones give to the skull. Is it a square shape?

Ion. No; if we had square heads, we should always be knocking the corners off. Its shape iз round, and the shape at the top is like an arch.

M. Let us see if this arched shape is the best that could have been given to it. We want the skull to be very strong.

When men form a railway tunnel, what shape do they find to be the best to prevent the earth from falling in?

L. The railway tunnels I have seen, have always been long arches-and the Thames Tunnel

too.

W. And they build railroads on arches, mamma.

Ion. And they build bridges on arches, too,-I suppose that is because the arches can bear the weight of the carts and omnibuses.

M. Yes, and, perhaps, men learned that an arch is the strongest form from their own skulls. The arch on the top of your head is the best possible form that can be given to it.

W. I think so, mamma, because I often get very hard knocks on my head, in the play-ground at school-but it has not cracked yet. So we will put that down in the second part of the description. Will you write, Lucy?

"The bones form together an arched shape, which form gives greater strength to protect the brain."

M. I should remind you, Willie, that as you grow older you will not be so well able to bear such knocks, and must learn to be more careful. In our first lesson on bones, I told you that the bones of the baby, and of young people, are more soft and elastic than those of men. That is why the baby was not killed last week when he fell from nurse's lap on the floor, with such a violent blow. Such a blow would, perhaps, have killed your papa.

W. Because his bones are more brittle-but, then, they are thicker. M. No, they are not much thicker, for the quality, thickness, would not be a good one for protecting the brain. You know what is meant by vibrating-you have seen the wires of the piano vibrate.

Ion. Yes, they shake very quick ly, and tremble-so do the harp strings, when they are pulled.

M. And so does your skull when it is struck. Now, if the bones of your papa's skull were very thick,

they would vibrate more than if they were thin. If he received a hard blow, the vibration would be too great, and, passing through to the brain, would injure it very much. Such a strong vibration would be more likely to kill him than a wound penetrating the brain itself.

As you become a man, your skull will be beautifully changed to protect you from such accidents. Some of these bones, as they become thicker, actually split into two layers-just as a thick slice of bread is sometimes cut into two thin slices. Then, between these two layers of bone, a very soft substance is formed, which serves to keep them apart.

L. Just as you might put the butter between two thin slices of bread, instead of outside.

M. Yes. And this alteration in the bones of the skull almost prevents any of its vibrations from reaching the brain. The skull protects it perfectly. You may think about this. How God takes care of every part of us! He is always caring for us, from the time when we are little children, to the time when we are old men. You can, when you get older, learn more of your skull,-but, even now, you may say from your lesson,

"The skull is beautifully fitted by the Creator for its object, which is to protect the brain."

To the rose the sun is welcome,
As she blushes beneath his gleam,
The lily lifts her snowy head

To greet his fervid beam!

There is joy, and light, and gladness, Where his glowing footsteps rove,

But the sun of our existence

Is the smile of those we love! And what the sun is to the flower, Still true tho' he may rove, Is that brightest joy the heart can feel, The smile of those we love

MRS. CORNWELL BARON WILSON,

THE SAXON KINGDOM. EDWARD THE MARTYR, ETHELRED, EDMUND IRONSIDE.

M. In our lesson on EDGAR, I told you of one of his wicked acts. He murdered a nobleman, because he wanted that nobleman's wife, who was called ELFRIDA. Now, what kind of a woman must Elfrida have been to marry a king who had murdered her husband?

L. I should think she was very foolish

M. And even wicked. The history books say that she was a proud, cruel woman; and you will find this to be true.

When Edgar died (in the year 975), he left two sons. EDWARD, 15 years old, was the son of his first wife; and ETHELRED, a little boy 7 years old, the son of Elfrida. Elfrida wished that her own boy should be king, but Dunstan, who still had great power, said that the eldest son had the most right, and that Ethelred was too young. And the people said so too; so, they made Edward king.

EDWARD THE MARTYR.

Edward was an innocent good king; but he only reigned four years, for I am sorry to say that his wicked step-mother determined to murder him, so that her own boy might reign instead. This is how she did it. Edward was always very kind to his little brother Ethelred, and to his step-mother Elfrida; and one day he came to see her at Corfe Castle. He did not suppose that she would do any wickedness to him, and as he was going away he asked for some wine to drink. Whilst he was sitting on his horse, drinking, Elfrida silently called one of her servants, who went behind him and stabbed him in the back.

The horse ran away. Edward soon fainted from loss of blood. He then fell off and was dragged along the ground with his foot in the stirrup until he died. The people were very much shocked at the wicked Elfrida, and I should think must have disliked her very much; indeed, she must have felt very wretched all her life.

There is something, dear children, which you may learn even from this bad queen. Mind, and have nothing to do or say with wicked people. Ask God to make you ashamed of wickedness, and keep you away from it. Say to Him, "Lead us not into temptation."

If Elfrida, when Edgar asked her to be his queen, had said to him, "You are a wicked man, I will have nothing to do with you," she might not have become so wretchedbut, you see that having once done wrong, she became worse and worse until she was as bad as her husband, and even committed murder her own self.

ETHELRED.

What sort of a king do you think Ethelred would make? Kings are, what other men often are, just what their mothers make them. I once read in a French book these words: "Every great man is the son of his mother," which means that he has been attended to more by his mother than his father, or any one else.

Alfred had a good mother, so he was a good king. Poor Ethelred had a bad mother, one who was | foolish and wicked; so, what would he be?

L. A wicked and a foolish king, very likely.

M. Indeed he was. He was so

foolish that the people nicknamed him "The Unready;" for, when the Danes came to rob and kill as before, he was never ready to meet them. You will hear soon, how he was so wicked that, when he could not conquer these Danes, he cruelly murdered every one, just as a butcher would kill so many sheep. L. Ah, he learned that from his mother.

M. I hardly feel inclined to trouble you with the history of such a man; but, there are two or three things concerning him which are worth noticing.

The Archbishop Dunstan put the crown on his head, and made him king. Dunstan then made him take an oath that he would reign properly; and, thus, Ethelred was the first king that ever took an oath at his coronation.

Dunstan soon after died-for he was now an old man-but he had during the reign of Edgar behaved himself so badly, that he lost his good name at last few people called him "Saint."

As soon as Ethelred was crowned the Danes came again. The king then tried to drive them back, but could not do so; so, to make them go away, he gave them some money.

This was a very bad plan; for the Danes saw that he only gave it them from fear-that it was not kindness like the conduct of Athelstane-so, they took his money, and laughed at him; and, the next year they came back for more, travelling over the country, and killing the people until the money was given to them. Once he gave the Danes £10,000; again, £30,000; again, £36,000; and then £48,000 after that.

Thus, the Danes who were living in England became insolent, idle, and lazy, living like Lords, in what

was then called the height of luxury; for, it is said that they combed their hair once a-day, bathed once a week, often changed their clothes, and were called Lure-danes, or LORD DANES.

Then, when Ethelred could not get rid of them, he committed the wicked act I told you of. One Sunday, the 13th of November, 1002, when it was their time for bathing, he caused them all-men, women, and children-to be put to death.

Wickedness leads to wickedness -murder leads to murder-war brings more war. So when SWEYN the King of Denmark heard of this act, he declared that he would not rest until he had murdered some English, for "revenge." He came with a large fleet of ships, attacked the English with more fury than ever, slaughtered thousands; and, after some years, he drove Ethelred from England into Normandy, and took possession of his kingdom.

It happened however, that, about six weeks afterwards, Sweyn died, and Ethelred returned. As soon as he regained his throne he was attacked by Sweyn's son, Canute. He struggled with Canute for a few years, and then died-despised and disliked as much as his mother.

EDMUND IRONSIDE.

At Ethelred's death, Canute had nearly conquered England; but Edmund, the son of Ethelred, was as brave and strong as himself: indeed, he was so brave that the people called him Ironside.

It was therefore agreed, that Canute, the son of Sweyn, should govern one part of England; and Edmund, the son of Ethelred, the other part: but a very short time afterwards Edmund was murdered, leaving the whole kingdom to Ca

nute.