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their extremities in any manner whatever, except that of uniform direction. A curved line, or curve, is a line whose direction varies at every point.

F

Straight lines, or curved lines, are generally denoted, in speaking and writing, by two letters placed commonly at their extremities; but they may be placed anywhere on the lines at a distance from each other. Thus, in Fig. 1, the letters A B D denote one straight line, the letters CD another, and the letters EF a third; and these straight lines are respectively called the straight lines A B, O D, and E F. A straight line, as A B, may be divided into any number of equal parts, to serve as a standard for measuring other straight lines.

D

M

B

Fig. 1.

A

A combination of straight, crooked, and curved lines is represented in Fig. 2; A B, B C, C D, and D A, are each straight lines; the combination A D C B, beginning at A, and terminating at B, is a crooked line; and the line A M B, beginning at A, and ending at B, is a curved line.

B

C

Fig. 2. 6. A surface, or, as it is sometimes called, a superficies, is extension in two directions; hence it is said to have only length and breadth. Hence, also, the extremities or boundaries of a surface are lines; and surfaces intersect or cross, each other in lines.

7. A plane surface, or plane, is a surface in which any two points being taken, the straight line between them lies wholly in that surface; or, it is that surface with which a straight line wholly coincides, when applied to it in every direction. Any other surface, not composed of plane surfaces, is called a curved surface.

"

8. Parallel straight lines are such as lie in the same plane, and which, though produced ever so far both ways, do not meet (Fig. 3).

READING AND ELOCUTION.-I.

PUNCTUATION.

application. These were so generally adopted, that we may consider the Manutii as the inventors of the present method of punctuation; and although modern grammarians have introduced some improvements, nothing but a few particular rules have been added since their time.

The design of the system referred to was purely grammatical, and had no further reference to enunciation, than to remove ambiguity in the meaning and to give precision to the sentence. This, therefore, is the object of punctuation, and although the marks employed in written language may sometimes denote the different pauses and tones of voice which the sense and accurate pronunciation require, yet they are more generally designed to mark the grammatical divisions of a sentence, and to show the dependence and relation of words and members which are separated by the intervening clauses. The teacher, therefore, who directs his pupils to "mind their pauses in reading," gives but an unintelligible direction to those who are unversed in the rules of analysis. A better direction would be to disregard the pauses, and endeavour to read the sentence with just such pauses and tones as they would employ if the sentence were their own, and they were uttering it in common conversation. Indeed, it is often the case that correct and tasteful reading requires pauses, and these too of a considerable length, to be made, where such pauses are indicated in written language* by no mark whatever. It is not unfrequently the case that the sense will allow no pause whatever to be made in cases where, if the marks alone were observed, it would seem that a pause of considerable length is required. The pupil, therefore, who has been told to mind his pauses, must first be taught to unlearn this direction, and endeavour to understand the sentence which he is to read, before he attempts to enunciate it. The characters employed in written language are the follow

ing :

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Fig. 3.

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PUNCTUATION is peculiar to the modern languages of Europe. It was wholly unknown to the Greeks and Romans; and the languages of the East, although they have certain marks or signs to indicate tones, have no regular system of punctuation. The Romans and the Greeks also, it is true, had certain points, which, like those of the languages of the East, were confined to the delivery and pronunciation of words; but the pauses were indicated by breaking up the written matter into lines or paragraphs, not by marks resembling those in the modern system of punctuation. Hence, in the responses of the ancient oracles, which were generally written down by the priests and delivered to the inquirers, the ambiguity-doubtless intentional-which the want of punctuation caused, saved the credit of the oracle, whether the expected event was favourable or unfavourable. As an instance of this kind, may be cited that remarkable response which was given on a well-known occasion, when the oracle was consulted with regard to the success of a certain military expedition: "Ibis et redibis nunquam peribis in bello." Written, as it was, without being pointed, it might be translated either, "Thou shalt go, and shalt never return, thou shalt perish in battle," or, "Thou shalt go and shalt return, thou shalt never perish in battle." The correct translation depends on the placing of a comma after the word nunquam, or after redibis. The invention of the modern system of punctuation has been attributed to the Alexandrian grammarian Aristophanes, after whom it was improved by succeeding grammarians; but it was so entirely lost in the time of Charlemagne, that he found it necessary to have it restored by Warnefried and Alcuin. It consisted at first of only one point, used in three ways, and sometimes of a stroke, formed in several ways. But as no particular rules were followed in the use of these signs, punctuation was exceedingly uncertain, until the end of the fifteenth century, when the learned Venetian printers, the Manutii, increased the number of the signs, and established some fixed rules for their

The Circumflex Accent,

The Caret,

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sometimes by Asterisks or Stars, thus,
sometimes by a Dash prolonged, thus,

These characters, when judiciously employed, fix the meaning and give precision to the signification of sentences, which, in a written form, would be ambiguous or indefinite without them. Thus, “I said that he is dishonest it is true and I am sorry for it." Now the meaning of this sentence can be ascertained only by a correct punctuation. If it be punctuated as follows: "I said that he is dishonest, it is true, and I am sorry for it ;" the meaning will be, that it is true that I said he is dishonest, and I am sorry that I said so. But if it be punctuated thus, "I said that he is dishonest; it is true; and I am sorry for it ;" the meaning will be, "I said that he is dishonest; it is true that he is dishonest, and I am sorry that he is so."

A further instance of the importance of correct punctuation was afforded by a late advertisement, in which the commissioner for lighting one of the largest commercial cities of Europe, by the misplacing of a comma in his advertisement, would have contracted for the supply of but half the required light. The advertisement represented the lamps as "4,050 in number, having two spouts each, composed of not less than twenty threads of cotton." This expression implied that the lamps had each two spouts, and that the two spouts had twenty threads-that is, each spout had ten threads. But the meaning that the commissioner intended to convey was, that each spout had twenty threads; and his advertisement should have had the comma after "spouts," instead of after "each," thus: The lamps have two spouts, each composed of twenty threads, etc.

The term "written language" of course includes printed language.

These instances might suffice to illustrate the nature and the propriety of correct punctuation; but the following instance, known to many, will show the importance of the subject. The clerk of a congregation in Scotland had a paper handed to him, as the custom is, to read just before the minister stood up to pray with and for the congregation, containing the following words, unpointed: "A man going to sea his wife desires the prayers of the congregation." The clerk read it as if a comma had been put at the end of the word wife, and unfortunately excited, in no small degree, the risible faculties of the people assembled:-thus, A man going to sea (see) his wife, desires the prayers of the congregation."

But although the meaning of a sentence is thus materially affected by the punctuation, it will be seen in the following lessons that the punctuation alone is an unsafe guide to follow in the enunciation of any collection of words. For, in many cases, these marks indicate no pause, emphasis, or other circumstance requiring notice in the enunciation of the sentence.

The nature of the marks used in written language may also be understood by a reference to the origin of their names.

The word Comma is derived from the Greek language, and properly designates a section, or part struck off from a complete sentence. In its usual acceptation, it signifies the point which marks the smaller portions of a period. It therefore represents the shortest pause, and consequently marks the least constructive, or most dependent parts of a sentence.

The word Colon is from the Greek, and signifies a member of a sentence, and the Latin prefix semi means half. Hence, a Semicolon is used for the purpose of pointing out those parts of a compound sentence which, although they each constitute a distinct proposition, have yet a dependence upon each other, or on some common clause. The Colon is used to divide a sentence into two or more parts, which, although the sense be complete in each, are not independent. The Colon is also used in chanting, to indicate the division of a verse.

The word Period is derived from the Greek, and means a circuit or well-rounded sentence. Hence, when the circuit of the sense is completed, with all its relations, the mark bearing this name is used to denote this completion.

The Dash is only once used in the Bible, where it is employed as an ellipsis (Exod. xxxii. 32)..

The word Interrogation is derived from the Latin, and means a question. Hence this mark is put at the end of a question. The word Exclamation is from the same language, and means a passionate utterance. Hence the mark so called is put at the end of such utterances.

The word Parenthesis, derived from the Greek language, means an insertion. A sentence, clause, or phrase, inserted between the parts of another sentence for the purpose of explanation, or of calling particular attention, is properly called & parenthesis. It is to be remarked, however, that the name parenthesis belongs only to the sentence inserted between brackets or crotchets, and not to those marks themselves.

The word Hyphen is derived from the Greek language, and signifies under one, that is, together; and is used to imply that the letters or syllables between which it is placed are to be taken together as one word.

The hyphen, when placed over a vowel, to indicate the long Bound of the vowel, is called the Macron, from the Greek, signify. ing long.

The mark called a Breve, indicating the short sound of the Towel, is from the Latin, signifying short.

words signum sectionis, or the sign of a section. This character, which was formerly used as the sign of the division of a discourse, is now rarely used, except as a reference to a note at the bottom of the page.

The word Paragraph is derived from the Greek langnage, and signifies a writing in the margin. This mark, which, like the section, was formerly used to designate those divisions of a section which are now indicated by unfinished lines or blank spaces, is employed in the English version of the Old and New Testaments to mark the commencement of a fresh subject.

It may further be remarked, that notes at the bottom of the page, in the margin, or at the end of a book, are often indicated by figures or by letters, instead of the marks which have already been enumerated.

The word Caret is from the Latin, and signifies it is wanting. This mark is used only in manuscripts.

The Cedilla is a mark placed under the letters c and g to indicate the soft sound of those letters.

The Asterisk, Obelisk, Double Obelisk, and Parallels, with the section and paragraph, are merely arbitrary marks to call attention to the notes at the bottom of the page.

As these marks which have now been enumerated all have a meaning, and are employed for some special purpose, it is recommended to the student never to pass by them without being assured that he understands what that purpose is. Correct and tasteful reading can never be attained without a full appreciation of the meaning which the author intended to convey; and that meaning is often to be ascertained by the arbitrary marks employed by him for the purpose of giving definiteness to an expression. At the same time, the student should consider these marks as his guide to the meaning only, not to the enunciation of a sentence. Correct delivery must be left to the guidance of taste and judgment otherwise acquired.

In many excellent selections for lessons in reading, the pieces have been arranged in regular order, according to the nature of their respective subjects, under the heads of Narrative, Descriptive, Didactic, Argumentative, and Pathetic pieces, Public Speeches, Promiscuous pieces, the Eloquence of the Bar, of the Pulpit, and of the Forum.

By Narrative pieces are meant those pieces only which contain a simple narration or story. Descriptive pieces are those in which something is described, chiefly from nature. Didactic pieces are those designed to convey some particular kind of instruction, whether moral, religious, or scientific. Argumentative pieces are those in which some truth is designed to be proved in an agreeable manner. Pathetic pieces are those by which the feelings of pity, love, admiration, and other passions, are excited. Promiscuous pieces are those which do not fall exclusively under any of the classes which have been enumerated, or which consist of a mixture of those classes. The Eloquence of the Bar consists of speeches (or pleas as they are technically called) made by distinguished lawyers in the courts of justice in favour of or against a supposed criminal. The Eloquence of the Pulpit consists of sermons or discourses delivered on religious occasions. The Eloquence of the Forum consists in the speeches, addresses, orations, etc., addressed to political or promiscuous assemblies.

To many, this information may seem superfluous or puerile. But as these lessons are designed for the young and the unlearned, it must not be forgotten that their sources of information are few, and that they will not always take the pains to inform themselves of the meaning of words, even when they are familiar to their eyes in capital letters, and in the running titles of the books before them every day. It is often the case that the teacher also, taking for granted that his pupils are familiar with the meaning of words so often presented to their eyes, neglects to question them on the subject; and in riper years it becomes a matter of surprise to the pupil himself that, in early life, words which he had heard sounded almost every day at The word Diaresis is also from the Greek, and signifies the school presented no idea to his mind beyond that of an unmeantaking apart, or the separation of the vowels, which would other-ing or rather an unintelligible sound. wise be pronounced as one syllable.

The word Ellipsis, also from the Greek, means an omission, and properly refers to the words, members, or sentences which are omitted, and not to the marks which indicate the mission. The word Apostrophe, also from the Greek, signifies the turning away, or the omission of one letter or more. The word apostrophe, as here used, must not be confounded with the same word as the name of a rhetorical figure.

The term Accent is derived from the Latin language, and implies the tone of the voice with which a word or syllable is to be pronounced.

The word Section, derived also from the Latin, signifies a cutting, or a division. The character which denotes a section seems to be composed of ss, and to be an abbreviation of the

The object of all education is not so much to fill the mind with knowledge as to strengthen its powers and enlarge its capacity. Those exercises, therefore, are always most beneficial in education which tend most effectually to produce this result. There is, perhaps, no branch of study connected with popular education which, when properly pursued, is more highly subservient to this end than the study of correct and tasteful reading,

as an art. It necessarily involves a complete knowledge of the subject to be read, the relation and dependencies of the phrases, clauses, and members of the sentences, the proper meaning of the words employed, and the connection between the sentences themselves. This cannot be acquired without a vigorous employment of the perceptive powers, aided by those of comparison, of analysis, of reasoning, of judgment, of taste, and of discrimination. Subordinate and auxiliary to the acquisition of this important art, the student is recommended to exer

cise also the power of classification, while studying a reading lesson (which should always be studied previous to practising it), to ascertain under which of the above-mentioned classeswhether narrative, descriptive, didactic, etc.-the piece he is about to read belongs. The student who thus employs his faculties cannot fail to feel a vigorous growth of intellect springing up in his own mind, and will be amply compensated for his labour by a command over the stores of literature not to be gained by any other method.

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WHAT WILL BECOME OF HIM?

THE above engraving is intended to illustrate the effects which different modes of life have upon the human countenance. Even with the progress that has been made in the last few years, still we have around us far too many instances of the truth of this picture. Much has been said of the science of phrenology; but without depreciating the facts on which it is professedly based, we confess that we have a more profound faith in the doctrine of physiognomy. No one can deny that the "human face divine" has in it something expressive of that which enters into and constitutes the character of the man. It may come out in the eye, or the lip, or the nose, or the general contour of the countenance; but there it is, and no one can give himself to the closer and deeper study of this subject without being able, more or less correctly, to read the mysterious symbols of human character and destiny.

Carefully examine the above engraving. Look at the head and face of the child represented in the first figure. Who can divine what that young intelligence will become in the future of his life? Is there anything in his features to indicate that he will act a conspicuous part on the great wide stage of this world? Or is he to sink to the lowest depths in the scale of intelligent being? Even in the outlines of the infant countenance there may be the index of the future man. These outlines will become more marked and definite in the boy amid the studies and pursuits of the school. The period of boyhood is one of wondrous development; and if this were but carefully watched, the foundation might in many cases be laid for the erection of a true manly nobility-and that might be under.

mined, on which moral evil would otherwise rear her temple of impurity. Look at the eye, nose, and mouth of the boy as he is at school, or as he is located in one of the worst parts of London, and who does not perceive, from the very contour of the countenance, that his destiny will very much depend on the influences by which he may be surrounded? In the one case, you see him pass into the higher and more polite circles of the educated classes, yielding himself to all the softening, subduing, refining elements of pure female society; and in the other, you see him entirely lost to all sense of decency and self-respect, rushing headlong into the scenes of dissipation, and surrendering himself to all the worst agencies of a wicked world. In the one instance you see him choosing his profession, and contemplating a settlement in life-wedding himself to a virtuous, loving, and devoted woman, and in course of time becoming surrounded by a loving family; in the other you see the man emerging from the scenes of brutal intoxication to plunge into deeper, darker vices, till his conscience is oppressed with guilt and misery, and life becomes a burden, from which he perhaps seeks relief in suicide; or it may be that his conduct renders him obnoxious to law, and he comes to a premature death. If he be spared this fate, he comes to beggary, and goes down to the grave unlamented and unwept. How different this from the career of the man whose happiest days are spent in the bosom of his loving family, and who grows old amid the most genial influences, honoured, revered, beloved; who sees his children's children unto the third or fourth generation, who goes down to his last resting-place amid the prayers and tears of those he loved, and whose dying moments are cheered by the hope of a happy reunion in a world where life is perfect and joy complete.

ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY.-I.

THE EYE.

THE eye is the instrument by which the mind becomes acquainted with external and distant objects by means of the light, which is one of the most subtle and delicate forces in nature, and needs a correspondingly delicate and complicated organ to appreciate its effects.

Without inquiring into the nature of light, it is sufficient for we know

our subject that

some of its constant qualities, or laws, as they have been called.

In its simplest condition light travels in straight lines in all directions, from its source; hence, when we see a luminous body, we know the direction in which it lies, because it must lie in the line of the ray which reaches us.

When a ray of light thus travelling in a straight line strikes upon the surface of any object, it is affected in some of the following ways according to the nature of the object and of its surface :

1st. It may be destroyed, as far as visual effects are concerned, partially or wholly.

2nd. It may penetrate the substance of the body, being more or less bent as it traverses the surface. This occurs when the body is transparent.

3rd. It may glance off and pursue a different direction outside the object upon which it strikes.

The first effect is called absorption; the second, refraction; and the third, reflection. Reflected light concerns us most. The eye occupies itself

a,

that the problem of how to make a serviceable eye is a difficult one.

The analogy of the mirror, however, must not lead the reader to suppose that a plane surface, sensitive to light, would be conscious of distinct images, or that it would see objects as we. by the aid of the eye, see them reflected on its surface. For distinct vision, it is necessary that many divergent rays proceeding from each point in an object should be collected together again in a point, and that point must lie exactly on the retina, or sentient mirror. Thus, the instrument known as a camera,

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which has a lens set into the side of a box, and a surface at the other side to receive the image, is a more perfect simile for an eye.

We will now describe the structure of one of the most perfect instruments for taking note of the impression produced by light with which we are acquainted - the human eye.

The human eye is globular; differing, however, from a perfect sphere in some slight but important particulars. The thick, tough capsule, which maintains the shape of the eye, and contains all the other parts necessary to perfect vision, is about one inch from front to back, and a little more from side to side and from top to bottom. This is called the sclerotic, or hard coat of the eye. This hard coat, which forms the eyeball, differs from a true sphere also, in that its front part, occupying about one-sixth of its circumference (in section), bulges forward far more than it would do if it were only a part of the larger globe; and this part differs from the other in texture also, for while it is equally strong and tough, and even harder, it is purely transparent, while the rest of the eyeball is opaque and white. This front clear por: tion, which is let into the hinder part as a bay-window is put into the wall of a room, or as an old-fashioned watch-glass is

1. VERTICAL SECTION OF THE HUMAN EYE IN ITS SOCKET.
sclerotic or hard coat of the eye; b, choroid; c, retina or nervous
mirror; d, membrane holding the vitreous humour; e, vitreous
humour; f, cornea; g, aqueous chamber and humour; h, crystalline
lens; ii, iris; kk, ligament to hold lens; 1, meibomian glands; m m,
muscles to wield the eye; n, muscle to lift the eye-lid.

with reflected rays. If light were incapable of being reflected,
the sun would appear as a sharply-defined dazzling orb in a
pitch-dark universe, and eyes would be of no use; for though
poets tell us so, not even the eagle spends its time in so profit-
less and injurious an
employment as gaz.
ing on the sun.

Now, as reflected

light travels in straight lines from the object upon

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2. DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW OBJECTS ARE IMPRINTED ON THE RETINA.

set into the rim of the watch-case, is called the cornea, or horny structure. Its greater projection or convexity is not a matter of accident, but highly importa ant, for if it were not so, no near object could be seen distinctly. Lining the inner

which it is reflected, it is to the eye, in all respects, the same as though that object were itself luminous. As light proceeds from all parts of an object, and travels in straight | surface of the sclerotic is a thin membrane, which supports lines, we have only to let the rays fall upon some surface which shall receive them without derangement, to get an image which will give the colour, form, and, by a little inferential reasoning, the size and distance of the object.

The first requisite in an eye, then, is a sentient mirror, which shall receive the images of objects and feel them. This mirror must be of moderate and portable size, and well under control, so that it can be turned about.

All mirrors are perishable and delicate articles, liable to fractare; but when we conceive of a mirror whose surface and backing, and even its very frame, must be made not of hard glass, imperishable quicksilver, and durable wood, but of soft renewable tissues, and think how indispensable it is that it should be protected and kept in a state of repair, we must admit

The

in its outer layers the larger arteries and veins which carry
the blood to and from the front and inner parts of the eye,
while it has on its inner surface a very thin pavement of
flat, six-sided cells; each cell filled with black grains.
grains, and even the cells which contain them, are so small and
so closely set as to form what appears to any but a high mag-
nifying power, a continuous thin black sheet, perfectly opaque.
This membrane papers the inside of the eye as far forward as
the place where the sclerotic joins the cornea, and is there cou-
nected firmly with this outer jacket by a strong ligament and
muscle. Before it reaches this point, however, it is puckered
into somewhat irregular fore-and-aft folds. Beyond this point
the choroid, as this membrane is called, is continued as a freely,
hanging curtain, shaped like a quoit, that is, round and opaque

3

with a hole in the middle of it, which is opposite the middle of the cornea, or window of the eye.

From the same circle of attachment, but internal to the curtain before-named, is suspended, or rather held, by a ligament, a perfectly transparent body shaped like a lentil, that is, with two convex but flattened surfaces. The quoit-like curtain is called the iris, and the disc the crystalline lens. The lens is slung at some little distance from the cornea, leaving a chamber, which is filled with watery fluid, which bathes both sides of the iris. Behind the lens, and occupying the larger part of the hollow of the eye, is a denser liquid, contained in a thin, perfectlytransparent membrane, which not only encircles it, but sends in partitions from its outer wall to divide the liquid into compartments, so that when the eye is cut into, the humour does not run out, but seems to be of the consistence of clear jelly. Both the liquid and capsule are so transparent that they are called the hyaloid membrane and vitreous humour, or the glassy membrane and humour.

All the main parts of the eye have now been described except the essential one for which all the others are made, namely, the retina: that wonderful stratum of nervous matter which receives and transmits to the brain all luminous impressions, the glories of colour, the splendid imagery of the earth, and the soft radiance of the sky.

The retina lies between the choroid and vitreous humour. It lines the choroid as closely as that membrane lines tho sclerotic, and so covers the whole back part of the eye.

The retina (or sentient mirror), thin as it is, has been found under the microscope to consist of many layers of diverse structure. Not to descend into great minuteness, it may be said to consist of an outer layer of cylindrical bodies, called, from their shape, rods and cones, which run perpendicularly to the surface of junction between retina and choroid. These bodies are the instruments by which the rays are noted. It would seem that each rod or cone conveys but one impression, so that while the image of an external object may be made very small on the retina, and yet distinctly seen, because of the minuteness of these bodies, yet the image must cover a certain number of them to be an image at all. In other words, if it only covered one, the impression would be that of a single point of light.

Next comes the granular layer, the office of which is no further known than that similar structures are found wherever impressions received by the senses are modified. The innermost layer consists of nerve-fibres, which convey the impressions in some such way as the telegraph wires convey their messages. These all run to one point in the back part of the eyeball, a little on the inner or nose side of the axis, and there pass through the choroid and sclerotic, which are pierced by a great many holes, and are united behind into the optic nerve, and this runs to the brain, first, however, being joined by its fellow from the other eye, and then separating from it again, having received some of the strands of this nervous cord, and given up some of its own in return.

Let us now trace the course of a number of rays reflected from a single point in an object, before they reach the retina (see Fig. 2). These rays as they come from a single point are, of course, diverging. They strike, therefore, all over the surface of the cornea, and as they pass through it are gathered somewhat together. They then pass the aqueous humour with a slightly The outer ones are cut off by the opaque iris, but the central ones pass through the lens, which rapidly gathers them together, and they are then transmitted through the vitreous humour, all the time converging until they meet at a point exactly in or on the retina.

altered course.

In saying that they meet exactly on the retina, it is meant that they will do so if the adjustment is perfect. If it be imperfect, so that the rays unite in a point either before the retina, or would unite behind it if they could traverse the choroid, the image is blurred and indistinct.

The problem of how to get a distinct image, of course, is more difficult, when the points from which the light proceeds are numerous, as from any object of appreciabie form. To obtain this, the surface of the cornea, the hind and front face of the lens, and the face of the retina, must all be of definite and regular curves, or the figure would be distorted. If the cornea bulges too much, the object can only be seen at a short distance, and from this cause some persons have to lay their cheeks upon the page before they can read print. If it buiges

too little, distinct images of near objects are impossible. If the crystalline lens is too dry, or too moist, it becomes clouded with hard or soft cataract. If the pigment be not of sufficient quantity in the choroid, vision is interfered with; and from this cause albinos, or persons whose hair and skin are deficient in colouring matter, are dazzled in ordinary daylight.

Further, if the retina, or part of it fail, as it sometimes does, from some cause too subtle to be found out, the object is seen only in part; thus, some persons have this peculiar affection of half the retina, so that when they look directly at an object, they only see the half of it.

The retina, perfect in all its other functions, may not discriminate colour. The writer once played a game at croquet with a gentleman, who disclosed his infirmity thus: Two balls were lying together one red, and the other green. He asked which was his, and being told the red one, asked which red one? On another occasion the writer was looking at a brightlycoloured geological map. A stranger who looked with him soon showed that he was quite unaware that it was other than the ordinary ordnance map. These defects of vision call marked attention to the perfection of the instrument of vision, when perfect, as it is in most cases. It would be difficult to determine whether the eye were made for light, or light for the eye; but that the Creator of the one was cognisant of all the wonderful qualities of the other, admits of no doubt; and this goes far to prove that the Creator of the one must have been the designer of the other.

LESSONS IN ENGLISH.-II.

SIMPLE PROPOSITIONS.

Alfred reads.

THESE two words form what is called a proposition; they form a simple proposition. Proposition is a word of Latin origin, signifying something that is put before you. As being something that is put before you, it is a statement; it is a statement of a fact or a thought; a statement of something in the mind, or something out of the mind. Here the statement is that Alfred reads. Such a statement is also termed a sentence. Sentence is also from the Latin, and signifies a form of words comprising a thought or sentiment. These words, then-namely, sentence, proposition, and statement, have the same significa tion; and they each denote an utterance, the utterance of a fact, an idea, an emotion. Observe that both words are essential to the proposition. Take away Alfred, you then have reads; but reads is no proposition, for nothing is stated. Take away reads, you leave Alfred; but Alfred by itself says nothing, makes no statement, and therefore forms no proposition or sentence. The two words must concur to make a proposition. If so, less than two words do not make a proposition; and a proposition or sentence may consist of not more than two words.

In these simple statements you have in the germ the substance of the doctrine of sentences. If you understand what I have now said, you have laid the foundation for a thorough acquaintance with language in general, and with the English language in particular; for to a form of words similar in simplicity to that which stands at the head of this lesson is all speech reducible; and that model presents the germ out of which are evolved the long and involved sentences of our old English divines, and the full and lofty eloquence of Milton's immortal essay on behalf of the liberty of the press.

The sentence as it stands is what is called an affirmative proposition; that is, it affirms or declares something-it affirms or declares that Alfred reads. The term affirmative is used in opposition to the term negative. Negative propositions are those in which something is denied. An affirmative may become a negative proposition by the introduction of the adverb not; thus, Alfred reads not. In English it is more common to employ also the emphatic does, as Alfred does not read. You thus see that the words does (do, or dost, as may be required) and not convert an affirmative into a negative proposition. Sentences in which a question is asked we term interrogative; as, does Alfred read? Here by the help of the emphatic form does, and the inversion of the terms does and Alfred, we make an affirmative into an interrogative sentence. If into this last sentence we introduce the negative not, we have an interrogative negative

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