They form a source of some danger, at least to small boats, for they sometimes appear suddenly in such numbers as to cover the sea, the surface of which is then apt to freeze too, so that the boats are in danger of being nipped between the detached ice-rafts, or of being beset and frozen into the united cake of ice. Sometimes large blocks of rocks as well as masses of sea-weed are borne away from the sea-floor and carried to the surface by the ascending sheets of ground-ice. In the rivers of cold countries, as, for instance, in the St. Lawrence, similar ground-ice is formed in winter, sometimes round iron chains or anchors, which, if the inclosing ice is thick enough, may actually be lifted by it. PROFESSOR ARCHIBALD GEIKIE. Spell and pronounce :-latitudes, derived, scattered, including, effectually, gradually, entangled, abundantly, innumerable, drinkable, dislodged, growling, quantities, and warfare. Archibald Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835. He has become one of the most eminent Scotch scientists. Some of his ablest articles contain his studies and researches in connection with geology. He was chosen Professor of Mineralogy and Geology in the University of Edinburgh. OUTLINE FOR COMPOSITION. 1. Where found? Subject: ICEBergs. 2. How large are they? 3. Where are they formed? When? How? 4. When and how do they get into the ocean? 5. In what way are they dangerous? 6. How may their nearness be told when not seen? 7. How far south do they move? 8. How do they disappear? LESSON LXIV. en fee'bles, weakens; enervates. pre dom'i nates, to prevail; to rule. chǎl'len ging, calling out. in çīte', to urge; to arouse; to animate. prŏd'i gal, extravagant; wasteful. ACTION OF CLIMATE UPON MAN. Since man is made to acquire the full possession and mastery of his faculties by toil, and by the exercise of all his energies, no climate could so well minister to his progress in this work as the climate of the temperate regions. Excessive heat enfeebles man; it invites to repose and inaction. In the tropical regions, the power of life in nature is carried to its highest degree; thus, with the tropical man, the life of the body overmasters that of the soul; the physical instincts of our nature eclipse those of the higher faculties; passion predominates over intellect and reason; the passive faculties over the active faculties. A Nature too rich, too prodigal of her gifts, does not compel man to wrest from her his daily bread by his daily toil. A regular climate, and the absence of a dormant season, render forethought of little use to him. Nothing invites him to that struggle of intelligence against Nature which raises the powers of man to their highest pitch. Thus, he never dreams of resisting physical Nature; he is conquered by her; he submits to the yoke, and becomes again the animal man, in proportion as he abandons himself to external influences, forgetful of his high moral destination. In the temperate climates, all is activity and movement. The alternations of heat and cold, the changes of the seasons, a fresher and more bracing air, incite man to a constant struggle, to forethought, and to the vigorous employment of all his faculties. A more economical Nature yields nothing, except to the sweat of his brow; every gift on her part is a recompense for effort on his. Nature here, even while challenging man to the conflict, gives him the hope of victory; and, if she does not show herself prodigal, she grants to his active and intelligent labor more than his necessities require; while she calls out his energy, she thus gives him ease and leisure, which permit him to cultivate all the lofty faculties of his higher nature. Here, physical Nature is not a tyrant, but a useful helper; the active faculties, the understanding and the reason, rule over the instincts and the passive faculties; the soul over the body; man over Nature. In the frozen regions, man also contends with Nature, but it is with a niggardly and severe Nature; it is a desperate struggle-a struggle for life. With difficulty, by force of toil, he succeeds in providing for himself a miserable support, which saves him from dying of hunger and hardship during the tedious winters of that climate. High culture is not possible under such unfavorable conditions. The man of the tropical regions is the son of a wealthy house. In the midst of the abundance which surrounds him, labor too often seems to him useless; to abandon himself to his inclinations is more easy and agreeable. A slave of his passions, an unfaithful servant, he leaves uncultivated and unused the faculties with which God has endowed him. The man of the polar regions is the beggar overwhelmed with suffering, who, too happy if he can but gain his daily bread, has no leisure to think of anything more exalted. The man of the temperate regions, finally, is the man born in ease, in the golden mean, which is the most favored of all conditions. Invited to labor by everything around him, he soon finds, in the exercise of all his faculties, at once progress and well-being. Thus, if the tropical regions have the wealth of Nature, the temperate regions are the most perfectly organized for the development of man. They are opposed to each other, as the body and the soul, as the inferior races and the superior races, as savage man and civilized man, as Nature and history. Of this contrast, so marked as it is, the history of human societies will give us the solution, or, at least, will enable us to obtain a glimpse of the truth. A. H. GUYOT. Spell and pronounce :— acquire, possession, instincts, eclipse, predominate, intellect, faculties, destination, alternations, compel, vigorous, economical, niggardly, and civilized. Name the people and nations of temperate climates; those of tropical climates; those of the frigid regions of the world. Compare their literature, art, science, architecture, and national influence. Arnold Henry Guyot, a Swiss naturalist and geographer, was born in 1807. He is the author of several works containing much geographical research. lēa, meadow. quaint, odd; fanciful. LESSON LXV. noon'tīde, noon-time. THE PLANTING OF THE APPLE-TREE. Come, let us plant the apple-tree. Cleave the tough greensward with the spade; There gently lay the roots, and there So plant we the apple-tree. What plant we in this apple-tree? Buds, which the breath of summer days Shall lengthen into leafy sprays; Boughs where the thrush, with crimson breast, Shall haunt and sing and hide her nest; We plant, upon the sunny lea, A shadow for the noon-tide hour, What plant we in this apple-tree? Sweets for a hundred flowery springs To load the May-wind's restless wings, When, from the orchard-row, he pours Its fragrance through our open doors; A world of blossoms for the bee, Flowers for the sick girl's silent room, For the glad infant sprigs of bloom, We plant with the apple-tree. |