1. "Come, take up your hats, and away let us

haste

To the Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast,

The Trumpeter, Gadfly, has summon'd the crew, And the revels are now only waiting for you.'

2. And there came the Beetle, so blind and so black,

Who carried the Emmet, his friend, on his back. And there was the Gnat and the Dragon-fly too, With all their relations, green, orange and blue.

3. And there came the Moth, with his plumage of down,

And the Hornet in jacket of yellow and brown; Who with him the Wasp, his companion, did bring,

But they promised that evening to lay by their sting.

4. And the sly little Dormouse crept out of his hole, And brought to the feast his blind brother, the Mole.

And the Snail, with his horns peeping out of his shell,

Came from a great distance, the length of an ell.

5. A Mushroom their table, and on it was laid A Water-dock leaf, which a tablecloth made. The viands were various, to each of their taste, And the Bee brought her honey to crown the repast.

6. Then close on his haunches, so solemn and wise,
The Frog from a corner look'd up to the skies,
And the Squirrel, well pleased such diversions to see,
Mounted high overhead and look'd down from a

tree.

7. Then out came the Spider, with finger so fine,
To show his dexterity on the tight-line.
From one branch to another his cobwebs he slung,
Then quick as an arrow he darted along.

8. But just in the middle-oh! shocking to tell, From his rope, in an instant, poor Harlequin fell. Yet he touch'd not the ground, but with talons outspread,

Hung suspended in air, at the end of a thread.

9. Then the Grasshopper came with a jerk and a

spring,

Very long was his leg, though but short was his

wing;

He took but three leaps, and was soon out of sight, Then chirp'd his own praises the rest of the night.

10. With step so majestic the Snail did advance, And promised the Gazers a Minuet to dance; But they all laughed so loud that he pulled in his head,

And went in his own little chamber to bed.

Then as Evening gave way to the shadows of Night,

Their watchman, the Glowworm, came out with a

light.

T. ROSCOE.

LESSON 23.

CREATURES WITHOUT BACK-BONES.

high-er

no'-tice

per'-i-win-kle or'-gan

crev'-ice

act'-u-al-ly

frag'-ments

gen'-er-al-ly suc-ces'-sion blu'-ish

se-clu'-sion

hu'-man

1. Did you ever notice what a great number of animals are back-boned creatures? For instance, all the mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes have skeletons of hard bone.

2. But a large number of animals, generally the smaller ones, have no back-bone at all.

There are two kinds of well-known creatures which have no back-bone. First there are the "jointed animals," and secondly the "soft-bodied animals."

3. Of jointed animals there are five great classes the worms and leeches with bodies made up of rings without limbs; the centipedes made up of rings with many pairs of legs; the crusted animals; the spiders with four pairs of legs; and the insects with three pairs of legs. All of them have bodies made up of rings jointed together. In many cases these rings may be easily seen with the naked eye.

4. Among the soft-bodied animals are such creatures as the snail, the periwinkle and the oyster. Their bodies, having no skeleton, are so soft that they have to be protected by an outside shell. Sometimes the shell is all in one piece; sometimes it is in two plates, as is the case with the oyster, the mussel and the clam.

5. There are even lower forms of life than these. There is the starfish, for instance, which belongs to the "rayed animals," and scarcely looks like an animal at all. This is the third kind of animal having no back-bone.

6. Among the jointed creatures has been named the class of "crusted animals." To this family

belong such creatures as crabs, lobsters and shrimps. Instead of a shell, these animals have a kind of crust or armor to protect their soft bodies; they are all water-breathers.

7. The lobster's body is encased in a crust of rings, those of the hind part are jointed, so that the body may bend and curve. The head shield is

called the carapace; to it are attached two pairs

of horns or feelers. The eyes are set on short stalks. The body is deeper than it is broad.

8. Attached to the body are five pairs of walking legs; one of the first pairs serves as an anchor to hold fast when the sea is rough; the other pairs are weaker. On the under side are six pairs of small legs for swimming.

9. The fan-like tail of the lobster is its great