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The print represents one of the lavers in use in the Temple of Jerusalem, according to the views gathered from ancient writers. Calmet says:

"These were vessels borne by four cherubims, standing upon bases or pedestals, and having handles belonging to them, with the help whereof they might be drawn, and conveyed from one place to another, as they might be wanted in the temple. These lavers were double: that is to say, composed of a basin, which received the water that fell from a square vessel above it, from which they drew water with cocks. whole work was of brass; the square vessel was adorned with heads of a lion, an ox and a cherub, that is to say, of extraordinary hieroglyphic creatures. Each of these lavers contained forty baths, or four bushels, forty-one pints, and forty cubic inches of Paris measure.

The

"There were ten made in this form, and of this capacity; five of them were placed on the right, and five on the left hand of the temple, between the altar of burnt offerings and the steps which led to the porch of the temple."

A Frog imbedded in Coal.-In the Duke of Hamilton's colliery, at Wallacetown, near Falkirk, Scotland. a living frog has been found imbedded in a small piece of coal about three inches long and two and a half broad, at a depth of 42 fathoms from the surface, and 300 yards from the bottom of the shaft.

Preparations for Western Emigration. Some years ago a gentleman of impaired fortune emigrated from the interior of Mass. almost to the prairies of Illinois. He had previously purchased a large farm and log house, before he went out with his fashionable family of wife and three daughters. They sent round by way of New Orleans, Sofas, Centre Tables, Mirrors, Piano and such things, but they were poor appendages in the log house, where a pine table, and a few plain benches would have been more in taste and keeping. They had a hard time of it for some months in getting accustomed to such things, especially when it was found that ar ticles of the simplest kind and of absolute necessity, conld not be obtained within ten miles! Then there were an abundance of hot tears shed, and gladly would fine furni ture, and glittering baubles have been exchanged for some little article which it was next to impossible to live without. Unfortu nately, they forgot to carry to their secluded home common salt, without which no food is palatable. The log cabin was over-run with rats, and having nothing to check their rava ges, they threatened to eat the family out of house and home. The disconsolate daugh ters wrote to their friends that they had sent three miles to borrow some salt, and that their father rode seventeen miles, on horseback, in pursuit of a cat or kitten.-Conn. paper.

When the sea is of a blue color, it is deep water, but when green, shallow, and when white, still more shallow.

The flea jumps 200 times his own length, equal to a quarter of a mile for a man.

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THE GAPING SHELL, OR MYA.

A few leading facts respecting the nature of shells and shell-fish, (as they are commonly called,) ought to be known to us all. We say as they are commonly called, because the animals which inhabit shells are not properly fish, and indeed resemble them only in one circumstance, viz., the element in which they live. Certain species want even this solitary point of similarity, being terrestrial. Some of the snails. are even found on trees. And this wide distinction between the whole of the shelled animals and fish, is one of the facts which all persons of education should know, and distinctly remember. To view it in a strong light, we should go a little farther back, and impress upon our minds the grand outlines of the animal kingdom.

The first grand division of animals is in two classes: those with a vertebral column, (that is, a spine or backbone,) and those without it. Now as fishes proper possess this part, and the inhabitants of shells do not, they belong to different grand divisions of the animal kingdom. This is easily understood: but it is not all. After careful study, many observations, and much reflection, we find a thousand other differences springing out of this fundamental one: for the backbone, or vertebral column, serves several purposes beside that which may seem, at first view, to be its chief or

only one, viz., that of a support to the frame. This is, indeed, one of its principal objects: but, through the hollow which perforates it from end to eud, passes the spinal marrow, which is the grand canal of sensation, (if we may use such a figurative expression) and through it lies the communication between the brain and every other part of the body. The medulla (or marrow, as this Latin word signifies,) which fills the hollow of the spine, branches off sideways, in different directions, through small holes, bored in the sides of the joints, or vertebræ, and subdivides beyond the reach of microscopes. If we would satisfy ourselves whether the ramifications extend to every part of our own cheeks, arms, or fingers, we can recur to a very easy and simple test. A cambric needle, thrust through the thin outer skin, will often detect to our full conviction, what the highest magnifying power of lenses much fail to render visible.

Now the invertebrated animals, or those destitute of backbones, are also destitute of the spinal marrow, and their power of feeling must of course be dependent on another arrangement. Will not such of our readers as have never attended to these points, seek to pursue them hereafter? Will they not, at least, reflect enough upon the nature of the beasts of the field, the fowls of

the air and the fish of the sea, to realize, that they resemble the human race in their liability to suffering even from slight injuries, and therefore have claims on our humanity, not only as fellow-creatures, but as exposed to pains and torments from careless or ignorant, as well as from cruel

hands?

These remarks may appear to be out of place here, while we have before us an animal of a different class. We are ready to reply, that if by introducing them here, we may give a good direction to any of our readers, we shall not consider them thrown away. Before we return to the subject depicted at the head of this article, we would add a few words more.

Backbones serve several other important purposes also. The ribs are attached to them, which protect the heart and lungs, and partly the stomach, while their motion. causes the vital operation of breathing The spinal column also is the supporter of the head, either directly, as in man, or indirectly, by giving support to the muscles which sustain it, as in common animals. For an example of the manner in which provision is made for the support of the enormous head of the mammoth, with its tremendous tusks, see page 715, of this number of our magazine.

We will now revert to the Mya, or gaping shell-fish, which is depicted at the head of this article. Like all other inhabitants of shells, it is destitute not only of a backbone, but also of all bones whatever. The shell-fish belong to that one of the three divisions of the invertebrated animals which are called Mollusca or soft animals. Many of them, like the clam, oyster and muscle, have no heads. In many other reepects also, which we have no room to particularize, they differ from the animals with which we are most familiar, and present curious and surprising characteristics, which the students of God's works admire, investigate and record, which the idle and frivolous respect not, and which the novel reader despises.

The gaping shell is often placed at the

head of the double shells or bivalves; and such of our readers as have had taste and industry enough to commence a collection of these beautiful objects, need not be told that we have a very useful variety of the Mya in abundance on our sea-coast: the long clam, or soft clam, as it is commonly called. The Mya is distinguished by an opening left between its shells at one part when it is elsewhere closed. This is made to allow the foot of the animal to have at all times access to the water or air. It lives buried an inch or more beneath the sand, in beaches, between high and low water marks, and twice every 24 hours is alternately covered and left by the tide. It is easily discovered when the sea has retired, by its spirting up a small jet of wa ter, on feeling the pressure made on the sand by a little blow, or by the foot of one treading near it. A spade, or even the hand will then easily dig it out of its bed. It is very delicate and wholesome food, and is sold in considerable quantities in New York and other places, being preferred by many, for its flavor, to the round or real clam'; while some even rank it with the oyster.

Another distinguishing mark of the Mya often is a peculiar hinge, which is the chief characteristic of the species, as in most other bivalves but the hinge varies in some species of the Mya.

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Here, however, as in noticing the gaping of the shell, we give the marks of the covering of the animal, and speak as conchologists. The reader will bear in mind, that, in writing of the animal itself, zoologists leave the shell out of view, and regard only the organic structure, habits, &c. Turning to "Cuvier's Animal Kingdom," therefore, we find Mya ranged among the Inclusa, or fifth family of the Acephala Testacea, (headless shellfish,) which is the first order of mollusca, or soft animals. Therefore, to learn all that is to be known of the animal, we must read the description of each division and subdivision, with distinct ideas of the place which it holds in the system.

The following description (familiar and scientific) of the shell and its inhabitant we

copy from "Lessons on Shells," a pretty little elemen ary work, which we would recommend to every family and school, as a pleasing and useful assistant in the study of this interesting and improving branch of natural history. The American edition with colored prints may be bought for less than a dollar, and offers many lessons for drawing and coloring, as well as a great deal of familiar and agreeable instruction on shells and shell-fish

GAPER.

Generic character. Sheli bivalve, equivalve, inequilateral, sometimes gaping at one end, sometimes at both; shape, suboval, broader than it is long; generally smooth, or only slightly striated; hinge with a thick, strong patulous, or spoon-shaped tooth, sometimes inserted into the opposite valve.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE SHELL AND ITS

INHABITANT.

The points of generic resemblance in the Myæ are wanting in many of the species. The coarse large tooth is the characteristic of the hinge, but sometimes it is not more than a thickened callosity. Some species are altogether destitute of teeth; these have a rounded cavity for the reception of the cartilage. The gaping of the valves is another distinguishing feature, but it does not always occur. In form also the shells differ considerably; some are oblong and truncated, as if a part of the shell had been cut off'; others are obicular, and many are angular from the addition of ears at the hinge. The Myæ are generally covered with a thick brown or green epidermis; when this is removed, the surface exhibits a beautiful irridescent mother-of-pearl lustre, Some of the species grow to a great size; others are remarkable for their thick, solid and substantial shells, and have in consequence been formed into a distinct genus, ca led Unio. Many of the mollusca of this genus burrow in the sand or mud, boring a channel through which they thrust a contracted trunk including two tubes. The Myæ furnish food not only for man, but also for many aquatic birds.

MYA Truncata.

TRUNCATED GAPER.

Specific character. Shell, ovate, convex, truncated at the anterior end, where it gapes considerably, curved at the areola, wrinkled

transversely, and covered with a brownish yellow tough epidermis, extending an inch or two beyond the gaping end, like a thick membrane, through which the animal protrudes its tube; hinge with a rounded tooth projecting forwards; inside white; length from one to two inches; breadth from two to three.

These shells inhabit the sand or gravel about low water mark on most of the northern coasts of Europe. In Greenland their Mollusca are the food of man and other tanimais. When taken alive, the epidermis of the shell is found joined to the tube or proboscis of the animal, having become a thick, tough, coriaceous skin for its protection. The animal is capable of extending this tube to the distance of nine or ten inches, and of contracting it about three, but cannot withdraw it entirely into the shell.

MYA Margaritifera.

PEARL-DIVING OYSTER.

Specific character. Shell, strong, ponderous, thick; shape, ovate, oblong, front compressed, margin a little contracted in the middle, giving a somewhat curved outline to the circumference; hinge consisting of a cardinal tooth in one valve, which is thick, obtusely conical, and looking into a bifurcated tooth in the other valve; shell about two inches long, and four broad; covered wirh a black epidermis decorticated at the umbones; inside of a greenish pearly hue.

This shell is one of a very interesting group, now formed into a distinct genus and called Unio. It inhabits only rocky torrents, and the precipitous streams of mountainous districts. Many are found in the cataracts and rapid rivers of America, and by their solid and thick shells manifest the providential care that fitted them for the dangerous spots they occupy. When we look at the ponderous Mya driven by the powerful torrent, and compare it with the light and delicate Ianthina,, borne gently on the surface of the waves, shall we coldly attribute such adaptation to circumstances or the blind dealing of chance, and not rather delight to recognize the beneficent wisdom of our heavenly Father, pervaring all his works, and suiting each to the place he assigns it?

The Mya Margaratifera is found in several British rivers, particularly those of Wales; it is also found in some parts of Ireland, where the peasantry use the valves as spoons. (It is common in the U. States.)

GREAT AMERICAN MASTODON.

Concluded from No. 40,.page 636

ANATOMY OF THE MASTODON.

The skull. The bones of the skull are wonderfully large, and as well preserved as the other bones. The posterior part is flat and broad, measuring in height one foot eleven inches, and in width two feet nine inches. The foramen magnum for the passage of the spinal marrow, is three inches and a half in diameter. In the centre of the occipital bone are two deep cavities for the insertion of the ligamentum nucha, separated by a thin bony partition. The frontal bone is two feet four inches wide, between the orbits of the eyes. The outer plate of bone is very hard and three quarters of an inch thick, where we find eleven inches and a quarter of cellular bone, extending down to the brain. The cavity of the brain is small, occupying only the lower portion of the skull. In front of the nares, (nostrils,) between the origin of the tusks, is a cavity as large as that of the brain, and is probably the antrum highmorianum.

The insertion of the tusks into the intermaxillary bones, is two feet five inches, extending back of the orbits. These tusks were ten and a half feet in length, and two feet and an inch in circumference where they enter the socket. With regard to the direction of the tusks, we are convinced from observation of a number of skulls, that their direction is as accidental as the horns of cattle. Some follow the first curve, downward and outwards, the points in one which we have seen being eleven feet asunder. In the skull of this skeleton before us, they first curved downwards and outwards till they were seven feet apart, when they curved inwards and slightly upwards till they approached at the points within two feet of each other. The socket of the tusks is curved and flattened, so that it was impossible for the tusks to have turned in the sockets, during the decay of the soft parts, as is supposed by many to have been the case.

The whole skull, lengthwise, is bounded on all sides by nearly straight lines. The lower jaw is nearly straight from the angle to the front, and measures in that line two feet ten inches. The condyloid process, by which it is articulated with the head, is distant from the coronoid process one foot. In the front of the lower jaw, at the commissure, is a small round tooth, eleven inches in length and one inch and a half in diameter, and inserted into a socket seven inches deep. This is on the left side of the commissure. On the right side is a partial socket, as if another tooth had once been there.-It appears that the young animals had these two teeth, but lost them at a later period of life, as the remains of the socket only are found in skele tons of old animals.

The teeth are, in this skeleton, two in each row, making eight in all. The front tooth

measures three by four and a half inches; the back tooth, three and a half by seven and a half inches. Like the elephant, this animal probably changed its teeth during its growth; at each change the back teeth crowding forward, till they eventually crowded out the front ones.

The length of the head, from the occiput to the front of the intermaxillary bones, is four feet and one inch, and weighed, with the tusks, 694 pounds.

The

There are seven bones of the neck, nineteen of the back and three of the loins. first seven bones of the back are characterized by very long spinous processes, the longest measuring two feet. From the third they diminish in length very rapidly to the eleventh, when they are almost lost. The bones of the neck are much more upright than in the elephant, giving to the animal the appearance of carrying a high head. Atlas, 3ft. 8 in. in circumference.

The ribs are forty in number; twenty on each side, and the longest measures four feet seven inches. The first and second ribs on the right side appear to have been broken by some accident during the animal's life. During the process of healing, the first rib has formed a bony attachment to the sternum or breast-bone, which is a triangular bone of large size and one foot seven inches long. The last two ribs on the right side have also been united longitudinally. The scapula (shoulder-blade) is two feet and ten inches long, and two feet nine inches wide, having a long and sharp acromion process.

The humerus (shoulder) is three feet and five inches long, three feet and two inches in circumference at the upper end, and three feet and five inches at the lower. The ulna measures two feet and three inches, from the articulation at the humerus, to where it unites with the foot. The olecranon process is seven inches long, and two feet four inches in cir. cumference at the base. The circumference of the elbow is three feet nine inches. The radius is small and slender, and crosses from the inside of the ankle to the front of the elbow. The articulating surface of the elbow is one foot three and a half inches long, and seven and a half inches wide.

The bones of the fore-foot resemble in form those of an elephant, but project forward instead of being arranged in a perpendicular column, and the toes have evidently possessed great power of flexion.

The pelvis is a broad massive bone, and was taken up entire. It measures between the illiac extremities, six feet and one inch. The pubic and sacro-illiac symphyses are completely united by ossification. The pubic bone, from the anterior to the posterior edge, measures two feet. The thyroid foramen is mine and a half inches long by five inches wide. The diameter from the sacrum to the pubis is twenty-two inches; the transverse diameter nineteen.

The femur (thigh-bone) is three feet ten

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