always wanting the principal thing, and this was? JULIA. The reindeer itself. FATHER. Yet they at least had the advantage of being able to speak and hope about it, that they would, in time, come into the possession of some such useful beasts. They had still one hope further, and this is worth much for an unfortunate person. He then becomes more cheerful, and goes with more lively industry to his work. | Our friends were now at the end of the cavern, where it showed no further way out of it; but Gregory observed a cleft, which run dark and obscure into the rock. Small stones lay at the entrance, and it seemed as if this hollow had never been entered, for the stones lay so wildly on each other, that they could only mount them with trouble. "We must know what there is here!" said Gregory, while he clambered up the stones, and both of the others followed him. The cellar went down steep, into which our friends were obliged to descend as into a mountain; some rolling stones became loose at every step, carrying away with them a quantity of smaller stones, and with a dreadful noise rolled into the depth, making caution doubly necessary, especially as they did not know how deep the bottom, which run on at one side, might be. The prudent pilot recommended the greatest care. But they had only advanced a few steps, when all at once a new hollow showed itself; with the greatest caution they wound themselves under the overhanging parts of the rock, when suddenly Gregory going ahead made a false step, and Ivan, in his desire to save his friend, got on a stone lying loose, went down with it and pulled after him the pilot, to whom he reached out his hand, in order by his aid to gain a firm footing. At this moment there arose a dreadful crash. That loosened stone was the foundation of a large piece of rock; it tumbled after them, shut up the entrance of the hollow, and covered up our friends. THINKING AND SPEAKING.-We must not always speak all that we know that were mere folly; but what a man says should be what he thinks, otherwise it is knavery. THE RAINBOW. THE rainbow has, from the earliest times, been an object of interest with those who bestowed attention on optical appearances, but it is much too complicated a phenomenon to be easily explained. In general, however, it was understood to arise from light reflected by the drops of rain falling from a cloud opposite the sun. The difficulty seems to be how to account for the colour, which is never produced in white light, such as that of the sun, by mere reflection. Maurolycus advanced a considerable step, when he supposed that the light enters the drop, and acquires colour by refraction; but in tracing the course of the ray he was quite bewildered. Others supposed the refraction and the colour to be the effect of one drop, and the refraction of another; so that two refractions and one reflection were employed, but in such a manner as to be still very remote from the truth. Antonio de Dominis, Archbishop of Spalatro, had the good fortune to fall upon the true explanation. Having placed a bottle of water opposite to the sun, and a little above his eye, he saw a beam of light issue from the underside of the bottle, which acquired different colours, in the same order and with the same brilliancy as in the rainbow, when the bottle was a little raised or depressed. From comparing all these circumstances, he perceived that the rays had entered the bottle; and that, after two refractions from the convex part, and a reflection from the concave, they were returned to the eye tinged with different colours, according to the angle at which the ray had entered. The rays that gave the same colour made the same angle with the surface, and hence all the drops that gave the same colour must be arranged in a circle, the centre of which was the point in the cloud opposite the sun.-Leslie. THE PHYSICIAN'S LAST LESSON. The last thing a physician learns in the course of his experience is, to know when to do nothing, but quietly to wait, and allow nature and time to have fair play in checking the progress of disease, and gradually restoring the strength and health of the patient. DEATH AND THE CHRISTIAN. RHYMED FROM KRUMMACHER. 'Twas Death came toward the Christian, who hail'd him drawing righ; "Welcome," he cried, "O angel of immortality!" "Child of sin," said the angel, "hast thou no fear of me?" "Who of himself is fearless, he hath no fear of thee!" "But can disease and sickness no terror to thee bring Nor the last sweat, so icy, that trickles from my wing?" "None!" said the good man, calmly; "and wouldst thou question why? 'Tis the last sweat and illness that tell me thou art nigh." And then Death breathed upon him, and so my dream pass'd o'er; I saw no dying mortal, nor silent angel more. A grave had oped beneath me, and therein something lay; I hid my face in silence, and wept and turn'd White is the silver down that lines IV. They have strewn flowers upon her bed, And whisper low "She doth but sleep, V. "She doth but sleep!" The soft hair lies Unstirr'd upon her brow; Ah, deathly still! she will not rise, WINTER. BY ROBERT WILSON. Now winter winds fu' cauld and chill, How dreary like looks ilka thing, For there we see nae pleasin' spring, Is a' the mournfu' scene, Now swells the Annan's drumly tide, Like onie little sea! Now a' his lovely windin' turns Far floatin' owre the flow'ry haughs, While owre the souple bendin' saughs, Then hushin' an' gushin' Then through, below an auncient brig, An' rivers reach the sea! 1 THE WORK-TABLE FRIEND. DEEP POINT-LACE. Material.--French white cotton braid, No. 9, and the Point-lace cottons of Messrs. W. Evans and Co., of Derby. THIS lace, designed for the upper part of the same sleeve as the piece in No. 24, of this work, is done to correspond with it. The whole outlines are made in the braid; the leaves are then filled in entirely with Brussels lace, done in Boar's-head, No. 90, the veinings being worked over it, in radiating Venetian bars, with Mecklenburgh, No. 100. The edge is done with No. 80, and the ground with No. 120, Mecklenburgh thread: the Mechlin wheels and the rosettes also are done in the latter. The rose is represented as done, almost entirely, in Brussels lace; but if the rows are alternately worked in Venetian, it will be an improvement. It is done with No. 90, Boar's - head, and the English lace with No. 120, of the same. Rather more than one perfect pattern of this lace being given, the full size, nothing can be easier than to draw any length from it. The set of Point Lace-cottons, 14 different kinds, are sent, post-free, for 3s. 6d. VASE MAT. Materials. oz. of scarlet crystal wool; oz. stone ditto; oz. of black wool; 3 skeins of white ditto; 6 yards of rather fine cotton cord. WITH the black wool, cover the end of the cord, and form it into the smallest round you can. Do two more rounds with the black, increasing sufficiently to keep the round flat. 3rd Round.-Scarlet and black. + 1 scarlet, 3 black, + 10 times in the round, the last black coming over the last but one of the previous round, and one scarlet over the last. 4th Round.-+ 1 black over scarlet, 1 scarlet over the same, 3 black, 1 scarlet all 4 over 3 black, + 10 times. 5th Round.-+ 2 black over 1 black, 1 scarlet over scarlet, 3 black over 3 black, 1 scarlet over scarlet, + 10 times. 6th Round.-+ 3 black over 2, 5 scarlet over 2 scarlet and the 3 black between, +10 times. 7th Round.-Join on the white. +3 black over 3 black, 1 scarlet, 1 white, 2 scarlet, over 1 scarlet, 1 white, 1 scarlet, +10 times. 8th Round.-+ black over 3 black, 7 scarlet over the scarlet and white, +10 times. 9th Round.-3 black over 3 black, 3 scarlet, 2 white over 1 scarlet, 3 scarlet, + 10 times. 10th Round.-+ 4 black over 3 black, 9 scarlet over scarlet and white,+ 10 times. 11th Round.-+ 5 black over 4 black, 3 scarlet, 4 white over 3 scarlet, 3 scarlet, +10 times, 12th Round.-+ 6 black over 5, 10 scarlet over scarlet and white. + 10 times. 13th Round.-+6 black over 6, 2 scarlet over 2, 7 black over 6 scarlet, 2 scarlet, +10 times. Cover one round completely with black, increasing sufficiently to cover the cord, and keep the work flat. Then do two rounds of scarlet and stone, by working each alternately over one pattern, or a 10th part of the round. In the second round, searlet comes over scarlet, and stone over stone, the number of stitches being increased enough to cover the cord, which you now cut off. Now with the white wool and a very fine hook, do a round of open square crochet. A 2nd and 3rd must be done, increasing enough in the round to keep it flat, by making 3 chain instead of 2 about 12 times in the 2nd round, and 24 times in the 3rd. Four rounds of fringe must now be worked, in scarlet and stone, each coming over the same colour in the last round over the cord. The way of working this fringe being quite new, we must try to describe it. Take a rather large darning needle, and thread it with scarlet. Also take a mesh two-thirds of an inch wide. Hold the mat with the edge on which you are about to work over the finger. Make a knot in the end of the wool, and slip the needle upwards, through the last stitch of a stone stripe, then down through the 1st scarlet. Pass the wool round the mesh, then slip the needle up the next scarlet-stitch, and pass it under the thread of wool from the stone to the scarlet-stitch. Slip the needle down in the same stitch, let the wool go over the mesh, and up the next scarlet, then under the threads of the last stitch, down through the same and so on, until you have fringed all the scarlet stripe; when you get opposite the stonecolour, use a needleful of stone-wool; and repeat these colours 5 times in the round. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds of fringe are to be worked on the 3 rounds of white wool. Our friends who work crochet will please to refer to our INSTRUCTIONS, No. 67, vol. vi., Old Series, and No. 6, vol. i. New Series, for all the terms we use. From not noticing these terms, many of our friends have done their patterns wrong. They will observe that whenever two or more colours are worked together, over a cord or otherwise, the stitch is Sc; but they may obtain any practical instruction at our Salon de Travail every Wednesday, from eleven to three. Point-lace, only, being a business, and affording a livelihood to those who learn it, is not taught without a fee. Materials for this mat sent post-free for 3s. 6d. TACT AND TALENT.-Talent is something, but tact is everything. Talent is serious, sober, grave, and respectable; tact is all that and more too. It is not a sixth sense, but it is the life of all the five. It is the open eye, the quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and the lively touch; it is the interpreter of all riddles the surmounter of all difficulties -the remover of all obstacles. It is useful in all places, and at all times; it is useful in solitude, for it shows a man his way into the world; it is useful in society for it shows him his way through the world. Talent is power-tact is skill; talent is weight-tact is momentum; talent knows what to do - -tact knows how to do it; talent makes a man respectable tact will make him respected; talent is wealth-tact is ready money. For all the practical purposes of life, tact carries it against talent-ten to one. SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS TIME. 1. THE MAGIC LANTERN AND DISSOLVING VIEWS. The Magic-Lantern, which was invented by Athanasius Kircher, is an optical instrument, by means of which objects painted in varnish, or transparent colours upon glass slides, are represented upon an enlarged scale, upon a white screen, or a smooth whitewashed wall, in a darkened room. The exhibition of the magic-lantern has usually been regarded as a childish amusement, and the instrument itself generally considered as a toy. This has probably arisen from the objects exhibited frequently partaking more of the ludicrous than the instructive; however, of late years this little instrument has been the means of instructing the young, and even the mature in years, upon many scientific subjects. Lecturers upon Astronomy, Geology, Natural History, &c., have been enabled to display the wonders of science and art to their audiences; and even scenes in our own and foreign countries, historical events, and portraits of great people, have been truthfully exhibited to thousands who could not otherwise have been thus favoured. The principle of its construction is very simple. It consists of a tin box, with a bent funnel at the top, which serves for the double purpose of allowing the smoke and heat to escape, and preventing the light dispersing in the room, and thus interfering with the reflected image. It has a door at the side, a polished tin concave reflector at the back of the inside, and a powerful light placed in the focus of the reflector; the light being supplied by an Argand, oil, or gas lamp, or by the combustion of oxygen and hydrogen gases thrown upon lime. For private exhibitions, the oil Argand-lamp is generally and more easily employed. Opposite to the light and focus of the reflector, is a movable or telescopic tube, containing a hemispherical illuminating lens near to the reflector, and a convex lens at the extremity of the tube; and between the two lenses is a slit for the introduction of the painted glass slides. The general form of the magic-lantern is shown in figure 7, |