Harper's Young People, October 5, 1880 Part 11

The Three Parts of this book can be had in separate volumes by those who desire it. This will be advisable when the book is to be used in teaching quite young children, especially in schools.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price._

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THE WOMBAT.

A Mandarin owned a wombat That grew so exceedingly fat That, when it would laugh 'Twould most break in half, And tickle the soul of the cat.

=A Dog that could Cipher.=--The well-known English astronomer Dr.

Huggins had a mastiff that bore the name of Kepler. This dog possessed many rare gifts, and amongst these was one which he was always ready to exercise for the entertainment of visitors. At the close of luncheon or dinner Kepler used to march into the room, and set himself down at his master's feet. Dr. Huggins then asked him a series of arithmetical questions, which the dog invariably solved without a mistake. Square roots were extracted off-hand with the utmost readiness and promptness.

If asked what was the square root of nine, Kepler replied by three barks; or, if the question were the square root of sixteen, by four.

Then various questions followed, in which much more complicated processes were involved--such, for instance, as "Add seven to eight, divide the sum by three, and multiply by two." To such a question as that Kepler gave more consideration, and sometimes hesitated in making up his mind as to where his barks ought finally to stop. Still, in the end, his decision was always right. But how did he do it? may be asked.

The solution is easily furnished: the proper answer was unconsciously suggested to the dog by his master. The wonderful fact is that Kepler had acquired the habit of reading in his master's eye or countenance some indication that was not known to Dr. Huggins himself. The case was one of the cla.s.s which is distinguished by physiologists as that of expectant attention. Dr. Huggins was himself engaged in working out mentally the various stages of his arithmetical processes as he propounded the numbers to Kepler, and being, therefore, aware of what the answer should be, expected the dog to cease barking when that number was reached, and that expectation suggested to his own brain the unconscious signal which was caught by the quick eye of the dog.

SOLUTION TO SQUARE PUZZLE IN No. 46.

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Start with, your pencil from figure 1 and draw a line to 2, from there to 3, and so on from number to number till you have completed the figure.

CHARADE.

BY H.

Up in the air I'm lifted high Above the worshippers below, Yet near their hearts I always lie, As reverently they come and go.

I've many forms, like Proteus old, But tell forever the same tale; Men gaze, and see by me foretold What sometimes makes their cheeks grow pale.

And through my secret winding course There ebbs and flows a mighty tide; Alas! what pangs of keen remorse Are his who turns that stream aside!

Yet in the gay and festive throng I am what many a maid may be, While in the pauses of the song Her lover pleads his cause in me.

Sometimes, a ship, I face the storm; Sometimes beneath the earth I bide, And then its beauty men deform To find the secret that I hide.

But in the air, or in the breast, Whate'er my form, like beast or bird, I keep my secret from the rest-- By man my voice is never heard.

The quicksilver mines of Guancavelica, in Peru, are of a prodigious depth. In their profound abysses are seen streets, squares, and a chapel where religious mysteries are celebrated on all festivals. Thousands of flambeaux are continually burning in it. The miners suffer terribly from the mercurial vapors, which produce convulsions and paralysis. Thousands of workmen were condemned to forced labor in these frightful subterranean regions. These mines were discovered about 1566 by Henry Garces, a Portuguese, who was one day examining a red earth used by the Indians for making paint. He remembered that in Europe quicksilver was extracted from cinnabar, and with this earth he made some experiments which led to the opening of this mine.

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