vision which I had been so long contemplating: but, instead of the rolling tide, the arched bridge, and the happy

islands, I saw nothing but the long hollow valley of Bagdad, with oxen, sheep, and camels, grazing upon the sides of it. 7ADDISON.

'scimitar, a short sword used by the Persians and Turks. comprehend, understand. vultures, etc.; these are the names of various birds of prey. The harpy is a winged monster existing only in the fables of the poets, who describe it as having the face of a woman, the body of a vulture, and feet armed with long sharp claws. 'dissipated, dispersed. adamant, a poetical name for the diamond or for the very hardest substance which can be imagined. myriad, properly ten thousand, but the word is now used for any very large number. Addison, see Appendix.

It is curious to see how often Nature is unintentionally imitated. Those who are learned in the details of military exercises are aware of a certain manœuvre in the

bayonet exercise, termed "shortening arms." This is an exact imitation of the movement made by the heron when attacked by the hawk. The person who shortens arms is supposed to be attacked by a swordsman, who succeeds

in getting within the bayonet, and pushing it to one side, so as to lay open the holder. In that case, there is one mode of escape-viz., by throwing the musket backwards to the full stretch of the arms in such a manner that the bayonet rests upon the shoulder, and presents its point to the adversary, just as he thinks that he has succeeded in passing it. I do not know whether the inventor of the bayonet exercise was a practical 1falconer; at all events, he seems to have entered into the 2theory of the science.

It is worth some little trouble to see how things artificial are almost invariably borrowed in some way from things natural. Too much time and space would be consumed in showing the analogy betwe n Nature and Art in all instances; but as we have got upon the science of arms, let us see how the instructions of the drill master may mostly be referred to the things that occur in untaught nature.

t

Take man's natural arms, his fists. When two ploughboys choose to quarrel and fight it out with fists, they generally rush at each other impetuously, and probably butt with their heads-like rams. Then, when they begin to use their arms, they whirl them about like the sails of a windmill, and deliver great, lumbering, round blows, which are effectual enough when they do strike, but can be guarded with the greatest ease. Now comes the man of "science," to use the elegant term in vogue; he takes one of these round-hitting youngsters in hand, and tells him to strike out straight from the shoulder.

That very lesson may be learnt from the horse, who, when he fights, strikes out straight and sharp with his fore-legs, and does immense mischief. The stag acts in much the same way.

Now let our plough-boy take Her Majesty's shilling, be drafted into a cavalry regiment, and learn the use of the

broadsword. He is instructed how to cut, to guard, and to parry, by a mode that has been in course of elimination for many years. But if our swordsman only knew that natural swordsmanship was in full practice long before steel or even wooden swords were made, he might probably think a little less of his own accomplishments. Yes, many, many years before Tubal Cain worked in metals or forged a blade, the leaf insect, or mantis, was in full practice as a swordsman, and knew as well how to cut and guard, as Michael Angelo himself. Nowadays, certain steel-sinewed men exhibit their strength by severing a sheep at a single blow. Yet, if two of those hardhitting warriors were opposed to each other in deadly combat, I do not think that one of them could cut his adversary in two with a single stroke, and then eat the pieces afterwards. No, he must learn from the mantis how to do that.

But

The 8 Minié rifle is now the talk of the day, and of all Miniés, the most terrible is that which discharges some twenty-five balls without the trouble of re-loading. there were sharp-shooters in striped uniform long before our own bottle-greens were born. Their family name is Chaetodon, and they can shoot you as many flies as you will, their ammunition never failing, for it consists of drops of water in which their victims swim.

Among other agreeable modes of destroying and vanquishing each other, human beings have invented certain objects termed, not perhaps elegantly, but at all events forcibly, "stink-pots." These are used for the purpose of dislodging an enemy who is proof against shot and cold steel, and perform their office by giving out such horrible fumes that life itself is endangered by their presence. It is an ingenious invention, but only a copy of the weapons of many animals, such as the skunk and

the teledu among quadrupeds, and the bombardier beetle among insects.

If a visitor inspects a fortified town, or even a wellmanaged fort, he sees sundry contrivances for catching the unwary foes in pitfalls, and then treating them to a volley of musket balls to prevent their escape. It may be that the same visitor may also have inspected, or at all events have read about, a certain insect called the antlion, which digs pitfalls in a very ingenious manner, and having captured an unwary ant or other insect, prevents it from escape by showering sand upon it. And to an ant, grains of sand are as big as paving stones to us.

Do you wish to take a lesson in ordinary wrestling? If so, look at two hostile white ants. If you wish to wrestle after the Cornish mode, and squeeze the breath out of your antagonist's body, the bear is your teacher; or, if you prefer the Devonshire manner, and would like to kick your opponent to rags, you may obtain very good instruction from the kangaroo. Then, to go back to the days of chivalry, and to mix with the knights of old and the barons bold, their tournaments were but 10amalgamations of the sword-fish and the lobster, the former furnishing the offensive, and the latter the 12 defensive arms. Let the reader draw the outline of a sword-fish's head and snout, cutting it off before the eyes of the fish. Then let him draw immediately under it another sketch of a 13 tilting lance, cutting it off at the place where the hand grasps it, and it will be seen that they are almost identical in shape. Then, as to the defensive armour, the resemblance between a lobster and a knight armed 14capà-pie is too close to be more than alluded to.

I might easily complete my volume by drawing analogies in this manner, and therefore I will mention only one more instance, hopping from 1190 to 1856, and passing