NOTES
① Rendezvous (rang"-da-voo ), assemble.
② Pinna, a large shell-fish, somewhat like the mussel; called also the wing-shell , from the likeness of its shell to the wing of a bird.
③ "Feathering the oar," turning the blade of the oar horizontally in carrying it back, so as to present no resistance to wind or surf.
④ Guillemot, a sea-bird, allied to the penguins, auks, and divers; found in the northern parts of both hemispheres.
⑤ The ptarmigan (tar"-me-gan ), called also the white grouse, from the colour it assumes in winter. It is found only in lofty situations and in northern countries.
⑥ Feldspar, mi"ca, and horn"blende, the three components of common granite. Feldspar , or felspar , is a crystalline mineral, softer than quartz. With this the gray colour of the bird corresponds. Mica consists of a number of thin layers, and has long been used as a substitute for glass, especially in Russia. To it the brown feathers of the bird are compared. Hornblende is a common mineral of a blackish-green colour.
⑦ Pied, variegated, spotted.
⑧ Chrysolite, a bright jewel, of a yellowish or greenish hue. The expression "Perfect chrysolite," (which is quoted from Shakespeare"s Othello ,) is meant to describe the appearance of mountains in winter, when the sun shines upon their snow-clad summits.
⑨ Eddystone Light-house, ten miles from the coast of Cornwall, and fourteen from Plymouth.
⑩ The architect of the Crystal Palace-Sir Joseph Paxton, an eminent English gardener. When acting as chief gardener to the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, he had erected a conservatory of iron and glass which covered an acre. This suggested the plan for the Great Exhibition of 1851 at London, which he submitted to the building committee, and which introduced a new style of architecture, since largely adopted in similar undertakings. Paxton was born in 1803; died in 1865.
Lily-the Victoria Regia, a magnificent water-lily, discovered in Guiana (South America) in1838, by Sir Robert Schom"burgk, the distinguished naturalist, and named after Queen Victoria.
Radius and ulna.-The fore-arm (between the elbow and the hand) consists of two bones; the radius , or exterior bone, on the thumb-side of the arm [Lat. radius , the spoke of a wheel]; and the ulna , the larger and interior bone, which forms, with the arm proper, the elbow joint [Lat. ulna , the elbow].
QUESTIONS
What are the proofs of a designing mind in any work? By what comparisons does Tillotson enforce this? What remarkable adaptation is there in the leg of swimming birds? With what natural means of protection are animals chased as prey provided? What is remarkable in the case of the ptarmigan? Mention cases in which builders have taken their ideas from natural objects. Give instances of adaptation in the joints of the body. What led Harvey to discover the circulation of the blood? Give examples of parts of animals which seem useless, being really most useful contrivances. What lesson is to be learned from this?
