120 



NATURE S TEACHINGS. 



home to its owner. Mr. F. Bucklaiid gives an account of a 

 fisherman's cat, which used to go out with her master, jump 

 into the sea, secure a fish, and then be lifted on board with 

 her prey. 



Above the Jaguar is drawn a single claw, so as to show the 

 form of the instrument by which the fish is captured. 



ARMOUR. 



WE will now take the subject of Defensive Armour, by 

 which warriors are enabled to protect themselves against the 

 offensive weapons of the enemy. 



As many readers will probably know, armour reached its 

 greatest development in the Middle Ages, when the knight was 

 so completely cased in steel that no weapon then in use could 

 penetrate his panoply. 



The head, body, and limbs were covered with steel plates 

 curiously articulated at the joints, so as to give freedom of 

 motion, while guarding the wearer from any ordinary weapon. 

 A warrior might be beaten from his horse by a mace, or struck 

 down by a lance, or the horse itself might be killed under 

 him. 



In either of these cases the fallen knight was not muieh the 

 worse, until a weapon called the " Misericorde," or dagger of 



LOBSTKR. 

 ABMA' ILLO. 



PLATE AND SCALE ARMOUR 

 OF MIDDLE AGES. 



PICHICIAOO. 



mercy, was invented. This was a poniard with a very slender 

 and very sharp blade, so constructed that it could be driven 



