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power is so great, that what is called in military 

 language a shell, that is, a hollow ball of strong 

 cast iron, if filled with water and the aperture 

 well secured, will burst when the water freezes. 

 When such is the expansive power excited by 

 water as it passes into the state of ice, we cannot 

 be surprised that jugs and bottles of water are fre- 

 quently broken in a frosty night and that water 

 pipes constantly burst when the frost penetrates 

 to them." 



lOi/i. The frost was so great last night, that 

 it caused sad mischief. The thermometer sunk 

 to 24. Mary had two nice hyacinths in bottles; 

 unfortunately, she placed them yesterday in a 

 window where there was a bright sunshine; 

 Frederick having promised to put them back 

 safely in the latter part of the day. He forgot 

 them ; but, as soon as he woke this morning, he 

 went to repair his error when, to his great dis- 

 may, he found the glasses burst, and the water 

 lumps of ice. 



He went to Mary, but he was so sorry for 

 his negligence, that she could not reproach him, 

 The only thing to be done, she said, is now to 

 consider how to relieve the bulbs from the ice 

 that surrounds them. Frederick proposed placing 

 them near the fire, that the heat might thaw the 

 ice ; but Mary told him that she was afraid the 

 sudden change from cold to heat would make the 



