OF EDUCATION* 29 



is almost a thousand days, for in two years there are 

 730 days, and in half a year, over a hundred and 

 eighty. 



" The girls and boys in our class are now learning 

 more about the sun by setting stakes in the ground 

 and sighting over them, to see how much it changes 

 its place to rise and set each day. We have found 

 that soon after we have the shortest days the sun 

 rises earlier and farther north every day, and sets 

 later and farther north every day. None of us under- 

 stands just how this is brought about. It cannot be 

 the daily motion of the earth on its axis, so it must 

 be its yearly motion round the sun that causes it in 

 some way." Ida. 



The Sponge. 



" We are now studying the lowest branches of the 

 animal kingdom — the Radiates and Protozoans. 

 Every one is familiar with the looks of a sponge, and 

 most people who go to the beach have seen the Sea- 

 Urchin and Sea- Anemone. 



" The sponge, as we see it every day, is the skele- 

 ton of an animal. The flesh of the animal looks like 

 jelly : When the sponge is alive, the jelly covers 

 every part of the skeleton just as the bones are cov- 

 ered in other animals. The sponge is the largest of 

 all the Protozoa, and there are many species of them, 

 most of which are so small we cannot see them. 



