216 nature's teachings. 



care to insert the glass exactly east and west, and shall open 

 its southern side towards noon on a hot sunshiny day, so that 

 the rays of the sun may warm the glass and prevent evapora- 

 tion." 



Many other creatures make subterranean dwellings, but the 

 Wood-ant is remarkable for possessing a double dwelling, the 

 two portions communicating with each other, and capable of 

 being used according to the degree of heat required. 



The Pyramid. 



We have already seen how the Eddystone lighthouse was 

 the precursor of many similar buildings, all, like their pre- 

 decessor, having their form copied, with more or less strictness, 

 from the outlines of a tree-stem. 



NATURAL MOUNTAIN. ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAIN, OR tYRAMlD, 



Another form of building which was intended for endurance, 

 and, indeed, is the most enduring of all shapes, is the Pyramid. 



We are all familiar with the simple, yet grand outlines of 

 the Pyramids of Egypt, whose vast antiquity takes us back to 

 the times of Isaac and Joseph, and which seem capable of 

 resisting the effects of Time, the universal destroyer, for thou- 

 sands of years yet to come. 



We may ask ourselves what was the natural object from 

 which the Pj^ramid was copied. The name itself, which is 

 formed from a Greek word signifying fire, shows that a flame 

 was thought to have furnished the idea of this form of building. 

 I cannot, however, but think that the flame had little, if any- 

 thing, to do with it, and that the real model may be found in 

 the hills which have been formed by Nature. 



Examples of the Pyramids and the Hills are given in the 

 accompanying illustration, 



