266 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[ J ULY, 
Mrs. Croak had three children, Pert, Dodger, and Bright. 
Their portraits are in the picture above. They lived in a 
nest which Mr. and Mrs. Croak had built near the top of 
a tall pine tree, in a lonely wood. Mr. Croak died shortly 
after his children were horn. He lost his life while at a 
feast, where he eat so much that he could not travel very 
nimbly, and his enemy found and shot him. Mrs. Croak 
dressed in black, like a faithful widow, worked hard to 
rear the children alone, and tried to teach them all she 
knew, which was not a little. One day when she had 
flown away to pick up a nice dinner of grubs and corn for 
her darlings, Pert began to grow uneasy. “ Pm tired of 
always staying here,” said he ; “ let’s got out and look 
around,” and he began to hop over the backs of his 
brothers. “ You’ll break your neck,” said Dodger, as 
Pert scrambled up on to the edge of the nest. But Pert 
gave a spring and fluttered his wings as he had seen his 
mother do, and got safely on to a branch above. “ Oh ! 
its splendid here 1” he cried, as he looked out over the 
tops of the trees; and Dodger and Bright seeing he seemed 
safe, managed to clamber up beside him. Just then Mrs. 
Croak came swiftly flying heme. She was so astonished 
at seeing them on their high and dangerous perch, that 
she let their dinner fall from her mouth, and at once 
gave them a lecture for their disobedience in leaving the 
nest when she was absent. Pert talked back saucily, and 
said he thought he was getting big enough to take care 
of himself. Dodger excused himself by blaming Pert, 
but Bright listened humbly and promised not to do so 
any more. I cannot say exactly bow it happened, but 
one day not long after this a boy found a young crow at 
the foot of the tree, just able to caw feebly once or twice, 
and then it died—and this was the end of naughty Pert. 
No doubt he lost his life by not minding his mother, I 
Bright and Dodger must be alive, I think, for there are | 
two very mischievous crows that steal much corn from 
the fields around the woods where they were born, and 
the boys say they have never been able to get a shot at 
either of them. They probably were careful to follow 
their mother’s teachings, and grew to be as wise as she. 
■Wlaat is a Tear ? 
Mostly water. If some day when you have a “good 
crying spell ” the tears be all saved, and put into the 
hands of a skillful chemist, he will be able to show you 
what else they contain. There will be a little of a slimy 
substance called mucus, a little salt, some soda, phos¬ 
phate of soda (that is, phosphorus and oxygen united with 
soda), and phosphate of lime. These substances give 
the salt taste to tears. If a tear be allowed to fall upon 
a piece of glass, the water in it will evaporate, and leave 
the solid parts. When examined through a good mi¬ 
croscope, these solid matters will be seen arranged in 
lines crossing each other, looking somewhat like small 
fishbones. Tears are extracted from the materials which 
make up the blood, by a gland, which is situated 
above the eyeball and underneath the upper eyelid, on 
the side nearest the temple. Six or seven exceedingly 
small channels flow under the surface of the eyelid, dis¬ 
charging their contents a little above the delicate carti¬ 
lage which supports the lid. Itis these channels or canals 
that carry the tears into the eye. But tears do not flow only 
at certain moments and under certain circumstances, as is 
supposed; their flow is continuous; all day and all night, 
although less abundantly during sleep, they trickle softly 
from their slender sluices, and spread glistening over the 
surface of the pupil and the eyeball, giving them a bright 
and limpid look which is one of the signs of health. Itis 
the ceaseless movement and the contraction of the eyelids 
that effect the regular spreading of the tears, and the 
flow of these has need to be constantly renewed in the 
way just mentioned, because tears not only evaporate 
after a few seconds, but also are carried away through 
two little drains, called “ lachrymal ducts,” and situated 
in the corner of the eye near the nose. Strong emotions, 
especially of sorrow, sometimes cause the flow of tears 
to be more abundant than can be readily carried away by 
the ducts ; then they overflow the lower eyelid and trickle 
down the cheek. When you have not very good cause 
for such abundant tears, it may help to dry them by think¬ 
ing of the curious arrangement by which they are pro¬ 
vided to keep the eye washed clean and in good order. 
A Peculiar Taste.—At the dinner given by Pro¬ 
fessor Gamgee to test the quality of the meat preserved 
for mouths by his process, a gentleman was asked his 
opinion of the meat, after having eaten of it, cooked in 
various ways. “ The mutton is most excellent,” was the 
reply, “ but I think,” continued he, “that I could detect a 
peculiar taste in the fowls ; the process probably affected 
the flesh a little.” The reader will join in the smile 
which followed, when informed that the mutton alone 
had been prepared by Gamgee’s process ; the fowls had 
been brought fresh from the market, and had received no 
treatment, except the roasting, to change their flavor. 
The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to 
yonr opponent, tolerance ; to a friend, your heart; to your 
child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your 
mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to 
yourself, respect; to all men, at all times, charity. 
