ORPHANS’ FRIEND,
%V*dncs«lay, JEnly II. tS77.
xitii xiiUKE Kii\ooo.its or
RATIRE»
“ Katui'al . objects liave been
arvanged under the three grand
divisions of minerals, vegetables
and animals.” Minerals are nat
ural bodies destitute of organiza
tion and life; vegetables are nat
ural bodies endowed with organ
ization and life, and destitute of
voluntary motion and sense, and
unimals are riaturnl bodies which
possess organization, life, sensa
tion and voluntary motion. We
will first consider minerals.
If we penetrate the earth we
discover a remarlrable arrange-
n;cnt. We do not find a uniform
appearance, as on the surface;
wo find different substances, as
clay, sand, gravel, &c., deposited
in beds of various thickness, from
a few inches to a large number of
feet. These lie almost horizontal
except in mountainous countries
they take different degrees of in
clination, and in sloping hills and
valleys they have a winding form.
These beds"or strata are composed
ofdftyers. Tire first layer is gen-
crall3’ a rich black mould, formed
almost of vegetable and animal
remains. This produces the veg
etables and gives suppoi t to tlie
whole animal creation. Uenesith
this is found a thick bed of clay,
of which men make bricks, pot
tery and other articles for the
comfort of social life. Eeneath
this bed of clay are found beds of
coal, wdiich we burn.
The principal parts of plants
are the root, the herb, tree and
fructification or flower and freit.
The roots of plants and trees
having nothing pleasing to the
eve, the Creator lias for the nrost
part hidden from view ; they are
of great importance in the vege
table economy, they d>'aw^ mois
ture from the earth and fix the
plant in the place it is to occupy.
‘‘ Thev are of many different
kinds,” and have diffei”ent periods
of duration. They have been
known to change their direction,
as for instance, they meet with a
stone, turning aside from baiTen
into fertile ground.” The plant
itself consists of a variety of
layers and vessels strangely ar
ranged, and adapted for perform
ing all the functions of vegetable
life.
Tire animal kingdom is divid
ed into six classes: Mam
malia, Birds, Reptiles, h ishes,
Insects and Worms. The Slani-
inalia comprises man, quadrupeds,
seals, whales, &c. The class of
Birds comprises all such animals
. as have their bodies clad in
feathers. Under the third class
are arranged such animals as
' have a cold and generally naked
body and a loathesome smell.
Tney breathe chiefly by lungs,
but they have the power of sus
pending respiration a long time
Tliey can endure hunger for
months.- Uishesliveiir the water,
and move aDout by means of
fids; they breatlre by gills. In
sects are so denominated, from
the greater number of them hav
ing a separation in the middle of
their bodies. AVorms or vermes
are slow of motion, and ha.ve soft
and fleshy bodies. These animals
are distinguished from those of
otlier classes by having tentacula
or feelers.
We call attention to the adver
tisement of the Chowan Baptist
Female Institute. It is an excel
lent school and should be largely
patronized.
MEASUnE.riEIVT OF TI.WE.
A question lias been lately ad
dressed to us as to the ancient
mode of the measurement of time.
Water clocks have been In use in
the East for about two tUou.saiid
vears. These have been gradu
ally improved to this present
period. The substitution of a
weight for the water to turn tlie
wheel is supposed to imvc been
the work of the Saracens, though
it mav liave been introdneed some
time before, for Archimedes had
discovered tiiead vantage of weight
in the turning of small machines
soniecenturies earlier. The clep-
svdra, supposed to have been
used among the Chaldeans, was
employed extensively by the
Greeks and Romans. This in
strument measured time by the
gradual flow of water through a
small orifice. It is still used in
Chinn, and aneiently had in some
instances a musical attachment,
by which attention was called to
the hour as by the stroke of a
bell in our clocks. They were
introduced in Romo about 158
B. C. Eighteen yeai-s later they
were improved by the addition of
a toothed wheel and index driven
by the water wlucli flowed from
the bottom of the jar. Then came
the substitution of tlie weight, as
lias been already mentioned.
At a very early period men
began to divide the day into
several portions, and soon the
niglit also. These divisions were
at first of about three or four
hours each, but after a time tlie
division of night and day into
twelve hours each was found to
be more convenient, and then
there came the necessity for means
of measuring each of these divis
ions of tipie. Tiie first in use
was the dial, the use of which
was learned by tlie Greeks from
the Chaldeans. Tliis instrument
shows the hours of the tlay by
the shadow of a gnomon or style
cast by the sur> on a graduated
arc. The object hr the construc
tion of a dial is to find the sun's
distance from the meridian by
means of the shadow. This being
known the liour is also known.
It is true that the shadow can
never be so well defined that its
limits can be ascertained with
astronomical precision. Fi-actical-
ly the error may not be of great
account It is "believed that the
style or pin of the sun dial, which
bv its shadow indicates the liour
of the day, was probably the first
astronomical instrument, and it
appears to have been in much n.se
among the Egyptians, the Chi
nese, and even the Peruvians.
It is not necessary to trace the
iiistorv of the clock from the
time o"f the sukstitution of a weight
for water to turn the tootiied
wheel. Various difficulties in the
construction were afterwards rec
tified. The ingenuity of our own
countrj'men has been exercised
in bringing the clock to its pres
ent state of perfection. The clock,
as has been justly said, was the
mother of the watch. AVhen it
was made, in 1477, by Peter
Helo, a clock maker of Eurem-
burg, it was called his “animated
egg,” and was considered one of
the w'onders of the world. The
production of this “pocket clock”
cost a year’s labor; was about
the size and shape of a goose egg ;
varied nearly an hour a day from
the true time, and the price was
equal to about 81,500 in gold of
to-day. It is needless to trace its
improvements-from that jieriod to
the present, but as in the clock,
so in tlie watch,, the American
makes- are now competing suc
cessfully witli all others in tlie
markets of the world. Chronom
eters are watches adjusted to the
variations of temperature, and
many of American make liave
proved a.s acenrate as any lime
pieces ever made.—Baltinmre Bun,
COi\''l'Er\F\nE«iT.
How strange, with so niany
blessings around us, we should
now and then, because of tlie ab
sence of some particular comfort,
give way to a spirit of discontent !
How prone to underrate -a thou
sand good things, and comjdain
because we are s'liorl even ot one
thing whicli we want, and even
tliLs may not be for our good.
For illustration: A man in. good
health, with liis wife and cliildren
all well, and possessing every-
tliing necessary for comfort, iniag
inos that ho has not as ranch mon
ey as he ne.eds to carry out his
worldly plans, and begins to fret
and lose his patience, and rob
himself of all the In.xnry whicli
his ble.«sings would otherwise af
ford. lie will not be content
with God’s providence. Thi« is
an every day occurrence. Sup
pose under such circumstances
■we were to sit down and open a
ledger account, and put down on
one side all the positive blessings
he now has; then, put down on
the otlier side what he has to com
plain of, and see how much he
will lack oh this latter side, to
bring up the liaknce.
St. Paul pever wrote a truer
sentiment than this; “ Godliness
with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the
world, and it is certain we can
carry nothing out.” Let ns pon
der this thought, and remember
ing how soon we must leave tliis
world, and all that we have here,
may it beget in ns a spirit of true
contentment.—S. C Advocate.
ItOUKS.
KJitES F«U TSaE .lOEIWEV OF
FIFE,
The following rules from the
papers of Ur. West, according'to
Ids menio-randnni,. are thrown to
gether as general waymarks in
the journey of life :
Fever ridicule sacred things, or
what othei's may esteem as such,
however absurd they may appear
to 3’ou.
Never show levity when people
are engaged in worship.
Never resent a supposed injni-y
till you know the views and mo
tives of the author of it. On no
occasion to relate it.
Alwa)-8 to take the part of an
absent person, who is censured in
company, so far as truth and
propriety will allow.
Never to think worse of an
other on account of his differing
from me iii political and religious
subjects.
Not to dispute with a man who
is more than seventy years of
age, nor with a woman, nor any
enthusiast. ..
Not to affect to ho witty, or to
jest so as to wound the feelings of
another.
To say as little as possible of
myself and of those who are near
to me.
To aim at cheerfulness without
levity.
Never to court the favor of the
rich by flattering either their
vanities or their vices.
To speak with calmness and
deliberation on all occasions, es
pecially in circumstances which
tend to irritate.
Frequently to review my con
duct and note my feelings.
A New York woman, after
wearing a pair of ear-rings for
eighty-one years, concluded that
jewels wore vanity and gave them
to her claugliteT.
Books are not made for furni
ture, but there is nothing else that
■so beautifully furnishes a house.
Th©])lainest row of books is more
significant of refinement than the
nwst elaborately carved side
board. Give us a borne furnished
with boolus rather than furniture
—both if you can, but bcok-s at
any rate. To spend several days
at a friend’s house, and hunger
for something to read, while you
are treading on costU' carpet.s
and sitting on InXni'ioUs chaii’s
and sleeping upon down, Is as if
one were bribing your body for
the sake of cheating your mind.
Books are tlie windows through
which the soul looks out. A house
without them is like a room
without windows. No man has
a right to bring up his children
without surrounding them with
books if he has tlie means- to b-ny
them. It is a wrong to bis family.
Children learn to read through
being in the presence of books.
The love of knowledge in a young
mind is alniost a warrant against
the inferior excitement ot passion
and vice—Selected.
THE STOKES OF THE FTHA-
The immense stones used in'
the erection of the Pyramids of
Egypt were obtained from the
qiiari'ies in the Arabian hills, and
were carried to the river and over
a bridge of boats. They were
then bronglit forward by mean
of a cansen fiy, which is said t
have been a fine work, with its
poli.shed stones and figures ot an
imals engraved npoii them. One
hundred thousand men were em-
ploA-ed at a time, and these were
reiicved bv the same number at
the end ot three months. A Ion
time was spent in tiie leveling of
the rock on which tlie ediliia
stands, and twenty years for the
erection of the jiyramid itself.
The stones were raised step by
step by niearn of a mncltine made
of short pieces of woi'd, and, last
of all commetieing from the top
the stones irere eeraented togeth
er with a layer of cement not
thicker than a piece of paper, the
strength of which is proved by the
ago of these enormous memorials
—Selected.
TJIKEE IHK'I'S WOKTT* TA^
KS.\«.
The Philadelphia Ledger saj's
that there are at least two dairy
men and butter makers in ti e
neighborhood of Philadelphia who
always sell their butter at Si a
poniid, and cannot supply the de
mand oven at that price.—One of
them attributes his success to
three points; Good food to his
cows> uniform teniperaturo ot fif
ty-eight degrees in the luilk-room,
and neatness, cleanliness-anddain-
ty nicety at every stepv from tlie
time when tlie milk is obtained
until the dollar is paid for the
pound of butter, lie feeds liis
cows often but not much at a
time, on white clover and early
mown meadow hay, which he
cuts fine, moistens, and mixes
with wlieaten shorts. Pastures
and areado-ws are kept quite free
from weeds. The milk-room is
kept at a temperntufe of fifty-eight
degrees by flowing spring-water.
—Seleeted. '
WIET-EIHJEU BUT'l’EK.
eliltlSTlAKFFV *K TEUKET-
The first Olii'istian cliurch in
Constantinople was founded irt
184G ; tliei-e are now seireiity-six
ill tiie Turkrsli Empire, about a
third of which are self-supporting,
and all self-gni’erning. Foif
Evangelical Unio-ns” have been
formed for rautni 1 counsel and
aid; one at Ilarpootj in Mesopo-
taiwia, of twenty-six elinrolies;
another in tkiuthern Asia Minor
of twenty-three chui dies, another
in C'cniral A.sl-it Minor of eight
churches; and anoflteriii .Bitli)’nia
of eleven churches. Gonnecteil
with these ehiirch.es are .daO.t-
menibcr.s, and congregations num
bering 13,00(1, with a iiopnlatioil
of over 18,0()() native Protestants,
—y. C. PreshgterUn. . .
'S’lIK A-OlF^ ITlARj
1. Never attempt to do any-
tbing that is not right. Just so
surely as you do, you will got
into trouble. Sin always brings
sorrow sooner or later. If yon
even suspect 'that anything is
wicked, do it not until you are
sure that your snspicions are
groundless.
2. AYhen 3’on do attempt an)'-
tliing that is rigid, go through
with it. Bo not easily discour
aged. Form habits of peri'ever-
anco. Yield not to sloth and sleep
and fickleness. To resist all these
will not be eas}', hut 3mn will feel
tliat yon have done right -when
3’ou get through.
3. Do not waste your mone3'.
Perhaps 3'on have very little.
Then take the more care of it.
Besides helping to spread the gos
pel, buy some good books and
read them well. A good book is
one of the best things in the world.
If 5;ou cannot buy as many as
3-oCi; need, borrow from others
and return them safe and sound.
Never let a book lie where it ma}'
be injured.—Kind Words.
Meekness gives smooth answers
to rough questions.
The dog, the horse, and the
elephant have, with groat aiipo-
sitenoss, been designated the tlireu
friends of man. 1 he dog, liiitV.-'
ever, seems eiitllled to the fir.st
place in this relation, although
the other two aiiltiiids have been
known to esinco the utmost at-
fection for tbeh- keepers or mas
ters, Nevertheless, the fidelity
of the dog stands out in bold re- ■
liet from that of any other quad
ruped, and is more aelf-sacriticing
thari that of the elephant or the
lio-rse. I'he dog is at all times
the faithful slave and companion
of his master; tt'hUe the other
two members of the triad at times
rebel against tlie authority or
treatment of their owners or
keepers. Yet they all stand in
more fViendl}' re'ation.shtp to what
is termed the lord of creation
than, perhaps, do any other three
of the lower animals,—Frank
Ixelie's Sundag Magazine.
“ Don’t write there,” said one
to a Lad who was writing with a
diamond pin on a pane of glass in
the window of a hotel. “ Why f’
said he. “ Because 3 on can not
rub it out.” 'riiere are other
things which men should not do,
because the3' can not rub them
out. A heart is aching for S3'in-
path}^ and a cold, perhaps a
heartless, word is spoken. The
impression may be more durable
than that of a diamo-nd upon the
glass. The inscription on the
glass may be destro3'ed by its
fracture, but the impression on
the heart may last for ever. On
many si mind and many a heart
sad inscriptions are deeply en
graved, wliich no effort can erase
We should be careful what
write on the minds of others.
we