look to in choosing a house, and that is that it is near plenty of pure water. In towns, we have not much choice, because the water is generally brought to our very doors; but in the country, great care must be taken to secure pure water. Many people die every year from drinking bad water, and many fevers are owing to the same cause. So you will see that pure water is very necessary, and that, in choosing a house, we should examine whether the supply of water is pure or

not.

It is of the utmost consequence that the drains. in a house be properly closed. The gases that gather in these drains are most injurious to health, and, in fact, are poisonous, and the cause of a great many fevers. It is now well ascertained that a large number of people die every year from diseases arising from bad drainage. The smallest chink in any of the drains in a house will allow the foul gases to escape, and find their way into all corners of a house. To breathe these gases for any length of time is most dangerous.

We have means now of testing the drains of our houses. The most common is the sulphur test. The fumes of sulphur are pumped into the drains, and, if there is any chink, the fumes escape by it and indicate by the smell the very point where the drains are defective. at any time we suspect that the drains in our house are bad we should have them tested.

If

ARE they not lowly cottages,

With moss and flowers o'ergrown,
And little gardens circling them,
Like an enchanted zone?

Do not sweet blossoms incense breathe

Into the very door,

And earthly roses gaily wreathe
The tiny casements o'er?

Do they not lie in fertile vales,
Far from the world of care,
With silver streamlets wandering by,
And health upon the air?

Does not the little wild bird love
To build beneath their eaves,
And her young brood first learn to move
Amidst their sheltering leaves?

And o'er the sloping hills of green,
That wall each valley round,
Do not the Sabbath bells ring out

With glad, though solemn sound?

QUESTIONS:-1. What is the first thing you should look to in choosing a house? 2. Mention some things that make a house damp? What causes the paper on the wall of our rooms sometimes to grow green? 4. Why should we shun damp houses? 5. What else should we look to in choosing a house? 6. Why is fresh air necessary to health? 7. Why is sunshine necessary to health? 8. What third thing should we look to in choosing a house? 9. Mention some ill effects of impure water. should a well be placed?

10. Where

Bow-wow-wow!

'Tis the great watch-dog, I know by his honest bark; Bow-wow-wow!

Says the great watch-dog

When he hears a foot in the dark.

Not a breath can stir

But he's up with a whirr,
And a big bow-wow gives he;
And with tail on end,

He'll the house defend

Far better than lock or key.

When we sleep sound
He takes his round,

A sentry o'er us all;

Through the long dark night
Till broad daylight,

He scares the thieves from the wall.

But through the whole day
With the children he'll play,
And gambol in the sun;
On his back astride

They may safely ride,
For well he loves their fun.

By all he's known

To be true to the bone,
No flattering tongue has he;
And we all may learn
From the great watch-dog

Both faithful and fond to be.

A. SMART.

True to the bone.-True to the heart: true as steel, as we say.

QUESTIONS:-1. How may the watch-dog be known? 2. What does the watch-dog do when he hears a footstep? 3. What sort of a watch does he make? 4. What does the watch-dog do all night? 5. What is a sentry? 6. Why is the watch-dog called a sentry? 7. What may you see the dog doing during the day? 8. What is meant by the children being astride on his back? 9. What is meant when it is said that he is true to the bone? 10. Why is the watch-dog said to have no flattering tongue? 11. What is a flattering tongue? 12. What two qualities of the dog may we imitate? 13. How does he show his faithfulness? 14. How does he show his fondness?

HAIL, beauteous stranger of the grove!

Thou messenger of spring!

Now Heaven repairs thy rural seat,

And woods thy welcome ring.

What time the daisy decks the green,

Thy certain voice we hear;
Hast thou a star to guide thy path,
Or mark the rolling year ?

Delightful visitant, with thee
I hail the time of flowers,

And hear the sound of music sweet
From birds among the bowers.