spent if they have made a few discoveries, we ordinary mortals cannot consider it a waste of time to employ an evening's walk in capturing some of these creatures, or a few leisure minutes in-doors, in examining their habits. The first thing a young naturalist probably does, is to catch a few tadpoles and beetles, and put them in a basin of water. Before morning they have got out, and he finds the beetles crawling on the window curtain and the tadpoles half dried up on the floor, and he says "they are nasty creatures," and almost vows to have nothing more to do with them. But on no account let him keep his vow, but let him go into the town and make diligent search for a shop, where he may buy a large bell-glass, about 18 inches across the top. If you, reader, have any intention of learning the manners and customs of the creatures in the water-world, you must get the largest glass you can find; little ones are of no use, and is only throwing money away to buy them. In London there are many shops solely for the purpose of selling these glass bells, and for supplying a few animals to the cockneys, who have not the time or opportunity to catch them for themselves. The largest bells cost only five shillings. Here is a figure of the glass bell and stand. The stand is included in the five shillings. Garden earth that has no manure in it will do very well for the bottom, and should rise as high as the broadest part of the glass jar; this will make it about three or four inches deep. Now you must look out for a long stone about the size of your two fists, and set it upright in the middle. It ought to reach to about one inch below the top of the glass. A better contrivance still is to get two flat stones, and stick them up with their tops leaning against one another, for fish always like a sort of cave to live under. You must now fill the vessel with clear spring water and leave it for several hours to settle. If the water does not become quite clear within twelve hours, you must stir it up and pour off the water while it is still muddy, and the next supply you put in will probably be soon quite pure. But you are not likely to have any trouble with the water. There will be a little scum, and bits of stick and straw on the top which must be skimmed off. The vessel is now quite the straight piece to the curved side should be fourteen inches. Now get a stout, straight pole, about six feet long, and fasten the ends of the iron wire very firmly into one end of it. The bag should be made of cheese cloth. You must buy a yard of it, and make the bag to go down into a point about half a yard deep, and sew it firmly with fine string on to the iron rim. Your dredge is now quite complete. You must get a tin can that will hold two quarts, and pierce several very small holes in the top. You must tie the lid to the handle with a piece of string long enough to allow of its opening comfortably. If you do not do this you will be nearly certain to lose among the long grass. it You have now a complete naturalist's equipment, and will of course lose no time in seeing whether it answers its purpose. Probably the first inviting looking place you come to in your walk, is a pond in a field, with one side shallow, where the cattle go to drink, and the other deep and quiet. First look in shady nooks round the shallow side, to see if there may not possibly be a piece of late frog spawn, not yet hatched, and secure it directly. Then look about for tadpoles, which will be lying in clear water on the mud, but will be active enough as soon as disturbed. Here the dredge will come into use for the first time, and must be slid gently along the surface of the mud, and drawn straight out of the water as soon as several tadpoles have gone into it. When you have tadpoles enough, take a wider range over the bottom, and then, when the dredge is brought up on the grass, there will probably be a variety of game in it. The most abundant will be snails of various sorts; some shaped like perriwinkles, some with a longer shell, like this, be flat, and closely These are called Pla called Limnea; some will curled, like this. norbis. You had When the weed better take two of each kind. grows freely in the vivarium, as many as you like. Besides shells, there will be little tubes about an inch long, made of bits of wood, straw, earth, and other rubbish. If you take one up, an insect's head and legs will come out at one end. This is a caddis worm, which in a few weeks will turn into a pretty fly. As soon as it comes out of the egg, which is laid in the water, it begins to make a covering for its long soft body, by sticking round itself any hard substances it can find, and makes its house long enough to draw its head into, and so completely protect itself from enemies. In searching a pond where there were a great many small Planorbis, I once found nearly all the caddis worm houses composed of them. They were the neatest little things imaginable, all the shells being chosen of the same kind, and making a perfect cylindrical little box, closed up at one end with a shell, and all interstices glued up. Take several caddis worms; it will be interesting to watch their changes. Now go round to the other side of the pond, and look in places bare of duckweed for water beetles. You will find these very difficult to catch, and must wait very quietly, with the dredge lying just under the surface of the water, till one of the beetles chooses to swim over it, and then lift it out quickly. The creatures are so very quick in their movements, that is almost in vain to hope to catch them by pursuing them. You can take up one dredge full of duckweed, and turn it about to see if there are any little beetles or other curious creatures in it, that you would like to carry home. Take also a few leaves of the duckweed: it is curious to see how it propagates, by sending off little round leaves from the side of the old ones. We must now try and find some plants for the vivarium, and for these had better look in a sluggish clear stream, or best of all, in the broad ditches of a marsh. If you see the leaves of arrowhead floating on the water, get a small plant of that, also of water violet and burr reed; in fact, any little plant that takes your fancy will do, and it can easily be pulled up by the roots. This must be planted as soon as you get home, and then put in the animals, pouring away the water in the tin and then letting the creatures wriggle themselves into the glass. They should never be handled more than is necessary, and the fish not at all. Salt water fish will most certainly die if they are ever touched, and I think those in fresh water are almost as delicate. You must feed the tadpoles with a little raw meat, or else they will eat each other. Having got these common animals and plants, you may consider that your first hunt has been very successful. I hope that by the end of another week you will have made your stock; and I will then give you a description of some more of the animals to be found in ditches and ponds. THE RED-CROSS KNIGHTS. "Он рара, papa," cried Robert as he took his usual station in the twilight by his father's side, "what do you think Emmy said the other day? she said she should like to be a red-cross knight!" "Nonsense Robert," said his sister, half indignantly, "I only said if I had lived at the time of the Crusades I thought I should have liked to have joined in one of them, just for the sake of seeing the Holy Land." "She would have found it a dreadful long journey though," said Robert, "for ships, and ways of travelling altogether, were so different then to what they are now." "What courage those people must have had who went through it," cried Emma. "It was then thought a great merit to pay a visit to the Holy Land," said Mr. Morton, "and this no doubt was the reason that so many persons were willing to undertake the journey; people who had been guilty of great crimes used frequently to go there on a pilgrimage, from the belief that they would thus obtain forgiveness of their sins." "And I hope that they tried to amend their lives as well." "I hope so indeed, but they probably found that that was more difficult. It is easier, far easier, to take a long and dangerous journey for the sake of seeing the spots which have been trodden by the feet of Apostles and Prophets, than to strive, day by day, to follow in the footsteps of their lives. But many persons, no doubt, undertook the pilgrimage from the best of motives, from the idea that it must really make them better, to see with their own eyes the country which had been the scene of our Saviour's ministry." 66 Yes рара, I could just fancy that, for I think I should feel the same myself. But did people ever go on pilgrimages before the time of the crusades?" 66 "The custom of making pilgrimages," said Mr. Morton, was a very old one. It had long been common for religious persons to take journies to the tombs of saints (or other spots which were supposed to be sacred), for the purpose of offering up their prayers there. One favourite place of pilgrimage you have yourself seen, Emma dear." "Have I really, papa? Of course it is in England then." "Yes, but I must tell you that it did not become the resort of pilgrims till about 150 or 200 years later than the first crusade, for it was the tomb of Thomas à Becket, who was murdered you know in the reign of Henry II. When we were at Canterbury some years ago, your mama and I took you, Emma, to see the Cathedral, and we were then shown the tomb of Thomas à Becket, and the spot where an altar which |