Russians as they were still disordered by the terrible assault of the Greys and their companions, put them to utter rout.

The Russian horse, in less than five minutes after it met our dragoons, was flying with all speed before a force certainly not half its strength. A cheer burst from every lip; in the enthusiasm officers and men took off their caps, and shouted with delight, and thus keeping up the scenic character of their position, they clapped their hands again and again.

RUSSEL.

Balaclava.-In the Crimea, in the south of Russia. The battle was fought during the siege of Sebastopol, in the Russian War, on the 25th of October, 1854. The contending parties were, on the one side, the English, French, and Turks; and, on the other, the Russians. Lord Raglan.-The commander-in-chief of the English forces in the Crimea. He died at his post.

Zouaves.-French soldiers from their African province of Algiers.

Gather way.—To acquire sufficient speed for the charge. The scenic character of their position.—As if they had been in a theatre looking upon an acted drama.

EXERCISES.

1. Collect all the strictly military terms in the lesson, and explain them.

2. Describe the charge of the Heavy Brigade of Dragoons.

3. Explain these phrases-(a) The ground flies beneath their feet; (b) Down goes that line of steel; (c) They open files right and left; (d) Their time was come; (e) Like one bolt from a bow.

4. Give the derivation of these words-oppressive, distance, spectators, receive, sufficient, summits, insignificant, disappear.

L*

LESSON XXXIV.

The Beaver's Dam.

ab'-so-lute, essential, that cannot be done without. cha-rac-ter-is'-tics, marks, signs.

con-ge'-nial, suitable, kindred.

con-tract'-ed, narrow, drawn together.

di-men'-sions, size, bulk.
in'-di-cate, point out, show.
in-fer'-red, judged.
in-tel'-li-gible, easily under-
stood.
in-ter-cept', stop, catch up.
ob-structs', comes in the way

of.

re'-qui-site, proper, necessary.

solved, explained, made clear. sta-bil'it-y, firmness, strength.

con'-vex, rounded outwards. cor-re-sponds', answers to, fits into. horizontal-ly, placed su-per'-flu-ous, flowing over,

lengthwise.

more than enough.

THE form of the beaver is sufficiently marked to indicate that it is a water-loving creature, and that it is a better swimmer than walker. The dense, close, woolly fur, defended by a coating of long hairs, the broad, paddle-like tail, and the well-webbed feet, are characteristics which are at once intelligible. Water, indeed, seems to be an absolute necessity for the beaver, and it is of the utmost importance to the animal that the stream near which it lives should not be dry. In order to avert such a misfortune, the beaver is gifted with an instinct which teaches it how to keep the water always at or about the same mark, or, at all events, to prevent it from sinking below the requisite level.

If any modern engineer were asked how to attain such an object, he would probably point to the nearest water-mill, and say that the problem had there been satisfactorily solved, a dam having been built across the stream so as to raise the water to the requisite height, and to allow the superfluous water to flow away. Now, water is as needful for the beaver as for the miller, and it is a very curious fact, that long before millers ever invented dams, or before men ever learned to grind corn, the beaver knew how to make a dam and insure itself a constant supply of water.

When the animal has fixed upon a tree which it believes to be suitable for its purpose, it begins by sitting upright, and with its chisel-like teeth cutting a bold groove completely round the trunk. It then widens the groove, and always makes it wide in exact proportion to its depth, so that when the tree is nearly cut through, it looks something like the contracted portion of an hour-glass. When this stage has been reached, the beaver looks anxiously at the tree, and views it on every side, as if desirous of measuring the direction in which it is to fall. Having settled this question, it goes to the opposite side of the tree, and with two or three powerful bites cuts away the wood, so that the tree becomes overbalanced and falls to the ground.

This point having been reached, the animal

proceeds to cut up the fallen trunk into lengths, usually a yard or so in length, employing a similar method of severing the wood. In consequence of this mode of gnawing the timber, both ends of the logs are rounded and rather pointed.

The next part of the task is to make these logs into a dam. The dam is by no means placed at random in the stream, just where a few logs may have happened to lodge, but is set exactly where it is wanted, and is made so as to suit the force of the current. In those places where the stream runs slowly, the dam is carried straight across the river, but in those where the water has much power, the barrier is made in a convex shape, so as to resist the force of the rushing water. The power of the stream can, therefore, always be inferred from the shape of the dam which the beavers have built across it.

Some of these dams are of very great size, measuring two or three hundred yards in length, and ten or twelve feet in thickness, and their form exactly corresponds with the force of the stream, being straight in some parts, and more or less convex in others.

The dam is formed, not by forcing the ends of the logs into the bed of the river, but by laying them horizontally, and covering them with stones and earth until they can resist the force of the water. Vast numbers of logs are thus laid, and

as fast as the water rises, fresh materials are added, being obtained mostly from the trunks and branches of trees which have been stripped of their bark by the beavers.

After the beavers have completed their dam, it obstructs the course of the stream so completely that it intercepts all large floating objects, and every log or branch that may happen to be throw into the river is arrested by this dam, and aids in increasing its dimensions.

Mud and earth are also continually added by the beavers. So that, in process of time, the dam becomes as firm as the land through which the river passes, and gets covered with soil. Seeds soon make their way to this congenial soil, and, in a dam of long standing, forest trees have been known to grow; their roots adding to the general stability by binding the materials together. Originally, the dam is more than a yard in width where it overtops the water, but these unintentional additions cause a continual increase.

EXERCISES.

1. What is meant by "instinct"? Illustrate your answer by reference to the beaver.

2. Show how the shape and formation of the beaver exactly suit its mode of life. What is meant by "chisel-like teeth"?

3. Describe exactly the formation of the beaver's dam,-what precautions are taken to enable it to resist the force of the current?

4. Give the derivation and meaning of importance, requisite, supply, pointed, complete, increase.