Category: Evening Book

The earth which we inhabit is not precisely a spherical body, but a spheroid flattened at its poles, similar in shape to an orange. Its shortest diameter is about 7940 miles, its longest about 7966 miles ; their difference being about 26 miles. This body passes through its orbit, which is nearly a circle of […]

(Agave Americana.) The flowering of this plant used to be considered as a very rare occurrence, and as not taking place till it attained the age of one hundred years; but the specimens being now numerous the delay in flowering is found not to be fact. Its interest as a marvel has, consequently, fallen off; […]

Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory, do we come, From God, who is our home. Heaven lies about us in our infancy WORDSWORTH I may begin with the question of Henry IV of France, when found by an ambassador at romps with his children,—” Are you a […]

On the Continent of America the works of nature are on a great and extensive scale; and in estimating their magnitude, the mind is actually lost in wonder. When we think of the valley of any river in this country,” says an English writer ” we have only in view a district of ground measuring […]

The narrations of a frontier circle, as they draw round their evening fire, often turn upon the exploits of the old race of men, the heroes of the past days, who wore hunting-shirts, and settled the country. In a boundless forest full of panthers and bears, and more dreadful Indians, with not a white within […]

The following singular narrative was given by Dr. Clarke at the conclusion of a sermon recently preached by him on behalf of the Royal Humane Society, and is extracted from the Wesleyan Preacher:—” Now, my dear hearers, I wish you to prepare yourselves for a story that will make you, perhaps, feel a little, and […]

Ginger is a native of the southeast of Asia ana the adjacent isles. It was naturalized in America very soon after the discovery of that country by the Spaniards; indeed, at so early a period that it is scarcely believed to be an exotic, and is supposed to have been found indigenous in the Western […]

“My lads,” said a captain, when reading his orders to his crew on the quarter deck, to take the command of a ship, ” there is one law I am determined to make, and I shall insist upon its being kept; indeed, it is a favor which I ask of you, and which, as a […]

While some are lost in dissipation and thoughtlessness, there are others whose minds are absorbed in diligent and laborious study. And, indeed, he who has no taste for intellectual pleasures, seems to be but a small remove from the animal tribes. Ile who cannot bear thinking, or at least has no disposition for investigation, but […]

A person cannot be too careful of his teeth, for much of his comfort depends upon attention to their cleanliness. Care ought to be taken that no grit be in any composition that he may use. Char-coal, however useful, ought to be used with caution, for even the finest contains sharp edges, which by friction […]