New National Fourth Reader Part 17

"What else have we in this pile?"

"Needles, hair-pins, screws, wire--iron wire," he added quickly. "Bra.s.s wire doesn't stick, you know."

"How about this?" I asked, taking a small coil of copper wire from my desk.

"I guess that won't stick," said Charlie. "Because that's copper wire, and the magnet doesn't seem to pull any thing that isn't iron."

Much to Charlie's satisfaction, the magnet did not pull the copper wire.

Then I took up two stones, one rusty red, the other black, and said: "What about these?"

"I guess they must have iron in them too," said Charlie. "Have they?"

"They have," I replied. "They are iron ores from which iron is made. Why did you think there was iron in them?"

"Because they wouldn't have stuck to the magnet if there wasn't."

"Quite true. So you have learned another very important fact. Can you tell me what it is?"

"The magnet pulls iron," said Charlie.

"Good," said I; "and it is also true that the magnet does not pull--"

"Things that are not iron," said Charlie.

"True again," I said. "So far as our experiments go, the magnet pulls iron always, and never any thing else."

"But what makes it pull iron?"

"That I can not tell. We see it does pull, but just how the pulling is done, or what makes it, no one has yet found out.

"For convenience we call the pulling power magnetism. You may keep the magnet, and at some other time, I will tell you more about it."

Language Lesson.--Name six words in the lesson, each of which is made up of two words by leaving out letters.

Write out the two words in each case.

What is the name of the mark which shows the omission of letters?

Point out the _statement, command, question_, and _exclamation_ in the sentences given below.

"O, isn't it a funny horseshoe!"

"Put the bar back."

"What made it jump so?"

"The magnet pulls iron."

LESSON XVIII.

ex pos'es, _shows_.

mi mo'sa, _a tree that grows in Africa_.

mot'tled, _marked with spots of different color_.

re sem'bling, _looking like_.

ap proach', _coming near_.

pub'lic, _open to all; free_.

va'ri ous, _different; unlike in kind_.

de fend', _take care of; protect_.

gait, _manner of stepping_.

pre vents', _keeps from; stops_.

ca' pa ble, _having power; able_.

THE GIRAFFE OR CAMELOPARD.

There are few sights more pleasing than a herd of tall and graceful giraffes.

With, their heads reaching a height of from twelve to eighteen feet, they move about in small herds on the open plains of Africa, eating the tender twigs and leaves of the mimosa and other trees.

The legs of a large giraffe are about nine feet long, and its neck nearly six feet; while its body measures only seven feet in length and slopes rapidly from the neck to the tail.