ke; rascal! you have waked the bald-headed man instead of
me."

15. A citizen, seeing some sparrows in a tree, went beneath and shook it,
folding out his hat to catch them as they fell.

16. A foolish fellow, having a house to sell, took a brick from the wall
to exhibit as a sample.

17. A man meeting his friend, said, "I spoke to you last night in a dream."
"Pardon me," replied the other, "I did not hear you."

18. A man that had nearly been drowned while bathing, declared that he
would not again go into the water until he had learned to swim.

(To understand the next, we must premise that a horse with his first teeth
was called by the Greeks "a first thrower.")

19. A man selling a horse was asked if it was a first thrower. "By Jove,"
said he, "he's a second thrower, for he threw both me and my father."

20. A fellow had to cross a river, and entered the boat on horseback;
being asked the cause, he replied, "I must ride, because I am in a hurry."

21. A student in want of money sold his books, and wrote home, "Father,
rejoice; for I now derive my support from literature."

We thank the wits of the _Athenaeum_ for these piquancies: they are in the
right true Attic vein, and are therefore characteristic of that clever
Journal.

* * * * *

KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE.

(_From_ Part xiii.--_Botany._)

_Why have vegetables the function of transpiration?_

Because the sap, on arriving in the leaves, loses and gives out the
superabundant quantity of water which it contained.

_Why are limpid drops often observed hanging at the points of leaves at
sunrise?_

Because of the vegetable transpiration condensed by the coldness of the
night. It was long thought that they were produced by dew; but Mushenbroek
first proved the above, by conclusive experiments. He intercepted all
communication between a poppy and the ambient air, by covering it with a
bell; and between it and the earth, by covering the vessel in which it
grew with a leaden plate. Next morning the drop appeared upon it as
before--_Richard._

One of the hydrangea tribe perspires so freely, that the leaves wither and
become crisp in a very short space of time, if the plant be not amply
supplied with water: it has 160,000 apertures on every inch square of
surface, on the under disk of the leaf.

_Why is more or less of a gummy, resinous, or saccharine matter found in
every tree?_

Because it is formed by branches of