s, are standing still;
The feathers, dropped from moor-hen's wing,
Which to the waters surface cling,
Are steadfast, and as heavy seem
As stones beneath them in the stream."

PIGS WITH SOLID HOOFS, AND PIGS THAT ARE NOT PIGS.

In Texas there are pigs whose hoofs are not divided like those of
ordinary pigs, but are each in one solid piece; at least, so I'm
informed in a paragram fresh from England.

If this is true, it is a strange thing; but here's something that seems
even stranger still:

The Guinea-pig is not a pig, and there are no Guinea-pigs in Guinea.
However, there are plenty in Guiana, and, as the names of these places
are very much alike, perhaps people got mixed in calling them. The
places are far enough apart, though, I believe; but this you can see by
your maps.

At any rate, the Guinea-pig is a sort of cousin of the squirrel and
rabbit, and is fond of potato and apple peelings, carrot-tops, parsley,
and cabbage; but he likes best the leaves from the tea-pot.

JACK.

Well, well! How much the dictionary men have to answer for! Now, who,
without them, ever would have thought that the name "Jack"--my name--is
sometimes used in an offensive sense?

For instance, as I'm told, these fellows make out that "Jack Frost"
means a mischievous boy; "Jack Towel" is a servants' towel; and a "Jack"
is a machine to do the work of a common work-man, to lift heavy weights.
Then there's a "Boot Jack," taking the place of a servant; a "Smoke
Jack," another servant, to turn a spit; a "Jack-a-Napes," or saucy
fellow; "Jack Tar," a common sailor; and "Jacket," a little Jack or
coat.

Now, I'm half inclined to take this ill of the dictionary men. But
perhaps I'm misinformed about them.

"TAKE THAT!"

This is not slang, my dears; not a bit of it. It is but the translation
of an inscription on an ancient Egyptian ball, a leaden one, used as a
kind of bullet and thrown from a sling. Sometimes the name of the
slinger was put on the ball,--so that the wounded could tell whom to
thank, perhaps.

The phrase "Take that!" has not entirely gone out of fashion, I believe;
and yet the world ought to be old enough to know better, by this time.

ANTS AGAIN.

Talking about ants last month put me in mind of a scrap, written long
ago by the Little Schoolma'am, and which one of my chicks sent to me.
Here it is, with the picture that belongs to it:

[Illustration: "AND AWAY WENT THE PIECE OF BREAD!"]