and and France before the Renaissance.

Sperm oil properly means "seed oil," from the notion that it was spawn
or milt of a whale. It is chiefly taken, however, from the head, not the
spawn of the "spermaceti" whale.

Whalebone is not bone, nor does it possess any properties of bone. It is
a substance attached to the upper jaw of the whale, and serves to strain
the water which the creature takes up.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE FLAG.

To "strike a flag" is to lower the national colors in token of
submission.

Flags are used as the symbol of rank and command, the officers using
them being called flag officers. Such flags are square, to distinguish
them from other banners.

A "flag of truce" is a white flag displayed to an enemy to indicate a
desire to parley or for consultation.

The white flag is a sign of peace. After a battle parties from both
sides often go out to the field to rescue the wounded or bury dead under
the protection of a white flag.

The red flag is a sign of defiance, and is often used by revolutionists.
In the naval service it is a mark of danger, and shows a vessel to be
receiving or discharging her powder.

The black flag is a sign of piracy.

The yellow flag shows a vessel to be at quarantine or is the sign of a
contagious disease.

A flag at half-mast means mourning. Fishing and other vessels return
with a flag at half-mast to announce the loss or death of some of the
men.

Dipping the flag is lowering it slightly and then hoisting it again to
salute a vessel or fort.

If the President of the United States goes afloat the American flag is
carried in the bows of his barge or hoisted at the main of the vessel on
board of which he is.

DEATH SENTENCE OF THE SAVIOR.

The following is said to be the sentence of death, word for word,
pronounced against Jesus Christ:

Sentence pronounced by Pontius Pilate, intendent of the lower province
of Galilee, that Jesus of Nazareth shall suffer death by the cross. In
the seventeenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, and on the 24th
day of the month, in the most holy city of Jerusalem, during the
pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas.

Pontius Pilate, intendent of the Province of Lower Galilee, sitting to
judgment in the presidential seat of the Praetors, sentences Jesus of
Nazareth to death on a cross between robbers, as the numerous and
notorious testimonies of the people prove:

1. Jesus is a misleader.

2. He has excited the people to