four or five pounds, and
specimens that are larger may be worth many times that amount. Figures
of men, horses, bears, dogs, and various animals, including dragons, are
to be seen, as well as letters of the alphabet, triangles, or other
inanimate objects, some trees being cleverly made to look like jugs,
bottles, and bowls. Occasionally, a singular change has been made in a
tree; thus, what was a boy with a rake, by a little alteration becomes a
soldier carrying a rifle.

When taking a country stroll, we may sometimes come upon a specimen of a
tree-sculptor's art in a wayside cottage garden, perhaps two hundred
years old. One of the finest topiaries in England is in the grounds of
Levens Hall, Westmoreland, and the Earl of Harrington has a notable one
at Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire.

A GENEROUS ACT.

The sons of a great landowner were permitted by their father to
associate with the poor boys in the neighbourhood. One day, when they
had to return home to dinner, a lad who was playing with them said he
would wait till they returned.

'There is no dinner for me at home,' said the poor boy.

'Come with us, then,' said the others.

The boy refused, and when they asked him if he had any money to buy a
dinner, he answered 'No.'

When the boys got home the eldest of them said to his father, 'Father,
what was the price of the silver buckles you gave me yesterday?'

'Five shillings,' was the reply.

'Then please give me the money, and I will give you the buckles again.'

This was done accordingly, and the father, inquiring privately, found
that the money was given to the lad who had no dinner.

PEEPS INTO NATURE'S NURSERIES.

IV.--THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE CRAB.

The more we study the living creatures around us the more wonderful they
become; and in many ways this is especially true of what we may call the
little people of the lower world. Most of us regard the crab as a
creature good to eat, or, in the case of some of the smaller kinds, as
something to be hunted for in rock-pools at the seaside; but only a very
few appear to know anything of the crab in its infancy.

[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Young Crab: first stage.]

[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Young Crab: second stage.]

What we may call the childhood of the crab makes a really curious story.
Boys and girls, until they are quite grown up, are, as a rule at any
rate, carefully nursed and shielded from the hardships of life; but with
the young crab i