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What are oblique parallelopipeds? When the sides are rhombuses or rhomboides, and the four corners oblique angles.

How are parallelopipeds measured? length, breadth, and thickness together.

Prisms and Pyramids, &c.

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What is a prism? A solid whose sides are all parallelograms, and the end triangles, squares or any regular figure.

What is a cylinder? A round prism; its ends are circles.

What is a pyramid? A solid having its sides all triangles, and its base a triangle or more.

What is a cone? A round pyramid, its base a circle, its top a point.

What is a sphere? A solid enclosed in one curved surface, every part of which is equally distant from a point within, which is called the centre.

Regular Solids.

What is a regular solid? A solid having its sides all of the same shape and size.

How many are there? Five.

What are the smallest number of sides with which you can enclose a plane solid? Four.

When those sides are regular what will be their shape? Equilateral triangles.

What is such a solid called? Tetraedron.

What is the next smallest number of sides which will enclose a regular solid? Six squares which is a cube. What is an octaedron? A solid enclosed by eight equilateral triangles.

"What is a dodecahedron? A solid enclosed in twelve pentagons.

What is an icosaedron? A solid enclosed in twenty equilateral triangles.

These five solids are all that can be formed having the sides and angles all alike.

Isoperimetry.

What figure will contain the greatest quantity in the least surface? A sphere.

What figure, with plain surfaces, will enclose the greatest quantity in a given surface? A cube.

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What figure will enclose the most space in a given length of line? A circle.

Among quadrilaterals, what figure will enclose the most space. A square.

LESSONS IN NATURAL HISTORY.

OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS.

Lesson I.

WHAT is the science called which teaches us of plants, flowers and fruit? Botany.

Who causes the plants and flowers to grow? God. Do plants live and die? They do.

What kind of life is that of plants? Vegetable.

For what are plants useful? Some are useful for food and some for medicine; and all are beautiful, and teach us the wisdom and goodness of God.

How many kinds of plants are known? There have been 50,000 recorded in France.

How does a plant grow? The seed is put into the ground; after it has been there a few days, two shoots grow out of it; one grows downward into the ground, and is the root; the other comes up, and spreads out in leaves.

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What are the several parts of a plant called? The root, the trunk, or stem, the stalks, the leaves, the flower, and fruit.

What is the root? That part which grows in the ground and holds up the plant.

Can a plant live, if you destroy the root? It cannot,

for that which keeps the plant alive comes from the ground through the root.

There are several kinds of roots; what are those roots called which live only one year. Annual..

What are biennial roots? Such as live two years. What are perennial roots? Such as live many years.

What are those roots called that are like the onion? Bulbous.

What are those roots called which are like a potato? Tuberose.

What are those called which are like a carrot? Fusiform.

What are those called which spread about? Fibrous..

Lesson II.

What is the stem or trunk of a plant? It is that which stands up from the ground and sends out the stalks. What is the bark? It is the coat which covers the stem, and keeps it from the cold.

Will the cold hurt plants? The cold will kill a great many kinds of plants.

Is that the reason why some are placed in boxes? Yes, they are placed in boxes that they may be brought into the house, when the weather is cold.

What are those little sticks called, which grow out of the trunk and hold the leaves and flowers? The stalks.

What is a bud? It is little leaves, which are folded very closely one over the other; and contain the stalks that are not grown out.

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When do the buds grow? In the summer.
When does the stalk grow out of them?

year.

The next

Where does the bud grow? Close by the stalk of the leaf.

What is the color of the leaves? Green.

Which way do leaves always turn? They turn towards the light.

Does the light of the sun help to give them their green color? It does; leaves which grow in a dark cellar are white.

How many kinds of leaves are there? One hundred. For what are the leaves of trees useful? They help the bud to grow-they shade the plant from the heat of the sun-they make a pleasant shade for animals, which do not have houses to cover them.

Do animals like to go among the trees? They do; and the birds make their nests and sing among the branches.

Lesson III.

What is the fluid that runs in the plant like water, and sometimes leaks out? It is the sap.

Is the sap the same in all kinds of plants? No; it is very different; when it runs out of some plants it turns to resin; and the sap which runs from some others turns to opium; and from another to gum elastic; which is called India rubber, and the sap of some plants is made into sugar.

Is oil obtained from plants? It is; much oil is pressed from the seed of some plants.

What kinds of oil is pressed from the seed of plants? Linseed oil, castor oil, oil of olives, and oil of almonds.

Lesson IV.

How many parts has a flower?

Seven.

What are they called? Calyx, corolla, stamens, pistils, pericarpium, the seed and receptacle.

What is the calyx or flower cup? It is the green part under the blossom, out of which the flower grows.

What are the corolla? The delicate leaves called the blossom, which are of various and beautiful colors. What is one of those leaves called? A petal.

What is sometimes found at the bottom of the corolla, in a small part called the nectary? Honey."

How is this honey gathered? It is collected by the little bee, who lays it in little cups curiously made of wax. Who makes the little waxen cups? The bee makes them, with wax it obtains from the flowers.

The mealy or glutinous knobs

What are the stamens? in the flower, called anthers, with or without, filamentous organs.

What is the little thread called which stands up in the middle of a flower with a small head on it? What is that which the pistil grows from?

bud, or germen.

Pistil.
The seed

When the leaves of the flower die or fall off, and the seed bud grows large, and contains the seed, what is it called? Pericarpium.

What is the seed bud of the apple tree blossom when it is grown? It is an apple.

Can you find little seeds in the apple? We can.

What is the seed bud or germen of the peach tree?— the plumb tree?-the pear tree? All kinds of fruit are the seed buds of the plants which are called pericarpium. What is the seed? It is the part which is for the next plant to grow from.

How are the seeds for the next plants scattered? Some seeds have little feathers upon them, and are blown about by the wind, and fall upon the ground, where they are soon covered with the soil.

Animals

In what other ways are the seeds scattered? and birds eat the fruit and drop the seeds upon the ground. In this way seeds are sometimes carried from one country to another.

What is the receptacle? It is the bottom of the flower which holds the other parts.

What has a large receptacle? sunflower.

The artichoke, or

Lesson V.

How are plants arranged by those who have studied them? They are placed in classes.

What is one class of plants? All those kinds which have stamens alike, belong to one class.

How many classes of plants are there? Twenty-four. [The names of the several classes are in the Appendix.]

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