Harper's Young People, June 15, 1880 Part 11

WILLSON'S FIFTH READER. The Fifth Reader of the School and Family Series. By MARCIUS WILLSON. Ill.u.s.trated. 12mo, Half Bound, $1.05.

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY.

SCOTT'S (HARPER'S) SMALLER SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. A Smaller School History of the United States. By DAVID B. SCOTT. With Maps and Ill.u.s.trations. l6mo, Half Leather, 60 cents.

d.i.c.kENS'S CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. A Child's History of England. By CHARLES d.i.c.kENS. Ill.u.s.trated. 2 vols, in one, l6mo, Half Leather, 80 cents.

HARPER'S INTRODUCTORY GEOGRAPHY. Harper's Introductory Geography. With Maps and Ill.u.s.trations, prepared expressly for this Work by eminent American Artists. Half Leather, Small 4to, 60 cents.

BONNER'S CHILD'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. A Child's History of the United States. By JOHN BONNER, A New Edition, Revised and Enlarged, and brought down to the Close of the Rebellion and the Inauguration of President Johnson. Ill.u.s.trated. 3 vols., 16mo, Cloth, $3.75.

BONNER'S CHILD'S HISTORY OF ROME. A Child's History of Rome. By JOHN BONNER. Ill.u.s.trated. 2 vols., 16mo, Cloth, $2.50.

BONNER'S CHILD'S HISTORY OF GREECE. A Child's History of Greece. By JOHN BONNER. Ill.u.s.trated. 2 vols., 16mo, Cloth, $2.50.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price._

[Ill.u.s.tration: OPENING OF THE BASE-BALL SEASON--THE FIRST HOME RUN.]

THE IBEX.

The ibex, or steinbok, is an Alpine animal remarkable for the development of its horns, which are sometimes more than three feet in length, and of such extraordinary dimensions that they appear to a casual observer to be peculiarly unsuitable for a quadruped which traverses the craggy regions of Alpine precipices. Some writers say that these enormous horns are employed by their owners as "buffers," by which the force of a fall may be broken; and that the animal, when leaping from a great height, will alight on its horns, and by their elastic strength be guarded from the severity of a shock that would instantly kill any animal not so defended. This statement, however, is but little credited.

To hunt the ibex successfully is as hard a matter as hunting the chamois, for the ibex is to the full as wary and active an animal, and is sometimes apt to turn the tables on its pursuer, and a.s.sume the offensive. Should the hunter approach too near the ibex, the animal will, as if suddenly urged by the reckless courage of despair, dash boldly forward at its foe, and strike him from the precipitous rock over which he is forced to pa.s.s. The difficulty of the chase is further increased by the fact that the ibex is an animal of remarkable powers of endurance, and is capable of abstaining from food or water for a considerable time.

It lives in little bands of five or ten in number, each troop being under command of an old male, and preserving admirable order among themselves. Their sentinel is ever on the watch, and at the slightest suspicious sound, scent, or object, the warning whistle is blown, and the whole troop make instantly for the highest attainable point.

OLD SCOTTISH COINS.

The Edinburgh _Scotsman_ reports a somewhat remarkable discovery made in the pretty little burgh of Fortrose, in Scotland. In raising the clay floor in the kitchen of an old house on the margin of the Cathedral Green, occupied by Mr. Donald Junor, for the purpose of replacing it with a floor of cement, the soil below was penetrated for some little depth, and the spout of what appeared to be a tea-kettle was exposed. On removing the earth from around it, a vessel, apparently of tarnished copper, was uncovered. It was some ten or eleven inches in height, of the familiar shape of the water ewer or flagon in use in Scottish families in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the water being poured from it over the hands of guests and others previous to meals.

The top was closed with a lid, formed of a piece of lead three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and apparently soldered to the flagon.

The vessel was remarkably heavy, and on removing the lead it was found to be filled with old silver coins. There was a quant.i.ty of dark-looking liquid in the vessel, and on this being poured out, the coins were left, with one or two exceptions, quite white and clean. They were over a thousand in number, and were all of the time of King Robert III. of Scotland, who reigned from 1390 to 1406. They are very thin, as is the general character of the silver coinage of that time, and larger than a s.h.i.+lling in the surface.

THE STUMP PUZZLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

With two straight cuts of the scissors restore this old stump to life.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC CHARADE.

BY H.

INITIALS AND FINALS.

First friends, then foes, my first and last are reckoned, My first called great, and really great my second; Eager for fame, each led a soldier's life, Each fell a victim to the a.s.sa.s.sin's knife.

My first died first; but when my second fell, He fell before my first, by some strange spell.

CROSS WORDS.

1.

My first an Indian chief, who vainly sought To exterminate the foe 'gainst whom he fought.

2.

Another Indian chief, entrapped, betrayed, Whose haughty spirit broke in dungeon shade.

3.

A State whose boundaries were hard to fix, Where lakes and streams their flowing waters mix.

4.

An ancient Greek, most famous in his age, Renowned for eloquence and counsel sage.

5.

My fifth a novel, read with great applause When Dr. Johnson wagged his ponderous jaws.

6.

My sixth a cycle of revolving time, Which visits every nation, age, and clime.