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124 BURKE'S WEEKLY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. MACON, Ga., OCT. 19, 1867. Contents of No. 18. Birds in Summer —poetry —illustrated page 121 Little Long Tongue 121 Smart Boy •• Catching Sunbeams —poetry 1-2 Jack Dobell; or. The Adventures of a Boy in Texas —original t 22 Duty—poetry “The Mother’s Eyes,’’—poetry—original 121 The Tomb of Washington—original—illustrated.. 123 Powers of a Bird's Song 123 Editorial: Two Papers at Once ; To Correspon dents: Marooner's Island; The Air we Breathe; Our Quarterly Part; Our Premiums; The Smallest Man living— illustrated ; Math ematical; Missing U umbers 124—125 Historical Sketch—original l-’o The Sabbath a Loving Day 125 Pern ember now thy Creator —poetry 120 The Little Jewess—original 126 Paying for a Paper 127 A Good Name 12; The Bird that Loved the Sun 127 Our Chimney Corner—illustrated 128 Two Papers at Once. A/jOUR subscribers will receive Nos. 15 and 16 AjjKl of the Weekly together. The delay in \jJ issuing last week’s paper was no fault of ours. The recent heavy rains injured the paper mill where the paper upon which Q) we print the Weekly is made, and pre vented the mill from working. The paper being of an unusual size, w r e were unable to procure it elsewhere in time, and were compelled to wait un til our regular manufacturer could supply it. In the meantime, the matter for another number ot the Weekly was gotten up, so that two numbers issue at about the same time, and are mailed to gether. We will try to see that this thing does not occur again. To Correspondents. ffig)lSS HATTIE A. D. —The name you sent is entered on our subscription list, and the paper will be regularly forwarded. We cannot, however, include this name yifWy in your premium list. We shall be glad to receive the puzzles. Cornelius. —Thanks for your enigmas and kind wishes- We are rather overstocked with the for mer just now, but will eventually find room for them. u Fairy Madge.” —Your first effort is very cre ditable, and is accepted with thanks. We shall be happy to afford you any assistance in our pow er, in the way of counsel and advice, in your praiseworthy undertaking. Marooner’s Island. Up to the time we go to press, our regular week ly instalment of Mr. Goulding’s story has not reached- us. We hope to receive it in time for our next number. When you send your own name, or any other, be careful to give us the name of the post office and State also. It is best to add the full address at the bottom of your letter. that clubs need not all go to the same post office, or to the same State. Get them where you can. BURKE’S WEE KE Y . The Air we Breathe. (Zjv.AST week we told our little readers about -CP the five senses. We propose to tell them this week about something without which Aw- ■:) these five senses would be ot no use to ‘7%? them. o The ancients supposed that there were but four elements , viz: air, water, tire and earth, and a great many people speak of these things as elements ; but they are wrong. Only such sub stances as cannot be decomposed and separated into two or more things, are properly termed de ments. or elementary substances ; all others are compounds. Air, however, is neither an element nor a compound, but a mixture of gases It is composed mainly ot two gases nitrogen and oxy gen —with small quantities of other gaseous sub stances. These gases do not unite in the lorma tion of air, they simply mingle together , just as alcohol and water do in forming a fluid, each sub stance retaining its individuality. Every child knows that we must have air to breathe, and how unpleasant it is not to have plenty of fresh air to breathe, but very many do not know that air which is not fresh is almost as bad as poison. When we breathe, we draw air through the mouth and nostrils into the lungs, where it becomes mixed with the blood ; that is to say, the blood takes up the oxygen, carries it through the arteries to the heart, and there re ceives the superabundance of carbonic acid, which it conveys back through the veins into the lungs, and they, in their turn, throw it off through the mouth, and nose. This is called the theory of res piration. We inhale the fresh air, arid exhale the carbonic acid. Now, you will see at once how necessary it is that the air we breathe should he fresh, and con tain the proper quantity of oxygen. When we breathe over and over again ihe same air, it grad ually becomes vitiated or overloaded with carbonic acid, so that the lungs do not receive the requisite amount of oxygen. Even if the air still contains a quantity of the life-giving oxygen, the blood cannot take it up, because it cannot get rid of its carbonic acid, and it cannot get rid of its carbonic acid because the air is at that point where there is no difference between it and the blood. Fishes breathe air through the water in which they live, and it is necessary that the water should be continually fresh, in order that the requisite quantity of oxygen shall be furnished. In the for mation of aquariums, you will notice that plants and mosses are put into the water. The object of this is to furnish the requisite quantity of oxygen, and to preserve the water pure and fresh. Plants require for their sustenance carbonic acid, and they, in their turn, give out oxygen. You will see, therefore, that the plants receive the excess of carbonic acid breathed into the water by the fishes, and furnish the oxygen required to keep up the equilibrium. If there are no plants in the water to receive the one and furnish the other, the water soon becomes overcharged with carbonic acid, just like the air of a close room, and the fishes must die. But if a stream of fresh, running water supplies the aquarium, the plants are not necessary to sustain life, because fresh water is continually taking the place of that which has been deprived of its oxygen. You will see how the Creator has made vege table and animal life dependant on each other— the one requiring carbonic acid, and the other ox ygen, and each receiving the excess of these sub stances from the other. There are many other useful and interesting facts about air which we could tell you of, but this article is already long enough. Our object is simply to excite your interest in these matters, and in duce you to read and investigate for yourselves. *<*♦ Our Quarterly Part fS now ready for delivery, and has already been mailed to all yearly subscribers whose subscriptions have reached us since the Ist of October, It is pronounced by all who have seen it. ( s to be the most elegant specimen ever issued from any printing establishment at the South, and not surpassed anywhere. It is a handsome vol ume of 104 pages and over 50 engravings, neatly stitched in an elegant ill u minuted cover. All sub scribers who send us $2 for a year’s subscription will receive the quarterly part, in lieu of the first thirteen numbers, without additional charge for the binding. Non-subscribers can obtain it by forwarding the publishers GO cents. _ Our Premiums. tLREADY we are beginning to send out our new premiums— CrandaWs Building Blocks —in response to clubs of new sub ° scribers. We can assure our little read ers that these are among the most attrac tive premiums we have ever offered. They are simple and easily managed, afford end less amusement to the little ones, can be made to last for years, and ate not only a delightful pas time, but are useful in developing the taste and skill of children. We repeat what we have already said: that we think the inventor deserves the thanks of parents for having brought out so good and useful a toy for the little ones. We are still prepared to furnish those beautiful Photograph Albums, and books from our premium list. The latter will be furnished free, on appli cation. The Grease Tree. nyfjVUR little readers have, no doubt, heard ol the Milk Tree, and the Bread Fruit Tree, \]J which furnish, at a pinch, materials for a very good breakfast, but many of them probably have not heard of the Grease Tree, which grows in China. It is said that large forests of it are to be found there, and they form the source of a very considerable local traffic. The same tree was, not very long ago, imported into India, and it is said that the experi ment of cultivating it there has proved quite suc cessful. In the Punjaub and northwestern prov inces generally it grows as rapidly and as vigor ously as in its native soil, and there are already thousands of trees on the government plantations, yielding tons of seed, admirably adapted to a va riety of commercial purposes. Dr. Jameson, a chemist in the Punjaub, has prepared large quan tities of grease from this particular tree, and has forwarded on trial a portion of it to the Punjaub railway, to have its qualities tested in a practical manner as lubricating material for those parts ot the machinery constantly exposed to friction. Ibe grease thus obtained forms an excellent tallow, burning with a clear, brilliant, and what is infin itely more to the purpose, a white light, and at the same time emitting not a trace of any unplea sant odor, or of smoke.