66

yet be safe. But no mistake, of the

small kind, can be greater than this.
Weak eyes, colds in the head, chilblains,
and even lung diseases are often the con-
sequence of going suddenly to the fire,

when exceedingly cold. School children

are peculiarly liable to suffer in this way,
especially when they live at a long dis-
tance from the school. Well do I re-
member a delicate girl, six years of age,
who walked about a mile to a school
which I taught thirty years ago, and al-
ways when she could, crowded at once
to the fire. It seemed almost impossible
to restrain her. Yet no pupil of mine
ever suffered more from chilblains, to say
nothing of colds in the head. Let me
recommend to the readers of the Yourn’s
Castner, to avoid going suddenly to the
fire when cold. Their rule in such cases,
in regard to getting warm, should be,
“Make haste slowly.” When the sys-
tem is at a medium temperature through-
out, it won’t hurt them so much—but in
all other circumstances there is danger.—
Dr. W. A, Alcott.

 

A Common Mistake.

GREAT many people have got the
notion, that the way Absalom
came to fall into the hands of
Joab was, that his long hair

caught in the boughs of the tree under
which he was riding. They came hon-
estly enough.by the notion, too. If my
memory does not play me false, there
used to be a picture in the old primers,
representing Absalom hanging in the oak
by his hair, I have seen the picture
somewhere, at any rate ; and I can re-

 

 

THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

member when I should have charged
anybody with a want of faith in the Bi-
ble, if he ventured to doubt that Absa-
lom’s hair was the cause of his capture by
his enemies. The truth is, however, that
this man’s head, and not his hair, was
caught between the branches of the oak.
Just look at the account of the matter in
the Bible, little friends—those of you
who are inclined to a contrary opinion—
and you will see that I am right. I
make this statement for a particular, as
wellas for a general reason. Everybody
can see what the general reasonis, The
particular reason can only be understood
by a correspondent who sends a poetical
charade, with something in it about Ab-
salom.—THEODORE THINKER.

Beware of Idleness.

F one ceases to be active and vir-
tuous, the nervous system is imme-
diately deranged, and fantastic but
dreadful maladies succeed. Some

imagine themselves dead, and others de-
clare their bodies to be the abode of
fiends. One imagines that he hears frogs
croaking in his stomach ; another thinks
his body a lump of butter, and is afraid
to walk in the sun, lest he should be
melted. Doctor Moore, of London, has
recently published an account of a lady
who had passed an idle life, and who at
last imagined herself a pound of candles,
and dreaded the approach of night, fear-
ing the chamber-maids should take a part
of her for use. So beware of idleness,
little friend, unless you are willing to
make such mistakes as these.