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TREASURES OF THOUGHT.

STRANGE CLAIMANT; ! OR, TWICE…

^ POOR TUB-WOMAN TTTP1 mother…

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A ROIXED-re HEDGEHOG.—When disturbed in its excursions the hedgehog has the habit of rolling itself up into a ball, with the head and legs tucked carefully away under the belly, and the whole exposed surface completely enclosed by the spiny skin of the back. This is effected by the contraction of a most complicated system of cutaneous muscles, the most important of which, called the orbicularis panniculi, forming a broad band encircling the body, draws to- gether the edges of the spiny part of the skin towards the centre of the ventral side of the body, thus forming a sort of prickly bag within which the whole body and limbsof the animal are enclosed. When thus arranged by the action of the cutaneous muscles, the whole of the spines of the upper surface are strongly and firmly erected, making a fence which suffices to protect the hedgehog from tbe attacks of nearly all his enemies. Scarcely any dogs can be found with pluck enough to make a successful attack upon a rolled-up hedgehog although it is said that sopae dogs and foxes have a trick by which to get at him, founded on the fact that a jet of water poured into the small aperture within which the head of the animal is concealed will cause him to unroll himself at once. The same power of contraction serves the hedgehog in good stead in protecting him from other perils. If he finds himself falling down a pre- cipice or from the top of a wall, or down a very steep slope, he immediately makes himself into a ball and in this form will fall from very considerable heights (eighteen or twenty feet) without receiving the least injury; indeed, hedgehogs have been observed more than once voluntarily to throw themselves down considerable distances contracting in this fashion. On reaching the bottom they simply opened themselves, and walked off none the worse for their fall.—Cassell'g Natural History. POSTURING EXTRAORDINARY. Joseph Clark, of Pall-mall, was undoubtedly the most extraordinary posture-maker that ever existed. Though a well-made man, and rather gross than thin we learn from Caul- field's Memoirs that he exhibited in a most natural manner almost every species of deforn ity and dislo- cation. He frequently made himself merry with the tailors, often sending for one of them to take his measure, but so contriving as to have an immoderate rising on one of his shoulders. When his clothes were brought home and tried upon him, the deformity was removed to the other shoulder; upon, which the tailor begged pardon for the mistake, and mended it as fast as he could. But upon a third trial he was found with perfectly straight shoulders and a hump on his back. He dislocated the vertebra of his back and other parts of his body in such a manner that Molins, the famous surgeon, before whom he appeared as a patient, was shocked at the sight, and would not attempt a cure. He often passed for a cripple with persons with whom he had been in company but a few minutes before. Upon these occasions he would not onlv change the position of his limbs, but en- tirely alter his countenance. His facial powers were more extraordinary than his flexible body. ge would assume all the uncouth faces he saw at a meeting or place of amusemen,. The World of. Wonders. SOTJTHWARK IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUHY. —We can form a tolerably accurate notion of the ex- tent and appearance of Southwark at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Southward of St. Q-eorge's Church and the Mint spread St. Georges Fields, reaching nearly to the archiepiscopal, palaro at Lam- beth, and the village of Newington. ihe Kent Road was a lane between hedgerows; and there were bishops' palaces and parks, mansions, theatres, and pleasure-gardens near the green banks of the river. There were forts for the defence of the borough at the end of Blackman-street. near the Lock Hos- pital, and in St. George s Fields, where afterwards stood the "Dog and Duck, at the eastern end of the present Bethlehem Hospital. The old High- street of Southwark had gabled houses and large quadrangular inns, dating from the early Norman times; and between them and the Abbey 0f Ber- mondsey were open spaces and streams flowing gently towards the river. Pasture-lands, farms, and water- millg were farther east towards Bedriff (now Rother. hithe), and pUee for horses. Now all tha g > ut it 18 nleasant to think of the old days, even amid the con- stant bustle and crowding at the entrance Gf the busiest of London railway stations.-OW and New ^DETTH or LINCOLN'S AssASsw.-From Mary- i Za the n-rn-r- of Mr. Lincoln fled into Virginia, a at a place called Bowling green, in Caroline n ntv he was hunted down by a party of cavalry on &h oTlprS.He was accompanied by a man the Jbth o Ap ^n concerned in the plot ■ hr.fa.r_ hadtS ™fLe in a barn. The building being surrounded tu goldiers Booth and Harrold were aum- T j *1 Zander The latter at once com- Fi Savoured to parley with bis P^uew. and, ing the commanding officer, sai P g* me chance Draw off your men, and I will fight them ftintlv i could have killed you six times> to-night; w i believed you to be a brave man, and I Would nf murder vku? Give a lame man a show.' Aa he D^ii refused to surrender, the barn was set on fire, A Booth was then seen with a carbine in nis hand, and JJootn was ta extremity. A soldier fired StiTh.Iw ho »»a 40 tbMe ,b0,,t before he expired, n for my countl, J ftOTgkt IdriTor th. b«t." Tbjn, njmit W. w»a., tB0 „, • i « TT«filegs-—useless! As tbe passion of KU calm More the «"»« ».= nupd by by inapplicable e p 8entimentalism, saw the and by a poor and hia Tlctim'a life mi8erable truth that he> bad whateve andhis own wiM anyf gooa from his own P° jned in that reiterated word. HSff.i £ S—S3W* *<»■ deserved y bestowed the soie^ pa88ed His contempt whicn is e _er he sometimes spoke— lip9 Words of ^ur? ^a°fjon—words of searching words of scathing humour but some are irony—words of p y wor(J8 0f sheer contempt, startled to find him n0 noble soul which yet why not? there can The ,<BCOPn Qf 18 wholly destitute. side with the "love of gcorn must exist si J nower of moral indig- l0,e» Like uger, gj, M riehtao^ natien, scorn has its « h^man emotions, and as function in the ecoinomy o> rightly judge as long as there are things of mpt remain. And if contemptible, so long deserved contempt, ever there was a man who D^nceIine_faiaf, to his it was the paltry, pe J fabe to his friends, false religion, false to his na J. ce_to whom Jesus gave to his brethren, false to his inhuman TiceB which the name of that fox. theatre of their ab- tbe Caesars displayed on tn the autocratic in90lence, golutism—the lust, t^e a__aj1' ^ese were seen in pale the ruinous extravagance » ri.iignjas of the pro- the,t little h»l( vioces-these local tyran d€gradationfl of the Samaritan, who aped tn their very exietonce. Imperialism to whic J ^jcr the odious and petty jud*i might well groa HHrodiaB8__jackals who despotism of these by 0|,3ftreau lions. Respect fawned about the feet of tJ hftrdWj a9 ba8 weil been l0r" the powers that be ° impotences aud im- ,aia,involyere8pectior £ gf becmieB.-J)r.tarfatsL/ hi3 wife that AN Irish be kept jn the he r^Uy wjsh^d the chid^ « Although," he con- 1 object to their nci*^ tbey would only fceep <lal6j*

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