Part 16 (2/2)

Whence is its naiven to these productions of the vegetable world, from the supposed resemblance of their broad leaves to the human hand The Date, the fruit of the Date Paler, fro out like the fingers of the hand The Palm sometimes forms iroups of two or three, or even singly, beside springs and fountains of water, affording a kindly shade to the thirsty traveller

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Froypt, Syria, Persia, Africa, and the Indies Ayptians and Africans, they make a principal article of food Dates, when ripe, are of a bright coral red, of an oblong forathered in autu perfectly ripe

CHAPTER IX

HATS, STOCKINGS, SHOES, GLOVES, LEATHER, FURS, AND INK

Of what are Hats made?

Of felt and wool Dress hats for men's wear, were for scarcity of this article led to the introduction of silk plush as a substitute, and the result is that beaver is entirely superseded, and plush is used altogether They possess lossy, and durable Hats are also ether

When did Hats coeneral use?

The first mention made of hats is about the time of the Saxons, but they were not worn except by the rich Hats for men were invented at Paris, by a Swiss, in 1404 About the year 1510, they were first manufactured in London, by Spaniards Before that tiland commonly wore close, knitted, woollen caps They appear to have becon of Queen Elizabeth It is related, that when Charles the Second made his public entry into Rouen, in 1449, he wore a hat lined with red velvet, surmounted with a plu his reign, the use of hats and caps is to be dated; and from that time they took the place of chaperons and hoods, that had been worn before in France

Where is Rouen?

In the province of Lower Seine, in France; it was formerly the capital of Normandy

Describe the Castor, or Beaver, and its habits

The Beaver has a broad, flat tail, covered with scales, serving as a rudder to direct its motion in the water; the toes of its hind feet are furnished with membranes, after the manner of water-fowl; the fore feet supply the place of hands, like those of the squirrel The Beaver has two kinds of hair, of a light brown color, one long and coarse, the other short and silky The teeth reseer, and ad off the bark from trees

_Me the toes of water-fowl and areater ease

Where do Beavers usually fix their habitations?

Their houses are always situated in the water; they are composed of clay, which they make into a kind of ure, divided into three apartments raised one above the other, and erected on piles driven into the ned him, the floor of which he streith leaves or senerally capable of containing eight or ten inhabitants

On what does the Beaver feed?

Its food consists of fruit and plants; and in winter, of the wood of the ash and other trees The hunters and trappers in America forreat de hats, but as the only use they are now put to is for triloves and collars, the demand has fallen off