A MOTHER SEAL'S LONG SWIM

ERNEST WHITEHEAD captured a young seal near Anacapa Island, California, one day, and took him on board his ship. As the vessel started, the mother seal was noticed swimming about, howling piteously. The little captive barked responsively.

After reaching the wharf at Santa Barbara, the captive was tied up in a jute sack and left loose on the deck. Soon after coming to anchor, the seal responded to its mother's call by casting itself overboard, all tied up as it was in the jute sack. The mother seized the sack, and with her sharp teeth tore it open. She had followed the sloop eighty miles.

Inspiration asks, "Can a mother forget her child?"

Mother love is the strongest and holiest thing on earth. When all other ties are broken, this remains true.

Even professed Christians have sometimes parted friendship and separated into widely divergent and contending factions over a difference regarding some one passage of Scripture. But a mother's love remains constant and true, and will follow the most wayward son to the gallows, and there pour out its last devotion.

ANIMALS

AS WEATHER PROGNOSTICATORS

Nature has signs which, if understood, tell in advance what the weather and the seasons are to be.

A red sunset means a fair tomorrow.

A red sunrise foretokens foul weather.

A circle around the moon is a sign of a storm within the next few days.

When smoke hangs low, rain or snow is likely to fall

soon.

The springing grass and the budding flowers tell that summer is near.

The dying fields and the falling leaves tell us that winter will soon be here.

By some peculiar instinct and wise provision of nature, animals seem to be able to foretell to some extent what the weather is to be and prepare for it. Thus, as a part of nature, they become to us informers or weather prognosticators.

When there is to be much rain and damp weather during the coming winter and spring, muskrats build their houses high above the level of the water in the ponds where they make their homes. Beavers will likewise lay in a larger supply of food than usual previous to a long, hard winter.

If there is to be a long, severe winter, squirrels will also gather and store away large quantities of nuts. If the winter is to be mild and open, they are not so careful about the quantity they gather.

When animals put on a heavy coat of fur in the fall, there is likely to be a cold winter.

The early appearance of the robin is a sign of an early spring.

The departure of the robins, blackbirds, swallows, and other migratory birds in the fall, indicates the approach of winter.

THE SEALS AND THE CHURCH-BELL

SEALS appear to be possessed of much curiosity. If people are passing in boats, they often come up very close, and follow them for a considerable time. If the people are speaking loud, they seem to pay much attention, and to exhibit some surprise.

It is said that when a church-bell rings for divine service on the Orkneys, all the seals within hearing swim directly for the shore, and remain while the bell continues ringing, looking about with the appearance of much wonder, but without alarm.

A MOTHER MINK TEACHING HER

YOUNG

DID you ever see a wild animal train its young? If not, you have missed a lot. As an illustration, take a mother mink and her three babies.

The mother leads them along the shore of a lake or stream. The babies follow her, single file, one behind the other. The mother stops, and looks down into the water. The little chap behind, watching her, imitates. He, in turn, is imi

tated by his brother in the rear, and so on by the third.

The mother, pleased, walks on, the young fol

lowing. She stops, looks again into the water, then dives in quickly, seizes a minnow, brings it out, and drops it on the ground. One after the other, the young ones imitate her.

In this way the mother mink teaches her young how to provide for themselves, and passes on to them all she knows.

This process of education is so human that it makes us wonder if man is so far removed from the lower order of animals as he sometimes imagines.

Nine-tenths of our actions, possibly more, are out-and-out imitations. We see some person do a certain thing, and then we do it after him. Occasionally some one learns a new trick. Then this is passed on to succeeding generations. In this way knowledge grows, and we have what we call progress.

ANIMAL SYMBOLISM

From the most ancient times animals have been used as symbols of men and nations. Often nothing else seems so fittingly to describe them.

Christ is called "the lamb of God" and "the lion of the tribe of Judah."

He called king Herod "that old fox," and said that some men while outwardly appearing good, inwardly were ravening wolves."

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Two of Jacob's sons were called "lion's whelps."

The Holy Spirit is symbolized by a dove.

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Satan is called "that old serpent," and is described as a great red dragon," and as a roaring lion" going about seeking whom he may devour.

Daniel symbolized ancient Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome by a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a great and terrible beast.

Later he represented Medo-Persia by a ram, and Grecia by a rough goat.

Alexander the Great was described by him under the symbol of " a notable horn" between the goat's eyes.

The eagle, from ancient times universally regarded as the emblem of might and courage, and, like the lion, often fancifully invested with other attributes of greatness, was the national emblem of the ancient Romans, as it is today of the United States.

England is represented by a lion, Russia by a bear, Australia by a kangaroo.

Michigan is called the Wolverene State, Wisconsin the Badger State, and Minnesota the Gopher State.

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'Bold as a lion," "proud as a peacock," quick as a ""still as a mouse, cat," gentle as a dove," "meek as a lamb,” “sly as a fox,” “the end hog,” and “hog it all " are familiar examples of the use we make of animals when we wish to describe different individuals.