“ The microscope opens a new world to us. When the first telescope was directed to the heavens, and unlocked the mysteries of the skies, when it crumbled into dust all the theories of the past centuries, and told mankind that the planets were not merely instruments of fortune-telling, whose voices were intelligible to a chosen few, but orbs far vaster than our own; even then the new world of thought into which man entered was no wider than that which is displayed by the poorest lens that possesses the power of magnifying. ”

“ There is no habit fielders have that is more characteristic of school-boys, or which leads to more unpleasantness and ill-feeling in a match, than that of finding fault with those who commit errors of play in the field. Every man in the field tries to do his best for his own credit sake, and if he fails censure but adds to his chagrin without in the least improving his play; on the contrary, fault-finding is only calculated to make him play worse. In no game are the amenities of social life more necessary to a full enjoyment of the pastime than in base-ball. ”

“ You can grow such without expense or trouble in your little parterre. The charming bushes of dwarf shrubs, and large border flowers, which bloom in May, must have charms for you as for all of us, and these too you may have in perfection; while the roses of June and July, the lilies of August, and the grand gladiolus of the autumn, will all be perfectly at home in your borders, as will every good and beautiful flower garden plant. ”

“ On the one hand, we take Nature for a model; on the other, we merely apply geometrical lines to the garden and its contents. As the geometrical garden is merely a thing of straight lines, it is very much easier to dispose than the natural, with which a great many people make sad mistakes, and then blame the style instead of their own taste. It is very much easier to make straight walks, and circles, and figures of all kinds in a garden, than to imitate on a small scale the variety, and indefinite, ever-pleasing character exhibited by Nature where she most attracts us with floral beauty. ”

“ It would seem a pity at first sight that there is no authority like that of the Marylebone Club to revise the laws of foot-ball and insist upon their being observed in all places where the game is played. Foot-ball as now constituted is not, and cannot be, a national game. There are hardly two schools in England that agree in its first principles, and that are not continually wrangling and disputing as to how the game should be played. To touch the ball with the hands is in some eyes a heresy, and in others an uncommon virtue. ”

“ Sometimes a young and too artless bird leaves its nest before it is rightly able to use its wings, and is unable to ascend to the summit of the cliffs, flapping idly about the shore, driven nearer and nearer to the rocks by the advancing tide. The whole colony is roused by the misfortune. They wheel about in the air over the unfortunate bird with cries of distress; they do their best to encourage it to ascend; but their endeavours are all in vain. ”

“ Ignorance is ever the parent of fear, and a canary-bird has been known to perish of hunger when removed to a large from a small cage, simply because it dared not fly down from the comparatively lofty perch on which it had settled when first introduced, and to which it clung with the tenacity of fear. Even the genuine British soldier can hardly be more helpless when deprived of ordinary military routine than is a canary-bird when set free and forced to fly alone into the world. ”

“ For a pet, however, the bull-dog is scarcely suited, not being sufficiently active or lively. The purely-bred English terrier, on the other hand, is as mercurial a beast as one can wish to see; but it has little steadiness of purpose, is apt to run riot, and is a rank coward, not daring to face a rat, and having serious doubts before it can make up its mind to attack a mouse; therefore the skilful dog-fancier contrives a judicious mixture of the two breeds, and engrafts the tenacity, endurance, and dauntless courage of the bull-dog upon the more agile and frivolous terrier. ”

“ But to him who can read Nature rightly, the microscope is a teacher as grand as its sister instrument, and the awful magnificence of Nature is as evident in a midge’s wing as in the more patent glories of the sun, moon, and stars. ”

“ Now an English boy always likes a toy that will do something. For example, he cares not one farthing for all the elegant imitations of guns in the world, as long as he can have his pea-shooter; and the walnut stock, the glittering decorations, and the burnished but useless barrel of the toy gun, are nothing in his eyes, when compared with the plain tin barrel of his beloved pea-shooter, which will throw a missile with rifle-like accuracy of aim. ”

“ Stopping is performed in another manner, and must often be used where the parry is impracticable. For example, if your antagonist strikes at the body the parry cannot be accomplished, and you must either get away, stop, or take the blow in hopes of retaliation. In stopping you receive the blow on your arm, and thereby break its force, while, unless your opponent is possessed of herculean strength, the arm scarcely feels the stroke, yielding before the assault and acting like the cotton bales that have saved many a ship from the enemy’s cannon. ”

“ The worst of the matter is, that the parrot is possessed of an iron memory, and never seems to forget anything it has once learned, however its acquirements may have been overlaid with fresh teachings. It has often happened that a parrot which has behaved for a long time in the most exemplary manner, and employed none but the most refined language, has suddenly met with a sound which recalled all its old associations, and induced the bird to pour forth a copious volley of language too loud to be disregarded, and too plain to be misunderstood. ”

“ Although not of so interesting a character as batting and bowling, yet fielding is in itself of too much importance to be overlooked, or even carelessly practised, by anybody who desires to become a cricketer. Many a match has been lost by loose fielding, and instances without number have occurred of a man who, after being missed before he has made a run, has sent his score up to fifty before receiving his dismissal. It is astonishing how many runs may be saved by careful fielding. Hits which at first seem good for four, only obtain one through good fielding, and that even a sharp run. ”

“ If we recollect that they had to run twelve times the length of the Hippodrome, in going and returning, and to steer round a pillar or goal erected near each extremity, we may imagine what confusion must have ensued when, upon the signal trumpet being sounded, they started amid a cloud of dust, crossing and jostling each other, and rushing forward with such rapidity that the eye could scarcely follow them. ”

“ When we consider that every living animal is constantly consuming oxygen, and replacing it by carbonic acid gas, and that all burning bodies, fires in our dwellings, furnaces, artificial lights of all kinds, act in the same way in abstracting the oxygen from the air, and replacing it by immense quantities of carbonic acid gas, which is a poison to all animals who breathe, or attempt to breathe it, we must wonder what becomes of this irrespirable gas, as it is found to exist in the air in quantities so minute, and by what means the oxygen is restored, and the air again made fit for respiration. ”

“ Whether you look with the right or the left eye, keep both eyes open.
It is a pitiful sight to see a human face all screwed up into a corner, the lids of the unused eye convulsively squeezed together, and the mouth slanting upwards, as if in sympathy with the eye. ”

“ If, however, it is expedient to throw the ball to the bowler, and he does not wish to hurt his fingers, an overthrow is sure to follow, for long-on or long-off scarcely ever thinks it his duty to stand behind the bowler’s wicket when the ball is thrown in. Overthrows in themselves are not only annoying, because they are obtained through no merit of the batsman, but because they always produce a merciless laugh from the spectators, and occasionally epithets of a not very complimentary character. ”

“ The boy who has been sent out of the room must perform his appointed task under the guidance of the musician, who so regulates his performance on the rude instruments that the music gets loud and noisy when the puzzled player does what he ought not to do, and grows soft and quiet when he does anything towards the performance of his task. To render this game more intelligible, we will suppose the task to be the removal of a certain chair from one room to another. The player having entered the room is saluted by the magic music, the unmeaning clatter of which only confuses him at first. ”

“ Even in a cage, provided it be of a proper size, the little creature would not trouble itself to get into a wheel, but prefer clambering about the wires, and jumping from one side to another, in the exuberance of its activity.
Many persons assert that the squirrel is quite fond of the wheel, and delights in driving it; but they forget that the poor little creature is driven to that as its last resource for needful exercise; and it no more delights in pulling a wire wheel than the caged lion and tiger delight in their restless pacing of their dens. ”

“ Perhaps the curled leaf passing over the water, with one end erect, might have given to observant man the first notion of a sail. It has been supposed that the Nautila, Argonaut, or sailor-fish, was suggestive of the first sailing-vessel; but long before the Argonaut had been noticed, sails of some kind or other had no doubt been common. A man could not stand in the simplest boat without perceiving that the wind exerted a power upon him and his boat; and therefore the idea of a sail must have been identical with the first launching of the rudest boat. ”

“ The mellow, exultant tone of the skylark sounds as joyously when the bird is imprisoned within a cage as when it soars high in air, its wings quivering in the breeze, its frame rejoicing in the glory of the sunbeams, and its ken surveying the wide panorama which lies spread beneath its gaze. ”

“ All of us must admire the more than awful grandeur of that universe whereof we form so infinitesimal a part, wherein the stars are scattered as the sand on the sea-shore, and every star a sun, the centre of a system of orbs too distant for the eye of man to perceive. ”

“ A bad player, on the contrary, rushes about without any definite purpose, shouts continually at the top of his voice, brandishes his stick to the danger of other persons’ eyes and the detriment of his own hands, which are sure to be painfully blistered in half an hour, and exhausts his strength and breath so early in the game, that he fails just at the critical moment, and sees the ball driven past him without being able to check it. ”

“ We cannot bear to see a dog look up to its master with the half-frightened, half-shrinking expression which is observable in one that has been accustomed to the whip. The animal ought to consider its master as its best friend, and to run to him when it is in distress, rather than to fear his presence and tremble at his voice. ”

“ Here we must protest against the totally erroneous ideas of artists respecting the attitude of the body while the performer passes from one bar to another. We think that without an exception they all represent him as shooting horizontally through the air, with his hands stretched out, and with one leg bent and the other straight. Now, if any one will watch a performer on the trapèze, he will see that the attitude is nearly perpendicular, and that any other position is really absurd and impracticable. ”

“ If any one approaches the owl, and hears a quick, snapping sound, as if an elastic piece of wood were “flicked” against a table, he may take it as a warning that the bird does not approve of him, and that he had better not trust his hands too near the owl.
Any one can see how cat-like are the owls in their general physiognomy, as well as in their nocturnal and mouse-loving habits; and they even carry their feline propensities into peculiarities of diet. No animals are less aquatic than the cat, and yet none are more fond of fish. ”

“ Never make any remark or unnecessary noise when your adversary is about to play, but stand away from the table and not opposite the pocket at which he may be playing.
Do not play carelessly, or strike at random, but with some definite object in view; and if no eligible stroke presents itself, endeavour to leave the balls as safe for your opponent as your skill will permit.
Never despair of winning a game; care and caution frequently insure success, even against apparent impossibilities. Fortune may seem to be against you, but remember that in the long run luck will invariably succumb to skill. ”

“ The raven is not long in taking the measure of its companions, and has a supreme contempt for those who display weakness of mind or resources. Nothing seems to make a raven so happy as frightening somebody. He likes to come quietly behind a nervous person, deliver a heavy dab at the ankle with his iron bill, and then walk away as if he knew nothing about the assault. He will frighten dogs half out of their senses, chase the cats, drive the fowls about, and as to the horses, he mostly takes a fancy to them, sitting on their backs, or walking calmly and deliberately among their legs. ”