DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 5 ) over a glass of some favourite beverage, which may not always be plain water. Your conversations will probably turn upon the latest news or gossip of the day, on the prospects of agriculture or of the profession in which you are engaged. It is in the nature of things that you will constantly touch on topics with which you are quite familiar superficially, and which you will cur- sorily dismiss from the very fact of their familiarity. As a rule, human curiosity is most excited by the contemplation of objects with which we are least acquainted If you could be induced to apply some little time and intelligent study to such familiar things, you will be surprised to find among your immediate surroundings objects hitherto unheeded which are brimful of interest, and worthy of engaging your thoughts during some of your moments of lei- sure. I will exemplify my meaning by a homely illus- tration. Whatever your profession may be, whether you are mechanics, artisans, or labourers, you are brought into contact with animals of various kinds, some domestic, some wild. Thus you will make occasional remarks either on the horse you have ridden, on the dog you have trained, or on the cow you have milked. I do not wish to dilate on such threshed-out subjects as the fidelity of the dog, the nobleness of the horse, or the utility of the cow; but I desire to draw your attention to less