THE DIVING BELL;
OR,
PEARLS TO BE SOUGHT FOR.
With Tinted Illustrations.
BY UNCLE FRANK,
AUTHOR OF "A PEEP AT OUR NEIGHBORS,"
"WILLOW LANE STORIES,"
"THE DIVING BELL," ETC. ETC.
BOSTON: PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO. PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
II. THINKING AND LAUGHING
III. THE SCHEMING SPIDER
IV. GENIUS IN THE BUD
V. PUTTING ON AIRS
VI. "TRY THE OTHER END"
VII. THE FOX AND THE CRAB
VIII. THE GREEDY FLY
IX. CAROLINE AND HER KITTEN
X. "I DON'T KNOW"
XI. THE LEARNED GEESE
XII. THE WRONG WAY
XIII. THE RIGHT WAY
XIV. THE OLD GOAT AND HIS PUPIL
XV. ON BARKING DOGS
ILLUSTRATIONS.
I.
THE NAME OF MY BOOK.
The reader, perhaps, as he turns over the first pages of this volume,is puzzled, right at the outset, with the meaning of my title, TheDiving Bell. It is plain enough to Uncle Frank, and possibly it is toyou; but it may not be; so I will tell you what a diving bell is, andthen, probably, you can guess the reason why I have given this name tothe following pages.
If you will take a common glass tumbler, and plunge it into water,with the mouth downwards, you will find that very little water willrise into the tumbler. You can satisfy yourself better about thismatter, if, in the first place, you lay a cork upon the surface of thewater, and then put the tumbler over it.
Did you ever try the experiment? Try it now, if you never have doneso, and if you have any doubt on the subject.
You might suppose, that the cork would be carried down far below thesurface of the water. But it is not so. The upper side of the cork,after you have pressed the tumbler down so low that the upper end ofit is even below the surface of the water—the upper side of the corkis not wet at all.
"And what is the reason of this, Uncle Frank?"
I will tell you. There is