Geo. Is it useful for anything else?
Tut. Yes—For a variety of purposes in the arts, which I cannot now very well explain to you. But you will perhaps be surprised to hear that one of the finest red paints is made from quicksilver.
Geo. A red paint!—which is that?
Tut. Vermilion, or cinnabar, which is a particular mixture of sulphur with quicksilver.
Har. Is quicksilver found in this country?
Tut. No. The greatest quantity comes from Spain, Istria, and South America. It is a considerable object of commerce, and bears a high value, though much inferior to silver. Well, so much for metals at present. We will talk of the rest on some future opportunity.
FLYING AND SWIMMING.
“How I wish I could fly!” cried Robert, as he was gazing after his pigeons that were exercising themselves in a morning’s flight. “How fine it must be to soar to such a height, and to dash through the air with so swift a motion!”
“I doubt not,” said his father, “that the pigeons have great pleasure in it; but we have our pleasures, too; and it is idle to indulge longings for things quite out of our power.”
Robert. But do you think it impossible for men to learn to fly?