The ancient doorway, of which, on account of its singular beauty, we give a sketch, belongs to the church which was built by the first of the Montgomeries at Newtown in Ireland. Though the church is a fine and beautiful example of architecture, no attempt whatever has been made to preserve it from sinking into ruin. The Montgomeries, ancient lords of this district, were the descendants of that Montgomery who accidentally killed Henry II., of France, at a tournament. Some years after the sad event, which was confessedly a mischance, he was taken by Catherine of Medicis, put to the torture and beheaded; with the additional penalty of having his children degraded to villeinnage; on his way to execution, he pronounced this noble and memorable sentence, in reference to the punishment inflicted on his children, "If they have not the virtue to raise themselves again, I consent to their degradation."
INTERESTING CALCULATION.
Some years ago, an eminent zoologist gave the following table as his estimate of the probable number of existing species of animals, deduced from facts and principles then known. Later discoveries tend to increase rather than to diminish the estimate.
| Quadrupeds | 1,200 | Worms | 2,500 | |
| Birds | 6,800 | Radiata | 1,000 | |
| Reptiles | 1,500 | Polypes, etc. | 1,530 | |
| Fishes | 8,000 | Testacea | 4,500 | |
| Insects | 550,000 | Naked Testacea | 600 |
making an aggregate of 577,600 species.
VITALITY OF SUPERSTITION.
In the "Annual Register" for 1760, an instance of the belief in witchcraft is related, which shows how superstition lingers. A dispute arose in the little village of Glen, in Leicestershire, between two old women, each of whom vehemently accused the other of witchcraft. The quarrel at last ran so high that a challenge ensued, and they both agreed to be tried by the ordeal of swimming. They accordingly stripped to their shifts—procured some men, who tied their thumbs and great toes together, cross-wise, and then, with a cart-rope about their middle, suffered themselves to be thrown into a pool of water. One of them sank immediately, but the other continued struggling a short time upon the surface of the water, which the mob deeming an infallible sign of her guilt, pulled her out, and insisted that she should immediately impeach all her accomplices in the craft. She accordingly told them that, in the neighbouring village of Burton, there were several old women "as much witches as she was." Happily for her, this negative information was deemed sufficient, and a student in astrology, or "white-witch," coming up at the time, the mob, by his direction, proceeded forthwith to Burton in search of all the delinquents. After a little consultation on their arrival, they went to the old woman's house on whom they had fixed the strongest suspicion. The poor old creature on their approach locked the outer door, and from the window of an upstairs room asked what they wanted. They informed her that she was charged with being guilty of witchcraft, and that they were come to duck her; remonstrating with her at the same time upon the necessity of submission to the ordeal, that, if she were innocent, all the world might know it. Upon her persisting in a positive refusal to come down, they broke open the door and carried her out by force, to a deep gravel-pit full of water. They tied her thumbs and toes together and threw her into the water, where they kept her for several minutes, drawing her out and in two or three times by the rope round her middle. Not being able to satisfy themselves whether she were a witch or no, they at last let her go or more properly speaking, they left her on the bank to walk home by herself, if she ever recovered. Next day they tried the same experiment upon another woman, and afterwards upon a third; but fortunately, neither of the victims lost her life from this brutality. Many of the ringleaders in the outrage were apprehended during the week, and tried before the justices at quarter-sessions. Two of them were sentenced to stand in the pillory and to be imprisoned for a month; and as many as twenty more were fined in small sums for the assault, and bound over to keep the peace for a twelvemonth.
SMALL FEET OF THE CHINESE LADIES.
The compression of ladies' feet to less than half their natural size is not to be regarded as a mark, or as a consequence, of the inferiority of the sex; it is merely a mark of gentility. Various accounts are given of the origin of this custom. One is, that an emperor was jealous of his wife, and to prevent her from gadding abroad, put her feet in iron stocks. Another is, that a certain empress, Tan-ke (B.C. 1100), was born with club-feet, and that she caused the emperor to issue an edict, adopting her foot as the model of beauty, and requiring the compressing of female infants' feet so as to conform to the imperial standard. While a third account is, that the Emperor Le-yuh (A.D. 961) was amusing himself one day in his palace, when the thought occurred to him that he might improve the appearance of the feet of a favourite concubine. He caused her feet to be so bent as to raise the instep into an arch, to resemble the new moon. The figure was much admired by the courtiers, who soon began to introduce it into their families. It is said that another emperor, two hundred years later, placed a stamp of the lotus-flower (water-lily) on the sole of the small shoe of his favorite concubine, so that at every step she took she left on the ground the print of the flower; hence girls with small feet are complimented at the present day as "the golden lilies." The operation of bandaging and compressing the feet is very painful; children cry very much under it. Mortification of the feet has been known to result from the cruel practice. Custom, however, imposes it as a necessary attraction in a woman. An old gentleman at Canton, being asked the reason why he had bandaged his daughter's feet, replied, that if she had large feet she could not make a good marriage.
WONDERFUL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SEA-URCHIN.