Answer.—Xenophon, son of the Athenian, Gryllus, was born B. C. 445-4. He was a pupil of Socrates. He joined the expedition of Cyrus against Artaxerxes, King of Persia, and in the retreat of the ten thousand, following the battle of Cunaxa, became the leader of the Greeks, after the treacherous execution of their former generals. A full account of the expedition and retreat is given in his “Anabasis.” Being banished from Athens soon after his return, he joined the Spartan army, in which he fought against his own countrymen at Coronea. He lived at Scillus, in Elis, for more than twenty years (until driven thence by the Eleans), hunting, farming, and writing. It was there that he wrote the “Anabasis” and the “Hellenica.” The last years of his life were passed at Corinth, where he died about 356 B. C. George Grote, politician, historian, and philosopher, was born at Clay Hill, Beckenham, Kent, Eng., in 1794. As a statesman he was in sympathy with the leading reforms of his time, and made several effective speeches in their behalf. His first work as an author was upon parliamentary reform. The preparation of his history of Greece occupied thirteen years, and the last two volumes were published in 1856. In 1865 appeared his work on Plato. Thereafter he devoted himself to the study of Aristotle. 2. The scythed chariot was used by the Britons and Persians. It had two wheels connected by an axle, upon which rested, without springs, the body of the chariot, consisting of a floor with a semi-circular guard in front about three feet high. It had no seat, and was open at the back. In it stood the warrior and his charioteer. Attached to the rims of the wheels projecting on each side and bristling from the axle were scythes or blades of swords for cutting down those who came in the way.
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.
Roberts, Ill.
Tell us something of the birth, education, and work of Florence Nightingale, the famous hospital nurse.
James Bond.
Answer.—She was born at Florence, Italy, in 1823, being the daughter of William Shore Nightingale, Embly Park, Hampshire; she was educated with great care, and was rather notable for her brilliant accomplishments. Very early she showed great interest in all institutions for the alleviation of suffering, and later visited and inspected hospitals throughout Europe. She studied with Sisters of Charity in Paris their system of nursing in the hospitals of that city, and was trained also in the institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserwerthen, on the Rhine. Later she organized the Sanitarium for Governesses in London. Soon after the breaking out of the Crimean war she offered to organize a nursing department at Scutari, and with the consent of Lord Herbert left England Oct. 21, 1854, reaching Constantinople in time to take charge of the wounded from the battle of Inkerman. In 1855 she was prostrated by a fever, the result of overwork, but refused to rest, and remained in Scutari until the English evacuated Turkey, July 28, 1856. The British army almost idolized her. For some years Miss Nightingale has been an invalid, but she has never ceased to plan and work for the welfare of soldiers. At the close of the Crimean war a fund of $250,000 was subscribed to enable her to establish a school for the training of nurses, which is doing a noble work. She has published several books bearing upon the work to which her life has been devoted.
ARTIFICIAL POULTRY BROODERS.
Wichita, Kan.