A BARD'S EPITAPH Is there a whim-inspirèd fool, Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule, And owre this grassy heap sing dool, Is there a bard of rustic song, Who, noteless, steals the crowds among, But, with a frater-feeling strong, Is there a man whose judgment clear, Here pause-and, thro' the starting tear, The poor inhabitant below Was quick to learn and wise to know, And softer flame; But thoughtless follies laid him low, Reader, attend! whether thy soul Know prudent cautious self-control ROBERT BURNS. THE BOY AND THE CIGARETTE As tobacco is a narcotic, the pleasant sensations it gives to the practiced smoker are due to the benumbing influence it has upon the nerves. This means that the nerves lose some of their power and cannot therefore do their work so well. Dr. Carver, an American rifle shot, created a great sensation in England by his marvelous quickness and accuracy in shooting. He would take a handful of glass marbles, throw them up into the air, and then shoot and smash each one before any of them reached the ground. This required the utmost quickness of eye and sureness of touch in a word, his nerves had to be kept in a high state of efficiency. To continue his feats he found it necessary to abstain altogether from tobacco as well as from alcohol. Athletes preparing for serious competitions find it necessary to leave tobacco alone. In deadening the power of the nerves it looses the muscles from the full control of the man himself, and prevents him from calling on his muscles for their highest effort at the crisis of the race or game. If this is true of the full-grown and welldeveloped athlete, what of the growing and undeveloped boy? It means in the boy's case that the nerves and brain are hindered in their growing; and if the habit is persisted in, he will become mentally dwarfed. Men distinguished for their brain power have been smokers, but in almost every case the habit was formed after reaching manhood, sometimes not till middle life; and while smoking cannot be called a good habit for any one, there is all the difference in the world between the smoking man and the smoking boy. Tobacco has also an injurious effect on the blood: it makes the blood thinner and weaker. Notice the boys who smoke much how pale and weedy they seem; how bloodless their faces are; how disinclined they are for real fun and hearty play! Whenever anything reduces the vitality of the blood the general vigor of the body is (at once) lowered. Tobacco has a bad effect upon the heart in two ways: first by narcotizing the nerves of the heart some control is lost, and the heart beats faster; then by the effect on the blood, tobacco makes the heart soft and flabby. Excessive tobacco smoking produces in some men what is called the "smoker's heart"; in boys this evil is greatly increased, and many are injured for life. The effects of tobacco on the stomach are generally the first experience that the ordinary boy has of it, and tobacco is responsible for severe forms of indigestion. The boy who constantly indulges in cigar ettes, even if he escapes the more terrible consequences of the practice, is only too likely to lay up for himself a manhood cursed with indigestion and a more miserable condition it would be difficult to imagine. Another result is the injury to eyesight. Perhaps the commonest question put by an oculist to a man who consults him is: How much do you smoke? In affecting the nerves tobacco affects all the senses, but it seems to have a peculiar dislike for the eyes. WILLIAM FINNEMORE. OZYMANDIAS I MET a traveler from an antique land stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, |