THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION BUILDINGS, SHOWING CENTRAL TOWER, MAORI STATUARY, AND 
REFLECTING POOL.

SAFETY FIRST.
NEVER MEDDLE WITH ELECTRIC FITTINGS.

SAFETY FIRST.
IN CYCLING, NEVER SWERVE OR RIDE MORE THAN TWO ABREAST.

NOSES.
 Noses are for two things, smelling and
breathing. Our noses stand out from  our
faces, as do those of some animals, but not
all. Indeed, the nose of some of the monkey
tribe seems to sink into the face, rather  than
to jut out; and a sunken nose is very useful
to these monkeys which, like all tree-dwellers,
depend more on their eyes than on their
noses. Other animals can smell without
having noses anything like ours. The blow-fly,
for instance, smells meat from a long way off,
and bees and moths can smell flowers long
before they are near enough to see them.
Moths and butterflies do this with their
feelers, or antennae.
Flowers give off a kind of gas which, when we smell them, enters our noses through the nostrils or 
nose-holes. This
gas comes into touch with the soft moist skin that lines the nose. The skin must be moist, for, if 
it becomes dry,
as it may do when we are ill, we lose the sense of smell. Nerves under the lining of the nose collect 
the smell, and
take the message from it to the smelling part of the brain. The smelling part of our brain is very 
small compared with
the rest of it; and we do not make very much use of it, although as children we smell more keenly 
than we shall when
we grow up. By that time we shall probably forget to notice very much the scents of people and things.
Animals living on the ground have much more smelling brain than we have, and much less thinking brain. A dog has hardly any 
forehead, so that there is not much room for brain, and what he has is mostly smelling
brain. With his nose pointing forward and the two nostrils close together, the dog is very clever at 
following the trail of
a man or animal by sniffing at the ground over which they have passed.
Deer, rabbits, and other plant-eating
animals also can smell the presence of an enemy while yet far off and out of sight. The nostrils of 
the deer and the
rabbit are set farther apart than the dog's, and they curve round to the sides of the muzzle. These 
animals hold their
heads high in the air and sniff the breeze with their side nostrils to learn of any danger, and the direction from which it is coming.
Besides being the organs of smell, noses are used for breathing, the proper entrance for air to the 
lungs being the nose
and not the mouth. The nose prepares the air for the lungs: it makes dry air moist, cold air warm, 
and, acting as a
filter, dusty air clean. In some plant-eaters such as the cow and the horse this filter is of great 
value, for when
grazing they often breathe air full of all  kinds of dust.
There is a difference between the nostrils of the cow and the horse. The cow's nostrils are narrower and much stiffer than the
 horse's, which are able to open very widely when more air is needed as when the horse is galloping. 
When we need
more air than our small nostrils can take in, we breathe through the open mouth, as does the dog. The 
horse cannot
do this; it has to take in all the air it needs through its wide nostrils.
The camel's nostrils are narrower even than those of the cow, but instead of being stiff and gristly 
they are soft and
fleshy. The camel can open or close them at will, and this it does when a desert sand-storm fills the 
air with flying
dust. Lung-breathing sea-beasts, like the whale and porpoise, which spend their life in the water and 
much of it under
the water, are able to open or close their nostrils at will. So also can the seal, walrus, and frog, 
which live partly in the
water and partly on land. Every time they go below water, these creatures close their nostrils, a 
thing that we perhaps
should like to be able to do when we dive or swim under water.
The position of the nostrils in such animals is interesting. The whale, hippo, crocodile, and frog often lie in wait just below the 
surface of the water, and they have their nostrils, and perhaps eyes, in the air. The nostrils, therefore, are placed on or near the top 
of the head, where they can be open to the air, while the rest of the animal is under water.
The elephant, too, can breathe in comfort when its head and body are under water. Its nostrils are placed, not on top of its head, 
but at the end of its long trunk, which it uses in the same way as a diver uses his air-tube.

SAFETY FIRST.
CHOOSE A SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL, AND USE IT ALWAYS.

SAFETY FIRST.
NEVER GET OFF A CAR, BUS, TRAM, OR TRAIN TILL IT HAS STOPPED.


THE COATS OF ANIMALS.
Although aeroplanes are now warmer and more comfortable than they used to be, airmen still sometimes 
wear electrically heated clothes, and, as winter
approaches, we all put on thicker coats and wraps to keep ourselves warm. Our wraps, unlike 
electrical garments, do not give us warmth; they merely keep in the
heat our bodies already have.
This is also the case with animals that grow coats of wool, hair, fur, or feathers. They are 
warm-blooded creatures and, in cold weather, their coats, which usually
become thicker, keep their blood at its own even heat. Whales and porpoises are warm-blooded mammals, 
and the coat that keeps in their heat is not of wool,
hair, fur, or feathers, but of blubber, or fat, which lies in a thick layer under the skin and makes 
a very warm coat indeed.
So-called cold-blooded mammals have no thick coats to keep them warm. Lizards, fishes, frogs, snakes, 
and insects are creatures of this kind. A lizard's blood,
for instance, is warm in warm weather when the lizard lies in the sun, but it cools down at night, 
and in cold weather becomes quite cold. Indeed, so cold does the
blood of some of these animals become in severe weather that they either die, or fall fast asleep in 
some cosy corner until the warmer weather returns. Insects
and reptiles are therefore more plentiful in warmer lands where they thrive more readily. 
Some young birds, such as thrushes and sparrows, are naked when first hatched, and have to be kept 
warm by their parents in the
cosy nest, until they grow their feathery coats. Other young birds, such as ducks, are not hatched in 
warm nests, nor does it trouble
them, because they come out of the egg well covered with down. There is much the same difference 
between young rabbits and hares. Rabbits are born
naked in warm, underground nests often lined with their mother's fur. Baby hares, on the other hand, 
have their cradles on the open ground, but to make up
for this they start life well clad in warm furry coats.
An animal's covering does not only keep it warm. Our own skin, besides helping to keep our bodies at 
an even heat, protects the tender flesh lying under it,
and we know how painful it is when the skin is torn away. Elephants, rhinos, and wild pigs have bare 
skins like ours, but they are very much thicker and
tougher, and it is a good thing they are, for these animals have to force their way through the 
spiny, prickly plants of forest and thicket. Besides thus
protecting them, their thick skins also save them from the bites of insects and from the strong claws 
of the tiger and other beasts of prey.
The worm, eel, and frog are also coated with bare skins, which, however, are not thick
and tough. Their skin is covered with a kind of slime which makes them so slippery that it is very 
hard to hold them, and it also keeps the skin moist. This is
very important to the worm, which breathes through its skin as long as it is moist. The frog also 
breathes partly through the skin, and to prevent its becoming
stiff and dry the animal spends most of its time in damp shady places.
Lizards and snakes, again, have dry scaly skins, the scales being different from fish scales, which 
can, as a rule, be easily scraped off. The scales of a
reptile are thick parts of a tough skin and do not come away easily. This tough scaly skin is very 
useful to creatures whose bodies rub along the ground.
Strong as it is, the scaly skin wears away in time, and it is then shed by its owner, which grows a 
new one in its place.
Still another kind of coat worn by some animals is no less than a coat of armour. Lobsters and crabs 
wear hard shelly coats of this kind. They are excellent
for protection against hungry foes, the only drawback to them being that the animal cannot grow 
inside them. We see the crab, therefore, from time to time
breaking out of his crusty coat, and then growing as fast as he can before his new soft skin becomes as hard as the old one.
Other coats of armour are those of the hedgehog and porcupine, whose sharp spines make it difficult 
for an enemy to attack them. This is especially so
when the animal rolls itself up into a spiky ball with the head and legs tucked away inside. Animals protected in this way are 
usually rather stupid, slow-moving creatures.
Consider the tortoise. He may be said to live in a bony box, through the opening of which he pokes 
out or draws in his
head and legs. As we know from the fable, he is as slow as the hare is swift, the hare being one of those animals that, instead of 
relying on a coat of armour for protection, depend on quick movement and sharp wits.

THE WHITE HERON.
"As rare as a kotuku," is an old Maori
saying. According to the Maoris of the
North Island, one saw a kotuku, or white
heron, not more than once in a life-time;
so that the expression well describes something of great rarity. In the South Island, however, the white heron is more often seen;
and some fifty or sixty years ago it was
almost a common sight in some parts of
Westland.
This beautiful native bird has fallen a
victim to the man with a gun, who could not
resist taking a shot at so large and fine a
target. To-day the white heron is protected
by law, and one would have thought that
we now knew better than to destroy one
of our rarest and most handsome birds.
Unfortunately, however, it is still deemed
wiser not to publish too widely the whereabouts of the only remaining breeding place of the white heron that is known to be in 
New Zealand. In search of warmth the bird sometimes visits the North Island during the months of June, 
July, and August, and it is then that North-Islanders have that rare chance of seeing the kotuku.
One of our very few large birds, the white heron is twice the size of the more common blue heron. The whole 
of its plumage is snowy white, its bill and eyes yellow, its legs below the knees black. The legs are 
very long and slender, and the beak is also long and very strong.
At breeding time the bird grows from its back a train of fine feathers, consisting of the barbs alone which, 
although soft as silk, keep their stiffness. These rare and beautiful feathers were prized by the Maoris, and were
often used to adorn a chieftain's head-dress. In other parts of the world, also, where the white heron is 
found , it is often killed for the sake of its filmy plumes. This means that the parent birds are slaughtered and the young left to die 
of starvation.
The white heron builds a nest, sometimes seventeen inches across, of well-interlaced sticks. This strong firm platform is placed 
high in the
branches of a tree usually 
overhanging water. Only one batch of three or four pale blue-green eggs is laid every year, the eggs being two
inches long. The young birds remain in the nest for some time, but, when ready to leave, they are driven away from the breeding 
place by their parents, probably in an attempt to make them set up new heronies.
The white heron feeds chiefly on small fish, including eels, besides shrimps and insects. Silent and motionless the bird stands in 
shallow water, watching for its prey. It makes a striking 
picture as for perhaps half an hour it keeps the same pose. Then suddenly there is a swift stroke
of the spear-like bill, a slight movement in the throat, and the unwary fish has been caught and swallowed. The silent, alert watch 
is resumed.

WHITE HERONS.

In flight, also, the white heron is a beautiful sight. The snowy spotless plumage, the head held 
far back with the tip of the bill behind the forward curve of the neck, the black legs stretched out
behind, the large arched and rounded wings flapping softly and slowly, all go to make a picture of majestic loveliness. Gracefully 
the noble bird glides
to the edge of a chosen pool and, the right spot having been selected, takes up its stand, perhaps on one leg, with the other one 
tucked away in its breast feathers.
It is thought that of late years the white heron in this country has slowly been increasing in numbers. This rare and noble bird 
depends for its existence wholly upon our treatment of it, and it should be our pleasure, whenever the chance comes, to help the 
kotuku to become less of a rarity, and a more frequent ornament of our 
countryside.

LEGS.
We each have four limbs - two arms and two legs. Our legs and arms are shaped very differently, because 
of the different uses to which they are put. All warm-blooded animals, as well as many
cold-blooded ones, have four limbs, which they use as we use our legs, for walking, running, jumping. 
No animal with a bony skeleton has more than four limbs, while some, such as snakes and
certain lizards, have none. On the other hand, many of the smaller creatures, which have no bones in 
their bodies, have more than four limbs. Spiders, for example, have eight legs, so that they
should not be called insects, which never have more than six.
Snakes and worms, having no legs, have to crawl along on their bodies. This they do by throwing the 
long body into waves from side to side, never up and down, and catching hold of the earth with
the large scales on the underside of the body. Most lizards have four legs, although they are short 
and sprawling and do not raise the body clear of the ground. All really good legs do this, as well
as carry the animal from place to place.
In the first place, then, an animal's legs must be strong enough to bear its weight, so that we 
expect the heaviest
animals to have the strongest legs. Look at those of the elephant, which may weigh as much as three 
tons. They are
not only very stout, but also much straighter than most animals' legs. They are shaped like a column, 
which is the
best shape for bearing heavy weights, although it is not the best for running fast and far. The legs 
of the rhino and
hippo are much like those of the elephant, although these animals are not so heavy.
Not one of these heavy, thick-skinned animals can run like the dog, horse, and deer. The straight 
hind legs are the
wrong shape for swift running or galloping. Swift runners have hind legs that are not only zigzag in 
shape, but are
much larger and stronger than the front legs. The fore legs bear the weight of the front part of the 
body and the head;
they are the weight bearers. The hind legs drive the animal along; they are the propellers. The hind 
legs of a horse, for instance, bend and straighten out as they work like a pair of long strong springs.
These long-legged swift runners have necks long enough to enable them to reach their food. How could a horse graze in
comfort if it had a short neck, or no neck at all worth mentioning, like the squat frog or the guinea 
pig? As a rule a
long neck goes with long legs, this being as true of birds as of mammals, as witness the ostrich, 
heron, stork, and
emu.
With their powerful hind legs, many
animals, such as dogs, sheep, horses, and deer, can not only move swiftly over the
ground, but can also leap over fences, hedges, and other obstacles. In their thick, fleshy thighs are 
packed the strong
muscles that are able to lift or hurl the whole animal into the
air, so that by its hind legs a good jumper can be told at sight. Indeed, a number of animals have 
hind legs so very
much longer
and stronger than their fore legs that they leap along rather than walk or run.
Rabbits and hares leap, and we know how much more meat there is on the hind legs of these animals 
than on the
fore legs.
As for such animals as the kangaroo, and the much smaller jerboa and jumping rat; their hind legs are 
so long and
their fore legs so short that they have to jump, or stand still.
Birds have only two legs, and most of the small birds use them for hopping. They can neither walk nor 
run. The
starling is an exception to this rule, while that large bird, the ostrich, can run as fast as a horse. Some birds use their legs for 
swimming, and for this purpose rather short legs are an advantage, being easier than long 
legs to move
backwards and forwards in the water.
It will be noticed also that the short legs of ducks and other swimming birds are set
nearer the tail than those of most birds. These legs have to steer the bird as well as drive it 
along: they have to act as
a rudder as well as paddles. That is why they are better set far back, although they make the ducks 
and swans
waddle as they walk on land. The worst waddlers are the ducks that dive under water in search of 
food, instead of
seeking it as they swim in shallow water. The penguin, which is a very fast swimmer, has its feet set 
so far back that,
when on land, the bird has to stand or sit upright like a dog begging.
-Adapted from the "Teacher's World and Schoolmistress

TREASURE TROVE.
A treasure hunt is great fun , but one lasting ten years would probably weary the keenest of us. That was 
the length of time an Englishman, named Howard Carter, spent
searching for certain treasure in the deserts  of Egypt.
Tutankhamen, a young king of Ancient Egypt, died over three thousand years ago and his body was laid 
in a tomb filled with all kinds of rich and rare objects. They had been placed in the King's
tomb for his use in the new life, upon which it was believed he was entering; and thousands of 
years later they formed the treasure for which Mr. Carter searched.
In the desolate Valley of the Kings many great rulers of ancient days had been buried, but their tombs had long since been 
plundered by robbers. Tutankhamen's tomb alone remained undiscovered,
and its priceless treasures were thought still to lie buried
under sand and rock.
Mr. Carter had marked off a certain area in which he thought the tomb might lie. Through the ages 
seventy thousand tons of rubbish had collected on this spot, and this vast mass had to be dug
over and thrown aside. Dig, dig, dig, day after day, week after week, season after season. What dull, 
tiring work it was for the workmen, with no sign of the buried tomb!
At last Mr. Carter said that the search would have to be given up. Digging must stop. And just then, on 
the 4th November 1923, a workman's spade struck a hidden step! Excitedly the man dug. One step was uncovered then another, 
and another. A whole flight of steps was found leading down a rock, and 
ending at a heavy door. It was blocked up, plastered and sealed. It must lead to a tomb; probably
the long sought tomb of King Tutankhamen.
When the door was opened, a passage was found filled with rubble and stones, and ending with another door with the seals of 
Tutankhamen upon it.

THE GILDED SHRINE.

This door opened into the ante-chamber to the tomb. By the light of a torch the room was seen to be crammed with treasures of 
dazzling beauty and sparkling splendour. There were three huge gilt couches carved in the form of 
monstrous beasts. There was a gold and silver throne
 encrusted with precious stones. There were
chariots, beds, stools, chairs, caskets, vases.
lamps, daggers, walking sticks, and a countless number of other lovely things. What a
treasure house!
 The door to the innermost chamber of the tomb was at last opened , and this was the most exciting 
moment of the whole search.  An enormous and  magnificent gilded shrine was opened,  and then three smaller ones which stood  
one inside the other. At last 
was reached  a coffin of solid gold  shaped in the form  of Tutankhamen.
Inside lay the embalmed  body, or mummy,  exactly as it had been  placed more than  three 
thousand years before. The King's head was covered with a mask of
beaten gold with a diadem of jewels round it. The body was covered with precious stones. More 
touching than any of these things was a little wreath of flowers, their colours not quite faded, doubtless put there by someone 
who had loved the 
nineteen-year-old King.
The seekers had found greater treasure than they had ever dreamed of, and the glory of finding it was for them sufficient reward. 
The beautiful objects were all handed over to the Cairo Museum. There they are displayed in many rooms, and visitors to Egypt 
are able to admire the loveliness of a bygone age. Our own 
soldiers have recently been visiting the Cairo Museum, and they have
written home telling us about the treasures of King " Tut."

TUTANKHAMEN'S MASK.


