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Birds, Resemblances of, to Men—See .

BIRDS, VALUE OF

The bird is not only our brother—he is far more. He is our benefactor, our preserver, for the simple reason that he alone is able to hold in check the most powerful race on earth—the insects. It is well known to scientific men that the insect tribes, unchecked, would control the earth. Innumerable, multiplying with a rapidity that defies figures and even comprehension, devouring everything that has, or has had, life, from the vegetable to the man, and living but to eat, these myriads would soon, if left to themselves, reduce our planet to a barren wilderness, uninhabitable by man or beast.—, "The Bird Our Brother."

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BIRTH CEREMONIES

On the birth of a Parsee child a magian and a fire priest, who is always an astrologer, are called in to predict the future life of the babe. The magian, drest in a strange robe of many colors, a pointed cap with jingling bells, and armed with a long broom made of beresma twigs (which is thought to have the power of putting evil spirits to flight), enters the chamber of the Parsee mother and babe and setting the end of his broom on fire dances around, exorcising the evil spirits; finally he flourishes his firebrand over the mother and child and in all the corners of the room. This done, the fire-priest draws a number of squares on a blackboard; in one corner of each square he draws a curious figure of bird, beast, fish or insect, each of which stands for some mental, physical, or spiritual characteristic, together with its appropriate star or planet. The magian then proceeds by means of spells and incantations to exercise any evil spirit that may be lurking unseen in the blackboard. Next the fire-priest begins to count and recount the stars under whose influence the child is supposed to be born, and then with closed eyes and solemn voice he predicts the future life of the babe. Next he prepares a horoscope or birth-paper and hands it to the father. Then, placing the babe on his knees, he waves over it the sacred flame, sprinkles it with holy water, fills its ears and nostrils with sea-*salt to keep out the evil spirits, and finally returns the screaming infant to its mother's arms.—, Wide Awake.

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BIRTH-RATE IN FRANCE

Will the French nation live to the twenty-first or twenty-second century or will they by that time have committed suicide? asks Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu, French deputy, professor in the Free School of Political Science, and assistant editor of the important Économiste Français (Paris), in which he writes with patriotic passion in the following strain, apropos of the recently published Government Census returns:

There is no doubt whatever that the French people are rushing to suicide. If they continue on this course, the French nation, those of French stock, will have lost a fifth of their number before the expiration of the present century and will absolutely have vanished from Europe by the end of the twenty-second century; that is, in two hundred years. It is now twenty years ago that we first stated this frightful fact. So far we have been a voice in the wilderness. While people are eternally discussing the advantages of secular education and the beauty of the income tax, and all the grand democratic reforms that are to come, amid all the fine speeches of sophistical cranks, the French people are gradually committing suicide. They are tightening the cord about the national neck; the breath of life is becoming feebler and now is but a gasp which must soon end in silence.

This writer says that marriage still exists in France, but it is no longer an institution "intended," according to the language of the Book of Common Prayer, "for the procreation of children." On this aspect of the question he remarks:

People still marry in France almost as frequently as in other countries. But this does not result in the multiplication of children. In 1909 marriages to the number of 307,954 were celebrated, which amounted to 7.85 for every thousand inhabitants, a slightly less proportion than during the years immediately preceding.

But divorce with all its consequences is on the increase in France, and we read:

If the marriage-rate remains normal in France, divorces are becoming more and