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atked whethor he smokes, but the absurdity of that is manifest. Bhaw calls smoking a filthy and disgusting habit, but there are scholars, poets, artists and gentle- men' quite as refined as he is who find the pipe or cigar a solace, 'a jonary Je § conn =| companion, a joy. As to the pure- oaary et us view for a moment |) ly medical verdict, there simply isn't any, as yet. : But apparently the cuestion. of iuhaling is less difficult. The Lan- cet, in discussing the toxicity of tobacco smoke, 'says that 'such smoke contains a large proportion of carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas. In the air anything above 0.15 per cent. of this gas is regarded as distinctly dangerous, and, there- fore, says the medical organ, "it is obviously within the bounds of probability that tobacco smoke can be very harmful on account of this gaseous constituent.'"' But the harm as a rule, is in the inhaling rather than in the smoking, for the for- mer practice introduces the gas di- rectly into the circulatory system. It is suggested in passing that the cigarette is more injurious than the pipe or cigar because it is with the first that the inhaling habit is gen- erally indulged in. Above all, says this authority, avoid the associa- tion of smoke and drink, as both conspire to bring about toxic ef- fects, and do not linger in the smok- ing car or in other smoking-rooms, if they are poorly ventilated. It is the poisonous gas in the smoke that causes the headache 'and that "drowsy and stupid feeling' that £0 many complain of when too long exposed to its insidious influence. neg Patron saint of the garden is the toad; which is quiet and unobtru- sive in his habits and does his work so silently that it is only after al post-mortem examination that he gets full credit for his worthy la- bor. His value as an insecticide is demonstrated by the following ty- pical result of 149 postmortems among toads: Bix cutworms, five thousand legged worms, six sow bugs, nine ants, one weevil, one ground beetle. Aside from the fact that so large a part of the toad's diet consists of noxious insects, he is valuable for his enormous capa- city. Dr. A. H. Kirkland fed more than twenty-four medium-sized gyp- sy moth caterpillars to a toad be- fore satisfying its appetite. Dr. C. F. Hodge has seen a toad snap up thirty-six house flies in less than ten minutes, Miss Ellen M. Fos- kell fed ninety rose bugs to a toad, which was still hungry when sha stopped. It is argued that the toad's personal work among tent caterpillars never has been proper- ly appreciated. The tent caterpils lar, a well known pest on: apple] trees, occasionally working destruc- iy tion in plum and peach and cherry, is destroyed to a great extent by . the oriole and cuckoo. nti trees to in terms of even at the risk of becoming vis- ~modest, fragile life 3! the flag. Low and why of its existence, we would have solved the problem of, the life of nature, man and God. Life, whatever its external expres- sion, 1s a part of the great riddle of the universe. We know that life has its origin in life. It is not an accident, it is not self-created. We call the source of life God, but that 18 not a solution of the problem: It is but a confession that we can- not understand ; it still remains THE ETERNAL MYSTERY. Life having been started, -is not even self-sustaining. There is no form of life that is independent of all other life. The flag needs only alittle earth, a little sunshine, a little: moisture, and it comes into erfection. But the higher the orms of life, the more complex; the more dependent they become. When we reach man, "made in the image of God," in whom we find the high- est expressions of life, we find him making demands upon all other forms. The physical, mental 'and spiritual must contribute to the needs of hig triune nature. The elements of the mineral, vegetable, 'man cannot © | fection if th things, it is more often to estimate But the sol jut dollars » d cents. But ut the soil in w best self. "Bo it is possible is time and energy If we could but understand. the the needs of: the dwell: eotng aE THE DWELLER Man may grow into mal, possess a culty come carefully religi carry in his bosom a phied soul. The without water; the mi develop without though ledge, and there dan growth without God. not develop in the highest til 'he comes into a co of spiritual attainment--until there] ng after is a hungering and _ thirsting the fruits of the spirit--gentleness, long suffering, goodn ance, love. Ein ; God has made provision for man's every need, but he hag made it im- erative that he put forth effort if Be would attain it. And the strug- gle to fill the hungry mouth, meet the needs of the inquiring mind and quiet the insistent soul is what we call life. The measure of its suc- cess, the degree of its fulness, will largely depend upon the strenuous- ness of the individual's efforts . REV. G. A. JAMIESON. ee ---------- THE SUNDAY SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON, SEPT. 18. Lesson XI, * David Made King Over Judah: and" Israel. Golden Text, 2 Sam. 5. 10, Verse 1. After this--That is, after the death of Saul and his sons. This removed the danger to David's person and also left vacant the throne. ~ There was no reason for remaining longer in' exile. avid inquired of Jehovah--By means. of the mysterious "Ephod"' which Abiathar the priest had brought with him when he joined Dgvid's band in the wilderness (I Sam. 23. 8). The Ephod may have been similar to the Orim and Thum- mim, or sacred lot which was cast for an expression of the divine will. David's dependence upon Jehovah is seen in his waiting for his ap- proval before he takes the first step toward the kingship. Shall I. go: up From the hill country, directly south of Judah, where he had been living, Hebron--A place "twenty-two miles south of Jerusalem and twen- miles north of Beersheba," which was admirably suited to be the capital of Judah. It was com- mandingly situated onthe highest], level of the Judean ridge, and from the earliest times had been a ecen- ter of historic 'and religious inter- est. The patriarchs from Abram on lived and some of them died there, before Israel entered the land the Odnaanites revered it as a shrine, became one of the cities of re-| fuge, and being on one of the trunk roads of Palestine it was always a thrivi ket city. I ow Shei Is The men of Jabesh:gilead--For an account of this exploit see last|P® week's lesson (1 Sam. 31, 10-18). 5. David sent messengers--A sin- cere expression of appre n on the part of David -- aldo a most sagacious, political act of concilia- tion. Kindness--Respect: °° far enough to include th In reality they are -in very heart of Ish-bosheth's rival king- dom. with its capital the nearby town of Manhanaim (2 Sam. 2. 8). 7. Let your hands be strong and be ye valiant~This is the invoking ¢f a blessing suitable to warlike times, Btrength and valor were a most desired gift from Jehovah. The words of David imply, too, that he hopes. for their support. 1. Then--After seven and a Half years of successful rule at Hebron, authority on the other tribes but waited till they sought him "All the tribes of Israel--By ft representatives - the elders. (verse 3) Thy bone and 'thy flesh--A co teous introduction to their address. | d Really true; too; the men of Israel} 7 later refer to David's tribe as ' 2. It was thou--A 'compliment to their new chieftain which served a double purpose. It settled ivings as to their loyal Baul; even when he was their kix they had served under David his general: Leddest out and broughtest A term for military leadershi Shepherd of my' people--This the first use of {'shepherd"' i figurative sense in the Bible became very common with the 1 prophets. There may be a deli allusion to David's shepherd du ys temper-| 9 ion in cash at all, Came--David did not force his pension in cash at adc a 33 Xo yea pension: 'By. on women of 60 years may lified. - Tn 'assessing 'the payable the royal commission was to some extent 'guided by schemes in force in Victoria, wk pays 8s. a week, and in New South ales and New Zealand, which pay. th 108: a week. The latter figure was adopted by the act (the instalment to be paid fortnightly). A pension- er with other incoune' cannot receive more. than £95 and i case more than would bring his to- tal income up to £52 a year. No one with accumulated DIOpeEsy worth £310 or more can receive a nsion nor will he benefit himself if he tries to rid himself of it IN ORDER TO GAIN RELIEF. Holders of property of lower value than £810 may receive a pension Joss deductions of a fos every £10, unless the property includes a home, when he Suction will only be for capital o continuous resi- dence in Australia. Aliens cannot get pensions unless naturalized for three years or over. 'Asiatics are barred, as also are Aboriginal na tives of Australia; ca, the Pa: cific Islands and N v Zealand. But, it is not a disqualification for a wo- man to have married such person. The pensioner who wastes his money or misspends it or lessens the value of any part of his estate, if he has one, will not receive a aid to some other 'person on hig If. The same. course will be pted if his health becomes in- through his. fault, or interrupts the 088 of er proves unfit to b ers pension credible speed." The year, and in no|reeeive the Histl Po It. will be 2 tainly if he gu : tive) rect taxation | EE money; wer with} t Governm ment is. ohtom ig. |! sufficient to rush Shit fea 4 money not yet in oth rine with in. The only Slates ol, ia FI 58; 5 'whose annual pension bills are about £187,000 and £490,000, re- spectively. The other. States not having introduced any 'pension scheme will now be required indi- rectly to provide for . their aged poor. hse) : BRITISH FIGHT FOR LIFE. [th Attacked by Fishermen o of Portuguese Tow Boveral British fishorme oy a pan Ashermen recently ves in| h e Portuguese fishing Town © ah 7 0a. or ; The British trawlers, while fish- ing off the u { ceri | ly, damaged some nets belonging t» the Povoa fishermen, and there |}: has been ill-feeling since in con: sequence of this. The other day the British + fishermen landed at Povoa to buy food, and they were immediately attacked by the Porti- guese, who were armed with revol- di vers and kni The fetntmen and altho a wan cer-| od: ToRel thee a difficult mode of it would be noces ese Coast recent. fin, Immune 'per