Neither are the post-prandial habits of the two animals under consideration dissimilar. The corn-cracker betakes himself to some sunny spot, where there is abundance of mud, and aids digestion by wallowing. So does the Boy, especially if he is in dinner costume. If the quadruped can get into a garden and root up unreplaceable flowers and fruits, before he retires to his lair, his bliss is perfect. So the Boy; if he can manage to break two or three windows, tear his best clothes into ribbons, chase the family cat up a tree with hound, whoop, and halloo, and then stone her out of it, and, as she with thickened tail scampers to some more secure retreat, follow her with hoots and missiles--he also retires, conscious that the day has not been wasted. And, finally, upon this parallelism betwixt Pig and _Puer_ one patent point of resemblance may be mentioned. Rouse up a pig, any hour of the day or night, with his maw full to the gullet, and offer him a little more, another ear of corn, another bucket of swill, and you will be sure of his prompt acceptance. And place before a boy, immediately after an astounding dinner, if you choose, any thing edible, apples, cakes, pudding, or cold potatoes, and if _his_ maw will not accommodate the additional stowage, you send for the doctor, knowing that the dear child is ill, that the symptoms are novel, and that the case is urgent. The reference to the history of METHUSELAH with which this paper began was not without a purpose. It was to suggest the inquiry whether or not the _vim_ which prolonged his days would have sufficed to bring him through _two_ courses of Boyhood. It is not unusual to hear grown people talk of "living their youthful days over again;" but the examples of those who have gone through this ordeal are very rare. The amount of wear and tear, the expenditure of vital force, involved in the transit from infancy to manhood cannot be estimated. The abrasions of later life do not compare with the rubs of Boyhood, because none of the aids of experience and philosophy are attainable by the tyro, who lives upon his inherent _vis vitae_, as his kinsman in the frozen zone subsists upon his own fat during long intervals of torpidity. * * * * * [Illustration: PERSONAL GOSSIP. (From the daily press.) "ONE OF OUR BEST POETS AND MAGAZINE WRITERS IS A CLERK IN A GROCERY OF THIS CITY."] * * * * * THE FOUR SEASONS. [An ancient Scottish ballad written in America in 1870, to show how much may be said by the judicious and economical use of a very few words.] Beneath the trees in sweet spring-time, In sweet spring-time, in sweet spring-time, Beneath the trees in sweet spring-time, Vermonters turn the honest dime By crystallizing sap. Beneath the trees in summer-time, In summer-time, in summer-time, Beneath the trees in summer-time, The poet cons the curious rhyme. Or takes the tranquil nap.